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Creating body poses and animations is a critical task for digital content creators, movement artists, and sports professionals. Traditional desktop-based tools for generating 3D poses and animations often lack intuitiveness and are challenging to master. Virtual reality (VR) offers a solution through more intuitive direct-manipulation capabilities. We designed and implemented a VR tool that enables direct manipulation of virtual body parts with inverse kinematics. This tool allows users to pose and animate virtual bodies with one- or two-handed manipulations, while also moving, including bending, jumping, or walking. Our user study demonstrated that participants could produce creative poses and animations using this tool, which we evaluated for creativity support across six factors. Additionally, we discuss further opportunities to enhance creativity support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE Τo look at probable differences in psychological stress indicators among sports professionals (national coaches) based on (a) sex, (b) living status, (c) years of experience, (d) sport kind, and (e) residential status. METHOD The "Perceived Stress Scale" questionnaire was used for the survey. The sample included 605 Greek national coaches, 398 males, 206 women, and one who did not specify their gender preference. RESULTS Only on the questionnaire's "Favorable Perceptions" did univariate analyses of variance indicate statistically significant differences. CONCLUSIONS The study found that stress is a key influence in determining a person's quality of life, especially among sport professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In professional sports, motion analysis has become a fundamental tool for the creation of training menu and to prevent injuries. However, motion analysis techniques are not among amateurs due to the associated high costs and the need for a certain degree of expertise to process and analyze the data. Although video cameras and IMUs are successfully used to monitor athletes’ motion in short-distance running sports, they require to place subjects in a controlled environment that is far from the real conditions met during a competition. Therefore, we propose a non-intrusive speed, stride, and pitch estimation method using 3D-LiDAR, which is compact and can measure real competitions. Our preliminary results show that the maximum error of the proposed method is 2.2%, indicating that the performance of the proposed method is comparable to that of video-based methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a zemiological perspective, organizations causing social harm in their pursuit of profit is a form of white-collar deviance. In the case of sport and violence committed by athletes outside of the field of play, the structures of professional sport and the decisions made by organizations can impact not only the athletes involved, but victims, potential victims and society at large. Interviewing National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Football League (NFL) front office members and journalists, I explore how teams in both elite professional sports leagues make player evaluation decisions regarding players who have been accused of criminality and violence against women, to assess sport organizations and leagues' role in the violence of athletes. Interviewees noted that the talent of the player, their ability to produce value for the organization, and the potential backlash from fans and media play a pre-eminent role in organizational decision-making. Paired with professional sport's privileging of dominance and aggression by athletes, this talent and production-based sanctioning of players accused of VAW illustrates organizational, league and capitalist sport structures' complicity in continued acts of violence by athletes. Implications for contemporary conceptualizations of deviant leisure and organizational white-collar crime are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the most recent data available to analyze the question of position segregation in major league baseball. One of the most consistent beliefs in our popular culture is that in professional sport black Americans have achieved parity with their white counterparts. Surprisingly, given the pervasiveness of this belief, there are relatively few empirical attempts to examine and explain the degree to which parity has or has not been achieved. Our paper examines the extent to which equality of opportunities exist in professional sport by looking at the game of baseball. The paper is a replication and extension of the pioneering study conducted by Loy and McElvogue (1970). We also include in our analysis variables that help predict salary differentials for players by race. The results of our research suggest the following: (1) position segregation still exists in professional baseball with white ballplayers disproportionately overrepresented in the infield (or central positions) and black American ballplayers disproportionately overrepresented in the outfield (or peripheral positions); (2) measures of skill (e.g., home runs, hits, and at bats), not race or playing position, are the only significant predictors of salary; and (3) black ballplayers have a higher median salary than white ballplayers. In our conclusion, we offer several explanations of these relationships and findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Review for the Sociology of Sport is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper is an attempt at preliminary identification of main areas and aspects of interest in sport in economic sciences, along with indication of how it is expressed in the system of national accounts. The authors start their analysis with a microeconomic approach within which they pay attention to the distinction between sports as a hobby and sports as a profession and the significance of those two forms of sport activity from the standpoint of the increase in life quality and welfare (well-being). They also indicate factors which increase the role of sports and physical education in socio-economic development in contemporary economies and societies. The authors pay also attention to growing interdependencies taking contemporarily place between doing sports as a hobby (amateur sports) and professional sports. Furthermore, they emphasize that interest in sport from the perspective of economics of sport and sports management is ever (and in the case of contemporary professional sports in particular) connected with the financial knowledge. In the second part of the paper, an attempt at conceptual recognition of sport sector as a part of the national economy has been undertaken. In this attempt, the authors identify a narrow and a broader concept of statistical measurement of this sector in the national accounts system. Based on the subject literature, they present estimates of the size of sport sector in the EU-27 countries from the point of view of gross value added (GDP), share in total employment and inter-sectoral relationships (multiplier effects of sport sector). Those estimates form the basis for recommendations concerning the use of sport activities for supporting the economic development.

