Sport Marketing Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

One of the strongest claims made by proponents of mixed martial arts (MMA) is that the confrontations are more authentic than other types of combat sports or, in the words of one promotion, ‘as real as it gets’. Since the advent of the... more

One of the strongest claims made by proponents of mixed martial arts (MMA) is that the confrontations are more authentic than other types of combat sports or, in the words of one promotion, ‘as real as it gets’. Since the advent of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the United States in 1993, the franchise has become one of the most rapidly growing sports in the world, especially since the take-over of the UFC by Zuffa LLC. Twenty years later, the UFC and its imitators have transformed the global understanding of martial arts and established a successful business model for promoting martial arts-based prize fighting. However, on closer examination, the development of the rules for ‘no holds barred’ fighting demonstrate a desire on the part of the promoters to stage fights that meet audience expectations, including particularly dramatic forms of violence and decisive outcomes. Instead of fighting in some kind of ‘de-regulated’ space, the UFC and other MMA appear to be ‘hyper-violence’, a type of stylized unarmed combat, especially telegenic, that obscures the actual effects of that violence on participants, even as it focuses the camera almost obsessively on particularly dramatic violent moments. Ironically, the regulations of ‘as real as it gets’ fighting seek to produce a confrontation that meets audience expectations, shaped especially by choreographed violence in movies and videogames.

En primer lugar me gustaría dejar claro que el fin del marketing no es vender, aunque esa sea una consecuencia de importancia fundamental. En segundo lugar delimitar aquello que estamos ofreciendo a las personas cuando entran en contacto... more

The reboot case focuses on Major League Soccer (MLS), its successful diversity initiatives, the importance of its Hispanic/Latino fan base, and the rebranding of Chivas USA as the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC). It is designed to... more

The reboot case focuses on Major League Soccer (MLS), its successful diversity initiatives, the importance of its Hispanic/Latino fan base, and the rebranding of Chivas USA as the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC). It is designed to examine the challenges faced by a professional sports expansion team in the United States, which in this particular case had a mission to focus its outreach efforts on the Hispanic/Latino community. Comparing and contrasting the acknowledged failures of Chivas USA, juxtaposed with the successes of the LA Galaxy and Seattle Sounders FC, students are able to investigate why Chivas USA shuttered its operations following the 2014 season and analyze the LAFC relaunch in 2018.

Despite its acknowledged contribution to local, national, and global economies, there is no consensus as to exactly what is meant by the term sports marketing. This conceptual paper attempts to address this deficiency via the development... more

Despite its acknowledged contribution to local, national, and global economies, there is no consensus as to exactly what is meant by the term sports marketing. This conceptual paper attempts to address this deficiency via the development of a new framework that is based upon two key dimensions: type of product and level of sports integration. By categorizing goods and services as either sports products or nonsports products and by differentiating between traditional strategies and sponsorship-based strategies, four sports marketing domains are identified. They are the theme-based, product-based, alignment-based, and sports-based strategic domains. The underlying principles for developing the framework are delineated in this article, and many examples for each strategic domain are provided as a means of illustrating their conceptual differences and how they are implemented.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19, the focus on challenges posed by the pandemic was more than considering the coping strategies. Given to the significance of coping with strategic challenges of COVID-19 in Sport, the aim of this study... more

With the outbreak of the COVID-19, the focus on challenges posed by the pandemic was more than considering the coping strategies. Given to the significance of coping with strategic challenges of COVID-19 in Sport, the aim of this study was to monitor the coping opportunities to address the strategic challenges of COVID-19 in sport federations. This research was a qualitative exploratory study through a thematic analysis. The statistical population included experts of sports management with the experience of familiarity with the principles of futurology, and according to the research nature, 16 experts were interviewed through snowball sampling until reaching theoretical saturation. The tool used in the research was a semi-structured interview. The intra-subject agreement method was used to ensure the reliability of the interviews, and the validity was confirmed by consulting sport management experts and reviewing based on their opinions. The thematic analysis by Braun and Clarke's (2006) method led to the extraction of 188 codes, 15 sub-themes and five main themes. The findings demonstrated that "Redefining the jobs", «Virtual capacity creation», «Supportive approaches», «Upgrade and updating», and «Public Relations and communications» are among the opportunities required to address the strategic challenges posed by COVID-19 in sport federations. According to findings, focusing on the explored strategies and attempts to maximum use of these strategies in the field of research and implementation can be a key step in improving management processes and decreasing Corona consequences in sports federations.

