Understanding Sports Management: International Perspectives
Understanding Sports Management: International Perspectives
Understanding Sports Management: International Perspectives
Management
Sport management is a rapidly developing industry which continues to grow in size and
scope on an international scale. This comprehensive and engaging textbook offers a com-
plete introduction to core principles and best practice in contemporary sport manage-
ment. Adopting an issues-based approach and drawing on the very latest research, it
demonstrates how theory translates into practice across all the key functional areas of
sport management, from governance and leadership to tourism and events.
Written by a team of experts from across the globe, the book explores sport manage-
ment from a truly international perspective and looks at all levels from professional,
high-performance sport to non-prot and grassroots. With extended real-world case
studies and an array of helpful features in every chapter, it addresses crucial topics
such as:
s MANAGING ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE
s COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL MEDIA
s SPONSORSHIP AND MARKETING
s THE IMPACT OF SPORT ON SOCIETY
s FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR SPORT MANAGEMENT
Trish Bradbury is a senior lecturer at Massey University, New Zealand, where she lec-
tures in both sport management and core management programmes of study. She has
extensive experience in managing/coaching organisations and sports teams, and actively
volunteers in the sport community. Her major research interests concern aspects of
sport/business management related to events, HRM, organisation development and per-
formance management. Dr Bradbury has published in various journals such as Sport
Management Review, Sport, Business and Management and International Journal of Sports
Marketing and Sponsorship. Her rst book is Sport Governance: International Case Studies
(Routledge, 2013).
Ian OBoyle is a researcher in the area of sport governance and leadership. He is also the
Director of the CERM Performance Indicators Project, which focuses on researching
operational indicators and customers perceptions of service quality for local government
sports and leisure facilities and services, providing improved operational decision-making
and internal and external benchmarking. His work appears in the leading sport manage-
ment journals such as Journal of Sport Management, Sport Management Review and Euro-
pean Sport Management Quarterly. In 2015, Dr OBoyle received a Research Excellence
Award from the UniSA Business School in recognition of his extensive high quality
research record.
Understanding Sport
Management
International perspectives
Edited by
Trish Bradbury and
Ian OBoyle
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2017 Trish Bradbury and Ian OBoyle
The right of Trish Bradbury and Ian OBoyle to be identied as the
authors of the editorial matter, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identication and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Bradbury, Trish, editor. | OBoyle, Ian, editor.
Title: Understanding sport management : international perspectives /
edited by Trish Bradbury and Ian OBoyle.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2017. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identiers: LCCN 2016032191| ISBN 9781138100626 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781138100633 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781315657554 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Sports administration. | SportsMarketing. | Sports
sponsorship. | Communication in sports.
Classication: LCC GV713 .U64 2017 | DDC 796.06/9dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016032191
Index 282
Figures
Graham Brown
Professor Graham Brown is Professor of Tourism Management and a Founding Member
and Director of the Centre of Tourism and Leisure Management at the University of South
Australia Business School. He has an international reputation in tourism and works closely
with tourism organisations both nationally and internationally. Professor Brown has pub-
lished over 50 book chapters and journal articles and has co-authored the book Tourism
Marketing: An Asia Pacic Perspective (2008). He serves on the Editorial Boards of leading
sport and tourism journals and has acted as the Regional Director (Asia Pacic) for the
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Professor Brown lectures at
undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and, in recent years, doctoral scholars he has super-
vised have won national and international awards for the quality of their research.
Packianathan Chelladurai
Chelladurai, Distinguished Professor, Troy University, is a Founding Member of the North
American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) and the European Association for
Sport Management (EASM). He is the rst recipient of the Earle F. Zeigler Award from
NASSM, the Merit Award for Distinguished Service to Sport Management Education from
the European Association of Sport Management (EASM) and Sport Management Scholar
Lifetime Achievement Award from Southern Sport Management Association. On 18 June
2012, he was awarded the honorary degree of Letters of Law (LLD) by the University of
Western Ontario, Canada for his contributions to sport management. In 2015, EASM
named its most prestigious award the EASM Chelladurai Award.
Sarah Chua
Sarah Chua is a Lecturer at the University of South Australia. She currently teaches on
the Sport and Recreation Management programme, as well as taking a course on busi-
ness sociology. She publishes in the area of leadership. Her PhD is on the role that
gender, leadership style and appearance play in how we evaluate leader effectiveness.
Specically she is looking at the effect across diverse cultures.
T. Bettina Cornwell
T. Bettina Cornwell (PhD in Marketing, University of Texas) is the Edwin E. and June
Woldt Cone Professor of Marketing in the Lundquist College of Business at the
xii Contributors
University of Oregon. Prior to joining the University of Oregon, she was Professor of
Marketing and Sport Management at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses
on marketing communications and consumer behaviour and often includes inter-
national and public policy emphases. Bettinas research on corporate sponsorship of
sports, arts and charity has appeared in the Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advert-
ising Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Experimental Psychology:
Applied, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science and Psychology & Marketing. Her
book Sponsorship in Marketing: Effective Communication through Sports, Arts and Events
was published by Routledge in 2014. She was the 2009 American Marketing Associ-
ation, Sports Marketing and Special Events Special Interest Group, award recipient for
Distinguished Contributions to the Scientic Understanding of Sports Business and is
the 2016 Thomas C. Stewart Distinguished Professor at the Lundquist College of
Business.
Neville Cox
Neville Cox is Professor of Law and Dean of Graduate Studies in Trinity College Dublin.
He is also a practising barrister who has represented a number of athletes accused of
doping offences. He is the author of Blasphemy and the Law (2000), Sport and the Law
(2004), Employment Law (2009) and Defamation Law and Practice (2014). He is also the
author of numerous book chapters and law review articles.
John Davies
John Davies is Professor of Management Studies, Associate Dean (International & Exec-
utive Education) and Director of Academic Programmes Accreditation within the Victo-
ria Business School, Wellington, New Zealand. A former Head of Victoria Management
School, he graduated from the universities of Wales and Lancaster with a background in
operational research, and has research interests within the decision and systems sciences,
and sports management. He has published in journals spanning the decision and systems
sciences, technology management and sport management: for example, Decision Science,
Omega The International Journal of Management Science, Journal of the Operational
Research Society, Journal of Sport & Tourism, International Journal of Sports Management
and Marketing, European Journal of Sport Management, International Journal of Production
Research, R&D Management, European Journal of Marketing, Long Range Planning. He is
a Past-President of the Wellington Rugby Football Union and of Poneke Football Club,
Wellingtons leading multicultural sport club.
Veerle De Bosscher
Veerle De Bosscher is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sports Policy and
Management at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium and was a Guest Professor
at Utrecht University (the Netherlands). Her research expertise is in the area of elite
sport, sport development, sport policy and management, youth sport, effectiveness,
benchmarking and competitiveness. She has published 11 books (e.g. the Global Sporting
Arms Race, Managing High Performance Sport), written more than 70 refereed articles,
delivered over 130 presentations and been invited as a keynote speaker at over 50
conferences around the world. She is leading a worldwide international network on high
performance sport and (elite) sport policy systems called SPLISS (Sports Policy factors
Contributors xiii
Leading to International Sporting Success), which was also the subject of her PhD in
2007, and is now developing in several directions (e.g. sport specic, PARA-SPLISS).
Veerle is co-editor of the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics (IJSPP) and the
Global Sport Management Journal, and board member of the European Sport Management
Quarterly (ESMQ), the European Association of Sport Management (EASM) and the
Steering Committee of elite sport in Belgium (Flanders). Over the past years she has
been a consultant in several organisations worldwide.
John Harris
Currently Associate Dean Research in the Glasgow School for Business and Society at
Glasgow Caledonian University, Dr Harris was previously a tenured Associate Professor
in Sport Administration at Kent State University (USA) and has also worked at univer-
sities in England and Wales. His publications include the sole-authored text Rugby Union
and Globalization and the co-edited collections on Football and Migration and Sport and
Social Identities. Dr Harris is Leisure & Events Subject Editor for the Journal of Hospital-
ity, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education and also serves on the editorial boards of the
International Journal of Sport Communication and the Journal of Sport & Tourism.
Eric MacIntosh
A current Associate Professor of Sport Management at the University of Ottawa in
Canada, Dr MacIntosh researches and teaches on various organisational behaviour and
marketing topics covering concepts such as organisational culture, leadership, image and
brand. His research delves into the functioning of the organisation and how creating a
favourable culture can transmit positively internally through human resources and out-
wardly into the marketplace. Dr MacIntosh has been involved in many research projects
with prominent international multisport events and sport organisations (e.g. Common-
wealth Games, Youth Olympic Games, Right to Play). He is a widely published scholar
and an avid speaker in sport management internationally. Dr MacIntosh has also co-
edited the book International Sport Management.
now a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Education and his research interests are in the
study of sport industry, nancial aspects of sport as well as sport management education.
He was appointed consultant by the Ministry of Youth and Sport, Malaysia to conduct
research in the sport industry as well as training the trainers of local sport management.
He was Vice President of the Asian Association for Sport Management for two terms
and is the Founding Member of the Malaysian Association for Sport Management.
Ashlee Morgan
Ashlee Morgan splits her time between academic work and operating her own business
in the hospitality/events sector. Ashlee recently completed her PhD in sport manage-
ment and was a lecturer in the Management Discipline Group at the UTS Business
School. Ashlee is now a casual academic, teaching and researching with colleagues at a
number of Australian universities. Her research interests are primarily in strategic alli-
ances and business relationships within the sport industry.
Duncan Murray
Duncan Murray, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Recreation Management at
the University of South Australia. He has published in a range of academic journals in
areas, including: leadership, globalisation, celebrity endorsement in sport, customer
behaviour in recreation and sport settings, tourism, appearance and attractiveness and
the management of sport and recreation. He recently contributed a chapter on culture,
sport and migration to the latest edition of the textbook Australian Leisure and is an
editorial board member for Sport, Business, Management: An International Journal. He
is a reviewer of academic papers for a number of leisure, recreation and sport aca-
demic journals, including the Journal of Leisure Research, Managing Leisure and Annals
of Leisure Research.
Winnie OGrady
Winnie OGrady is a Lecturer in Management Accounting at the University of Auck-
land. Her research addresses the integrated operation of performance management and
control systems, using the Viable System Model and other frameworks of management
control systems as framing devices. Additional research areas include beyond budgeting
and lean approaches to performance management and control. Winnie has published in
Management Accounting Research, Qualitative Research in Management and Accounting
and the Accounting Research Journal.
Brenda Pitts
Dr Brenda G. Pitts is a Professor of Sport Management and Director of the Sport
Business Research Center at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr Pitts
has received the most prestigious awards in the elds of sport management and sport
marketing including the Dr. Earle F. Zeigler Scholar Award, Distinguished Sport
Management Educator 2014, Garth Paton Distinguished Service Award 2004, the
Diversity Award 2016, Nominee for the Stotlar Award for Distinguished Educator in
Sport Marketing, and one of the rst Research Fellows of the North American Society
for Sport Management (NASSM) and of the Sport Marketing Association (SMA). She
is author or co-author of six sport marketing textbooks, one of which is translated
Contributors xv
into three languages, co-author of the rst textbook on research methods in sport
management, and the editor and an author in three Sport Marketing Associations
Book of Papers. She is a Founding Team Member of the new World Association for
Sport Management, and serves as Associate Editor for the Global Sport Business
Journal of the Global Sport Business Association. Dr Pitts has published numerous
papers in several scholarly journals. On the fun side of life, Dr Pitts is an avid athlete
and loves to play, enjoying all kinds of sports. Her prolic career in basketball from
grade six through University of Alabama and professional brought her such awards as
the retirement of her high school basketball uniform number, membership in the A
Club of the University of Alabama, Huntsville (Alabama) Sports Hall of Fame
Inductee, Womens Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee as a player in the rst Womens
Professional Basketball League (WBL) and an inductee nominee for the Alabama
Sports Hall of Fame.
Sam Richardson
Sam Richardson is a Senior Lecturer in Economics in the School of Economics and
Finance at Massey University. He teaches principles and intermediate level micro-
economics, as well as sport economics. His research covers several areas within the eco-
nomics of sport, including the realised impacts of sport facilities and major sport events
on host economies, as well as the value of sport-generated remittances in the South
Pacic and the value of imported New Zealand rugby coaches on international teams.
Emma Sherry
Emma Sherry is an Associate Professor within the La Trobe University Centre for Sport
and Social Impact, specialising in the area of sport development. Emmas current
research interests include community development through sport activities, undertaking
a broad range of research projects with national and regional sport organisations in Aus-
tralia and Oceania, including Netball Australia, National Rugby League, Australian Foot-
ball League, Tennis Australia and Hockey Victoria. Other recent research has included
access and equity in sport participation, sport in correctional facilities and sport and
recreation for at-risk and marginalised communities. Emma is currently supervising a
number of PhD students in the areas of sport for development in India and with refugee
communities, para-sport athlete well-being and elite athlete career transition. Emma is
also co-editor for the Journal of Sport for Development and is on the Editorial Board of
Communications and Sport Journal.
xvi Contributors
Popi Sotiriadou
Dr Popi Sotiriadou is an Associate Professor of Sport Management at the Grifth Busi-
ness School, Grifth University, Australia. The areas of her research expertise include
sport development, high performance management, athlete branding, club management
and sport policy. Her research has gained such acceptance that she has been invited to
consult the Australian Sports Commission, Sarawak (Malaysia), Cycling Australia,
Basketball Queensland and the Queensland Academy of Sport on sport development
and high performance management. Popi was the Guest Editor for a special issue of
Sport Management Review on sport development published in 2008, and the special issue
on Managing High Performance Sport of the European Sport Management Quarterly. She
has published the books The Sport Development Processes and Practices in Australia: The
Attraction, Retention, Transition and Nurturing of Participants and Athletes (2008) and
Managing High Performance Sport (2013).
Tracy Taylor
Tracy is a Professor of Sport Management, with a particular focus on human resource
management and executive leadership development. Her research covers the areas of
cultural diversity management in sport, volunteer management and sport and security.
She has published over 100 research peer reviewed journal publications, over 20 book
chapters, four books and various consultancy project reports. Professor Taylor regularly
delivers executive education programmes in leadership and executive development. She
is currently on the IOC Athlete Learning Gateway Advisory Board and the Australian
National Rugby League Research Board. She is also a Professor in the IOC-recognised
Masters Executive Managing Olympic Studies and the Masters programme of the
Russian International Olympic University. She is currently the Editor of the European
Sport Management Quarterly.