This paper examines epistemological and ontological issues in ethnographic research and texts. Based on my experiences as a subject in an ethnographic study of pro wrestling. I present an ethnography of the ethnographer. In this paper, I discuss problems arising from a hierarchy of understanding that privileges the ethnographer, the primacy of visualism, and a desire to penetrate and uncover hidden truth. I propose that a performative approach to ethnography recognizes the agency of the ethnographic object and opens access to other sensorial phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Football Players Health Study at Harvard University (FPHS) is a unique transdisciplinary, strategic initiative addressing the challenges of former players' health after having participated in American style football (ASF). The whole player focused FPHS is designed to deepen understanding of the benefits and risks of participation in ASF, identify risks that are potentially reversible or preventable, and develop interventions or approaches to improve the health and wellbeing of former players. We are recruiting and following a cohort of former professional ASF players who played since 1960 (current n = 3785). At baseline, participants complete a self‐administered standardized questionnaire, including initial reporting of exposure history and physician‐diagnosed health conditions. Additional arms of the initiative are addressing targeted studies, including promising primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions; extensive in‐person clinical phenotyping, and legal and ethical concerns of the play. This paper describes the components of the FPHS studies undertaken and completed thus far, as well as those studies currently underway or planned for the near future. We present our initiatives herein as a potential paradigm of one way to proceed (acknowledging that it is not the only way). We share what we have learned so that it may be useful to others, particularly in regard to trying to make professional sports meet the needs of multiple stakeholders ranging from players to owners, to fans, and possibly even to parents making decisions for their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The professional and prestigious sports league is one of the efforts to improve social ties in society and the economic development of a country. The maintenance of competitive balance element is the cornerstone of creating a competitive sports league with the ability to attract local and international communities' participation. This paper intends to, first, examine and evaluate the existing regulation and practice of the professional sports league management in term of whether there is a violation of antitrust regulation; and second, to propose some improvements to the existing regulation, so that it is in line with the aim of making the prestigious professional sports league that benefit the community, especially those directly involved in the sports industry, and the country's economic development respectively. This research based on qualitative legal research. An analysis of the antitrust behaviour as contained in the Competition Act 2010 was carried out against the rules and practices of the sale of broadcasting rights set by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).The findings show that, any infringement of antitrust restrictions that exist in the determination of rules and practice of selling the sports league rights is a factor for failure in maintaining the 'competitive balance' element for a sports league. Such infringement will distract the smoothness of the league revenue and affects the financial stability of the league. Apart from that, the professional sports league industry also will be ultimately affected negatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professional sporting events attract millions of fans to urban areas each year as they cheer on their favorite teams. While benefits, such as increased tax revenues and economic development, are often cited as reasons to host a professional sports franchise, the public and private costs receive much less attention. This paper uses air quality readings from the Environmental Protection Agency and Major League Baseball schedules to estimate the impact of Major League Baseball games on local air pollution. The results suggest that attendance at a Major League Baseball game has a statistically significant but negligible impact on local air pollution. [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]

There is a controversy on sport performance literature about what type of inputs might explain more deeply the performance of sports clubs (inputs specification controversy). By one side, several papers have analysed sports teams' performance using the match-related statistics or wages as inputs, well-known as ex post inputs. By other side, some authors have criticized the use of these ex post inputs, and recommend the use of ex ante inputs, as the market value of the players. We have analysed the performance of football teams estimating technical efficiency with three different inputs specification. The methodologies employed were data envelopment analysis (DEA) and a bootstrapped DEA. Our sample is composed by English Premier League football clubs, during three seasons (2012/13-2014/15). The DEA results indicate that the correlation between the three models is positive and significant. The DEA-bootstrapped results help to restate the robustness of the estimations and endorsed the inputs choices. The correlations of the estimations with market value and match-related statistics are