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Match day revenue is still an essential source of income for many professional sports clubs worldwide. This paper studies the determinants of ticket pricing in the English Premier League and examines whether and to what extent stadium goers pay a premium for sporting success and spending by clubs in the players' labour market. We estimate regression models for the cheapest and most expensive tickets of clubs playing in the English Premier League for the five seasons between 2014/15 and 2018/19 inclusive. Our study shows that ticket prices are driven by several variables including the opponent and local derbies. The impact of team performance is asymmetric affecting only the most expensive tickets. Capacity utilisation and total labour cost impact the prices of both types of tickets. This research provides insights for both leagues and individual clubs. For example, the findings can be used as a benchmark to assess the magnitude of price increases that the market may be willing to bear. Additionally, clubs can explore the extent to which greater revenues can be extracted from different types of consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes mass start competitions in professional biathlon, where 30 biathletes start simultaneously. This structure allows us to test the existence of discouragement effect, according to which biathletes reduce their efforts when lagging far behind the leaders. We use data on all 180 mass start competitions, for both genders, in World Cups, World Championships, and Olympic Games between the 2001/02 and 2019/20 seasons, and compare the gap times between the two consecutive ranks. For the same period, we execute the same analyses for all sprint and individual competitions that use interval starts. We find that, in mass starts, the 95% confidence intervals of the gap times between the two consecutive ranks overlap in the range of rankings between 3 and 25 among men and between 5 and 24 among women, with mean gaps of 6.6 and 7.7 seconds among men and women, respectively. However, that gap increases sharply for the four bottom ranks (that is, ranks 27–30), which have mean gaps of 29.8 and 31.2 sec among men and women, respectively. However, in sprint and individual races, the lag time between two consecutive ranks does not exceed 4 (sprint) and 10 (individual) seconds in the range of rankings between 10 and 60. The results suggest that bottom-ranked biathletes in mass starts strategically reduce their efforts when there is nothing at stake. Such a strategy increases the duration of TV broadcasts and does not help maximize suspense, which is one of the main drivers of TV demands in professional sports. We offer an alternative format, according to which a certain number of the bottom-ranked biathletes will be eliminated after each bout of shooting. Such a format should dramatically increase the suspense-to-time ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates factors impacting corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns' key performance indicators (KPIs) by extending the sport sustainability campaign evaluation model (SSCEM) with three key variables: ascription of responsibility, fit between the team/sustainability initiatives, and receptivity to messaging from the team. We collected data from a US national sample using a Qualtrics panel. The specific population of interest for this part of the project was people who were able to identify a professional or college sport team local to their geographical area (N = 205), which meets the SEM sample size requirements with only 11 items in the model. This study found that fit, ascription, and attachment to the team explained 43.0% of the variance in receptivity. Ascription and receptivity explained 64.9% of the variance of sustainability intentions. The entire model explained 68.4% of the variance in support for green corporate partners. Future research can extend the SSCEM by adding these concepts, explaining additional variance, and assessing actual receptivity to team messaging about sustainability. Sport practitioners can use this model to show green corporate partners the impact of messaging by the team on corporate partner sales and show increased fan sustainability intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information related to the European Sport Management (EASM) award. It is stated that the best original and significant unpublished contribution in sport management is given this award. It is mentioned that by encouraging new researchers at the start of their career, the award stimulate diffusion of new ideas and innovative research in sport management.

Existing research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in professional sports organisations highlights the positive external effects of CSR, while employee-related and organisational outcomes are widely ignored. We aim at filling this gap by analysing the relationship between perceived CSR (PCSR) and perceived organisational performance (POP) in professional sports organisations (PSOs) and how this relationship is mediated by organisational identification and employee satisfaction. Based on a systematic literature review on the organisational outcomes of CSR we derive our research model and three hypotheses that are tested using parallel regression analyses. We hypothesise that PCSR is positively related to POP and that this relationship is positively mediated by organisational identification and employee satisfaction. Our sample consists of 338 employees of professional football, basketball, handball, ice hockey and volleyball clubs in Germany. Our results suggest that PCSR among employees of PSOs is positively related to POP, when controlling for age, gender, income, education, sports discipline, and organisational level. Furthermore, our results provide evidence that the positive relationship between PCSR and POP is positively and partially mediated by organisational identification and employee satisfaction. Our paper enlarges prior knowledge on internal outcomes of CSR in professional sports organisations by quantifying existent contributions on