Ashleigh-Jane Thompson
Ashleigh-Jane Thompson, PhD, is a Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise at
Massey University, Palmerston North. Her research examines the utilisation of new
media by sport organisations and athletes, as well as the impact of social media on sport
fandom, and has been published in journals such as Communication and Sport, the Inter-
national Journal of Sport Communication and the Journal of Applied Sport Management.
Additionally she has presented her research at numerous international conferences in
countries such as Australia, the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom. In addi-
tion to her scholarly pursuits, Ashleigh maintains active connections with the sport
industry by partnering with sport organisations for research projects, as well as volun-
teering as a media operations assistant at national and international sporting events.
Paul Turner
Paul Turner is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management in the Deakin Busi-
ness School at Deakin University. He has worked within the Sport Management Program
at Deakin for over 20 years having been Course Director from 2005 to 2010. He was
also programme coordinator for the Honours Program within the School of Management
and Marketing from 2011 to 2015. Paul has published in the Journal of Sport Manage-
ment, Sport Management Review and Sport Marketing Quarterly, primarily in the area of
Contributors xvii
sport broadcasting and media. He has (co)presented numerous conference papers at over
30 domestic and international sport management conferences. He previously worked in
Womens Soccer (National), State Soccer and State Touch sporting Associations in Aus-
tralia, also being a recipient of an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 for services to
womens soccer. He was the Competition Coordinator for Melbourne Football for the
Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation (SOBO) during the 2000 Olympic Games.
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SECTION 1
INTRODUCTION
Sport management has come a long way in the past 20 years. As a previously volunteer-
led sector even at upper echelons of the industry, the sport management environment
has now evolved into a legitimate professional and commercial sector and continues to
grow in size and scope in many nations throughout the world. The growth in broadcast-
ing revenue and other commercial aspects of the industry have largely fuelled this more
professionalised approach and this has undoubtedly had a trickle-down effect through-
out all levels of sporting structures, from elite to community based sport. The industry
has often been criticised for not staying on pace with developments in the traditional
business sector such as adopting what may be considered to be best practice in those
environments, but over the past decade we are seeing more and more sport based organi-
sations align their operations with traditional business and management practices that
has legitimised the sector further and has made it a respected and vibrant part of the
global business and management environment.
However, the uniqueness of sport, as an overall product, presents a number of chal-
lenges and complexities that must be overcome, such as the use of performance enhanc-
ing drugs in elite level sport, governance failures and challenges at almost all levels of the
industry, specic strategic and marketing principles that must be applied, and the emer-
gence of match xing and other forms of unethical behaviour, to name a few. This book
discusses the most important of these challenges as individual chapters and relies on the
most up-to-date academic research in the eld to provide insight and perhaps to illumi-
nate a path of how such challenges can be addressed and overcome. As the opening
section in this book, the current chapter attempts to provide a context for the current
state of the sport management eld while also highlighting what is to follow in the forth-
coming chapters.
4 Ian OBoyle and Trish Bradbury
The sport management industry, like most other sectors, is heavily impacted by a
number of other environments, such as the political, economic, social, technological and
legal environments. From a political standpoint, many sport organisations rely directly
on government support to fund their activities and to produce high performance athletes
while maintaining growing participation levels in their respective sports. We also regu-
larly see the impact that geopolitics has on the sport management environment through
the selection of countries to host mega sporting events such as the Olympic Games and
football World Cups. Organisations such as the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) and the Fdration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) have become as
much politically based entities as they are sporting organisations with ties to major
players in the global political environment that heavily impact the global sporting frame-
work. From the economic and social perspectives, the sport management industry is also
impacted due to issues such as the global nancial crisis, which saw a general decline in
commercial sponsorship within the sector, and social trends such as individuals leading
more sedentary lifestyles and growing levels of obesity in various countries. Technology
is also having a major impact within sport management from the growth of eSports, to
improving the capabilities of sport organisations, to enhancing the customer (fan) experi-
ence through increased viewing options via smartphones, tablets, social media and live
streaming of many major sporting events. And of course, the impact of the legal environ-
ment on sport management continues to be signicant, particularly around issues such as
the growth of combat sports like the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and their
regulations, corruption and nancial irregularities in organisations such as FIFA, match
xing and the use of illicit and performance enhancing drugs by athletes.
As the sport management industry has adopted a more professional ethos, we con-
tinue to see a steady growth in the ability of certain entities to generate signicant levels
of nance. We often see big headlines of the major sporting leagues around the world
signing multibillion-dollar broadcasting deals that allow these entities to increase player
salaries and nancial returns to owners/investors while safeguarding the future of such
leagues through a strong nancial foundation. However, although in certain contexts,
such as in the sport of Australian Rules football, there may be a trickle-down effect to
lower levels of the code, many non-prot sport organisations continue to struggle nan-
cially and are often at risk of building up large levels of debt and having to be bailed out
by afliated organisations, as was the case with the Otago Rugby Union and New
Zealand Rugby (NZR) in 2012.
It is becoming increasingly important to ensure that individuals who are in positions of
power in sport organisations, such as senior managers and board members, have an ade-
quate level of business and nancial management acumen to provide the prospect of nan-
cial sustainability for their respective sports. There are many sources of nance a non-prot
sport organisation can access, which is often referred to as the income mix. In many
western European nations and within Australasia, signicant funding for non-prot sport
comes from government entities, but this is often tied to the potential for those sports to
perform well at major sporting events and achieve high performance results. As a result,
this form of funding is notoriously unpredictable and unstable and sport organisations
The new sport management environment 5
should not rely solely on this type of income. Diversication in the income mix is crucial
for the sustainability of these sporting codes and the ability of organisations to generate
commercial income, including corporate sponsorship, is paramount. Yet again, however,
the ability of sport organisations to achieve this is often dependent on the calibre of indi-
viduals involved in the management and governance of these entities.
Perhaps the biggest issue to impact the sport management environment in recent
years, both at the elite and non-elite level, is the area of sport governance. The topic
received global media attention in 2015 due to the level of corruption that was uncov-
ered in FIFA surrounding the illegal payments and misappropriation of funds embedded
in the culture of FIFA and facilitated by some of the most senior gures in the organisa-
tion, including former president Sepp Blatter. What followed was an investigation by the
Department of Justice in the United States and several indictments of senior FIFA of-
cials. FIFA itself has attempted to undertake a reform process but has been criticised for
not doing enough, and many of the alleged actors in the corrupt regime of the old FIFA
continue to act in positions of power in the supposedly reformed entity.
One of the major points in relation to this embedded culture of corruption and fail-
ings of sport governance has been the awarding of FIFA World Cups to Russia in 2018
and Qatar in 2022, with both bids apparently awarded through bribery and other
unethical and immoral actions on behalf of those in inuential positions. With regard to
Qatar 2022, the labour practices involved in the building of stadia to host the event have
come under scrutiny, with many construction workers having been killed due to unsafe
site conditions and other workers denied basic employee rights. FIFA has tried to dis-
tance itself from these issues by claiming that it is not its responsibility to govern the
labour practices of a country that is hosting a future World Cup.
FIFA is not the only international sport governing body to have made headlines for
poor sport governance practice in recent years. The IOCs lack of leadership around the
hosting of the 2016 summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro has been called into
question. Many health experts throughout the world had called for these Games to be
postponed or moved to another location based on the prevalence of the Zika virus in
Brazil and the potential for it to spread globally should the Olympics go ahead in Rio.
Unsurprisingly, however, the IOC has been unwilling to postpone or move the Games
and this decision has been supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), with
whom the IOC has a close relationship that has been labelled by many as a conict of
interest surrounding this decision.
Lack of good governance practice is apparent not only in the upper echelons of the
sport management environment but also in systems that are characterised as non-prot
and responsible for governing sporting codes from elite to community level. In countries
where a federal model of sport governance exists, such as the UK, Australia, New
Zealand, Canada and a host of other major sporting nations, the issue of governance has
been at the fore as sporting systems try to establish streamlined networks that work
closely together to achieve whole of sport progression as opposed to an environment
where organisations often work in isolation and at times are in conict with their afli-
ated entities. This issue has been recognised by a number of state based sporting agencies
such as UK Sport, the Australian Sport Commission (ASC) and Sport NZ, which have
all called for better governance practices in non-prot sport and have produced docu-
ments and resources to assist organisations in this endeavour.
6 Ian OBoyle and Trish Bradbury
In relation to sport governance, an issue that regularly receives media attention and is
certainly a concern for many sporting entities is the area of performance enhancing drugs
(PEDs) in sport. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is often criticised for not
having a strong enough hold on the issue of PEDs in sport and for not dealing with the
issue appropriately. High prole athletes such as Lance Armstrong and Maria Sharapova
have brought the issue to the fore once again in recent times, and the extent to which
PEDs are being abused in high performance sport appears to be far greater than most
would have predicted. Russias state-sponsored doping programme is a prime example of
how far governments are willing to go to achieve success in international sporting events
and paints a dire picture of the culture of using such drugs that appears to be embedded
in certain sports and within certain countries sport science regimes.
As we can see, the sport management environment is far more complex than it was a
decade ago, both in terms of its professional and commercial capabilities but also in
terms of the issues facing the sector. The industry needs effective leadership from within
its own ranks that is based on best practice from more established elds such as the tra-
ditional business discipline. Academic work is an important element of driving the sport
management industry forward and relevant academic research is beginning to play a
signicant role in the development of policy and practices within many sporting bodies
both at the governance and management levels. We anticipate that this book, which
relies on the latest research in the eld in relation to a number of pertinent areas of sport
management enquiry, will add to the current conversation and assist in developing a best
practice approach for a variety of areas in the sport management industry.
This opening chapter presents a rough guide for the current context of the sport man-
agement environment and some of the major issues facing the industry in the 21st
century. This is followed by Chapter 2, which deals with the role of sport in society.
Sport has been ubiquitous to all cultures throughout history, playing an essential role in
the social and community life of people across the globe. We have found evidence of
sport and play in cave paintings, ancient artefacts, art and media, with sport being a
space for acculturation, learning important life skills, health and tness and of course
enjoyment as a participant or as a spectator. The focus of this chapter is on the impact of
sport in society and the various roles that sport can play for individuals, the community,
nations and internationally. This chapter will provide a brief discussion of sport and its
role in society before discussing how sport impacts different aspects of society, including:
playing sport, sport and government policy and sport for development.
Chapter 3 addresses the structural and functional aspects of sport governing bodies.
After describing the unique attributes of a sport governing body, the authors describe
the need for and the nature of the horizontal differentiation of the three manifestations
of sport: egalitarian sport, elite sport and entertainment sport. It is also stressed that
there should be a vertical differentiation of the three hierarchical units in a sport govern-
ing body, which are the institutional subsystem (i.e. board of directors), the managerial
subsystem consisting of the chief executive ofcers and their associates, and the technical
subsystem, which is involved in producing the services offered by national sport
The new sport management environment 7
governing bodies (NSGBs). The chapter also outlines the specic responsibilities of an
NSGB stemming from its position as the apex of an inter-organisational network.
Chapter 4 explores the world of professional sport. Professional sport is associated
with a payment to athletes involved in delivering sport, usually via a club or league com-
petition. These sports comprise many stakeholders who have a direct impact on their
functioning. These stakeholders represent internal groups such as the athletes, clubs,
leagues and governing bodies who have a direct impact on professional sport. This group
represents the people who provide the rules and regulations and actual spectacle of
professional sport. External groups represented by the fans, communities, corporations
and media are other stakeholders who contribute through attending, reporting and
having a commercial association with professional sport. The involvement these stake-
holder groups have on the professional sport system is addressed throughout this
chapter.
Chapter 5 focuses on the global sport environment. The chapter discusses the enor-
mity of the global sport landscape and the growing nature of multi and single sport event
opportunities. Given the ease of transportation and the available technologies that allow
for sport consumption, many professional sport leagues are strategically increasing their
product offering in overseas markets. However, there are many differences regarding
how professional sport leagues are organised. The different types of sport leagues and
their prominence in a particular market are addressed in this chapter. Attention is also
afforded to one of the most important changes in recent years within the global sport
environment: the role that social media plays in sport organisations communication.
Chapter 6 outlines and discusses the three principles of managing high performance
(HP) sport in non-prot sport organisations. These principles are (a) the elite athlete
development process, (b) the determinants of managing HP sport and (c) the strategic
management of HP sport. These three principles take the reader on an educational
journey that starts with the examination of managing the talent identication and devel-
opment pathways to the exploration of the macro, meso and micro environments and
the factors within them that inuence success in the athlete and sport development
process. It concludes with the importance of managing sport using a strategic approach
in order to achieve a competitive advantage and maintain long-term success in managing
HP sport.
Chapter 7 introduces the viable system model (VSM) as a tool for understanding
factors inuencing performance in organisations. The model is used to depict and analyse
the effectiveness of organisational structures observed in well-known sporting organisa-
tions. The discussion reveals the impact of observed systemic structure on organisational
performance and effectiveness. The case situations presented in this chapter are drawn
from contemporary and historical sport organisations both notional (virtual) and real.
Chapter 8 explores the strategic planning process in sport organisations. The import-
ance of developing adequate strategic plans and going through a robust process are dis-
cussed in this chapter. The various elements of a strategic plan are discussed alongside a
discussion focusing on the importance of goal setting and performance management in
order to achieve strategic objectives. The relevance of individual employees roles and
responsibilities in relation to the achievement of strategic imperatives is also examined.
Chapter 9 has a focus on the issue of volunteerism in sport. Volunteers are the life-
blood of most grassroots sport organisations. Taking on an array of critical operational
8 Ian OBoyle and Trish Bradbury
and supporting roles and duties, volunteers not only provide the labour required to
deliver sporting opportunities to the community, but they often are also the heart and
soul of those organisations. To be effective, volunteer contributions must be planned,
organised and aligned with both the organisations goals and with the volunteers moti-
vations for involvement. The chapter takes a human resource management approach to
provide a useful framework for good volunteer management.
Chapter 10 builds on what was introduced in Chapter 3 concerning the topic of sport
governance. This chapter takes an acute view of the sport governance domain by exam-
ining the role of women in sport governance positions, sport governance models in non-
prot sport, the role and concept of ethical decision making in sport governance, while
also exploring governance practices at organisations such as the IOC, FIFA and other
professional sport bodies. This conversation is complemented by a concise overview of
current work being undertaken in academia related to sport governance.
Chapter 11 explores the important role of leadership in sport management. The
chapter outlines the fact that leadership has changed, and what makes an effective leader
in the 21st century is not necessarily reective of what was perceived as effective even
only half-a-century ago. The authors contend that leadership is simply the application of
power to inuence others, whether in a business, personal or a sporting context. Rather
than give a complete overview of the broad topic of leadership, the chapter focuses on
three emergent leadership theories that reect the underlying changes in how effective
leaders are viewed: transformational, authentic and servant leadership. Three con-
temporary examples of sporting leaders that articulate each of these leadership
approaches are outlined to provide context to the theory.