the most striking (90% and 94%, DEA and bootstrapped DEA), which indicate that the existent discussion related to the use of match-related statistics as input is unjustified, because it does not affect significantly the efficiency estimations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos de Política Criminal is the property of Dykinson SL and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of the article is to determine whether the actions undertaken by state-owned companies as regards sponsorship of professional sport in Poland are appropriate. It tries to answer the research question presented in the article's titles making use of secondary data analysis, literature review, text analysis and tax interpretations. The author used many different sources of data, such as literature on the subject, including peer-reviewed publications: monographs, scientific articles, textbooks, as well as not peer-reviewed publications: compendia and encyclopaedias, statistical yearbooks, reports and expert evaluations, popular science literature, grey literature (conference materials, working papers), articles published in journals and official subject-related websites. The research focuses on Polish sports clubs, state-owned companies and public institutions. The analysed aspects of the study cover the time scope of 11 years, from 2007 to 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World financial crisis has caused a great impact to our daily lives. The price reflects the difficulty not only to transportation but finance status. In this paper, an adaptive scheduling algorithm for professional sports games was proposed, which greatly improved the performance of conventional game-match scheduling results by hybridizing the Tabu Search algorithm and Genetics algorithm. The purpose of this work is to reduce the travelling cost of all teams. The information of famous sports league (e.g. NBA and MLB) was adopted as preliminary experiment data. Using the new method proposed, it is efficient to find better results than approaches developed before. In addition to finding a feasible schedule that meets all the timing restrictions, the problem addressed in this paper has the extra complexity of having the objective of minimizing the travel costs and every team has the balancing number of the games in home. We formalize the scheduling problem into an optimization problem and adopt the concept of evolution strategy, with consideration of sequential events in a socially world, to solve the challenging issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participation in soccer match-play leads to acute and transient subjective, biochemical, metabolic and physical disturbances in players over subsequent hours and days. Inadequate time for rest and regeneration between matches can expose players to the risk of training and competing whilst not entirely recovered. In professional soccer, contemporary competitive schedules can require teams to compete in excess of 60 matches over the course of the season with periods of fixture congestion occurring, prompting much attention from researchers and practitioners to the monitoring of fatigue and readiness to play. A comprehensive body of research has investigated post-match acute and residual fatigue responses. Yet the relevance of the research for professional soccer contexts is debatable, notably in relation to the study populations and designs employed. Monitoring can indeed be invasive, expensive, time inefficient, and difficult to perform routinely and simultaneously in a large squad of regularly competing players. Uncertainty also exists regarding the meaningfulness and interpretation of changes in fatigue response values and their functional relevance, and practical applicability in the field. The real-world need and cost-benefit of monitoring must be carefully weighed up. In relation to professional soccer contexts, this opinion paper intends to (1) debate the need for post-match fatigue monitoring; (2) critique the real-world relevance of the current research literature; (3) discuss the practical burden relating to measurement tools and protocols, and the collection, interpretation and application of data in the field; and (4) propose future research perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the subject of perceived brand equity in professional sport has been subjected to substantial academic research, there are notable inconsistencies on the dimensions, antecedents and market consequences of brand equity in existing sport brand equity conceptual frameworks. This paper proposes the "Integrated Con-ceptual Framework for Understanding Perceived Brand Equity in Professional Sports Teams" as a contribution towards developing a conceptual understanding that can bridge existing conceptual inconsistencies in the subject area. The Framework was developed from the research findings of an exploratory sequential mixed methods study which was conducted in Zimbabwe, following an extensive review of existing sports brand equity conceptual frameworks. The Framework classifies the antecedents of perceived brand equity in professional sports teams into "Experience-Induced Antecedents", "Macro Marketing Environment-Induced Antecedents" and "Management-Induced Antecedents". These antecedents do not apply uniformly across different sport settings. As a results, the different conceptualizations of the antecedents of sports team brand equity in existing conceptual frameworks can be partly attributed to the fact that the frameworks were derived from studies that were carried out in different sport settings. In some cases, there