the impacts of PCSR on POP and providing a model for how this relationship is affected by organisational identification and employee satisfaction. Our results provide scholars with a framework for further scientific investigation and practitioners with a concept for integrating the positive impacts of CSR into approaches to developing both their organisation and its employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decision in 2005 of the world governing body of cycling, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), to introduce a new competition, the UCI Pro Tour, was a highly significant development in professional road cycling. Using this development as the case study setting, this paper draws on stakeholder theory and network theory to examine this changing environment. Drawing on a series of semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, complemented by analysis of publicly available information, this study explores how this process of change has affected the professional road cycling network, the interaction between its stakeholders and the balance of power among those stakeholders. While commercialism has a long history in professional road cycling, the paper concludes that the change process has been driven by a wish for commercial deepening within the network and by a desire to challenge some of the well-established relationships and dependencies that have existed therein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Question: Research on cause related marketing (CRM) in sport has mostly focused on conceptualization rather than on implementation. The purpose of this paper is to add to that knowledge by exploring the specific CRM implementation decisions an organization attempts to make, and to what extent these are in line with the defined strategy. Research Methods: Employing a qualitative method and drawing on the analysis of 16 interviews in four European countries, this research explored managerial decision-making with regards to CRM strategy implementation in European professional basketball. Results and Findings: The findings reveal that the majority of the teams studied have marketing expectations behind their CRM engagement, but inconsistencies in implementation prevent them from leveraging CRM to its maximal potential. Depending on the type of CRM strategy adopted, 'mis-alignment' between strategy and implementation is caused by environmental, organizational or individual determinants. Implications: The proposed framework allows (sport) managers to view CRM strategy formulation and implementation simultaneously, rather than separately. It can assist sport managers to better integrate CRM projects, align them with strategy, and attain maximal win-win outcomes for both the organization and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research question: This paper examines the ways in which French and UK professional sports clubs implement and communicate their CSR policies. In addition to identifying similarities and differences between CSR practices in the two countries, our analysis extends and adapts the implicit-explicit CSR framework to the field of sport. Research methods: We used a mixed methods approach to analyse qualitative and quantitative data on the CSR strategies of 66 professional rugby union (Top 14, Aviva Premiership Rugby) and football (Ligue 1, Premier League) clubs that participated in the 2017-2018 season. Results and findings: We found major differences in CSR communication between France and the UK. Communication by French clubs tends to highlight sport's values, involve few media channels, whereas communication by UK clubs explicitly vaunts their social responsibility and involves numerous channels. In the case of CSR implementation, there are similarities between French and UK clubs, especially in the fields their CSR initiatives cover (e.g. health, diversity), as well as differences. However, the scope of initiatives varies more between sports than between countries, with football demonstrating a more international outlook than rugby. Implications: This article expands Matten and Moon's [(2008). 'Implicit' and 'explicit' CSR: A conceptual framework for a comparative understanding of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 404-424] implicit-explicit CSR framework by identifying the influence of interactions between sectorial/field-level factors and national/macro-level factors on CSR practices, and by distinguishing between CSR communication and CSR implementation. Our results throw light on the shift from implicit to explicit CSR in French professional sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professional football clubs are special businesses since their performance is deemed from two different objectives: success on the field and success in business performance. Thus, efficiency levels can be measured by means of the sport performance from matches played or the financial performance from financial statements. Moreover, economic growth becomes a good indicator of company dynamic behaviour, by measuring the capacity of a company to improve its financial and commercial possibilities. In this context, the main objective of this paper is to assess the level of financial performance of Spanish football clubs and the relationship thereof with the target for growth based on a parameter of revenue. Efficiency measurements were analysed using a benchmark procedure developed by Charnes et al. (1978), data envelopment analysis (DEA) and also productivity levels by calculating the Malmquist productivity index based on DEA scores. Sustainable growth figures were also calculated using the Higgins (1977) model considering the measure of real growth to be the increase in the revenue for each period analysed. From a sample of Spanish professional football teams in the 2000–1 to 2002–3 seasons, our findings show that only a small number of clubs show improvements in technological change and in approaching the efficiency frontier. Moreover evidence was found that those clubs with the smallest difference between both growth ratios (real and sustainable) prove to be more efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using