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This paper aims to identify and describe changes in football fans' lives brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Meeting at the intersection of football fandom and COVID-19, the objective of this study was to understand and describe how and why football fans experienced the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of their sports' spectating habits. The findings are structured around seven overlapping areas at the intersection of football fandom and COVID-19: 1) emotions; 2) socialising; 3) demand for technologies; 4) temporality; 5) stadium attendance; 6) benefits; 7) stability and changeability. Findings indicated that the pandemic has negatively affected fans' social and emotional responses, which increase the demand for technologies such as: immersive technologies, performance advanced analytics with user friendly interfaces, and e-sports. The findings could be useful to sports management professionals and allow them to build strategies to deliver better fan experiences in extraordinary circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key recent theme in the academic literature focuses on the increasing role of corporate social responsibility in the professional sport industry. This study is located within this body of work and examines how CSR communications occur in the professional football industry. This paper answers three key research questions: What kind of CSR-related issues do football clubs address with stakeholders? How do football clubs communicate their CSR efforts, if they do so? What strategies are followed and how do these differ across clubs and national spaces? The paper reviews important aspects of CSR communication across different clubs and football markets, using the G-25 professional football clubs in the world. It proposes a continuum model which adopts an international perspective and sheds light on how CSR communication strategies vary and evolve across different clubs and football cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent body of literature has begun to address how and why sports organisations can benefit from and leverage new technologies. Using a case study methodology, the present research study addresses this contemporary sports managerial and marketing issue by considering the social media activities of an Australian professional sports organisation. Principally, the study examines the strategies the organisation is using to communicate through and moderate social media content. Instead of employing paid marketing professionals, the organisation's social media activities are administered by unpaid members and fans. By surveying the organisation's social media moderators and by conducting in-depth semi structured interviews with the organisation's managerial and marketing employees, the proceeding paper considers the potential and constraints associated with managing the organisation's social media content in this way. While respondents acknowledge several opportunities arising from the organisation's involvement in social media, especially with regard to younger users, potential ethical and legal ramification were simultaneously addressed. Thus, finding a balance between open, real-time communication forums while at the same time monitoring user content may continue to be dependent on the dedication, time, and ethical judgment of sports club fan moderators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has focused on the salaries of athletes and players in professionalised sports. Currently, there is a lack of evidence regarding the income of elite athletes in non-professionalised sports who represent their home country in various competitions (e.g., during the Olympics). For this paper, a theoretical model has been developed to explain the income of elite athletes as a function of individual factors and consumption capital of spectators generated through media exposure of the sport. The model is tested using data from a nationwide survey of elite athletes in Germany who are supported by the German Sports Aid Foundation (n = 1,133). The results show that being an Olympic champion, age, age-squared, being employed, attending school, and the media exposure of the sport have a significant impact on the income of elite athletes in non-professionalised sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationships between the ethnic characteristics of the sports service provider and consumers' evaluations of perceived qualifications and the reliability of the service provider as well as intentions to purchase services from the given provider. Using Tajfel's social identity theory as theoretical support, we have investigated the hypothesized stereotype relationships using empirical data. Results indicate that consumers have more favourable opinions and have higher purchase intentions when the ethnic profile of the provider matches the general perceptions of that group. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the rise of communications technology in recent years, fans have unprecedented access to their favourite teams and players regardless of geographic location. Such developments have led to the emergence and increased importance of 'satellite fans'. Given the inconsistent nature of the sport product, managers should actively seek to cultivate and develop such a fandom. The purpose of this paper is to extend prior conceptualisations of brand equity in team sport (Gladden and Milne, 1999; Gladden et al. 1998), to explain the development of brand equity across domestic boundaries. Earlier models can thus be expanded to account for satellite fans and the consumption of the sport product in foreign markets. Such a framework may assist sport managers to better understand how to capitalise on branding opportunities across geographic boundaries [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With changes in the political system and the economic explosion in the Great China region, sport business has gradually grown in the past two decades. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the evolution of the sport industry in the Great China region, specifically in China and Taiwan. The findings of this paper may be used as an information source for policy making in the sport industry and for curriculum design in sport management-related academic programmes. After a thorough analysis, several major conclusions are made as follows: 1. The export of sporting goods plays an important role in improving the national economy, but domestic demand on sporting goods is relatively weak. To sustain intensive competition, R&D and branding are the keys to the future. 2. The professional sport sector is still in the infant stage and only a few sports are organised under a professional sport structure. An essential task of the sector is to train young, talented athletes, and to enhance managerial competency of professional sport organisations. 3. The promotion of other sport industrial segments, such as venue construction and sport agencies, relies upon cooperation with foreign corporations and investment incentives from the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seventy-five million fans contribute nearly $3.0 billion annually to NASCAR's profitability. From 1997 to 2004 NASCAR saw a 24.6% increase in their fan base while other professional sports organisations declined. Identification and perceived intimacy with NASCAR drivers may partially explain heightened fan commitment; but, is there also a role for the fan community? This paper examines how fan communities and their folklore strengthen fan commitment to NASCAR and its drivers. Using qualitative analyses of folklore surrounding NASCAR drivers we identify and discuss the lore of identity and of shared and clashing values. Findings suggest that empathy with a driver, expressed in stories fans tell from their experiences and observations, enhances their commitment and contributes to the folklore of the larger fan community. Fans differentiate between drivers based on shared and clashing values, creating stories of conflict, heightening the drama of NASCAR and building fan commitment to drivers with shared values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the strategies and actions Canadian professional hockey teams implement in order to build and exploit their brand. Data were collected during one-on-one interviews with vice presidents and marketing directors of four teams: the Montreal Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators, the Toronto Maple Leafs (TML) and the Vancouver Canucks. Our results, based on content analysis, show that Canadian teams, while aware of the importance of branding, do not have a formal brand strategy, with the exception of the TML. Consequently, their marketing actions do not contribute in building, leveraging and ensuring coherence of their team's brand. Furthermore, the NHL does not help its teams by centralising teams' branding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Professional Sport Organizations (PSO) faces the unique challenge of balancing the commercial interests of a business operation with the expressive identification by its fans and stakeholders. As these organisations move onto the global stage, the internet constitutes a powerful medium for managing this challenge because it allows for the simultaneous projection of different organisational images to different audiences. In this paper, we develop a theory of image communication by PSOs using neo-institutional theory and show that inter-organisational homogeneity dominates the way in which English soccer clubs use their websites to communicate about their images to industry, fans, and community stakeholders. Our results suggest that PSOs underutilise the potential for image differentiation offered by the internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarises a research stream dealing with the US system of amateur intercollegiate sport and its relation to International Prospective Student-Athletes (IPSAs). Crucial differences exist between the US 'clear demarcation' of commercial pro sport and amateurism as applied by National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I (NCAA DI) on one hand, and the International club-based federalised structure, with more connections between professional and amateur clubs on the other. Thus, IPSAs, NCAA staff, and member institutions experience problems. As litigation has not resolved these challenges, regulatory evolution and policy recommendations are in order to achieve greater balance among NCAA DI membership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]