are no tangible content differences, the inconsistences are only in terms of the narrations used to describe the antecedents by different scholars. Dimensionally, the proposed Integrated Conceptual Framework for Understanding Perceived Brand Equity in Professional Sports Teams departs from this traditional conceptualizations of the dimensions of brand equity by noting that team sport brand equity is an aggregate of Brand Awareness, Brand Associations and Brand Relationship. Thus, the framework views Brand Relationship as an additional brand equity dimension, an insight that has not been explicitly captured in existing conceptual frameworks. The Conceptual Framework also illustrates how perceived professional sports team brand equity can generate negative and positive marketplace outcomes. The Proposed Framework supports the theoretical foundations on the dimensions, antecedents and market consequences of sports team brand equity captured in existing literature and goes further to provide new insights and an improved theoretical understanding of these elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role that the pursuit of hallmark events and of major league sports franchises has played in the growth strategies of western Canadian cities. Literature on civic boosterism illustrates the vigorous competition that developed among regional elites to establish their own cities as perceived growth centers. These competitions are sharpened today by the contemporary mobility of capital, by media/information networks that focus unprecedented attention on ``world-class" events, and by the growth of event-related tourism. The predictions of the benefits from investment in sports and tourism are typically optimistic, and gloss over significant differences of interest between local elites and others who are less likely to benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three arguments concerning the ownership of professional sports are advanced in this paper. First, sports team owners do not maintain the social and cor- porate linkages found among capitalists in other industries. Second, these owners participate in the sports industry because it is both profitable and secure (a) through tax incentives and (b) because it is a self-regulating mono- poly. Finally, the workings of a self-regulating monopoly and the popularity of sport enhance the reproduction of capitalist social relations and ideology. Sport is seen to represent the mythical ideal of meritocracy where hard work can lead to ownership and participation in America's games. This ideal ignores the reality that sports team ownership is based on enormous wealth, not merit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the role relationship between professional athletes and sports journalists. After a brief historical review it discusses (a) the current conflicts between players and sports writers in light of changing role definitions for both athletes and journalists, (b) ethical guidelines for writers covering athletes as personalities, and (c) how the emergence of superstar athletes has intensified the potential for conflict in player-press relations. The major conclusion is that conflict in player-press relations is likely to continue, its intensity will vary with the players' understandings of the role of the press in professional sport, the knowledge and empathy of the sports writers themselves, and the sophistication of the consumers of sport publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As sport assumes greater importance in American society, research specific to the problems of this industry becomes increasingly vital. This paper reviews the current state of research in sport management. Further, four areas for future study are suggested (depending on the variables used): subordinate-related, superior-related, organization-related, and environment-related. Research topics and issues specific to each of these four areas are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although philosophers have searched persistently throughout history for a normative ethical system on which people could and should base their conduct, there is still no single, non-controversial foundation on which the entire structure of ethics can be built. This paper recommends that a scientific ethics approach would be best for the present and the future. It is argued that initially we do not provide an adequate means whereby the young person can bridge the gap between an implicit, developing ethical sense and what will in maturity be regarded as a sounder, more explicit approach to the making of ethical decisions. The scientific ethics approach is applied to the amateur-professional controversy in sport as an example of how it could assist our evolving democratic society today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Business Informatics / Informatyka Ekonomiczna is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