After the 1990's, the changes in the football world had helped to develop and to grow the economy of football rapidly. The development of digital broadcasting led to build a bigger commercial structure. With the effect of those... more

After the 1990's, the changes in the football world had helped to develop and to grow the economy of football rapidly. The development of digital broadcasting led to build a bigger commercial structure. With the effect of those changes, commercial incomes, sponsor revenues, stadium and facilities incomes, and betting incomes have increased over time. This rapid change also brings several problems. UEFA has published UEFA criteria in order to protect football's sustainability and viability in a long term. Depending on license criteria that is published by UEFA, it has used a road map for football clubs, regarding of corporate structure of UEFA to work, that identified the general rules like in a company structure and management that should be all the necessary factors of production in a systematic and effective way in order to transform football clubs to a corporate organization and make them sustainable. With this out of the common guide explains readers how to run a club in...

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to single out the key variables in the sport sponsorship relationship, and more specifically to examine the impact of Team Achievement, Sponsor Recognition and Sponsor Altruism on two major... more

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to single out the key variables in the sport sponsorship relationship, and more specifically to examine the impact of Team Achievement, Sponsor Recognition and Sponsor Altruism on two major behavioural outcomes, fans’ purchase intention and word of mouth communication. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative method was adopted for the scope of this research and questionnaires were collected from fans of a prominent Greek basketball team. A total of 801 questionnaires were collected and interpreted by means of SPSS. Findings – The proposed model was supported by the empirical evidence. All (with the exception of one) research hypotheses were confirmed, either fully or partially (all or some of the distinct dimensions of our independent variables have a significant effect on all or some of the distinct dimensions of the dependent variables). Research limitations/implications –The sample used was predominantly individuals highly involved in t...

Objective of the study: Despite the opportunities to develop athlete brands, many athletes in less popular sport still struggle with developing their brands. Therefore, the current study aimed to contribute to the existing athlete... more

Objective of the study: Despite the opportunities to develop athlete brands, many athletes in less popular sport still struggle with developing their brands. Therefore, the current study aimed to contribute to the existing athlete branding literature and practitioners by providing a better and holistic understanding of athlete branding in less popular sport. Methodology: The current we employed a triadic approach that was involved with three stakeholders: Athlete, fans, and media to explore important factors in athlete branding strategies in less popular sport. Originality/ Relevance: There is less focus on less popular sport and their stakeholders branding. With increasing interest from fans less popular sport and their athletes are gaining more attention than ever. Thus, the study opted to discuss an ignored phenomenon in the context of athlete branding. Main results: The result of the study identified four main themes and eight associated subthemes based on both the interview and...

Understanding the role of the league brand on consumers' support for individual teams is important for the successful management and marketing of both leagues and teams. In the current research, brand architecture and brand association... more

Understanding the role of the league brand on consumers' support for individual teams is important for the successful management and marketing of both leagues and teams. In the current research, brand architecture and brand association literature are integrated to examine the role of the league brand on the relationship between the team brand and team-related behavior. Data from an online survey of professional soccer league consumers (N = 414) were analyzed using structural equation modeling with bootstrapping procedures. The relationship between the team brand and team-related behavior was partially mediated by the league brand. Findings of this research contribute new knowledge by empirically demonstrating that characteristics of the league brand have an influence on team-related behavioral intentions. Furthermore, we contribute a different analytical approach for brand association research using formative indicators to measure team and league brand associations. In the managerial implications, we outline how league managers can support individual teams and how team managers can leverage off the league brand to attract consumers.

The goal of this study is to determine what factors effect the attractiveness of both national football leagues and the Champions League from the perspective of fans, and how these factors are viewed by fans of clubs at the top and bottom... more

The goal of this study is to determine what factors effect the attractiveness of both national football leagues and the Champions League from the perspective of fans, and how these factors are viewed by fans of clubs at the top and bottom of the league table. This is of interest as there are differences between the financial resources available to the clubs and leagues. Based on the literature on sport consumer behaviour, we propose that four determinants are relevant to the 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 UK Premier League and German Bundesliga participated in the study. The research model was tested using PLS. The results show that the determinants significantly impact perceived attractiveness, and that even fans of financially privileged and successful clubs concede that perceived competitive balance is necessary for the attractiveness to be maintained.