Chapter 12 covers the topic of sponsorship in sport. Sponsorship is a funding mech-
anism that provides partial support to many sports, arts, entertainment and charity
organisations. Sponsorship has also become a communications platform for many com-
panies. Beyond these two practical aspects of sponsoring, the contractual linking of two
organisations is also a partnership where individuals must come together to work towards
shared goals. This chapter denes sponsorship and also distinguishes it from ambush
marketing; it also considers why each party to the agreement seeks the relationship. A
consideration of the role of sponsorship in organisations is included, as is a discussion of
possible conicts in sponsoring. The nal section examines the case of eSports as a spon-
sorship property of interest to brands.
Chapter 13 affords attention to the topic of sport marketing. The unique aspects of
marketing in terms of sport as opposed to traditional marketing are explored, along with
how the marketing process has some distinctive characteristics when applied to the
sporting context. Traditional marketing theory often relies on the 4 Ps of marketing
(product, price, place, promotion), and although these issues are addressed in the
chapter, the author also introduces the 4 Cs of sport marketing (consumer, company,
competitor, climate), which are catered specically for sport-related products and ser-
vices. Other elements of this chapter also examine the topics of market segmentation
and brand management, which are seen as being of utmost importance to a number of
sporting teams and organisations.
Chapter 14 examines the economics of sport. Economics focuses on how scarce
resources are utilised to meet a particular goal. As such, economics is an ideal t for the
analysis of sport, especially since goals within sport are often clearly observable.
The new sport management environment 9
Individuals, teams, leagues/competitions and the public sector all have goals, both on
and off the eld of play. Economics is also the study of how incentives affect our
behaviour, and sports provide vivid examples of how individuals and teams respond to
changes in incentives. This chapter introduces economics and its application to sport in
four areas: the behaviour of the individual athlete or team, the operation of sports
leagues (considerations and policies), public nance (the demand for government
funding), and non-sporting behaviour (cheating and tanking). The chapter draws on
several examples across the sporting world to illustrate the important role that economic
thinking plays in the modern sport sector.
Chapter 15 discusses modern forms of communication in sport management. Social
media are pervasive communication tools in contemporary society and modern con-
sumer culture. Its escalated use by athletes, teams and sport organisations has not gone
unnoticed. This chapter begins by providing a discussion on social media, along with an
overview of existing sport-related social media research. Specic consideration is given
to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram due to their rising prominence as platforms of choice
within the sport industry. These communication tools are particularly important for
sport organisations in the context of branding and the development of consumer brand
relationships. This chapter provides a discussion of the key issues associated with social
media use in relation to these marketing communication activities. It concludes by
exploring various challenges that are faced by sport organisations as they seek to leverage
opportunities provided by these new media.
Chapter 16 explores how the law is applied and relevant within the sporting context.
The law in relation to the world of anti-doping is afforded attention along with an ana-
lysis of how criminal law can be applied in sport based cases. Tort law and breaches of
tort law appear regularly in the sporting environment, and as such a discussion of the
relevance of tort law to the sporting context is included in this chapter, as are issues of
negligence, breach of contract and intellectual property, and their related legal
implications.
Chapter 17 introduces the topic of sport event management. Sport events are an
important and growing event sector, encompassing the full spectrum of community
sport events and international sport competitions, and offer a range of experiences to
event spectators and participants, and generate various impacts on the community. As
the types and uses of sport events have grown, sport events have become more complex
and require diverse skills of event management, from operation skills to strategic mana-
gerial knowledge. In this chapter, the classication of sport events by size, sporting char-
acteristics and temporal characteristics is discussed. The second and third topics to be
discussed are the motivations of sport event spectators and participants, and the special
nature of sport events, which shapes their experiences. Lastly, a range of impacts of
sport events is discussed to illustrate the broader role of sport events for community,
economic and social development.
Chapter 18, the penultimate chapter in the book, explores sport tourism. The prac-
tice of sport tourism can be traced to ancient Greece and activities associated with the
Games at Olympia, but it was industrialisation that created the conditions for the devel-
opment of sport tourism as we know it today. This chapter discusses the way improve-
ments in transportation expanded the horizon of the different types of sport tourists
with concepts such as sport involvement and place dependency used to help explain
10 Ian OBoyle and Trish Bradbury
their behaviour. The mobility of sport and sport resources is shown to be a powerful
inuence on contemporary forms of sport tourism. Resource analysis is presented as the
starting point of a planning process to use sport tourism as a tool of social and economic
development, and a case study of surng at Byron Bay serves to illustrate the implica-
tions of a sport specialisation approach for destination management.
Chapter 19 acts as a summary chapter for the entire book. In this chapter we discuss
the major points from each of the chapters outlined above while also pointing to the
future trends and challenges in the sport management environment.
CHAPTER 2
Chapter objectives
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PLAYING SPORT
When we think of sport we often think of the high performance, professional leagues and
events that capture the attention of millions across the globe each week. However, there is
so much more to sport than the top end, commercial or professional spectacles, and, for
many or indeed most of us, our participation in sport is as a child or as a participant in
community clubs and events. This chapter discusses how we play sport, as children in
informal play, at school or in modied sport programmes, and as youth or adults in the
community. It is on these elds of sport that we see rst hand the impact of sport in society.
although often earlier, that many children rst participate in organised or structured sport
in school or via community club or private sport programmes (Coakley, Hallinan &
McDonald, 2011).
The role of sport in the lives of children is complex, as for some families sport is an
unnecessary distraction from education, work or the arts, whereas for others, sport is
integral to their family and community context (Dowling, 2015). The education system in
many nations, however, has mandated physical education as a key component of a childs
overall education (Hoye, Nicholson & Houlihan, 2010), in particular to ensure that all chil-
dren develop their gross motor skills and physical strength and tness (Eime, Young,
Harvey, Charity & Payne, 2013). Today the focus on school sport and physical education
can be simultaneously for pleasure and participation and also to provide the rst introduc-
tion to the power and performance sports noted by Coakley and colleagues (2011) above.
Due to broad societal changes in many Western nations, we have seen concurrent
changes to the delivery of sport programmes to children. Changes such as the increased
workforce participation of both parents and in the understanding of what makes a good
parent have resulted in increased opportunities for formally organised sport programmes
outside school hours (Coakley et al., 2011). Further, increased fears of parents around
the perceived dangers of unstructured and unsupervised play have resulted in an increase
in parent or adult controlled and delivered sport experiences for children (Coakley et al.,
2011), in direct contrast to the relatively free-range parenting of earlier eras. A nal
important factor in the increase of structured sport programmes for children has been
the global professionalisation of sport, which has resulted in the increased visibility of an
extraordinary variety of sports at the professional level via multiple forms of media
(Nicholson, Kerr & Sherwood, 2015). In addition, for many children, a future as a
professional or elite athlete is a more tangible and visible goal than for previous genera-
tions (Coakley et al., 2011). Indeed, the notion that one can make ones fortune as a
professional athlete has resulted an incredible increase in the early specialisation of sport
participation for children, as the goal to reach the top, it is argued, requires early talent
identication and specialist coaching (Sotiriadou & Shilbury, 2009). Questions remain
unanswered, however, about the efcacy and indeed ethics of early specialisation, with
some arguing that early specialisation can lead to adverse physical and psychological
health outcomes (Mostafavifar, Best & Myer, 2013).
In many Western societies, we are noting a push back from this hyper-organised,
performance focused sport programming, in favour of more encouragement to allow
children the time and space to learn skills, develop tness, resilience and strength and
participate for the enjoyment of the activity (Burdette & Whitaker, 2005). This has
been realised through an increase in modied sport programmes specically designed
for young children that switch the focus to skills and fun (e.g. Hot Shots tennis in
Australia) (Phillips & Warner, 2016) and the increase in participation numbers for
non-traditional sports including skateboarding, surng and roller derby.
COMMUNITY SPORT
Traditionally, local community sport clubs and leagues are organised at the grassroots
level by the community and governed by local associations or regional governing bodies
The impact of sport in society 13
(Hoye, Nicholson, Westerbeek, Smith & Stewart, 2016; Misener & Doherty, 2009). For
many communities, sport participation for adults occurs in local community clubs and
leagues, with varying levels of participation, from those who are only seeking a fun
opportunity, to those who are on the pathway into or out of semi-elite competition.
However, this traditional format of organised sport is being challenged as many indi-
viduals in Western nations are increasingly time poor; in response, many sports are now
developing modied versions of their games to sustain or increase participation and to
broaden the participation base.
Shorter versions of games, often with rule changes and less physical tness required,
are being trialled in sports such as Australian Rules football (AFL 9s), tennis (Fast 4),
rugby (Rugby Sevens) and netball (Fast 5). By providing opportunities for the com-
munity to participate in sports in a way that suits their needs, the traditional sports are
ensuring their sustained success and longevity (Sotiriadou, Wicker & Quick, 2014). Sim-
ilarly, changing sport consumption patterns have led to changes in format. For example,
in the sport of cricket, which was once only played all in white in a ve-day format, has
developed new products to meet the needs of modern audiences. The introduction of
the one-day series (Wagg, 2013) and later the T20 format, both of which feature faster,
more spectacular game play, has been a resounding commercial success for the Inter-
national Cricket Council (ICC). Not only have the changes resulted in more spectators
and television viewers (Anstead & OLoughlin, 2011) as they reach very different audi-
ence demographics, but the format changes have also allowed for more diverse participa-
tion from non-traditional cricket participants, such as women and girls or those culturally
new to the game (ICC, 2016).
OLDER ADULTS
One of the largest and fastest growing demographic groups in the community are older
adults and, as a result of increased health and life expectancy, greater disposable income
and longer periods of retirement, we have seen a subsequent increase in demand for
competitive Masters sport and programmes targeting older adults. The World Masters
Games began in 1985 and have grown to become potentially the largest participatory
multisport competition in the world (IMGA, 2010). The Games are open to competi-
tors of all abilities, with the stated aim of the International Masters Games Association
(IMGA) being to support the Olympic movement and promote the Olympic Charter
message of sport for all. The IMGA aims are to promote and encourage mature athletes
from all over the world to participate in competitive sport in a socially stimulating atmo-
sphere; there are no national teams, nor qualication requirements, other than the
requirement that participants are over the minimum age set by sport federations for each
sport (IMGA, 2010). The Games carry an overarching message of friendship, inclusion
and participation, regardless of ability, national allegiance, race, gender or religion
(IMGA, 2010).
In addition to competitive sport for older adults via the Masters Games, many sports
also actively develop specic programmes and events for older adults, or those who are
no longer able to compete in the open level of competition. Walking Football is a modi-
ed version of soccer, which is gaining popularity across the United Kingdom and
14 Emma Sherry
Europe (Walking Football, 2016). The game, aimed primarily at people over the age of
50, is played at walking pace and players are penalised if they break into a run. Only
introduced in 2011, walking footballs popularity is evidenced by the boom in the
number of new walking football teams and the development of a national league in the
United Kingdom (Walking Football, 2016). Sports such as tennis, lawn bowls and golf
pride themselves on being lifelong sports that can be played socially into older age, and
in addition to providing health and tness benets (WHO, 2015), participation in sport
also facilitates strong social connections and social support (Holt & Talbot, 2011).
As the popularity of traditional sports wanes, although these sports are working towards
developing new and engaging sport programme offerings, more and more people are
being drawn to alternative sports and events, such as: barre classes, crosst and mud
runs, the most famous of which is the Tough Mudder franchise. These activities provide
tness and physical challenges, often in a team environment, but outside the traditional
organised sport system. The appeal of events such as these is a combination of the per-
sonal challenge of overcoming, quite literally, obstacles, with no ongoing commitment to
participation or membership of a club or association. In comparison, programmes such
as hot yoga, barre and Pilates are providing physical activity opportunities for those, pre-
dominantly female (Fitbit, 2016), who also wish to develop or maintain their health and
tness in a more holistic and non-competitive environment. All of these alternative
activities and events provide a sport-like experience for participants, outside of the tradi-
tional sport structures. In response, many sports are working with similar models of pro-
gramme design and delivery, such as tness programmes based on sport activities for
example, NetFit, a netball initiative, or Cardio Tennis, a tennis tness programme in
an attempt to capture this market.
One primary arena in which sport impacts on society, or more appropriately where
society impacts on sport, is the intervention of government on the sport sector. This
section of the chapter provides a brief outline of six key areas where government most
commonly attempts to regulate and control sport and sport organisations: health, gamb-
ling and integrity, discrimination, media, sport facilities and nation building.
Health
Although sport participation has the potential to cause injury, sport and the physical
activity inherent in most sports have proven benets for health, such as aerobic tness,
strength and exibility (WHO, 2015). International governments and international
organisations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), use policy and legislation
to increase or encourage the health benets of sport (Haskell et al., 2007; WHO, 2015).
Often linked with health promotion activities, sport and physical activity are leveraged
The impact of sport in society 15
by governments in an attempt to address the global obesity epidemic and to help in the
prevention of non-communicable diseases (Haskell et al., 2007).
Policy instruments most commonly found in the sport and health nexus include:
physical activity guidelines; tax incentives; and public awareness and education
programmes.
Physical activity guidelines are developed and rened by government bodies with the
intent of encouraging citizens to be physically active to the extent that they will incur
the health benets associated with sport and physical activity participation (Haskell
et al., 2007). Tax incentives are provided with the goal of encouraging increased physical
activity: for example, governments might offer tax breaks to parents enrolling their
children in sport or physical activities or provide reduced taxes on sporting goods
(Tigerstrom, Larre & Sauder, 2011).
Public awareness and education campaigns seek to alert the public to the benets of
participating in physical activity and the health implications of inactivity (Knox, Taylor,
Biddle & Sherar, 2015) as governments try to use sport and physical activity to reduce
the signicant burden of health management represented by non-communicable diseases
(Habib & Saha, 2010). Limiting the sponsorship of sport teams by tobacco companies,
as has occurred in Australia (Hoye et al., 2010), may also be viewed as an intersection of
health and sport policy.
the Good Sports programmes intent is to reduce the use of alcohol in community sport
clubs (ASC, 2016).