College student athletes face unique, sport-related stressors that may lead to, or exacerbate, mental health (MH) concerns and symptoms. Although the National Collegiate Athletic Association has identified MH screening as a best practice, minimal data exist regarding contemporary screening practices. We explored National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I (DI), Division II (DII), and Division III (DIII) athletic departments' current MH screening practices (N = 264). Compared with DII/DIII (53%), a greater percentage of Division I (89%) conducted formal MH screening. At DII/DIII institutions, athletic trainers were more likely to both administer and review screeners than any other sports medicine professional; sport psychologists primarily oversaw these tasks at DI schools. DI, compared with DII/DIII, institutions were more likely to have had a student athlete attempt suicide (62% vs. 40%) and participate in inpatient treatment (69% vs. 43%). There is a clear need for the National Collegiate Athletic Association to continue to promote policies that support MH screening and to create mechanisms in which it can monitor institutional involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to explore the hot topics of sports industry policy research and the future trends of research in this field. The time node selects the literature published in related journals from 1990 to 2022 as sample data. The research uses citespace6.1 software to draw a knowledge map for research in this field, relevant statistics of research literature in this field, mathematical statistics, word frequency analysis, keyword cooccurrence analysis, and other methods. This study analyzed the temporal and spatial distribution of literature, the specific situation of cooperative research, the changes of research hotspots, and the future research trend in the whole development process of sports industry policy research. Results show that sports colleges/institution is the main institution for sports industry policy research. Among them, sports colleges and professional sports colleges in comprehensive universities occupy a dominant position in research results; research strength is mainly concentrated in the eastern and central regions, and the core authors of the article are mainly concentrated in the Middle East; the cooperation situation of sports industry policy research is gradually formed, but the scale and degree of cooperation in this field have a large room for improvement at present; the main research hotspots in this field are sports industry, sports industry policy, sports consumption, etc.; the hotspots of sports industry policy research are differentiated according to different time periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural diversity is on the rise in professional sports teams. However, surprisingly few studies have been conducted on the consequences of this cultural diversity. This paper addresses both the negative and positive effects of this phenomenon and uses the term "group diversity" to express differences in cultural and ethnic backgrounds. We address negative aspects such as prejudice and discrimination, and explain team fragmentation using ingroup-outgroup bias, social identity theory, scapegoat theory, and integrated threat theory. We also apply theories that may explain some of the positive effects of culturally diverse teams, such as cognitive resource diversity theory, the contact hypothesis, and the social categorization framework. This paper attempts to fill a gap in diversity research on professional teams not only by revealing negative and positive impacts, but also by exploring the applicability of various diversity theories in the context of sports. Such research may even help to develop strategies and techniques for methods that would assist diverse sports teams with building team cohesion and further advancing their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Martial arts are practiced both as a hobby, for physical and psychological training, as well as professional sport with its own rules and competitions. How is performed every move in karate is highly important. In this article we analyze some movement in kata exercises. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the existence of stable aspects of movement - motion invariant during the execution of technical elements of kata. Our application was made on the kata Heian Nidan. Working methodology consisted in achieving some tests relating to kinematic characteristic of motion, in the kata mentioned before. We use an inertial navigation system that contains 17 sensors - MVNBiomech, produced by Dutch company XSENS Technologies BV. Female athlete tested holds a black belt, she practice karate for 8 years and have 22 years old. The results obtained refers to the oscillation of CGM height, on a total of 12 repetitions from kata sequence selected. The average values of height oscillation to CGM = max. 92 cm and min. 72 cm., St. dev. is Min. = 0.002 and Max.= 0,013 while C.V. = max. 1.7%. Conclusions drawn from the above results indicate that the average values are representative and homogeneity is high. Thus we can say that the invariants (general form of repetitive motion), can be recognized in the development of technical elements of martial arts kata exercises (and we can say in other sports). This emphasis of movement patterns can be useful both referees and coaches involved in the educational process [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Event portfolios are a useful way for destination managers to holistically manage their community's collection of events and, through strategic integration and common objectives, more effectively produce benefits. However, regular sport events such as those played by professional sport teams in a sport league have received little attention from event portfolio managers and researchers. Understanding the value and utility of sport team event assets can inform the successful integration of these events into event portfolios. This research used qualitative methods to examine how team asset components can contribute to achieving event portfolio objectives. The results have significance for event tourism researchers and practitioners and demonstrate that contributions are largely founded