Research Question: The current research examined the effect of an athlete promoting his philanthropic efforts to his Instagram followers. Specifically, we assessed how adopting this strategy impacted his followers' perceptions of, and... more

Research Question: The current research examined the effect of an athlete promoting his philanthropic efforts to his Instagram followers. Specifically, we assessed how adopting this strategy impacted his followers' perceptions of, and level of fandom towards, his personal brand. Research Methods: We used a longitudinal research design including a pre-intervention survey, an intervention, and a post-intervention survey separated by a six-month interval. We analysed free-thought brand associations, perceptions of athlete philanthropy, and levels of fandom reported by an athlete's Instagram followers from two independent samples (N T1 = 165; N T2 = 172) and a longitudinal sample (N = 32). Results and Findings: Results indicated that the athlete's promotion of his philanthropic activities positively impacted his brand image. This change was characterized by a shift from the prominence of sport-specific brand attributes to perceptions of overall character. In addition, followers reported increased perceptions of the athlete's engagement in philanthropy, and stronger levels of overall fandom towards the athlete. Research Implications: Findings demonstrated the promotion of philanthropic activities impacted the brand associations consumers linked to the athlete's personal brand, and strengthened the overall connection between the athlete and his followers. Findings extend athlete branding knowledge and provide practical implications to inform how athletes and agents may implement social media brand management. ARTICLE HISTORY

College sports coaches and administrators can use open letters to repair images and weather crises, especially during losing seasons. Our rhetorical analysis uses Benoit’s typology of image repair to reveal three primary strategies... more

College sports coaches and administrators can use open letters to repair images and weather crises, especially during losing seasons. Our rhetorical analysis uses Benoit’s typology of image repair to reveal three primary strategies attempted during losing seasons: evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, and corrective action. We take note of how open letters distributed via electronic media channels widen the audience of such letters, but also, complicate issues of timing and of targeted audience analysis. We offer five implications for scholars and practitioners, including the importance of audience analysis, the value of corrective action, the ineffectiveness of attacking accusers, and the unique value of transcendence in sport communication image repair rhetoric.

Sport fans ’ motivations: an investigation of Romanian soccer

This is the first text that encompasses the vast, varied, and exciting field of sport communication. Using communication theory and sport literature, and drawing on the authors’ own rich experiences as sport communication professionals,... more

This is the first text that encompasses the vast, varied, and exciting field of sport communication. Using communication theory and sport literature, and drawing on the authors’ own rich experiences as sport communication professionals, Strategic Sport Communication introduces readers to all aspects of the sport communication industry and how each is integral to the management, marketing, and operational goals of sport organizations at all levels. Using their Strategic Sport Communication Model (SSCM), the authors outline the process of sport communication and categorize its various aspects into three major components: personal and organizational communication, sport mass media, and sport communication services and support. The SSCM provides the first conception of sport communication as a distinct discipline and gives readers a thorough understanding of sport communicaton and its impact in the world of sport. Students will explore the many careers in the industry and discover how sport organizations can use their knowledge for greater success.

Today, the number of social networks in which communications are made is increasing rapidly, and most teenagers and adults, as part of everyday life, use the benefits of knowing others and introducing themselves to others from social... more

Today, the number of social networks in which communications are made is increasing rapidly, and most teenagers and adults, as part of everyday life, use the benefits of knowing others and introducing themselves to others from social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, Weblogs and Wikiquote. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of advertising on social networks on the marketing of sports services. Methodologically, this descriptive study was of correlational type and its statistical community was formed by active users in social sports networks. The statistical sample was available (from users who were active social sports networks). In this research, social networking was measured using the scale of Soleimani-Bashli and Talibi (2010) and marketing mix of sport services using Yaghoobi et al. (2011) scale. To test the research hypotheses, structural equation modeling was used. The results of the research showed that advertising in social networks has a positive and significant effect on marketing of sports services. As a result, the greater the amount of advertising on social networks, the more likely it is that customer satisfaction, attracting new customers, and increasing investment in sports services will increase. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to the aspect of advertising in these networks and to be taken into consideration in strategic strategies of sports providers.

The present data illustrate the effectiveness of utilizing theoretically guided models to develop consumer-based micro-segmentation strategies. The results provide marketers with a powerful discriminant function calculated from six... more

The present data illustrate the effectiveness of utilizing theoretically guided models to develop consumer-based micro-segmentation strategies. The results provide marketers with a powerful discriminant function calculated from six variables to profile consumers and make informed decisions regarding promotional content and channel delivery to stimulate processing of marketing communication. The function also enables marketers to carve out casual, moderate, and loyal market segments with 74.3% accuracy utilizing only 18 survey questions.

