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This research examines barriers that urban youth face which limit participation in sport. Conceptually, this work distinguishes between three categories of active (participatory) engagement: 1) those that never participated; 2) those that used to participate; 3) those that do participate; and their level of passive engagement. A set of hypotheses for urban youth sport participation incorporating external and intrinsic factors are tested and guided by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Based on pre-interviews with urban youth (n= 53), a large-sample survey (n= 3,003) of youth in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver was conducted. Results identified four segments of urban youth participation; a multiple regression analysis supported the TPB as an appropriate lens for understanding urban youth sport participation. The development of segments of urban youth based on sport engagement has implications for managers involved in promoting participation. The article contributes theoretically through the extension of the TPB in the context of urban youth participation.

Guided by a dynamic capabilities framework, this research explores the National Basketball Association's (NBA) expansion into esports. Based on the input of thirteen sport industry experts, the paper presents research on simulated professional sports (SPS) with a deep investigation of the NBA 2K League (2KL). NBA 2KL is the first esports league in North America that is owned and operated by a traditional professional sports league. Results identify both league and club level outcomes for: 1) learning dynamic capabilities; 2) integrating/coordinating dynamic capabilities; 3) reconfiguring dynamic capabilities. Practical recommendations to the NBA, extended to other professional leagues, are provided. A framework for future research, including questions to be addressed, is outlined based on the findings.

This study explores the role of athletes in influencing the image of an Olympic Games host country via social media, specifically the image of the country of Brazil during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The study employed a content analysis method based on data gathered from Canadian Olympic athletes' (n = 314) social media platforms, namely Twitter, Instagram and Facebook over a period of three months. The study identified eight categories of Brazil's image communicated on the athletes' social media platforms. These include urbanscape, natural environment, country's landmarks, social issues, cultural assets, emotional connection, games operations, and ease of travel. The most often communicated posts were in the urbanscape category (44.0%) followed by natural environment (20.2%) and country landmarks (17.2%). Contributions to the field, managerial implications, and ideas for future research are included.

This is an empirical, descriptive study of tourists at sport mega-events. Its purpose is to describe tourists who attend sport mega-events. As an empirical study, it surveys tourists at two major sport mega-events in two different countries: the 2008 Olympic Games in China and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Building on a growing body of literature related to the marketing of sport mega-events, results support that both the place (China versus South Africa) and the attraction (Olympic Games versus FIFA World Cup) influence - across a number of place image variables - the nature and composition of the tourists who are attracted to the sport mega-event. The findings suggest that the sport mega-event can be used by the host country to target potential tourists who have limited interest in the event. Further, this research finds that the tourist view of the sport mega-event is influenced by the host country and the nature of the event. The research responds to a key need in both the literature and in practice, where understanding of tourists in the SME context is needed for countries, regions and communities.

This research explored the use of Twitter for sponsorship activation by the The Olympic Program (TOP) sponsors during the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games. Using NCapture, a total of 7,519 tweets and retweets of all ten TOP sponsors around the Games were captured from the 1st of January (pre-Olympic) to the 3rd of April, 2014 (post-Olympic). The data were analysed with the aid of Leximancer analytics software. Results show that there is no regular pattern of Twitter use for activation that was identifiable amongst the TOP sponsors; all were found adopting different strategic approaches. Notably, the TOP sponsors differ in terms of the number and types of tweets they produced, retweets they broadcasted, hashtags they rerun, and the registered growth of their followers from pre-games to post-games. The results also show three possible sponsorship objectives communicated by TOP sponsors, namely promotion (of services, products, and companys image), customer appreciation, and athletes encouragement. Potential theoretical and practical implications will be discussed, including suggestions for future research. The work encourages continued investigation.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the images of the Olympic Games and their host countries, as a country and as a tourism destination, before and after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (BOG) and 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games (VOG). The attitude changes towards the three image objects and relationships among them are examined in a combined ‘country − destination − mega-event’ model. The paper reports on a questionnaire-based study completed by 1,292 American respondents who were approached two months before and two months after both the 2008 and 2010 Games. Results indicate a significant decrease in the attitudes towards the OG in the case of the 2008 BOG and some improvement in the case of the 2010 VOG. This contrast between the OG hosted in a developed country and one held in a developing country is an important contribution to the sport events literature. Further, regression analysis shows that evaluations of the OG as a destination are influenced (mediated) mainly by the evaluations of the host country as a destination.

Scandal has become an increasingly prominent sports phenomenon. All major sports competitions around the globe face scandals on a continuing basis; however, there is little research about the nature of scandal and its impacts on consumer behaviour. Drawing on the extant sports consumption literature, we develop a conceptual model of scandal and its impacts on sports consumption activities (ticket sales, viewership, merchandise sales). We then extend this model through examples of a sport scandal to propose the major dimensions of the scandal construct. Our goal in this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that is useful for future research of the scandal-consumption relationship.

A cross-national, longitudinal study of Canadian and US respondents examined impacts of the Vancouver Olympic Games (VOG) on images of the host country, Canada, and the Olympic Games (OG) itself. Questionnaires were completed before and after the VOG on four distinct attitude objects: Canada as a vacation destination, the country/people of Canada, and the VOG as a destination and an event. Repeated measures MANOVA indicated positive impacts of the VOG but differences across the two populations. Little change was seen in OG images and interest among Americans, but major improvements occurred among Canadians. Differences in perceptions of the domestic and foreign populations towards the host country appeared, confirming earlier research on domestic bias effects. Results indicated hosting the OG contributed to improved images for Americans of Canadians, Canada as a country and as a destination. Canadians evidenced increased pride in their own country. Findings indicated mutual positive benefits for Canada and the OG images and interest.