semi-structured tape-recorded interviews with twenty-two players and eighteen managers, this paper utilizes the work of Max Weber in exploring the role of the manager in professional football (soccer). More specifically, Weber's writings on legitimate authority are used to explore traditional aspects of the role of the contemporary football manager. The findings highlight the lack of formal management training and the widespread assumption within football that previous playing experience is sufficient preparation for entry into management. While many aspects of the management of football clubs have involved increasing professionalization and bureaucratization, the role of the manager has proved remarkably resistant to these processes. The authority of the football manager continues to be based on traditional forms of authoritarianism and this allows managers an unusually high degree of autonomy in defining their own role and places few constraints on the appointment of their support staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sports teams generate an emotional response from their fans that is stronger than in any other industry. In an effort to capitalize on the emotional relationship they share with their fans, professional sports teams try to position themselves as brands. This paper examines the strategies and actions four French soccer teams have implemented in order to build and exploit their brand. Our results underline that the development and implementation of a brand strategy should be profitable for most professional soccer teams. However, sport managers need to see the relevance of building strong brand equity for their club. Admittedly, performance on the field remains important in the development of the team brand equity. That is why professional sports teams need to build a strong brand that will enable them to go through performance cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented, in which the author discusses various reports within the issue on topics including funding of high-performance (HP) sport, emergence of a league system for individual sports, and role of Youth Olympic Games as a sport development pathway for athletes.

Using the theoretical lens of social capital, this study explores the challenges faced by female football fans in performing their fandom on social media, and how they respond to these challenges in the way they consume and express their fandom within these online spaces. In doing so, the study responds to calls for further, empirical research on both the experiences of female sports fans and the darker side of social media. An exploratory, qualitative research design is adopted, comprising in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 female fans of European professional football clubs. Interview data is analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The study contributes novel evidence to the fields of social media, social capital and football fandom, revealing that the male hegemony of football fandom is reinforced through social media. This leads to modified online behaviour by female fans, whereby micro-communities are formed in which they discuss football. The splintering of the online fan community into these micro-communities represents a form of cyberbalkanization and has implications for female fans' ability to build bridging social capital on social media. This study responds to calls for a more theoretically informed approach to social media research in sport, drawing on theories of social capital and performative sport fandom to understand the strategies employed by female fans in performing their fandom on social media. The findings raise questions of how professional sports clubs can engage female audiences and champion inclusive cultures of fandom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research question: Professional sports clubs (PSCs) may diversify by marketing a range of products that extend beyond sport. Using brand architecture as a framework, the research aims to examine: the brand names they adopt, markets they serve and the hierarchical relationship between the leagues and PSCs in the branding of the product ranges of both organizations. Research methods: Set within the context of the English Football League (EFL), club websites were reviewed to examine brand names that are used when marketing activities unrelated to sport. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the commercial staff of 21 PSCs relating to their branding strategy. Results and findings: Leagues and PSCs may market a number of brands in addition to their core products of sporting competitions and teams. EFL clubs have developed brands independently of the league, primarily by branding their stadiums as a multi-purpose venue to stage events not related to matches. Within their venues they have also developed a category we term 'stadium sub-brands'. These include business clubs, comedy clubs and restaurants. Some of these services are co-branded with partner organizations. Implications: Devising a typology of the brand architecture of EFL clubs illustrates how sports organizations can diversify into markets other than football and add to their product portfolio by making use of their resources, in particular their stadium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this short article, we explore whether highly diversified professional football clubs, from an investor perspective, are better prepared for an unpredictable global crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic than undiversified clubs. We apply event study methodology to analyze stock returns of football clubs during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing a dataset comprising 5380 daily stock returns of 21 publicly listed football clubs in Europe during the season 2019–20, our results suggest that investors preferred stocks of clubs with high levels of product diversification during the COVID-19 shock period. Vice versa, we observe a moderate negative effect of geographic diversification, i.e. a club's internationalization efforts. Both effects are robust across various