The role of sport in contemporary society needs no emphasis. Sport has become an inexorable part of the modern society with influence being felt in all facets of national life. Sport has also become a symbol of national unity. Governments... more

The role of sport in contemporary society needs no emphasis. Sport has become an inexorable part of the modern society with influence being felt in all facets of national life. Sport has also become a symbol of national unity. Governments utilize sport to legitimate themselves. Sport in society is studied because they are closely linked with how people think about and see the world. The overwhelming influence of sports in nations has lent to the evolvement of extensive bureaucracy to support and develop sport. Sociology assists in analyzing and clarifying the different types of relationships within the society. Man has been able to reduce his tension and to divert a somewhat aggressive behavior to an object instead of towards a friend or a fellow man through participation in sport. This paper therefore, reviews the following: sport and society, the role of sport in the society, social control and sport, socialization and sport, Sport and Socializing Institutions.

This study investigated the professional duties of a professional rugby league Academy Manager (AM) with the explicit aim of identifying bespoke development needs through the operation of the Talent Development Self Navigation Framework... more

This study investigated the professional duties of a professional rugby league Academy Manager (AM) with the explicit aim of identifying bespoke development needs through the operation of the Talent Development Self Navigation Framework (TDSNF). This study adopts an original embodied pedagogy approach grounded in a critical realist view of the participant’s Talent Development domain. The paper presents a full description of the framework’s application as a case study example of the TDSNF in practice. Findings acknowledge how the facilitated TDSNF helped the AM reflect more fully on his ‘real world’ and ‘foundational wants and needs’ to co-create both an individual learning plan for himself and a TD development plan for his Academy team. Feedback on the framework’s content, structure, process and outputs was extremely positive. Significant implications in adopting this approach more widely for coach education and learning are then presented.

The overweight problem in Iraq has been a great issue that needs to be solved by government to ensure a better well-being. The purpose of this paper is to explore the need of the modern technology in physical education in order to... more

The overweight problem in Iraq has been a great issue that needs to be solved by government to ensure a better well-being. The purpose of this paper is to explore the need of the modern technology in physical education in order to overcome the issues of overweight in Iraq. The methodology used in this paper is through library research which focuses on issues of overweight and modern technology application in physical education programs. It can be concluded that the use of modern technology in physical education programs will help to promote the use of best practices in physical and health education in order to overcome overweight issues. Further suggestion relating to the prospects of modern technology in physical and health education were recommended in this paper.

The tourist market in Poland for last ten years has developed, both on the supply and demand side. The author indicates the key factors of attractiveness of modern sports venues in Poland as the products of any regions on the tourist... more

The tourist market in Poland for last ten years has developed, both on the supply and demand side. The author indicates the key factors of attractiveness of modern sports venues in Poland as the products of any regions on the tourist market. The methods of analysis (using secondary sources) and the synthesis of the obtained results were used to achieve the goal. The article presents the specificity of the tourist product of the region. The author shows the various aspects of the functioning and development of sports facilities as tourist attractions, meeting the needs of today's customers. The author analyzes the determinants of the internal and external functioning and development of sports facilities in the supply and the demand side of the meetings market. Described conditions for the attractiveness of sports facilities as products of the regions can be used by other destination managers as well as managers of similar sport arenas in Poland, to improve their functioning and development of services. The author is aware of the limitations associated with these studies and the conclusions resulting from the analysis of some of the factors and dynamics of changes in the tourist market in Poland as well as the further development of sports facilities. The article is a review of present concept of development of sports facilities as attractive tourist destination products.

The purpose of this study was to investigate Pakistani fans in the context of athlete branding regarding foreign cricketers in the country's first ever cricket league. Athlete brand attributes and athlete brand implication discussed with... more

The purpose of this study was to investigate Pakistani fans in the context of athlete branding regarding foreign cricketers in the country's first ever cricket league. Athlete brand attributes and athlete brand implication discussed with 15 fans of foreign cricketers via semi-structured interview. The components of athlete brand are related with on-field attributes (behavior, team, achievements, style of play and skills) and off-field attributes (physical attraction, lifestyle, personal appeal, ethnicity and entertainment). In turn, implication of athlete branding contributed in the domain of athlete loyalty (media following, creating their own narratives, positive word-of-mouth, resistance to change and commitment), athlete's team loyalty (team substitution, supporting multiple teams and revenue generation) and athlete's sponsors loyalty. The implications of these findings for building and managing an athlete's brand are also discussed.