Perhaps the most commonly discussed issue of integrity in sport is the issue of
doping and the use of performance enhancing drugs. Sensational cases, such as that of
Lance Armstrong, which saw a world champion athlete nally, after years of denial,
admit to ongoing, systematic use of performance enhancers in the Tour de France,
have elevated the issue of doping in the public consciousness. Governments and inter-
national agencies have developed strict rules around the use of performance enhancing
substances in an effort to preserve what is intrinsically valuable about sport (ASC,
2016). The World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA), an international independent
agency composed and funded equally by the sport movement and governments of the
world (WADA, 2016), has developed the World Anti-Doping Code, a document that
harmonizes anti-doping policies, rules and regulations within sport organizations and
among public authorities around the world (WADA, 2016). The code, to which all
signatories must adhere, addresses ve technical standards: the prohibited list, a record
of banned substances; testing and investigations, effective testing of samples; laborato-
ries, accreditation of laboratories; therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs), determining
exceptions to the testing regime for therapeutic substances; and protection of privacy
and personal information, ensuring all agencies adhere to standards of information
protection (WADA, 2016).
framework to protect its community from discriminatory practice; for example, Title IX
in the United States, aimed at providing equal access to males and females in sport, or
the Anti-Discrimination Act in Australia, addressing discrimination against a range of
groups, and these laws apply equally to sports. It is important to note, however, that
there are some instances where discrimination in sport is permitted; for example, gender
differentiation in the separation of mens and womens events in competition (e.g.
Parliament of Victoria, 2010). These discriminatory practices are the exception to the
rule, and are based on the premise of providing equal opportunity to participate against
similarly able competitors.
Media
Sport and the media are engaged in a uniquely interdependent relationship: media relies
on sport for a signicant portion of its content and audience, and sport relies on media
for substantial funding and promotion of its events and products. The role of govern-
ment in the sport media landscape is dependent on the different context for each nation
(Nicholson et al., 2015); for some, the regulation of the sport media is minimal, for
others, government policy and legislation places a heavier hand on the size and scope
of media outlets (Nicholson et al., 2015). When examining the government and sport
media context, it is essential to appreciate the rapidly growing and changing face of
sport media, particularly the use of new media platforms and social media by sport
organisations and broadcasters (Sherwood & Nicholson, 2013).
Government plays a key role in sport media via: (1) the regulation of the sale of
broadcast rights to sport events and leagues, such as ensuring fair competition between
broadcasters to ensure rights; (2) access to sport broadcasts, for example, ensuring key
cultural sport events are readily available on free to air television; (3) advertising content
associated with sport broadcasts, such as the ban on advertising tobacco products in
sport broadcasts in Australia; and (4) media ownership, in order to prevent vertical inte-
gration of the sport and media industries (Nicholson et al., 2015).
Facilities
As the administrator of the largest funding pool for many nations, government has a key
role to play in the development and construction of sport facilities, both community
participation facilities and larger stadia that support professional leagues and major or
mega sport events. In addition to construction funding, often achieved through a public
private partnership commercial arrangement (Coakley et al., 2011), governments often
own and/or manage the public land on which these facilities are built.
When developing policy and particular funding programmes for sport facilities, gov-
ernments must undertake a balancing act to ensure the public good for such an invest-
ment; however, the determination of public good may be complicated by factors such as
the history or prestige of a certain facility or event, the economic impact that can be
drawn to a city or country via the hosting of sport events and the social impact of the
facility on the local community, both good and bad (Coakley et al., 2011). Different
levels of government develop, manage and fund sport facilities for different reasons; for
example, in Australia the majority of sport facilities are managed by local government
18 Emma Sherry
authorities, whereas large stadia that host major and mega events are funded by both
state and federal monies (Richards, 2016). Governments also play a role in the ticketing
of events, with some governments regulating the sale of tickets to high prole events via
anti-scalping legislation (Drayer, 2011).
National identity
One of the most visible roles of government in sport is the use of sport as a tool for
nation-building and national identity (Marjoribanks & Farquharson, 2012). Sport is an
exceptionally visual and culturally important medium through which nations and
regions can demonstrate their pride and identity on a global stage. Nowhere is this
more illustrative than the Olympic Games, where governments spend many millions
of taxpayer funds to bid for the rights to host the Games, and use the Opening Cere-
mony as a platform to declare their position in the world and the identity they wish to
portray (Hogan, 2003).
Mega events, such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and FIFA World
Cup, provide a common meeting place for international governments to come together
to cheer for their nation and, more importantly, to meet with colleagues, industry and
international organisations to keep the wheels of international diplomacy turning
(Marjoribanks & Farquharson, 2012). It is important to note, however, that these inter-
national sport events are typically dominated by those countries that can afford to invest
heavily in high performance sport, leading some to argue that such events reproduce
global inequities (Marjoribanks & Farquharson, 2012).
In recent years, society has become increasingly aware of sports capacity to foster a wide
range of social and developmental goals (Schulenkorf & Adair, 2014). Consequently, it
has received increased attention from government agencies, non-governmental organisa-
tions (NGOs), national sporting organisations (NSOs), sport practitioners and research-
ers both locally and internationally (Schulenkorf, Sherry & Rowe, 2016). In association
with these groups, frequently recognised under the banner of sport for development
(SFD), there has been a proliferation of sport and physical activity programmes designed
to deliver predominantly non-sport outcomes to individuals and their communities
(Coalter, 2006). Through engaging groups in physical activity and sport, SFD pro-
grammes not only have the opportunity to promote the health and well-being of parti-
cipants (Caperchione, Kolt, Tennent & Mummery, 2011), but also have the capacity to
play a substantial part in the social lives of young people. For individuals, sport provides
opportunities to express physical actions, and social identities, and to develop closeness
to other people (Spaaij, 2015).
Sport for development is an area of exceptional growth in the international sport
industry, and sees sport used in communities around the world to effect positive devel-
opment outcomes. Unlike traditional sport development, where the aim is to develop
the sport or athlete to their highest sporting potential, SFD focuses on using sport as a
tool to achieve broader aims that are most often outside the scope of the sport itself
The impact of sport in society 19
(Coalter, 2006). These programmes most commonly aim to address the following: sport
for people with a disability; gender; livelihoods; health; education; and peace and social
cohesion. This section of the chapter now briey discusses each of these.
DISABILITY
Unlike programmes for Parasport athletes, where the aim is to develop athletes with a
disability and to enhance their sporting achievements, sport programming can also be
used as a platform to engage people with a disability in activities that support their
quality of life or social integration (Smith, Wegwood, Llewellyn & Shuttleworth, 2015).
Sport programmes have been used by a variety of NGOs to provide recreation oppor-
tunities for people with a disability (e.g. rugby league programmes in Papua New
Guinea; Sherry & Schulenkorf, 2016) or to facilitate skill development and social inter-
action for people with a disability and the wider community (e.g. community soccer
programmes in an intellectual disability supported-living facility; Gallant, Sherry &
Nicholson, 2015). The key to these experiences is that the sport programme or activity
provides opportunities for people with a disability regularly enjoyed by mainstream
populations; the actual sport itself is of less consequence than the opportunity for recre-
ation, social interaction, the negotiation of identity and engagement with support ser-
vices and programmes to enhance quality of life outcomes (Smith et al., 2015).
GENDER
One of the more common target populations for SFD are programmes specically targeting
women and girls. For many nations, women and girls are not afforded the opportunity to
participate in sport and physical activity (Sherry & Schulenkorf, 2016); women can be
excluded from participating in society more broadly, including reduced access to education
and employment and increased risk of harm from others (Sherry & Schulenkorf, 2016).
SFD programmes are often used as a culturally appropriate and engaging method to work
with women and girls for education and empowerment. A recent example of such pro-
gramming is found in an ICC initiative, Kriket Bilong Olgeta (Cricket Belongs to Everyone),
under way in a number of South Pacic island nations that seeks to engage young women
in the sport of cricket and provide a structured education programme around empower-
ment, hygiene and sexual health (DFAT, 2016). The provision of sport programmes, addi-
tional education and mentoring allows the women to discuss sensitive and important issues
in a safe and supportive space. Programmes such as these also provide women with trans-
ferable skills that can be used for future employment and nancial independence.
LIVELIHOODS
In addition to being a place for social interaction and fun, sport can also provide opportun-
ities for improving the livelihoods of SFD programme participants. In the context of high
income Western countries, evidence of sport being used to support livelihoods can be
20 Emma Sherry
found in programmes that seek to support at-risk populations and provide employment
skills; for example, the EPLs Kicks programme in the UK (EPL, 2016) or the NRLs School
to Work programme in Australia (NRL, 2016) are employment-focused programmes aimed
at encouraging young people to make positive life and career decisions. There has been
little research in this eld of SFD in the international context; however, a key aim of many
SFD programmes is to develop local capacity and leadership in programme participants,
with the aim to ensure the long-term sustainability and local community ownership of such
programmes (Sherry & Schulenkorf, 2016). As a result of the investment in SFD pro-
grammes internationally, local staff have been employed to deliver programmes, in coach-
ing and administration roles, and have undertaken further education and training to
facilitate future careers, thereby enhancing their employability outside sport (Sherry &
Schulenkorf, 2016). Another interesting side effect of some SFD programmes in develop-
ing nations has been the growth of local community market stalls alongside sport events.
As the sport programmes and events have grown, local women have set up food and drink
stalls to service the spectators and participants, increasing their own nancial independence
alongside the success and growth of the SFD programme.
HEALTH
EDUCATION
began as an initiative in the United States; its aim was to provide an activity for at-risk
youth in order to keep them off the streets and therefore reduce anti-social behaviour.
The programmes success in its originating country has led to it being taken up inter-
nationally, including in Australia. The programme, now operating in sites around
Australia, provides a mix of sport and life skills to youth aged 1218; in addition to
having dinner and playing in basketball tournaments, participants must also attend
life-skills workshops that provide education and mentoring around positive life choices
(Midnight Basketball, 2011). Another recent example of SFD and education is the
Australian National Rugby Leagues League Bilong Laif programme (League for Life),
which provided funding of $AUS3.5 million from 2013 to 2016 to help improve
physical, social, literacy and maths skills for 50,000 students across 80 schools (Sherry
& Schulenkorf, 2016).
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The impact of sport in society 23
SUMMARY
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REVIEW QUESTIONS
REFERENCES
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v->V
`] Cultural diversity in Australia
>Li>]>>\>> i>v->V
i>`] E"}] /i>i`>iiSport in Society, 14]{qx
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-
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24 Emma Sherry
`ii] E 7>i] ,
x ,iiV} vii > } V`i\ } Li`
wi >` v>i >i] >vw>] >` >vviV Archives of Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine,
159]{qx
>iVi]
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V> >` }V> `ii
i } >>\ >>i ` v V
V>yiViBMC Public Health, 11]q
>i]]>>]
EV>`] Sports in society: Sociological issues and controver-
sies`i` ]\V>}i
`V>
}i] {]-iiLi/iL>Vi>i>Vi`in"VTime
``> L>Vi >Li i> i> ``i Journal of Sport for Development,
1]q
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>i*>> ii>Sport, Education and Society, 21{]xqx
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Journalism, 14]{qx
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ment, 3x]q
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Sport Management Review, 12]q{n
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CHAPTER 3
Chapter objectives
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INTRODUCTION
The label non-prot sport organisation covers a wide variety of sport organisations, includ-
ing city recreation departments, intramural and interscholastic sport departments in educa-
tional institutions, youth sport organisations and sport clubs afliated with industries,
businesses, etc. Prominent among these non-prot sport organisations are the governing
bodies of various sports at the international level such as the International Basketball Feder-
ation (FIBA), at the national level such as the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM),
at the provincial/state level such as the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) in Canada
and at the district level such as Coimbatore Cricket Association in India, as shown in Figure
3.1. This chapter describes and delineates the functions of national sport governing bodies
(NSGBs), also known as national sport organisations (NSOs).
NSGBs are different from other sport organisations in terms of their purposes and
processes. A governing body is dened as the group of ofcials who create and manage
28 *>V>>>
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the rules that govern the activities and conduct of an organisation, in this case a sport
organisation, and who ensure that the rules are followed. Thus, a sport governing body is
a sport organisation that has a regulatory or sanctioning function over its terrain com-
posed of (1) the sport it is concerned with, and (2) individuals, groups and units afli-
ated with it. This particular attribute of an NSGB sets it apart from other organisations
in the following ways (Chelladurai & Zintz, 2015).
First, an NSGB resembles a state. There are four kinds of social orders or the institu-
tional rule systems that govern how individuals and collectives pursue their self-interests:
the community where ones self-interests are made subordinate to the collective interest;
the market where individuals and organisations in a market pursue their own self-interest
and compete with others in the market; the state where individuals delegate the pursuit
of their self-interest to the collective power of the state, and authorise it to pursue such
a common interest even with force, if necessary; and the association, which is similar to a
state in that it also pursues common interests of its members but does not have the same
kind of power as a state (Schneider & Grote, 2006). Thus, the sport governing body as
an association of its members resembles the state. And the NSGB resembles a federal
state where the member units select their representatives to the national association,
which is given the authority to govern their activities keeping in focus the needs of both
the members and the national association.
Organisational structure and theory 29
Community
Associations
Self- Market
interests
State
In fact, an NSGB performs state-like functions (Chelladurai & Zintz, 2015). It represents
the nation in international forums. It displays the name of its country on all its team jerseys.
It carries the national ag and displays it as often as necessary. The name of the country is
displayed in all critical functions and events. The national anthem is played at the victory
ceremonies where its own athletes are involved. Just like a nation issuing passports to travel
abroad, the NSGB certies individual athletes to participate in specic events.
Typically, a country is governed at the national level (federal or central government),
at the provincial level (state or provincial government) and the regional level (regional or
district government). In a similar manner, a sport within a country is governed by the
NSGB at the national level, the provincial sport governing body (PSGB) at provincial
level, also known as the regional sport organisation (RSO), and the district governing
body (DSGB) at the district level.
A unique attribute of an NSGB is that it is both a monopoly, because no other entity has
any control or power over the affairs of the sport in question within the national borders,
and at the same time it is a monopsony, because it is the only buyer of the talent pro-
duced by member organisations in that the selection of the national teams is solely in the
hands of the NSGB (Chelladurai & Zintz, 2015). When we say that an NSGB is a mono-
poly, it does not mean that individuals cannot participate in the sport. It is conceivable
that groups of individuals can play a sport without reference to the NSGB or its afliates.
This happens often in municipal parks and school playgrounds. However, the NSGB is
the sole authority authorised by the international sport governing body to promote and
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control the sport within the national borders, organise various tournaments within the
country, ensure that the rules of the sport and those of the international federation are
followed, take punitive actions against those who break those rules, select national teams
for international competitions and represent the country in international forums. It is a
monopsony in the sense that those who have excelled in that sport can display their
excellence only as part of teams selected by the NSGB or its afliates at the provincial or
district levels and in the competitions organised by the NSGB. Even more striking is the
fact that such excellent sportspersons can participate in international competitions only
as members of the national teams selected by the NSGB. For example, in the case of
Harry Reynolds, the American track athlete who failed a random doping test in the early
1990s, plainly highlights the struggle between an athlete and the NSGB (in this case The
Athletic Congress or TAC) that was bound by the regulations of its international federa-
tion, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF ). What is clear from the case
is that international federations and its NSGBs practise monopsony in that they consider
only their rules and decision making process to be important and, above all, relevant to
manage the affairs of their operations, even when it is sometimes in conict with other
matters within their sport environment (McArdle, 2003).