model specifications and after adding several control variables. In the future, football executives may want to increasingly apply product diversification strategies to prepare for future crises better. In contrast, at least during a global health crisis, further expansion to international markets requires caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic created a crisis rife with complexity and ethical dilemmas for sport organizations. The purpose of this study is to examine the decision-making process of one such organization, the National Basketball Association (NBA), during the pandemic. Specifically, we draw from theories on decision-making and business ethics to understand how decisions were made. We conducted an inductive qualitative content analysis on NBA media coverage between 21 January and 10 July 2020. A total of 152 articles were identified and included in an analysis from ESPN.com, the most prominent sports news outlet in the United States. Findings suggest that decision-making in the NBA was characterized by the cognitive limits of bounded rationality and the moral limits of bounded morality. The NBA's decision-making process swayed between caution and risk as priorities shifted, with the league, teams, and players focusing on various repercussions to health and safety, finances, and competitive advantage. This research expands understanding of how crises such as a pandemic impact decision-making in sport organizations. In addition, it highlights how bounded rationality and morality affect decision-making in situations that are complex, time-sensitive, and include moral conflicts, which sport organization leaders may frequently encounter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research question: The purpose of this study was to examine how group diversity was associated with subsequent outcomes, and whether these associations varied by the type of diversity, setting, sport role, or type of outcome. Research method: The authors implemented a meta-analytic technique to examine the influence of group diversity on a variety of outcomes. Results and findings: Results showed that overall group diversity has a positive effect on group outcomes (rc = .05; z-value = 4.53, p < .001; 95% CI:.03,.07). Sport role (administrator or coaches and players or exercisers), setting type (college athletics, professional sports, or non-profit sports), outcome type (organizational effectiveness, affective outcomes, or team performance) all served to moderate the relationship between team diversity and subsequent outcomes. Implications: The study found group diversity has positive effects on group effectiveness, though the effects are small. The findings are nevertheless instructive because they provide an effect size estimated across a wide range of investigations and suggest that group diversity is positively associated with important group outcomes. The pattern of results might encourage practitioners in sport organizations and professional teams to welcome diverse individuals in their groups by demonstrating this positive link between group diversity and group outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research question: A growing number of studies of professional team sports have tried to understand the drivers behind match-day attendance. However, no research has ever been conducted in relation to team handball. As existing literature mainly focuses on European football and US Major League sports, club managers from smaller sports lack the evidence that could assist them in developing strategies to increase attendance. This study is a step toward filling this gap. Research methods: Using robust panel data regression models deployed on data from Danish men’s team handball league matches in the seasons from 2011/12 to 2015/16, the study identifies the main determinants of spectator demand. Results and findings: The findings are largely consistent with existing research, but also reveal new insights that seem to be specific to handball. These include (1) negative effects on spectator demand due to simultaneous live television coverage of other league matches; (2) no obvious preferences for weekend matches and (3) weather-related factors, whereby rain has a positive effect and snow a negative effect, while variations in temperature have no effect. Implications: To maximize spectator attendance, we suggest that league managers and club representatives take the problem of simultaneous broadcasts from other league matches into consideration when planning the schedule in the future. Further, we argue that games should be placed in the time slots with highest spectator demand while recognizing that this can be club-specific. Finally, we recommend that clubs increase their efforts in promoting games involving strong away teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research questions: This study models how the satisfaction of male and female season ticket holders (STHs) is derived, and whether the antecedents of satisfaction differ between genders. In doing so, this study has sought to not only increase the understanding of a previously under-researched group - female STHs - but to also gain managerially useful insights into how female fans might be attracted to, and retained, as STHs.Research methods: Data were collected from almost 14,000 STHs from 12 professional sport teams. Guided by past work on the antecedents of STH satisfaction, the dataset was split by gender and matched on key variables, before established satisfaction models were tested across groups.Results and findings: Overall, STH satisfaction appears to be derived the same way, regardless of gender. However, the relative importance of different aspects of the STH experience often varies. Customer service and home ground facilities are significantly more important among females. Men instead derive more satisfaction from feeling involved with the team and the way it is managed. These differences are explained in light of what is known about gender differences in relation to consumption motives and behaviors.Implications: This study provides valuable insights for sport or team managers into the