on the focal professional sport league structure, which provides constant content and regular communications with key target markets. Analysis of the findings led to the development of a model on the utility of including team events in an event portfolio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Academics have studied the finances of football clubs, but not the financial situation of professional football players. To fill this gap in literature, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the financial situation of individual players, the causes of financial problems and the probability of encountering financial difficulties.Design/methodology/approach A survey has been conducted of 102 players of five clubs in the Belgian first division. Based on this unique data set, a multivariate nominal logistic regression model allows the causes of financial difficulties to be identified. A derived classification model is estimated in order to predict the probability of professional players encountering financial problems.Findings About one out of four professional players is confronted with occasional financial problems. Next to the use and investment of income; personal, family and career status factors have a peculiar impact on the individual financial situation of professional sports players.Practical implications The results allow better identification of professional players likely to incur financial problems and better assisting them avoid problems.Originality/value Given the gap in the sports management literature, the findings from the econometric approach provide both researchers and practitioners with new insights into financial management issues of athletes. The findings may help athletes, their managers and club managers in their decision making. Future research can further build on these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Professional sports organizations have a long tradition of utilizing stories as part of their marketing efforts. However, as the media landscape has undergone considerable change as a result of information and communication technologies, most notably through social media, the conditions under which storytelling evolve have altered significantly. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explain how storytelling in the sports sector becomes integrated in social media. Design/methodology/approach - A conceptual review in three sequential steps is carried out. First, extant literature on the role and effects of storytelling is reviewed. This is followed by a review of the interplay between storytelling and the contemporary media landscape, with a particular focus on social media. Third, the authors link both literatures and, by doing so, illustrate the dynamic interplay of storytelling and social media in the sports sector. Findings - The conceptual review shows that storytelling can enact four sequential roles that are characterized by varying degrees of co-creation which, in relation to extant literature, has strong implications for the manageability of storytelling from the perspective of professional sports organizations. Originality/value - Based on the identified sequential roles that storytelling can enact in social media, this paper contributes to the field of sports marketing by depicting how the dynamics between storytelling and the social media landscape exhibit a shifting degree of manageability with regards to storytelling from the perspective of professional sports organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swedish football is an industry not yet being as commercial as the big leagues and is regulated in terms of ownership of clubs. This implies a need for management of stakeholder relations for a Swedish football club. This paper identifies important stakeholders in Swedish football and discusses the multitude of - sometimes conflicting - objectives in managing these relations. The empirical base of the study is founded in a case study of Malmö FF, one of the dominant clubs in Sweden, with a qualitative single case research approach. Data are collected by means of semi-structured interviews and participant observations. The results of the study show a number of tensions as paradoxes for stakeholder management, suggest management dispositions to reconcile these paradoxes and suggest areas for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider the case of potential "correlated parlays" in American college football wagering. The structure of college football games is such that games in which favorites prevail in "against-the-spread" (spread) bets are expected to be more likely to go over the posted "total" of the game. Using a longitudinal data set over the years from 2005-2015, our findings confirm this to be the case. However, to prevent bettors from utilizing this trend to profit in their wagers, many sportsbooks disallow some, or all, samegame parlay bets. We find that sportsbooks have generally been too conservative in refusing such bets and have thus foregone profitability in the vast majority of betting situations. This analysis opens a new line of discussion in the area of sports market efficiency research - that of correlated parlay betting. We consider this case and present potential directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance indicators allow for the objective quantification of performance, however, limited PI research for professional rugby league exists. Therefore, this paper assessed 24 relative PIs (home value minus away) from all 27 rounds of the 2012, 2013 and 2014 European Super League seasons, collected by Opta, amounting to 567 