It was noted earlier that the NSGB has jurisdiction over the sport it governs and the
regional organisations that are afliated with the national body. Let us focus on the sport
rst. We begin with the premise that an organisation is a social system recognised and
sustained by society because the attainment of stated goals by the organisation is
expected to serve society in specic ways (Parsons, 1960). The businesses claim to serve
society by providing quality goods and services at lower prices. Non-prots also claim to
serve society by providing goods and/or services to specic segments of society who are
in need of them. The existence of the NSGB is sanctioned and sustained by society
because the goals of the NSGB as stated in its mission and vision statements are expected
to benet society. In fact, the registration of the NSGB with the government is a legal
contract. Thus, the NSGBs primary social responsibility is to serve society by attaining
their stated goals of promoting and developing its sport within the rules and regulations
set by society (Chelladurai, 2016).
Any sport is manifested in three different spheres. Calling these egalitarian sport, elite
sport and entertainment sport, Chelladurai (2012) claried the distinctions between
them as follows. Egalitarian sport, variously called mass or participant sport, is funda-
mentally a gregarious activity engaged in for the pleasure derived from that activity.
Egalitarian sport includes everyone irrespective of their ability. It is an inclusionary
process with the motto the more the merrier.
But elite sport is restricted to persons of high ability with a determination to excel in
the activity. It is characterised by high dedication, huge sacrices and extraordinary
effort over a long time. Thus, in contrast to egalitarian sport, elite sport is a serious busi-
ness requiring great deal of planning for deliberate practice and progressively challenging
competitions. It is an exclusionary process wherein those who do not meet the standards
are eliminated at successive levels leaving only the best at the top.
Organisational structure and theory 31
Pursuit of Spectating
excellence
Egalitarian sport
Pursuit of pleasure
FIGURE 3.3 The Three Es (3Es) of sport participation (adapted from Chelladurai, 2012)
The third segment of the sport industry is entertainment sport. The popularity of a
sport is the basis for the entertainment value of that sport. The more popular a sport is,
the more attractive it is to watch it being played. Further, the more highly skilled the
contestants are, the more appealing it is to watch the contest. It is not surprising that
sport organisations have capitalised on this opportunity to commercialise the entertain-
ment value of their respective sports.
The major characteristic that distinguishes between the three manifestations or seg-
ments is the differing purposes of engagement in sport. People engage in egalitarian sport
for the pleasures residing in the activity; participants in elite sports are seeking excel-
lence in that activity; and those who engage in entertainment sport are of two kinds: (1)
spectators or the fans who ock to see excellence in competition and (2) those contest-
ants who provide the entertainment. The description of the purposes of these enterprises
in terms of who engages in it is one way of saying who the clients of these ventures are.
They are the general public in egalitarian sport, the few talented individuals in elite sport
and the paying public in entertainment sport. We should also note that in some cases
people may not have to pay to watch excellence in action, as, for example, in the case of
television viewers. It should also be noted that somebody else is paying to facilitate the
television viewing, that is, the sponsors and the advertisers.
The three segments can also be contrasted on the basis of the environment they interact
with and the opportunities and threats therein. The local community, government, social
32 *>V>>>
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clubs and the local educational institutions constitute the environment for egalitarian
sport while the environment of elite sport extends to regional and national governments
and sport governing bodies and other competing units. For entertainment sport, while
the paying public are mostly from the local community, the franchise (or team) interacts
with other teams located in far-off places as well as with sponsors, advertisers and media
agencies.
Given these differing purposes, the processes of producing the relevant services and
the structural arrangements need to be differentiated from one another.
It must be recognised that smaller NSGBs may not have the luxury of creating different
units for each domain of its sport. But the fundamental argument that the three domains
of sport need to be managed differently based on the task requirements of each and the
environmental contingencies faced by each is valid even in smaller organisations.
VERTICAL DIFFERENTIATION
The above discussion of differentiation dealt with three different organisational units
that were horizontally distributed within an NSGB, each dealing with one of egalitarian,
elite and entertainment sport. There is an equally important aspect of differentiation of
the units that are hierarchically organised with specic functions attached to each one of
them. In a typical NSGB, the board of directors (the board for short) is located at the
top of the hierarchy. The boards function is to set the mission and goals for the organ-
isation and to ensure that the processes for achieving the stated goals are implemented
properly by the set of managers next in the hierarchical line. Below the board, we nd
the Chief Executive Ofcer (CEO) and his or her immediate assistants who are all
involved in implementing the strategy approved by the board and supervise the activities
of those below them at the operational level, who are, in fact, the providers of the ser-
vices associated with each domain.
Adopting Thompson (1967) and Parsons (1960), Chelladurai (1987, 2014) conceives
of these three levels as the institutional, managerial and technical subsystems of an organ-
isation, as shown in Figure 3.4.
The technical subsystem is the unit(s) concerned with producing the services associ-
ated with each of the domains of sport (i.e. egalitarian, elite and entertainment sport).
Organisational structure and theory 33
Distal environment
Institutional subsystem
Managerial
subsystem
Technical subsystem
Egalitarian sport
Elite sport
Entertainment sport
The nature of the services provided in each domain and the processes thereof dene its
fundamental requirements. At the next level, we have the managerial subsystem, which
has the dual responsibility of both administering the technical system and serving it. In
administering the technical unit, the managerial unit ensures that the appropriate pro-
cesses in providing quality services are adequately followed and that they abide by legal
and ethical requirements. In addition, the responsibility of the managerial system is also
to ensure that the technical system has the right personnel, enough nancial resources,
facilities, etc. to carry out the production of services effectively and efciently. In other
words, the managerial system acts as a buffer between the technical system and the
environmental turbulences. Finally, the institutional subsystem at the top of this hierarchy
sets the objectives and policies of the organisation, recruits and hires the top managers,
ensure that these managers execute the policy effectively and interact with the distal
environment to legitimise the organisation in order to secure governmental and societal
support for the organisation.
One line of research undertaken to understand and help the performance of sport
governing bodies focuses on the boards of those organisations. A sample of the topics
covered include cohesion (Doherty & Carron, 2003), role ambiguity (Sakires, Doherty,
Misener, 2009; Doherty & Hoye, 2011), ethics (Henry & Lee, 2004), strategic capability
(Ferkins & Shilbury, 2010, 2012), board performance (Ferkins, McDonald & Shilbury,
34 *>V>>>
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2010), intragroup conict (Hamm-Kerwin & Doherty, 2010), leadership (Hoye, 2004,
2006) and board power (Hoye & Cuskelly, 2003b).
Of the above topics, the topic of board capability has been vigorously pursued by
Ferkins and her associates (e.g. Ferkins, McDonald & Shilbury, 2010; Ferkins & Shilbury,
2010, 2012; Shilbury & Ferkins, 2011). In the most recent publication, Ferkins and
Shilbury (2015) dene board strategic capability as the ability of the board to function
strategically, which also involves processes of environmental analysis, strategic thinking
and decision-making, as well as the design, enactment, and monitoring of strategic prior-
ities (p. 490). More signicantly, they identied six central factors of board strategic
capability, which are:
In proposing their theory of Board Strategic Balance, Ferkins and Shilbury argue that
board strategic capability:
might be further maximised by the boards ability to balance (and hence under-
stand the relationship between each component) all of the contributing com-
ponents, to manage the tensions between them, to acknowledge the paradoxes,
and pay attention to each in order to achieve optimum strategic capability.
(2015, p. 497)
It makes eminent sense that the board should be involved in collaborating with the CEO
and member units in setting the strategy and formulating the policy thereof and oversee-
ing the implementation of such policy. It is also logical that the board members need to
be knowledgeable in the operational procedures of their respective organisations for
them to be able to oversee those operations.
However, it does not mean that the board should be involved in supervising the day-
to-day operations.
The governing body must govern; that is, it must provide leadership and
strategy and must focus on the big picture. Governance is about planning the
framework for work and ensuring it is done. As such, it is distinct from manage-
ment (organising the work) and operations (doing the work). As far as possible,
Organisational structure and theory 35
the governing body should therefore steer clear from making managerial deci-
sions and getting involved in the day-to-day implementation of strategy.
(www.wheel.ie/content/management-vs-governance)
While the distinctions among the three subsystems have been articulated by others (e.g.
Thompson, 1967), Parsons thrust is unique because he emphasised that there should be
a clear break in the simple continuity of the authority structure among them (i.e.
between the institutional and managerial subsystems, and between the managerial and
technical subsystems). The organisational design should be such that one subsystem does
not interfere with the functioning of the other two subsystems. That is, the institution-
alization of these relations must typically take a form where the relative independence of
each is protected (Parsons, 1960, p. 69).
Chelladurai (2014) notes that this Parsonian perspective is widely practised in the
management of intercollegiate athletics in the United States. While the board of gov-
ernors of the university (i.e. the institutional subsystem) has considerable power over its
athletic department in terms of hiring and ring the athletic director and the coaches, it
does not engage in the internal affairs of the department, which is the responsibility of
the athletic director and his or her assistants (i.e. the managerial subsystem). By the
same token, the managerial subsystem does not interfere in the coaching of the teams
(the technical subsystem). In addition, the managerial subsystem resists any attempt by
the board or its members to engage in the internal affairs of the technical core, that is, in
how the coaches coach their respective teams.
Now to the issue of managing the national sport organisation and its regional afliates.
The International Olympic Committee (2014), the Australian Sports Commission
(2012) and the European Union (2013) have all articulated several principles of good
governance to be followed by sport organisations in general and sport governing bodies
in particular.
For instance, the IOC advanced the following basic universal principles of good
governance to be respected by all Olympic constituents:
s TRANSPARENCY OF THE RULES CLEAR TEXTS MUST EXIST AND BE ACCESSIBLE AND CIRCULATED
s lNANCIAL TRANSPARENCY IN PARTICULAR lNANCIAL COMMITMENTS TENDER PROCESS DISCLO-
sure of nancial information, accounts in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles, audit by a qualied, independent entity;
s TRANSPARENCY OF MANAGEMENT AGENDA DOCUMENTATION
s TRANSPARENCY OF MANAGERS JOB DESCRIPTIONS OBJECTIVE CRITERIA FOR RECRUITMENT
s TRANSPARENCY OF RISK MANAGEMENT
s EFlCIENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
s SHARE RESPONSIBILITY CLEAR TEXT ON THE RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES POLITICALMANAGE-
ment decisions);
s CONTROLLED RESPONSIBILITIES CLEAR AND REGULAR REPORTING FROM ELECTED AND APPOINTED
ofce holders;
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s REGULAR AND LEGITIMATE ELECTIONS
s RIGHT TO APPEAL ABOUT ALL FORMS OF DISCIPLINARY MEASURES
s RESPECT OF MINORITIES RESPECT OF THE RIGHT OF EXPRESSION FREEDOM OF SPEECH
The above and other documents on good governance have clearly articulated how all of
the activities of a sport governing body should be carried out. They all stress that man-
agers of sport governing bodies need to be competent, accountable, ethical, democratic,
inclusive, harmonious, transparent and so on. However, they do not address the issue of
what the NSGBs should be doing.
Chelladurai (2006) and Chelladurai and Zintz (2015) have offered a scheme of what
the NSGB responsibilities are based on a consideration of the NSGB as the apex of an
inter-organisational network consisting of member organisations and as arising from its
corporate social responsibility.
Based on earlier work on inter-organisational networks (e.g. Human & Provan, 1997;
Provan, 1983; Provan & Kenis, 2007; Van Gils, 1998), Chelladurai (2006) and Chelladurai
and Zintz (2015) noted that the NSGB has specic functions imposed on it because it is at
the apex of an inter-organisational network consisting of state or provincial sport governing
bodies. The list of the apical functions they identied include the following.
Creating trust
The NSGB has to cultivate the trust between itself and the other NSGBs, which is
fundamental for member organisations to follow the lead of the NSGB (Provan & Kenis,
2007). By the same token, the NSGB needs to create the trust between itself and the
government agencies and sponsoring entities that are major sources of resources.
Managing diversity
NSGBs should take steps to increase the number of women and members of ethnic
minorities in its managerial and coaching ranks at the national and regional levels. As
managing sport becomes more mainstream, the importance of consideration of the
uniqueness and diversity of members of the NSGB becomes more apparent than ever.
Managing sport in a multiethnic society of today has become a specialised skill (Megat
Daud & Radzi, 2012).
It is fundamental that every NSGB tries to popularise its own sport. With increasing
popularity of the sport, there will be greater ow of resources.
Athlete welfare
The national team athletes are among the most signicant stakeholder group, and thus
attending to their welfare is among the most important priorities for the NSGB. The
NSGB needs to institute and carry out effective programmes to counsel and guide the
athletes. The NSGB should also take efforts to mobilise and supplement the resources of
their member organisations to attend to the welfare of the athletes under their charge.
Leadership
The NSGB should avoid being content with addressing minor issues that have consensus
and setting aside major issues that are contested. The NSGB has to move beyond this
stagnant approach and take on the leadership role in dening new priorities with an
action plan, articulating clear policy platforms and taking credible positions. The NSGB
needs to show the member organisations new ways of thinking and doing things.
There is yet another perspective on the NSGB that provides an insight into what the
NSGB should be doing, i.e. the social responsibilities of the NSGB.
there is one and only one social responsibility of a business to use its resources
and engage in activities designed to increase its prots so long it stays within the
rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without
deception or fraud.
Carroll (1979, 1983) identied four dominant responsibilities of a business: (1) economic
responsibility, meaning that the business must make prot; (2) legal responsibility to
Organisational structure and theory 39
abide by the laws of the land; (3) ethical responsibility, where the business abides by the
norms of society that are not covered in the law; and (4) discretionary responsibility,
referring to voluntary activities to benet society. Both of these authors considered that
the primary and superseding responsibility of a business is of an economic nature, fol-
lowed by its legal responsibility. The basis for this categorical statement is that businesses
are set up to make prots and thus their primary responsibility is to make prots for the
owners.