factors that drive satisfaction for both female and male STHs, including concomitant positioning strategies to grow female STH numbers. Of critical importance are high service standards and female-friendly facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research question:While the literature on sponsorship of sport has gained interest among scholars in diverse fields such as management, marketing, and psychology in recent years, scant attention has been paid to the extent in which sponsoring may serve as a strategic lever that is mutually beneficial for sponsors and sponsees. We, therefore, ask: What constitutes strategic sponsoring in professional sport? Research methods:In addressing our research question, we selectively review the literature on sport sponsoring, link it to the basic tenets of the resource-based view, and conceptualize this literature into a framework for strategic sponsoring in professional sport. Results and findings:In developing our framework, we consider the concept of regime as the key defining working principle of strategic sponsorship activities. We then elicit six different regimes: the cause regime, loyalty regime, appropriability regime, value-differential regime, heuristics-based regime, and associational regime. Each one of these regime types is further related to the six sponsorship activities identified in our literature review. Implications:In proposing how various regimes serve as generative mechanisms for altering the resource and knowledge-bases of sponsors and sponsees, we provide a conceptually rigorous framework of strategic sponsoring that expands the limits of extant views of sport sponsorship. Hence, our multilevel framework advances sponsorship theory through a more rigorous framing, and it provides practitioners clues for rethinking their sponsorship programs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research questionProfessional sports fulfil important societal functions. Previous studies have already attempted to quantify the intangible benefits of successful national athletes or hosting major sporting events. This study chooses an alternative channel of quantification. Based on the theoretical framework of sporting role models, it analyses whether the individual relevance of professional sports increases the frequency of sport participation. To quantify this effect, it subsequently analyses whether the increased sport participation increases sport-related expenditure. Research methodsA quantitative research design based on primary data of approximately 500 German amateur tennis players was chosen. Unfortunately, the econometric identification of the effect of the relevance of professional sports on sport participation behaviours is aggravated by a selection bias. To circumvent this issue, instrumental variables were constructed based on the starting year of the surveyed amateurs' sport participation, which is considered to be exogenous. Results and findingsThe results of the instrumental variable estimations show that amateurs with a higher relevance of professional tennis spend between 21.5% and 24.4% more time playing tennis. In addition, 1% more participation per week increases the yearly sport-related expenditure by approximately 0.45%. Consequently, approximately 200 million euros of the tennis-related expenditure of German amateur tennis participants could be attributed to professional tennis in Germany. ImplicationsThe results of this study provide evidence for positive external effects of professional sports in Germany. These external effects could act as an additional rationale for the use of public funds to promote professional sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research question: According to an increasingly acknowledged view, customers co-create value with several other actors in the marketplace (e.g. firms and other customers) across multiple touchpoints prior to, during, and after the primary service encounter. This research focuses on professional team sports and examines one form of value co-creation that is particularly important in this context, i.e. customers' co-creation of value with other customers. The present research adds to our understanding of customer-to-customer value co-creation by identifying where (platforms) and how (practices) team sports customers create value with one another. Research methods: The study uses a multi-method qualitative research approach including in-depth interviews, naturalistic observation and netnography. The sampling frame consisted of three live venues (Germany), several virtual platforms (Germany and England), and a number of physical customer interaction sites such as sports bars and fan trains (Germany). Results and Findings: The study develops a typology of co-creation platforms that distinguishes between different spheres (customer sphere vs. joint sphere) and types (virtual vs. physical) of value co-creation platforms. In addition, the data reveal five customer-to-customer co-creation practices that occur across these platforms: associating and dissociating, engaging and sharing, competing, intensifying, and exchanging. Implications: Identifying and classifying customer-to-customer value co-creation platforms is an important first step toward developing approaches for team sports firms to become involved in and manage value co-creation among customers. In addition, knowledge of value co-creation practices will assist managers in shaping co-creation platforms in ways that facilitate the execution of value-creating practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Athlete-supported charities and foundations have become increasingly popular forms of philanthropy in the professional sport landscape. However, a paucity of research has examined whether the high-profile status of a professional athlete can influence third-party donations to the charitable cause the athlete supports. Based on theory and prior literature, the image of, and identification with, a professional National Basketball Association athlete were hypothesized to influence donation intentions from potential donors in the Orlando, Florida area. In addition, the intervening effects of personal involvement with the athlete's cause and trust toward the athlete were examined. The results suggest that athlete identification, image of the athlete, trust toward the athlete, and cause involvement significantly influenced donation intentions. The results also indicate that athlete trust mediated the relationship between identification, image, and donation intentions. Finally, cause involvement moderated the relationship between identification with, and trust toward, the professional athlete. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this study was to examine the structural relationship of core service quality and peripheral service quality factors to the consumption of professional team sport games while considering the mediating influence of perceived value. This study simultaneously incorporated core service and peripheral service quality factors into one study and examined their direct and indirect relationships with game consumption behaviors. Participants (N=222) responded to a survey at various metropolitan areas. Adopting the two-step structural equation modeling approach, the proposed measurement model and the structural model were found to have good psychometric properties. In the structural relationship analyses, home team, opposing team, game promotion, game amenities, venue quality, and perceived value were found to be predictive of behavioral intentions. Venue quality was the only factor that had an indirect relationship with behavioral intentions through perceived value. The findings are interpreted in the contexts of theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article demonstrates the potential of program theory evaluation (PTE) in evaluating sport league reforms through an analysis of the Union Cycliste International's (UCI) competition reform in professional road cycling. It is asserted that PTE can yield different insights in comparison with other evaluation models about why a sport league reform succeeds or fails. With respect to the UCI competition reform, previous assertions that the failure of the reform was caused exclusively by team-related problems are rejected. In contrast, it is asserted that the reform was unsuccessful due to problems related to both teams and race organizers: (1) the unwillingness of race organizers to participate in the competition; (2) implementation failure of the start duty of ProTour teams; and (3) the dependency of professional cycling on European races and teams. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Leadership research, particularly in sport management settings, is characterized by post-positivist approaches that are permeated by quantitative designs, largely neglecting the role of context and stakeholders. Leadership is socially constructed by agents in relation to their experiences and understandings of the situation. Social constructivism was adopted in this case study exploring individual stakeholder constructions of leadership within the context of organizational change in intercollegiate athletics. Interviews with 57 stakeholders of a mid-western university athletic department were conducted. The findings suggest that stakeholders' perceptions of leadership were broadly defined, accounts were embedded within the context, and articulated dependent on stakeholder experiences and relationships within the athletic department. The implications are that leadership is shaped and constructed by stakeholders in relation with their experiences with organizational processes. Furthermore, in order to facilitate organizational change, a shared approach to leadership may prove effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study is to determine what factors affect the attractiveness of both national football leagues and the Champions League from the perspective of fans, and how these factors are perceived by fans of clubs at the top and bottom of the league standing. This is of interest as there are differences between the financial resources available to the clubs and leagues. Based on a review of sport consumer behaviour literature, we propose that four determinants are relevant to a league's attractiveness: stadium atmosphere, international success of the clubs, uniqueness of dominating clubs and perceived competitive balance. A total of 1,404 committed fans of 12 selected football teams from the English Premier League and German Bundesliga participated in the study. The research model was tested using partial least squares. The results show that the determinants significantly predict perceived attractiveness, and that even fans of financially privileged and successful clubs concede that perceived competitive balance is necessary for attractiveness to be maintained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current social landscape, the media concentrate on the lifestyle and behavior of certain sport celebrities, and they demand that professional athletes display high standards of moral behavior. In addition, growing media intrusion presents the professional athlete as a “damaged hero”. The wealth and star status of professional athletes make them primary targets for the media. In light of the 2004 brawl and the increased controversy surrounding the National Basketball Association (NBA), the purpose of this exploratory study was to examine individuals' perceptions towards the NBA players' image. These perceptions were assessed relative to the league's corporate social initiatives, such as the “NBA Cares” program, which are implemented in order to restore the credibility and image of the players. Results indicated an increased influence of the specific corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign on participants' opinions towards the image of NBA players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the strong support of local fans will always be an important concern for big-league professional teams, new technologies are making it easier for distant fans to learn about and begin following teams from afar. To better ensure financial viability into the twenty-first century, we argue that major professional teams should create a strategy to build