The results from this study extend previous research by empirically testing the involvement based Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) segmentation procedure on sports spectators. To date, the procedure has only been verified using sports... more

The results from this study extend previous research by empirically testing the involvement based Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) segmentation procedure on sports spectators. To date, the procedure has only been verified using sports participants, although the PCM was developed with a broader range of sports consumers in mind. The validity of the procedure is confirmed using two online surveys, which gather data from spectators at both the league (n=761) and team (n=623)
level. A three-step segmentation procedure then
places respondents into the PCM stages – awareness, attraction, attachment and allegiance. ANOVA tests indicate that the four groups significantly differ from one another on attitudinal and behavioural measures for both league and team spectators. Findings suggest that the PCM is an appropriate framework to investigate fan development at both league and team levels.
Thus sports marketers are provided with a research segmentation tool capable of helping them to better understand their heterogeneous consumer bases and thus guide marketing decisions.

This study examined leadership styles and staff performance in sports organizations. Five hundred and thirty two management staff were purposively selected from five states Sports Councils. The “ Management Staff Response Questionnaire ”... more

This study examined leadership styles and staff performance in sports organizations. Five hundred and thirty two management staff were purposively selected from five states Sports Councils. The “ Management Staff Response Questionnaire ” (MSRQ) was administered to measure the level of performance of staff of the councils, identify the leadership styles in operation and the extent to which leadership styles enhanced performance of the staff of the councils. The leadership styles most often used by leaders of the councils were autocratic, democratic and pseudo-democratic. The finding also revealed that, there was a high level of job performance of Sports Councils’ staff of South-eastern Nigeria and that leadership styles significantly influenced the job performance of staff. The study concluded that among the several organizational factors which could enhance job performance of Sports Council workers, the style employed by the leader of the Sports Council most of the time play a signi...

This study provides an analysis of the positive impacts and ongoing problems of the UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, while also exploring the background of FFP and the main rationale behind it. Besides drawing on relevant... more

This study provides an analysis of the positive impacts and ongoing problems of the UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, while also exploring the background of FFP and the main rationale behind it. Besides drawing on relevant academic resources, books, newspaper articles, UEFA documents and media reports, the study is partly based on three interviews. It is argued that FFP maintains existing power relations in European football by restoring the competitive balance among the super clubs and by creating formidable barriers to enter into this elite group. In this respect, FFP emerged in the context of elite clubs in particular due to concerns regarding external money injections by wealthy club owners. Accordingly, today most of the discussion regarding FFP in academia and football media still revolves around a small number of issues relating to these elite clubs, which is surprising considering that 90% of the investigations have been opened into clubs from smaller leagues. Moreover, although the beneficial effects of FFP on club finances is evident, focusing too much on these positive impacts distracts from other matters such as the general lack of transparency during the implementation of rules. Also other possible UEFA policies which could be adopted to underpin FFP’s objectives and to buttress the ‘financial fairness’ argument are widely ignored.

Resumen Este trabajo de investigación tiene como fin indagar sobre los hábitos deportivos y la aceptación del producto 'campeonato ecuatoriano de fútbol profesional', entre los habitantes del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito y valles... more

Resumen Este trabajo de investigación tiene como fin indagar sobre los hábitos deportivos y la aceptación del producto 'campeonato ecuatoriano de fútbol profesional', entre los habitantes del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito y valles aledaños. La sustentación teórica se basa en fuentes secundarias que permiten entender el mercado del fútbol en Ecuador. La realidad del mercado se evidencia mediante un estudio de carácter cuantitativo que utiliza a la en-cuesta como herramienta. A partir del proceso de investigación se obtienen resultados que se desprenden de 1 209 encuestas: el 11.56 % de las personas encuestadas prefiere asistir a espectáculos deportivos en relación al fútbol, mientras que 66.50 % califican entre 1 y 7 el interés que despierta el campeonato de fútbol en Ecuador, es así que el 'rey de los deportes' en Ecuador pierde su trono como espectáculo de masas. Palabras clave Fútbol, liga pro, mercado fútbol, fútbol ecuatoriano, fútbol profesional, FEF, AFNA, Ecuador Clasificación JEL: M31 Abstract The research work aims to investigate sports habits and the acceptance of the product 'Ecuadorian professional soccer championship', among the inhabitants of the Metropolitan District of Quito and surrounding valleys. The theoretical support is based on secondary sources that allow understanding the soccer market in Ecuador. The reality of the market is evidenced by a quantitative study using the survey as a tool. From the research process results are obtained that are derived from 1 209 surveys: 11.56 % of people surveyed prefer to attend sports events in relation to football, while 66.50 % qualify between 1 and 7 the interest that awakens the championship of soccer in Ecuador, it is so that the 'king of sports' in Ecuador loses its throne as a mass spectacle.