Extending the above thinking, Chelladurai (2016) posits that the fundamental
responsibility of any organisation (business or otherwise; prot or non-prot) is to
achieve its stated goals because it is established and managed only to achieve its stated
goals. It is one thing to say that an organisations responsibility is to achieve its goals but
it is another to say that it is its social responsibility. For this assertion, an organisation
needs to be viewed from the societal perspective. An organisation is a social system
recognised and sustained by society because the attainment of stated goals by the organ-
isation is expected to serve society in specic ways (Parsons, 1960). Non-prots also
claim to serve society by providing goods and/or services to specic segments of society
that are in need of them. The existence of the NSGB is sanctioned and sustained by
society because the goals of the NSGB as stated in its mission and vision statements are
expected to benet society. In fact, the registration of the NSGB with the government is
a legal contract. Thus, the NSGBs primary social responsibility is to serve society by
attaining their stated goals within the rules and regulations set by society.
similar manner, use of cheap and faulty equipment in any of the sports operations can
result in harm to their clients. When a national team member is selected because of who
he or she is, we are hurting another person who deserves to be on the team.
1 instituting and following rational and open structures and processes for the attain-
ment of its stated goals;
2 ensuring that organisational activities in the pursuit of its goals do not harm anyone
(individuals, groups, units or organisations);
3 rectifying mistakes that harm others and making amends for the harm done.
In the nal analysis, the effectiveness of an NSGB is contingent on how well it carries
out the functions mandated by its strategic position as the apex of an inter-organisational
network and how well it discharges its social responsibilities.
SUMMARY
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Organisational structure and theory 41
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CHAPTER 4
Professional sport
Paul Turner
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INTRODUCTION
Professional sport generates signicant revenues and has a profound impact on the lives
of billions of people (Szymanski & Kuypers, 1999). Smith and Stewart (2010) highlight
that the entities within the professional sport environment seek to maximise outcomes
through winning trophies; simultaneously cooperating via shared revenue streams while
at the same time competing with rival clubs and channelling the passion from athletes
(employees) and fans (customers). Professional sport must continue to commercialise,
commodify and increase its market share in order to survive the competitive landscape,
but it must do this while retaining what is essential and attractive to its core constitu-
ency. This core is represented by highly passionate and motivated fans who see on-eld
success as being paramount to the existence of the sport. Attention on achieving a
balance between winning and on-eld success, and revenue and protability, is a crucial
decision in contributing to success in professional sport (Smith & Stewart, 2010).
This chapter identies the unique features of professional sport and some of its dimen-
sions through an emphasis on four internally oriented and four externally oriented stake-
holder contributions. The internal stakeholders are represented by athletes, clubs, leagues
and governing bodies (international federations/national governing bodies) that impact on
professional sport. The external stakeholders are represented by the fans, community,
Professional sport 45
media and corporate interests that impact on professional sport. The desire for professional
sport to retain its foundations of connecting with its core constituencies, while also ensuring
solid business practices, introduces the professional sportscape as a context identied here.
While these internal and external stakeholders are not the sole domain of the professional
sport contribution, they are sufciently representative to warrant attention. Figure 4.1 pro-
vides an overview of the stakeholder dimensions that t within the professional sportscape.
INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS
Simplistically, professional sport can be dened as the delivery of sport for which athletes
receive payment. This payment will usually be in the form of a salary to the athlete that
reects income for work undertaken. While this simplistic approach to dening professional
sport acknowledges the job of an athlete, there is much more to the internal stakeholder
contribution than just the athlete. The conduct of sport and resulting employment of
athletes is often through the clubs or the governing bodies, which in turn depend on a
league structure being in place to xture ongoing competitions. This competition may be
presented in the form of a regular league format (such as the English Premier League
(EPL)) or a cyclical event format provided through major events organised by the governing
body (or associated entity) responsible for the sport, such as the Formula One Grand Prix
event circuit. Each internal stakeholder group is identied and examined in turn.
ATHLETES
Athletes play an integral role in the delivery of professional sport. Smith and Stewart (2010)
indicated that professional athletes are essentially business assets who are instrumental in
attracting supporters, sponsors and media exposure. These athletes have strong public
support and corporate afliations, often attain hero status and attract enormous crowds.
Professional sport
Media Corporations
At the professional level, the career of an athlete can be quite lucrative. National
Basketball Association (NBA) athletes have been reported as being the highest paid
athletes in the world, with an average player reportedly earning US$4.6 million in the
20142015 season. The advantage NBA players have is that this average reects their
smaller roster than other sports, such as the National Football League (NFL). The NBA
involves 448 athletes who share in US$2.1 billion in collective salaries, compared to the
1,648 athletes in the NFL who share a total of US$3.6 billion, an average salary of just
US$2.1 million (Gaines, 2015). This average is not shared evenly across every player in
these respective leagues, but it does highlight the potential rewards that are on offer to
those who can achieve at the elite level.
Contrary to the high-end salary opportunities, salary.com (2016) identied the actual
average salary a professional athlete earns, reporting that the median annual Professional
Athlete salary is $US32,349 as at March 2016 (salary.com, 2016). This salary result can
vary widely depending on many factors, relating to the sport undertaken and the level at
which it occurs. An example of the salary effect is that a Minor League baseballer can earn
as little as US$3,000 per season, in a job requiring seven day a week availability and exten-
sive bus travel across the country (Grossman, 2016). Equally in tennis, professional tennis
players earn prize money per round at each event they play. Excluding any personal spon-
sorship deals a player may have, while Novak Djokovic won more than US$14 million in
2014 as the sports highest earner, Lukas Zvikas featured at the bottom of the ATP earnings
list with US$36 in winnings for playing doubles (Grossman, 2016). While that nal total of
$36 may be an aberration rather than the rule, it is clear that those who fall outside the top
tier of professional athletes may not necessarily obtain lucrative nancial rewards (Gross-
man, 2016). This emphasis on the earning potential of professional athletes does not even
consider the salary divide between mens and womens professional sport.
Alongside this potentially enormous earning capacity, one of the unique features of sport
identied by Smith and Stewart (2010) is that athletes are subjected to a level of adulation
and interest that can border on excessive. Every on-eld athletic action is broken down for
review, analysed and commented upon by the media. While the on-eld analysis is an
expected part of the daily news report, an athletes life off the eld is also considered to be
open to public scrutiny. Athletes can be required to uphold public standards that would not
normally be accepted in other spheres of business or life (Smith & Stewart, 2010).
Professional athletes lives can achieve celebrity status, and every move they make is
followed and dissected by the fans, the league and the club. Every misdemeanour or
deviant action is reported on and presented for public consumption. An athlete is con-
sidered to be a role model, subjected to sanctions or interventions if they deviate from
good behaviours. Athletes are discouraged from engaging in behaviours that will upset
or affect corporate supporters or the fans. At the same time that an athlete retains
enormous earning capacity and bargaining power, the behavioural expectations placed
upon them by a range of stakeholders are signicant.
LEAGUES
Professional sport leagues provide structured competitions for teams to engage in, with
organised seasons of play, a unitary set of playing rules and the capacity for spectator
Professional sport 47
interest and league and team protability. A combination of cooperation and comp-
etition between clubs is required to ensure that the most efcient and effective outcomes
are achieved (Turner, 2012). Cooperating, while at the same time competing, presents a
relationship of reliance, alongside the need for continued on- and off-eld success for
each team. This relationship encourages teams to provide support for their opponents,
while at the same time being in competition to beat them. In most industries, organisa-
tions would not be permitted to operate in this way (Turner, 2012). Szymanski and
Kuypers (1999) highlight that this creates somewhat of a paradox for sport. Clubs must
compete in a hostile environment against numerous, aggressive rivals, while at the same
time cooperating with these rivals to the degree necessary to benet the entire group.
Sport leagues, particularly outside of those responsible for Association football, largely
resort to behaving like a cartel in order to restrict any one team from dominating the com-
petition. The reason behind this is to facilitate sufcient revenue and prots for all
members of the league or competition, while ensuring that each team retains a chance to
be the winner in any one season. The cartel-like practices employed by leagues include col-
lective agreements across: salary levels; player recruitment and drafting; admission pricing;
game scheduling; income distribution; and broadcasting arrangements (Smith & Stewart,
2010). The major sport leagues in the world generate billions of dollars annually, as spon-
sors, media and fans ock to the events, which in turn attracts huge corporate interest, and
this commodication of professional sport ensures that leagues continue to be big business
(Mason, 1999).
Professional sport leagues can be represented in a number of ways, in terms of how
they are structured and who is responsible for them. Cricket Australia (the national gov-
erning body (NGB) for the sport) conducts its Shefeld Shield competition, the EPL dis-
plays many of the features of an oligarchy with its billionaire club owners, while boxing
identies strongly with a promotor-led sport structure (Smith & Stewart, 2010). While
the governance or structure of professional sport can be classied in different ways, many
leagues display mixed versions of these structures. A sport such as motor racing displays
cartel, oligarchy and promotor-led elements throughout the whole of its set-up.
Additionally, these leagues may be formed to provide a series of events or a struc-
tured set of xtures across a season. Competitions in North American sport leagues have
essentially been formed as closed leagues, with each club representing a franchise.
Leagues in Australia adopt a similar model to the North American system, restricting
new entrants and premised on licences being applied to the respective club franchises.
Across Europe the leagues formed are open leagues with promotion and relegation,
which ensures that clubs seek to strengthen their squads in order to avoid the threat of
relegation, while the possibility of promotion encourages teams in lower divisions to do
likewise. It can be argued that promotion and relegation battles ensure greater fan
interest as more games actually matter with teams being in contention for the champion-
ship or, alternatively, relegation (Sloane, 2007).
CLUBS
The organisational model of sport was originally formed around independent clubs, within
associations and federations established around predominantly amateur, non-prot
48 Paul Turner
principles (Szymanski, 2009). While the non-prot emphasis has largely been retained for
professional sport organisations around the world, the emergence of professional sport has
connected with commercialisation, globalisation and increasing interests. Estimates now
place the worlds 50 most valuable sport teams as being worth on average US$1.75 billion
each. Real Madrid ranks number one with a valuation of US$3.26 billion, followed closely
by the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees with a value of $3.2 billion each. The
worth of teams within this top 50 has increased from a minimum valuation of US$856
million in 2013 to $1.15 billion in 2014. Within the top 50 there are 22 baseball (ranked
12) and basketball (ranked 10) franchises, with the NFL having 20 franchises and foot-
ball (soccer) seven. In total 62 sport franchises globally are worth at least US$1 billion
(Badenhausen, 2015).
The value of these professional clubs clearly classies them as large business entities.
While clubs can be considered signicant businesses in their own right, their ownership
and structures may differ between specic sports, leagues and countries. In Australia
most clubs operate within a licensed league format and are recognised as non-prot enti-
ties where revenues are diverted back into the sport. The Australian approach also relies
on a volunteer board of directors implementing the policy and direction supported
through strong membership from supporters. This is in contrast to the North American
model of club ownership where high prole businesses or individuals, including family
trusts, own most of the professional teams. European football has a mix of fan owner-
ship, business ownership and even clubs that are listed on the stock exchange and pub-
licly traded.
Whatever the ownership model of clubs, and notwithstanding their economic value
in a business context whereby they can be traded or sold for prot, the importance of
professional sport clubs in their communities is signicant. Fans still display an over-
whelming emotional connection and allegiance to their club that many other business
organisations would love to replicate. This explains why the level of interest by corpora-
tions and businesses to invest in and be associated with professional clubs continues to
be signicant.
GOVERNING BODIES
While it may be a league or club that inuences the direction of professional sport,
the governing body of the sport can also have a great impact. The governing body,
Australian Football League (AFL), in a sport such as AFL is wholly responsible for
managing not just the league competition, but the entirety of the sport. It creates the
policy and direction in which the sport evolves. That means that not only does it
direct funds to the clubs for the league competition, it is also responsible for the
development and overall growth of the sport. Revenue is deployed in order to ensure
the long-term benet of the sport, a decision that may not always be fully sanctioned
by the clubs (Smith & Stewart, 2010). In the case of the AFL it assigns a licence to
the clubs to be part of the competition. This enables the clubs to participate without
fear of being relegated or removed from the competition. The ongoing licence to
retain their position in a league competition is a major feature of most major leagues
outside of Association football.
Professional sport 49
The governing bodies play an important role in ensuring that the broader development
of the sport is supported and that the athletes, league or individual clubs do not overstep
their standing within the sport. A recent example of this is the rejection by the European
Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) of the establishment of a European Super League.
This Super League was proposed by a selection of the continents elite football clubs inves-
tigating breaking away from their respective top-tier divisions in order to form a new com-
petition (SportBusiness, 2016a). The EPFL response was that creation of this league would
seriously damage the long-term aspirations of smaller teams, who currently qualify for the
UEFA Champions League and Europa League competitions. Five clubs from the EPL
(Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City) were reported to
have held talks about forming/joining a European Super League. This league would have
been organised independently, and not by the governing bodies of football, UEFA or FIFA.
The EPFLs view was that Europes elite clubs should seek to guarantee better redistribution
of wealth in order to achieve a more level playing eld rather than destroying the
dreams and goals of numerous clubs to compete at the highest level in Europe (Sport-
Business, 2016a).
In a further case, the International (Field) Hockey Federation (FIH) recently
announced a major development in hockey through its 10-year hockey revolution initi-
ative. This initiative was formed to raise the global prole of, and increase participation
in, the sport. From 2019, it was proposed that all national teams would play one another
home and away each year, complementing the 4-year Olympic Games and Hockey
World Cup cycles. The FIH would establish specic criteria around the teams to parti-
cipate in order to ensure quality, alongside three main objectives: to generate a massive
change in TV and media coverage for hockey; create big, bold, packed and loud events
and; make a step change to increase future revenues (SportBusiness, 2016b). The gov-
erning bodies can play an integral role in supporting the greater good of the sport, while
ensuring that all stakeholders in the sport have a chance to benet.
EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS
While the internal stakeholders focused on the athlete and the organisations that administer
professional sport, the external stakeholders can be represented by the parties that are inter-
ested or affected by professional sport. These parties represent the spectators/fans who
display an intensity and passion for their sport that is often seen as extending well beyond
the boundaries of normal commercial interest. The fans represent specic communities that
are important to the ongoing commitment to sport, and as a result the corporate and media
interest has risen to a level some consider obscene or even beyond sustainability.
The global sport market was estimated to be worth in excess of US$145 billion in
2014. These gures are derived only from the revenue obtained through gate revenues
($43 billion), media rights ($37 billion), sponsorship ($45 billion) and merchandise ($19
billion) and represent revenue streams for professional sport clubs only. It is envisaged
that these revenues will continue to rise into the future, with the major contributor to
growth being derived through enhanced media rights deals (PwC, 2011).