a fan nation containing both local and distant loyal fans. We argue that teams should invent traditions to entice both local and far-flung casual, and non-fans to become loyal members of a team's fan nation. The recent actions of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers are used as a case study of how a team can use the invention of tradition to expand and enhance its fan base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web advertising has become one of the popular forms for corporations to reach their target markets. Thus, an increasing number of sports organizations are using their web site as a medium to communicate with customers or fans. However, there has been little information about the use of web advertising in the sports industry. This study explored the current use of web advertising and the perceptions of professional sports marketers for its potential in terms of both reaching customers and fans and providing additional revenue through sponsorship or other activities. The respondents were marketers from US professional sports bodies. Ultimately the study provides suggestions for sport organizations that are considering utilizing web advertising for revenue purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Civic boosters generally have estimated the Super Bowl to have an impact of $300 to $400 million on a host city's economy. The National Football League has used the promise of an economic windfall to convince skeptical cities that investments in new stadiums for their teams in exchange for the right to host the event makes economic sense. Evidence from host cities from 1970-2001 indicates the Super Bowl contributes approximately one-quarter of what the boosters have promised and that the game could not have contributed by any reasonable standard of statistical significance, more than $300 million to host economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Team identification, the degree to which an individual feels psychologically linked to a team, has been a focal point in studies of sport fans and sport spectatorship (e.g. Fink et al.,2002; Jones, 1997; Wann & Branscombe, 1993; Wann & Dolan, 1994; Wann & Schrader, 1997). Although the development of team identification has been examined extensively in established sport markets, the purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between sport fan team identification and motivations for initially becoming a fan of a new mid-level professional sport in a new market. A convenience sample of spectators (N=351) at an American Arena Football League (AFL) game completed a survey designed to identify and measure this relationship. A simultaneous multiple regression analysis revealed significant and positive predictive value for team identification from the following reasons for becoming a fan: parents and/or family (β=.125, p<.05), born and/or live in area (β=.210, p<.001), players and/or coaches (β=.411, p<.001), and tailgating and party atmosphere (β=.123, p<.05). The results have practical marketing implications for mid-level professional sport franchises (i.e. Women's National Basketball Association, NFL-Europe, Major League Soccer) and highlight the need for additional research across the professional sport spectrum, as franchises in these leagues struggle for market share against competing sport and entertainment options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some Major League Baseball (MLB) owners own a portion of their minor league affiliates while other owners have a player development contract or working agreement with all of their minor league affiliates. Even though MLB teams always own the rights to the players and coaches in their minor league system, there are many other aspects of their operations that might be outsourced. This study attempts to explain differences in minor league ownership. It is hypothesized that the relationship between major and minor league teams depends upon the MLB owners’ other businesses and the minor league affiliates’ level or classification. This study analyzes a cross-sectional data set from the Nation League using a probit model. The study finds that media providers that own MLB teams are more likely to own their minor league affiliates and MLB owners are more likely to own lower classified minor league teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current labour dispute in the National Hockey League raises the question of why work stoppages in North American team sports happen frequently, while in European sports no serious labour disputes have been observed to date. The long history of work stoppages in major North American leagues such as Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League and the National Hockey League is related to industrial organization in these leagues. The monopsonistic environment in North American professional sports leagues enables employers to restrict the mobility of players, while on the European sports labour market restrictions have largely been abolished since the Bosman ruling in 1995. Players in Europe therefore do not have to fight for their labour rights, while in North America professionals have to fight to prevent further restrictions. The industrial organization of leagues therefore plays a crucial role in the compensation of players and differs between Europe and North America, especially through the relegation system which governs most European leagues. It is concluded that industrial structure in European sports limits monopolistic power in the labour market. An “Americanization” of European sports would make labour disputes more likely than they are now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents author's views on how sports managers can stop sports from becoming a business. The author says that sports managers should help sport organizations contribute positively to society, participate in the balanced development of their city and country and keep sport compatible with sustainable development. The author says that there is a need for a new global vision around which sport managers should be able to assemble to preserve sport and counter the business view.