The purpose of this study was to employ systems theory to analyze the social network of a Big Ten football team’s Twitter community. An identifiable network was found among the observed actors (N = 139), with fan accounts composing the... more

The purpose of this study was to employ systems theory to analyze the social network of a Big Ten football team’s Twitter community. An identifiable network was found among the observed actors (N = 139), with fan accounts composing the largest percentage of the network. The number of observed reciprocal interactions was low, only 11.8% of the interactions and only 21.5% of the nodes. Traditional- media accounts frequently interacted with other media accounts, while fans inter- acted primarily with other fans. Overall, nontraditional-media accounts’ users were most focused on interactivity. Team-related accounts were almost nonexistent in the interactive network. A systems-theory-based network was found in terms of input, transformation, and output components. The feedback loop was the weak link in the network, indicating a possible lack of importance of direct feedback in Twitter social networks.

Purpose: This paper examined ethic and institutionalization of code of professional practice in the Kano State School sports system. These codes of ethics include commitment to athletes, player, public, profession, employment practice and... more

Purpose: This paper examined ethic and institutionalization of code of professional practice in the Kano State School sports system. These codes of ethics include commitment to athletes, player, public, profession, employment practice and services that embodied personal integrity, dignity and mutual respect. Methods: Three [3] research questions were formulated, answered and tested at 0.05 level of Significance. The Sample comprised of 5 School Sports professionals management practitioners selected from secondary schools of Kano, from the total population of 105 through stratified Sampling technique. The instrument used in the research was the Self-Assessment Questionnaire [SAQ] developed by the researcher, data collected were analysed using rank ordered correlation. Results: The findings revealed the need for school sport management professionals to understand the different functions of codes and distinguished between the three types of codes namely, code of ethics, conduct, practi...

The Football World Cup is one of the biggest global sporting events. Along with the Summer Olympic Games, the Football World Cup can be truly called a mega-sport event. Both events attract billions of dollars in broadcast and sponsorship... more

The Football World Cup is one of the biggest global sporting events. Along with the Summer Olympic Games, the Football World Cup can be truly called a mega-sport event. Both events attract billions of dollars in broadcast and sponsorship contracts and millions of spectators every four years when the events are staged. Nations and cities around the world desperately seek to host both events. By doing so host nations and cities often justify the multi-billion dollar investment required to stage these events on economic development grounds with stated benefits to emerge from urban renewal, transport infrastructure and tourism development.
Given the size of the Football World Cup and its economic impact it is surprising that this book is the first attempt to bring leading international mega-sport event researchers together to examine the management and organizational components of the event. Managing the Football World Cup follows in the same path as the editors' previous publication, Managing the Olympics, in exploring areas often overlooked by project management and business studies researchers. Therefore considering the global impact of the Football World Cup it is time for a detailed examination of the planning, organization, management, implementation and related commercial features of this mega-sport event.

Purpose The paper aims to explore the influence of cybersecurity on the semantic orientation of the sports consumers. Focusing on both sport and esports, this study finds the social media factors contributing in the sentiment formation... more