Advances in broadcasting and technology present opportunities for fans and corpora-
tions to view and engage with the professional sport product. The introduction of social
50 Paul Turner
media is providing opportunities to fans to engage with their sport with greater intensity
of experience, enabling sponsors to associate with and contribute to the experience,
while ensuring sophisticated data mining and resulting marketing opportunities allow
increasing levels of intelligence and insight into target markets. All sporting organisations
attempt to balance their increasing commercial demands on their sport with the require-
ment to maintain the integrity and unpredictability of making sporting competitions
exciting and appealing to their fans.
SPECTATORS/FANS
A core feature of professional sport is its innate feature of engaging fans and delivering
intensely emotional and loyal attachments (Mason, 1999). This is underpinned by a
powerful sense of identication, with strong belonging and emotional attachment. This
strength of loyalty and identication ensures that one form of sporting product cannot be
easily replaced by any other. Fans will not readily substitute their attachment to their team
or sport, even if the team underperforms, and even when this underperformance extends
over multiple years. This strong and passionate attachment, loyalty, vicarious identication
and blind optimism are crucial differentiators for sport (Smith & Stewart, 2010).
Spectators attend games, view sport on television and through other media devices,
and engage and interact via social media. New media opportunities are making this inter-
action occur with greater immediacy and with less emphasis on location. A spectator can
access a live game via a mobile device anywhere around the globe, accessing the full
game, highlights, live scores and results or statistics at the touch of a button. This means
that spectators today are more informed and more discerning than at any other time in
history. The requirement for this accessibility to be provided in a seamless and efcient
way, catering for the needs and demands of the fan, is essential. No longer will substand-
ard service, run-down facilities and poor communication access be tolerated. Professional
sport has identied the need to create stadiums that cater for the needs of all fans, web-
sites that provide suitable connectivity and access to information and broadcasts that
cover all angles incorporating multiple replays. To ensure this unreserved passionate
loyalty and following is continued, the professional sport delivery must continue to
provide outcomes that meet the needs of the fans.
Whatever the management approach, however, people still display a strong afliation
with the sport, club and athlete. While the sport presents highly skilled athletes individ-
ually or in teams, all with relatively equal attributes and capable of producing high
quality outcomes, the fan interest in sport continues unabated. Mason (1999) identied
that sports most notable distinction is its relationship with its consumers, which drives
sport into being a vehicle for the promotion of corporate interests.
CORPORATIONS
Professional sport provides an attractive live product experience that is of great appeal
not only to fans at the ground, but also for extensive advertising and broadcast interests.
The interest of spectators/fans in sport is instrumental in driving the success of
Professional sport 51
professional sport. The overwhelming passion and involvement of the fans for sport
teams brings enormous commercial and media interest. This corporate interest intro-
duces revenue sources through association with the sport through sponsorships and
broadcasting interests. Sponsorships generate enormous interest and provide signicant
revenue to professional sport. Equally, the opportunity for branding and consumer con-
nection can be enormous for business.
Recent discussion has emerged over the ethical association between sponsors and
professional sport. Manchester United made very clear statements about separation of
their increasing commercial demands from sponsorship and the teams performance
when they were renewing their sponsorship portfolio in 2013. They emphatically
declared that their hunt for silverware would not be affected by increasing commercial
demands. A record 357 million shirt sponsorship deal with Chevrolet that took effect
from the start of the 20142015 season, coupled with a 5-year contract with Russian
airline Aeroot that generated in excess of 25 million, were recent additions to the
business interests of the club. This did not include the major shirt manufacturing deal
with Nike that was still under discussion at that time, although the club ultimately chose
Adidas as its shirt sponsor. These arrangements left some people wondering about
the demands these agreements place on the staff, including the manager who stated that
he was aware of the additional demands of dealing with sponsors. Group managing
director Richard Arnold clearly advised that sponsors would not impact performances on
the pitch, stating that there is nothing like sport. In sport there is nothing like football
and in football there is nothing like Manchester United in terms of delivering connection
and exposure (Stone, 2013).
COMMUNITY
While the league product in professional sport developed around fan interests, and pre-
dominantly for those who traditionally attended games, the community attention has
evolved considerably. The attention of professional sport is still on the fan, but this goes
beyond the traditional localised focus of the past. Years ago, a professional club prim-
arily represented the local region of which it was a part. Many clubs emerged to
represent one city or town, or in the case of a sport like the AFL, even one suburban
region within a particular city.
The localised version of professional sport where a singular community is represented is
now very much a thing of the past. While sport clubs and leagues still retain a strong impact
on their traditional markets, the need to globalise or internationalise within professional
sport is occurring at a rapid rate. This has seen the expansion of leagues and major events
into markets in all corners of the world, developing fan, sponsor and media interests in new
markets. Sport leagues that were once the domain of suburbs, towns or regions within a
community are now less attached to a specic place. Major leagues such as the EPL and
NBA are now accessible and attractive to a global supporter network. A club such as Man-
chester United boasts a global following of 659 million fans, far exceeding the red side of
the city of Manchester that represents just 0.1% of the supporter base (Prior, 2013). While
this gure, presented through market research, was questioned in some circles, it still points
to the global support of the club being quite enormous.
52 Paul Turner
MEDIA
Professional sport is now one of the most expensive media products, representing a
market that exceeds US$37 billion for professional sport clubs alone. This gure does
not take into account expenditure on major events such as the US$7.5 billion that
American network NBC paid the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for Olympic
rights until 2032 (Sherwood, 2016). While criticised for being enormously overvalued,
NBC referred to its tradition (being the US broadcaster of the Olympic Games since
Professional sport 53
1964), and its belief that the Olympics represent more than just money and that it
supports other programming and attracts signicant viewer interest, as strong reasoning.
Commentary around this decision to lock in a media contract until 2032 was met with
some derision and incredulity by other media providers. Rivals state that NBC does not
know what the media outlook will be over that time, with the potential for radical shifts
in technology and habits over an almost 20-year time frame. Questions over whether
people will even be watching sport, aside from how they might consume it, have been
raised. Added to this, the network has no idea of where the Games will be held, or even
the time zone in which they will be held, and this represents an extreme gamble by an
organisation (Sherwood, 2016).
The example of the Olympic Games highlights a key aspect relating to media and
professional sport. While the nancial contribution from traditional media sources has
continued to grow, many more opportunities are being brought about through the
changes occurring with respect to the introduction of the over the top (OTT) content
sector. Media players such as Google, Netix, YouTube and Amazon can operate with
lower costs and far wider distribution via the Internet than traditional terrestrial broad-
casters. One result of this is that these companies are increasingly seeking to acquire the
rights to distribute professional sport. While the exact model between the sport and
media organisations is still evolving, there is a clear appetite by these media companies
to distribute sport across their platforms. The model of traditional rights payments to
sport might now extend towards other possibilities, such as a revenue sharing approach,
or a merger/acquisition of clubs and leagues by the media organisation. Whatever the
approach, the media interest in sport is continuing to grow, and the end result is that
revenue associated with media rights is growing with it.
While the uncertainty surrounding the broadcast of professional sport in emerging
new media markets exists, other factors associated with media can impact on com-
munities. Barnes (2016) referred to 2016 as the year that sport dies. He believes that as
long as sport can retain the public interest then it will continue to retain its appeal, but
suggests there are signs that people are losing faith in the innocence and meaning of
sport and this is in large part being driven by the media coverage and level of invest-
ment. Barnes cited instances of doping, betting indiscretions, improper behaviour of
athletes and, more recently, improper management practices, indicating that these neg-
ative aspects may be damaging the trust the public has in their sport. Sponsors have
withdrawn support, such as Adidas recently announcing its withdrawal, four years early,
from the IAAF as a result of doping scandals surrounding the sport. This could amount
to tens of millions of dollars lost by the sport. The Australian Open tennis tournament in
January 2016 was a highlight not just for tennis, but for players being implicated in
throwing matches for payments. These and other issues are causing signicant damage to
the sports affected.
It is not only the poor behaviour or governance and policies being brought into
question. The inuence of external parties who invest in sport is becoming legendary.
Chelsea has an owner who, on a whim, will change the manager and players because
of poor performance. Adidas now sponsors the kit of Manchester United in a deal
worth 75 million a year. The Adidas CEO reportedly dropped a careful hint that
Manchester Uniteds current style of play did not meet their approval, stating we are
satised but the actual way of playing is not exactly what we want it to be. This raises
54 Paul Turner
concerns over the style vs substance vs commercial value (Stone, 2013). This level of
interference begs the question of whether even tactics are an aspect of commerce and
the media. It also raises questions of whether professional sport is entertainment or
something quite different.
SUMMARY
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CHAPTER 5
Chapter objectives
After completing this chapter you should be able to:
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multi and single sport event opportunities;
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international initiatives;
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nence in a particular market;
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sional sport.
Sport touches us all regardless of where we live in the world. Whether it is friendly banter
with a colleague about the game last night (e.g. the score, a certain play, an important goal),
a discussion with a parent of the local sport team (e.g. volunteer roles, upcoming fundrais-
ers), planning a social engagement around a broadcast of the next sport event (e.g. Rugby
World Cup, March Madness), or simply organising your next activity (e.g. scheduling your
race, booking the course), the power of sport is omnipresent on a global scale. It is no sur-
prise that people love to discuss, consume and participate in sport all over the world. Yet,
while we share some similarities in these respects, the sporting opportunities and landscape
is vastly different from country to country. Take, for example, Canada, where ice hockey
and (perhaps surprisingly) lacrosse are the national sports. These sports are an integral part
of the national identity of Canada. Internationally, Canada is considered to be an ice
hockey-mad country, but is lacrosse also seen as an important sport?
The global sport environment 59
In reality both ice hockey (or simply hockey to Canadians) and lacrosse have two very
different participant and consumer markets in Canada. Additionally, they are but two of
myriad sports that Canadians discuss, consume and participate in every day. Did you
know that soccer is actually the most played sport by Canadian children from 5 to 14
years old (where approximately 42% participate)? In Canada, participation rates for
swimming (24%) in this same age category are actually higher than hockey (22%). Other
popular participation sports for Canadian youth include basketball (16%), baseball
(14%), volleyball (8%) and gymnastics (8%) (Canadian Heritage, 2013). Baseball and
basketball also hold a strong consumer interest in Canada with professional leagues in
both sports. However, this is not a chapter about what sport is like in Canada. This
introduction highlights the fact that the sport system in a country (regardless of where in
the world one is discussing) is shaped by a complex history of development. Specic to
Canada, the cultural inuences of First Nations people and French and English immig-
rants have shaped the sport system. Hence, to truly understand a sport within any
country is to appreciate and acknowledge that the historical, cultural, political and socio-
economic conditions all play a role in shaping the sporting environment.
In Wales, rugby union is the national sport and occupies an important position in the
wider culture. It is often described as the national sport and is positioned as something of a
classless game. Yet the sport came from an English public (fee paying) school where it
was nurtured by the social elite. It developed in Wales during a period of signicant inward
migration as the country became an industrial hub of the world. Many of these immigrants
were from England, the big neighbour next door and the country that Wales still most
wants to beat on the rugby eld. Wales was one of the foundation nations of rugbys inter-
national federation now known as World Rugby, and is part of the hegemonic core of the
international game (see Harris, 2010). For a nation of three million people, it has con-
tributed a great deal to the sport in an international perspective.
In addition to the many contextual differences and realities that shape sport within
any particular country, one must also appreciate that sport systems across the globe are
continuously changing from year to year. Factors such as governmental change, and the
national and international monies that ow in and out of sport organisations through
broadcasting rights and event hosting deals, are just two examples to note.
From a global sport environment viewpoint, then, there are myriad factors inuencing
the sport system of a nation. It is apparent that keeping up with the trends in sport in
one country alone is difcult enough, so tracking them on a global scale is a monumental
and perhaps impossible task. A cursory review of how professional sport is handled from
Europe to North America, for instance, reveals many differences (see Markovits & Rens-
mann, 2010). Furthermore, what is culturally relevant is vastly different from one conti-
nent or region to the next. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that there are
major differences between what is discussed, participated in or consumed from one place
to the next. Furthermore, many distinctions in how sport is managed and marketed can
be seen based solely on the size of the population. In China the sport fan market is in
excess of 281 million fans, whereas the United Arab Emirates has a small market of just
over three million fans (Know the Fan Report, 2014).
Yet, despite the various different cultures, climates, geographies and languages that
exist globally, there are certain sports and sporting events that capture the imagination
of the masses across the world. Mega events like the Summer Olympic Games and the
60 Eric MacIntosh and John Harris
FIFA World Cup (Men) receive tremendous media coverage and sponsorship monies.
Success on the international sporting stage is considered very important and the per-
formances of a nation in the Olympic Games are often viewed as reecting its position
in the wider world order. While parts of this chapter will discuss these two biggest sport-
ing events, the majority of it will focus on the increased internationalisation of sport
leagues and consider some of the key issues shaping contemporary sport. From a Global
Sport Environment perspective, there are many sports (e.g. cricket, baseball, basketball,
rugby) that are discussed, participated in and consumed passionately from one country
to the next. In addition, there are varieties of these sports (e.g. Twenty20 cricket, Rugby
Sevens) and a plethora of competitions within the sporting calendar that add to the
enormous size of the international sport marketplace.
Consequently, sport is an enormous worldwide market and, as we will see later on in
this chapter, the sport landscape is constantly changing and increasingly internationalis-
ing. Many of the more omnipresent professional leagues are attempting to capitalise on
the international appetite for their sport, a trend that will seemingly grow. All told, the
world of sport is abundant and many opportunities are available to host events, act as a
tourist, participate or even watch your favourite team on mobile technology.
SPORTING OPPORTUNITIES
The popularity of a particular sport, from both a participant and consumer point of
view, largely depends on the region of the world one is discussing. For example, football
is a very popular team based sport in many regions such as Europe, Africa, Asia and
South America (see Giulianotti & Robertson, 2009). However, this does not mean that
other team sports like cricket, netball, rugby union or (eld) hockey do not have strong
and passionate followings in some of the same countries where football is popular. While
noting that one sport is the most popular is interesting and headline catching, it can also
sometimes be misleading as representative of what is actually happening within the
wider sport system of a particular nation.
For instance, some of the more popular team based sports leagues in North America,
such as in ice hockey (NHL) or American football (NFL), have recently experienced
considerable media attention related to the long-term consequences of concussions due
to the contact that occurs in these sports. As a result of these contemporary and ongoing
discussions, participation in these sports at the grassroots level may suffer. Consider that
for parents, head injury and safety issues may lead them to question their childs parti-
cipation despite the cultural popularity of the sport. Concomitantly, both (ice) hockey
and American football are nancially draining commitments and time consuming for
parents. Consequently, we see that in this case, health, nancial and logistical issues may
negatively inuence sport participation despite a very high consumer based interest.