matches. Backwards logistic (match outcome) and linear (points difference) regression models were used alongside exhaustive Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection decision trees to identify performance indicators (PIs) and key performance indicators. Teams had a higher chance of winning and would gain more points when they scored first (OR = 1.6,β = 2.4) and increased completed sets (OR = 1.2,β = 1.2) by one unit. Conversely, teams had a lower chance of winning when they increased scoots (OR = 0.9,β = −0.2). However, some PIs which were thought to be important (as identified by previous literature) were removed from the analysis thus calling into question the appropriateness of stepwise methods. Future research may consider utilising dimension reduction techniques when analysing large data-sets that encompass multiple variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2003, the Danish Football Association introduced a new club licensing system for its first-tier clubs. Among the criteria for the system was a requirement for clubs to play at a stadium with a minimum capacity of 10,000 spectators. This paper aims to understand how the Danish Football Association and the Danish league clubs have succeeded in their efforts to make their licensing criteria a public concern by standardizing them at a municipal level. It presents a case study examining how the policy process surrounding the decision of building a new stadium in the Danish village Hobro changed – in a peculiar way – what in institutional theory is understood as a (voluntary) standard into a directive for Mariagerfjord Municipality. The case is illustrative of policy processes regarding stadium funding in other parts of Denmark and most likely in other Scandinavian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

By using the methods of literature and logical analysis, this paper combs and summarizes the realistic background, core content and governance experience of social responsibility development for the NBA league, and puts forward the beneficial enlightenment to the social responsibility governance for CBA league in China. The research shows that the continuous embedding of the concept of social responsibility governance and the image crisis of the NBA league are the realistic background of social responsibility development for the NBA league; the NBA league mainly performs its social responsibilities in seven dimensions: internal organizational governance, human rights protection, labor and capital coordination, environmental protection, fair operation, consumers' rights protection and community governance. In the practice of performing its responsibilities, it has gradually formed a social responsibility management mechanism with perfect system, coordinated cooperation, consistent objectives and clear levels of social responsibility governance system and comprehensive information disclosure feedback various forms of social responsibility supervision mechanism. The enlightenment maybe for China as follows: at the government level, improving the legal system and strengthen the normative guidance of social responsibility, and creating a social responsibility participation atmosphere and establish a social responsibility reward and punishment mechanism; at the association level, establishing a social responsibility management system; at the alliance level, improving the social responsibility management organization, and the social responsibility system guarantee, expanding channels for disclosure of social responsibility information; at the social level, strengthening media publicity, promoting public awareness and action to protect rights, and intensifying the social supervision of the alliance's performance of responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: After the 2008 Olympic Games, China has gradually become a prominent sports country, but there is still a certain distance from a sports power. China should improve the level of sports ability testing while continuously strengthening the construction of sports power. At present, the method of sports professional athletic ability tests in China can not be better combined with algorithms, so it is crucial to study the athletic ability test of edge computing. OBJECTIVES: To improve the ability of sports testing of sports majors in China, to improve the technical level of the construction of China's sports power, to solve the problem that China's sports ability testing cannot be better combined with algorithms, and to solve the problem that China's physical education disciplines cannot be well applied to computer technology. METHODS: Use the motor function theory and edge computing to establish the model needed, test the athletic ability of swimming sports according to the model, and analyze the advanced level and shortcomings of China's swimming sports with measurement according to the results of the athletic ability test. RESULTS: Firstly, edge computing and other algorithms are more accurate for professional athletic ability testing of swimming sports, and improving the iteration level of algorithms can improve the problem of the inconspicuous effect of sports testing; secondly, edge algorithms combined with traditional testing tools can calculate athletic ability more accurately in athletic ability testing. CONCLUSION: China should vigorously improve the level of edge computing and other algorithms to improve the problem of China's sports disciplines not being able to apply computer technology well and technically improve the level of sports training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]