Purpose The paper aims to explore the influence of cybersecurity on the semantic orientation of the sports consumers. Focusing on both sport and esports, this study finds the social media factors contributing in the sentiment formation and commenting behavior on Twitter and proposes a scheme for attitude modulation through identification of highly engaged nano-influencers. Design/methodology/approach Experimental design was used as the research methodology. Data mining from Twitter using RStudio software was conducted using the keyword “cybersecurity” during the time of pandemic. Final corpus of 31,891 tweets were considered for the study. Initial sentiment analysis has been conducted to explore the consumer's emotional inclination towards cybersecurity. Further through generalized equation modeling the impact of social media attributes over the consumer's posting behavior has been analyzed. Findings The research findings reveal that users are inherently positive towards cybersecurity adoption in sports and the factors such as number of tweets, number of positive words contained in these tweets and the authenticity of the information source boost the pre-established tweeting behavior. However, the influx of information from non-organizational sources such as trending topics and discussions have negative impact over the users. Originality/value This study is first to explore the role of nano-influencers as communication moderators over digital social platforms. This study offers a new understanding of key contributing attributes of sentiments formation over social media and offers a scheme of selection of nano-influencers to modulate the pre-established sentiments of the users. Finally, the current study offers valuable insights into social media engagements and selection of nano-influencers for practicing marketing managers.

Purpose-The purpose of this study was to develop an initial understanding of sport brand ambassador participants' experiences in sponsored user generated branding (UGB) programs to assist sport organizations in developing the most... more

Purpose-The purpose of this study was to develop an initial understanding of sport brand ambassador participants' experiences in sponsored user generated branding (UGB) programs to assist sport organizations in developing the most mutually beneficial brand ambassador programs possible. Design/methodology/approach-Semi-structured interviews were held with six individuals who serve as brand ambassadors for various sport brands. Data were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. Findings-Participants were intrinsically motivated to serve in brand ambassador roles. Their experiences were impacted by whether their personal expectations were met, perceived relationship with the brand, perceived value to the brand, and perceived amount of work involved. They reported the best aspects of participation were a sense of community and free products and/or discounts. The most challenging aspects included not wanting to come across as a marketer, self-inflicted pressure to perform a certain way for the brand, pressure to purchase products, and lack of clear communication from the brand. Research limitations/implications-As this study was qualitative, the findings are unique to the participants and the brands they represent. Therefore, the findings may be used to guide other research and brands but are not generalizable. Practical implications-Sport brands wishing to employ sponsored UGB strategies such as brand ambassador programs must set clear expectations for ambassadors, communicate regularly, and develop a sense of community with and among ambassadors. Originality/value-This study contributes to the limited sport management research on sponsored UGB and offers theoretical and practical implications in the areas of sport marketing and branding.

Emotion impacts fans' information processing and evaluation of sport sponsors. This paper examines the emotion of schadenfreude (joy at others' misfortune) within rivalry contests under a cognition-emotion theoretical framework. Study 1... more

Emotion impacts fans' information processing and evaluation of sport sponsors. This paper examines the emotion of schadenfreude (joy at others' misfortune) within rivalry contests under a cognition-emotion theoretical framework. Study 1 assesses the relationships between appraisals of 11 rivalry antecedents and schadenfreude using survey data from 5,459 fans across six sport leagues. Results show that unfairness and cultural difference have the strongest association with schadenfreude. Study 2 utilizes an experimental design involving 543 fans of professional teams in four US-based rivalries. Findings show positive effects of schadenfreude on fans' reactions to the sponsor, mediated by perceived sincerity of the sponsoring brand. Specifically, emotionally-engaged fans (based on heightened schadenfreude) see sponsor support as more sincere, which enhances fan interest, favorability, and intended consumption of the brand. Implications for sponsors include recognizing how activation tactics in affiliation with rivalry games may circumvent the drawbacks of sponsoring just one side of a rivalry.

Sport Development Index is a way to measure the improvement of sport development in a region. This research measures sport development by using sports human resource management in Padang as the indicator. The purpose is to discover the... more

Sport Development Index is a way to measure the improvement of sport development in a region. This research measures sport development by using sports human resource management in Padang as the indicator. The purpose is to discover the quality of sports human resource management in Padang examined from Sport Development Index and to analyze the availability of sports human resource. This research is conducted in Padang, West Sumatra Province, by taking data from 3 institutions as the scope of studies including the Education Authority, National Sports Committee of Indonesia (KONI), and a local non-formal institution. The research method applies qualitative and quantitative approaches. The qualitative data is collected through observation, document analysis and interview, while the quantitative data is taken by using a norm method of Sport Development Index. The result shows that the number of sport development in Padang based on the index of sports human resource management is 0.00082. According to the Sport Development Index, this number is within the range of 0.000-0.499. It means that sports human resource management belongs to low category quantitatively and qualitatively, or in the other words the quantity is deficient and the quality is low. To conclude, the sport development in Padang belongs to low category, thus the regional government needs to pay more attention and improve the sport development in the city.