Thus, sport systems change due in part to new knowledge being created, and the new
trends and opportunities that are available. In the case of these two team based sports in
particular, it begs the question of how the knowledge and awareness around concussion
and injuries will reshape the sport participation landscape in North America and even
other parts of the world. While the sport may be different, similar concerns around head
injuries also dominate discussions of safety in rugby union and World Rugby is carefully
The global sport environment 61
monitoring this issue. There has recently been a call in the UK and Ireland to ban tack-
ling in school rugby, with over 70 academics and doctors signing an open letter to gov-
ernment ministers (BBC, 2016). This attracted considerable media attention and
continues to provoke much discussion.
Of course, there are many other ways in which sport consumption and participa-
tion patterns can change. When new opportunities become available to participate
and consume within the sport system (e.g. hosting a major single or multisport event,
changes to technology), we increasingly see a focus on the supposed legacy of hosting
such events, particularly in relation to the promise of increased physical activity rates
among host nation residents. In recent years, there has been a proliferation of both
single and multisport event hosting opportunities at the youth, adult and senior level
nationally and internationally, and we continue to see sport become more global in
this respect. Consider the hosting opportunities recently for the Summer Olympic
Games (Beijing 2008; Rio 2016), FIFA World Cup (South Africa 2010; Brazil 2014),
Commonwealth Games (Delhi 2010) and a multitude of world championships hosted
in what are often described as developing nations. We can clearly see the soft power
of sport here as a means of public diplomacy and reimaging a nation on the inter-
national stage. These events can create new opportunities and challenges for countries
to build and develop their infrastructure for their athletic talent while showcasing cul-
tural richness and contributing to legacy (Getz, 2005; Parent, Rouillard & Leopkey,
2011). Furthermore, when it comes to hosting an event, there is often an increased
pressure on host nations to perform well. We have seen this in our respective nations
where the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and the 2014 Commonwealth
Games in Glasgow both resulted in record medal tallies for the home teams. The
expectation levels and pressure to perform for the host nation can be high. When a
national team fails to meet these expectations, as was the case with the England mens
team at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, there is an inevitable media backlash and often a
change to the coaching team.
These large property rights holders now also organise sport competitions for younger
people (e.g. Youth Olympic Games and Commonwealth Youth Games), and one can
understand the burgeoning sport event opportunities and developing international land-
scape. While the case could be made that the property rights holders are simply trying to
grow their market share and develop their brand through the younger athletic talent
(MacIntosh, in press), the advent of these games has undoubtedly created new oppor-
tunities for smaller sport/host cities (in terms of population) to develop their sport
system, while also providing an enhanced international environment for other athletes to
compete in. For instance, a cursory review of the Commonwealth Youth Games shows
that the hosts have a relatively small population when compared with host cities of the
Commonwealth Games (see MacIntosh, in press).
Like the youth based multisport event offerings, there are also many single sport
event opportunities to compete (e.g. FIFA Youth World Cup, International Ice Hockey
Federation World Juniors and Junior Wimbledon). Indeed, the increasing number of
youth competitions and the global pressure to succeed have resulted in a redesign of
many national talent development systems (Barreiros, Cote & Fonseca, 2014). Many
sport systems now have an increased focus on the development pathways of younger
people and hold their own national competitions (e.g. the Canada Games). Sport events
62 Eric MacIntosh and John Harris
like these are said to build up the sporting pedigree of young athletes and are intended
to help ready the athlete for regional and international events. Yet, they are not without
signicant stressors to younger athletes (Parent, Kristianson & MacIntosh, 2014).
The availability of regional competitions for single and team based sport events are
abundant. Today, there are many sport competitions available to athletes. For
example, regional competitions such as the Asian Games, Oceania Games, Islamic
Games, Island Games, Francophone Games, South American Games, European
Maccabi Games, Pan American Games, to name but a few, are now providing ample
sporting opportunities for athletes and many of these events hold considerable spon-
sorship and broadcasting rights for the property rights holders. Indeed, there seems to
be a burgeoning area of sport event opportunities. Consider that the sporting calendar
also offers other events such as the World University Games, World Military Games,
World Police and Fire Games, the Gay Games, Special Olympics and the Invictus
Games. Indeed, the world of sport goes well beyond the big two (Olympic Games
and FIFA World Cup) for the amateur and professional athlete. When it comes to the
professional realm of sport, there are circuits in a number of popular sports, including
the Rugby World Cup, Cricket World Cup, the World Baseball Classic, the World
Cup of Hockey and the Ryder Cup. Professional golf and tennis have their own
lucrative circuits for both men and women that have a signicant place on the sport-
ing calendar. By now, it should be very clear that the global sport environment is
incredibly broad.
The amount of sport events is truly staggering. The tourism opportunities around
many of these events have produced a desire among governments to bid for the rights to
host many of them. However, some places in the world are synonymous with specic
events. There also exists a rich breeding ground of business activity in specic cities for
certain events, including the likes of the Tour de France, Calgary Stampede, Boston Mar-
athon and the Running of the Bulls that are now central to wider tourism promotion in
these locales. Annual events such as these can be important contributors to the local
economy, where key stakeholders attempt to capitalise on the name brand of the event
and demonstrate city prowess in an international context.
In the next section, we turn to some case study examples of professional North American
sport in an attempt to illuminate some of the strategies employed in league based activ-
ities to grow the market share within the global sporting environment.
watch their favourite player compete. Thus, for many leagues, it is good business prac-
tice to provide the non-traditional and non-local fans with consumption opportunities in
efforts to grow the brand internationally.
The NFL has had a mixed bag of results growing the game outside the United States.
For example, the NFL created the World League of American Football (1991), which
later became NFL Europe (rebranded in 1998), but this initiative ultimately failed. In
more recent years, embarking upon a different strategy, the NFL has had some success at
establishing a relationship with international fans in London, through staging games at
Wembley Stadium. This began with the inaugural NFL International Series in 2007 with
a match between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants. Over the past 10 years,
the NFL has strategically invested in the International Series. For six consecutive seasons
(20072012), the NFL had one regular season game outside the United States. The
format was expanded at the beginning of the 2013 season to have two games held inter-
nationally at Wembley, and in 2014 and 2015 three games were held outside the United
States. In 2016, the NFL will see two games at Wembley again (a commitment to play
at least two games until 2020), and also one at Twickenham Stadium (home to the
England rugby union team). While the rosters of NFL teams are still almost entirely
composed of players from the United States, the league continues to remain committed
to growing the sport internationally and tickets for the matches in London are very
popular. Indeed, the announcement that the NFL partnered with the Rugby Football
Union (RFU) to play a minimum of three regular season games at Twickenham over a
3-year period is a sign for an emergent relationship that could spawn new marketing
streams for the two sports. The deal, which is the rst of its kind for the RFU, starts in
October 2016 with the matchup for the rst International Series game at Twickenham
(NFL, 2016). Considering that an NFL season is composed of 16 regular season games,
and games are spread out usually over seven days, it is possible (and perhaps feasible) to
one day see a team in the league have a home stadium in England. This is a topic that
has been discussed in media articles on both sides of the Atlantic (e.g. Daily Mail, 2014;
USA Today, 2014).
Of the four bigger professional league based sports in North America, arguably the
one that has been the most successful with internationalising their product is the NBA.
The NBA has made a concerted effort to have pre-season and regular season games held
in various international markets for some time. In 2016, as part of their NBA Global
Games campaign, a regular season game between Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors
took place in the O2 Arena in London. In 2015 games were also played in Shanghai (LA
Clippers vs Charlotte Hornets), due in part to the prominence and popularity of basket-
ball in the Chinese market and, of course, the sheer size of that market.
Indeed, the NBA has made profound efforts to grow the sport internationally in a
variety of countries and has taken strides to strategically create a dedicated website in
different languages to cater to the international appeal of the league. Perhaps not coinci-
dentally, and very much unlike the NFL, the composition of NBA rosters comprises
many different nationalities. In recent years, the recruitment of Division 1 college
basketball players from countries in (for example) Africa, South America and Europe
has increased (Fay, Velez & Thibault, 2014). This reects the growing popularity of
basketball on a global scale (see Markovits & Rensmann, 2010) and has helped con-
tribute to the international talent on NBA rosters.
64 Eric MacIntosh and John Harris
To illustrate how international rosters have become in the NBA, consider the
20152016 Toronto Raptors as an example of a melting pot of players where almost half
of the roster comprises athletes from outside the United States. The roster consisted of
athletes from Lithuania, Argentina, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo and Brazil.
The team has utilised the marketing campaign titled We the North to place itself as the
only team in the NBA outside the United States, Canadas team. It is also interesting that,
as a marketing campaign, the team has utilised Cantonese correspondence within the local
Toronto market to build the client base within the Toronto Chinese community. For
Maple Leaf Sport and Entertainment (which owns the team), it is a savvy and strategic
decision given the immense scope of the Chinese market in Toronto. However, it is not
only the Toronto Raptors that have beneted from the global appeal of basketball. Other
rosters around the NBA are also testament to the popularity and growth of the sport across
the globe. While some of this could be attributed to the NBAs efforts to grow the game,
basketball has long had a wide population and consumer based appeal (with other profes-
sional leagues around the world) and through the FIBA development system.
MLB has included athletes from (for example) Japan, the Dominican Republic and
South Korea for some years. For its part, MLB has also made concerted efforts to
strengthen its brand internationally and provide multi-language information on its
website for fans in these areas to access. There has been a swath of pitching talent
coming from Japan (e.g. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Yu Darvis, Mashiro Tanaka, Junichi
Tazawa and Koji Uehara). Players from the Dominican Republic have had a long and
rather storied history of success in MLB (e.g. Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Vladimir
Guerrero, Albert Pujols). In more recent times, athletes from South Korea have made
their way onto MLB rosters (Shin-soo Choo, Chan-ho Park, Byung-hyun Kim, Jung-ho
Kang, Byung-ho Park). While MLB has had great success at internationalising its sport, it
has had help from the various franchises that regularly host academies in the Dominican
Republic, Venezuela and other countries as a way to promote the game and identify tal-
ented players (Bravo, Orejan, Velez & de Damico, 2012; Kurlansky, 2010). The league
has invested heavily in growing its position in the international market. One of the more
prominent strategies to grow the game of baseball was the launch of the World Baseball
Classic in 2006. This was an initiative developed specically to develop the prole and
position of MLB outside North America (Klein, 2006) and has been met with much
enthusiasm in many countries around the world.
The NHL has also strategically invested in growing the game internationally. As far
back as 1938, exhibition games were played in Europe between the Montreal Canadians
and Detroit Red Wings (NHL, 2015). Not surprisingly, the NHL has invested in the
colder climate areas to grow the game. The sport has tremendous appeal in Russia, and
one of the most hotly contested international ice hockey events ever was the inter-
national series between Canada and the Soviet Union (known in Canada as the 1972
Summit Series). In this ercely contested series, which Canada eventually won 431,
the creation of a true global rivalry for the sports domination emerged. Although it took
several years to see the migration of Soviet talent into the NHL due to the wider polit-
ical climate, today, Russian hockey players like Alex Ovechkin, Pavol Datsyuk and
Evgeni Malkin are NHL stars with legions of fans.
For the NHL, having various international showcase events, like the Summit Series
and other prominent tournaments like the Winter Olympics, IIHF World Hockey
The global sport environment 65
Championship and IIHF World Juniors, has seen the game grow in popularity outside
North America (in countries such as Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Russia
especially). These countries continuously produce top level international players and
have many athletes who perform well in the various professional sport leagues around
the world in hockey (Swiss, Swedish, German and KHL). One could easily make the
case that for the NHL, having its players regularly participate in the Winter Olympic
schedule (since Salt Lake City in 2002) has helped to grow the game internationally.
During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, 141 NHL players represented their
countries (NHL, 2015). While the international strategy is abundantly clear for the
NHL, the league has also embarked on various strategies to showcase its international
talent, including in 1998 when the NHL changed the All-Star Game format to become
an international competition (North America vs World All Stars). Today, the NHL regu-
larly plays games in different parts of Europe.
Clearly, we see that internationalising the sport leagues in North America is both a
strategy and a priority. However, there are also numerous examples of other sport teams
and leagues from around the world attempting to develop their presence in North
America and/or other markets. Many English Premier League (EPL) football teams have
long favoured the United States as a site for pre-season tours and EPL matches are now
screened live in the United States and Canada during the course of the season. In 2016,
English rugby union sides London Irish and Saracens played against each other in a
regular season xture staged at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey. We are likely to see
other teams from England follow this path in future years. Rugby continues to develop
markedly in the United States, with the launch of the rst professional domestic league
in 2016, and the inclusion of Rugby Sevens in the 2016 Olympic Games offering new
opportunities and momentum to develop the sport that was the forerunner to American
football. Indeed, the internationalisation of teams, leagues and star players will continue
in the years to come.
Professional sport leagues around the world have both similarities and differences in how
they are structured. One of the major differences between how sport leagues are struc-
tured globally is whether or not the league is either open (through the promotion and
relegation system) or closed (the same teams in the league year after year unless there is
expansion or a franchise folding). The North American professional sport leagues are
closed systems, with the same teams competing each year in the same league for the
same prize. In Europe, the majority of the leagues are open and the relegation system is
implemented where bottom teams move down a league and the top teams from the
league below move up. In 2016, the EPL produced a remarkable story when Leicester
City became league champions despite narrowly avoiding relegation to the league below
one year earlier. This was a true underdog story and has attracted considerable inter-
national media attention. The EPL, which was already arguably the most popular sport
league in the world, has received extended global coverage because of this. As a reec-
tion of the global football business, the EPL title was won under the guidance of an
66 Eric MacIntosh and John Harris
Italian coach (who had previously coached the Greek national team), with signicant
nancial investment from the Thai owners, and with players from (for example) Algeria,
Argentina, Denmark, Germany, Ghana and Japan alongside their English counterparts,
once again showing the true international athlete talent collective on one team.
Another part of the North American system that differs to some degree from the
European system is the idea of revenue sharing among teams in the league. Dietl, Fort
and Lang (2012) noted that in the German Bundesliga, television rights are marketed by
the league and distributed according to each clubs position at the end of the season,
where top teams are rewarded more nancially for performance. Within the Champions
League, television revenues are also marketed collectively by UEFA and distributed
according to a formula, which includes the clubs success as well as the size of the tele-
vision market in the different countries (Dietl et al., 2012). Those that stay at the top of
domestic leagues gain more revenue, causing the possibility of less parity. Given that a
weaker or lower-placed team receives a smaller portion of the nancial pie, the case
could be made that competitive balance diminishes. In a regional context, we also see
the biggest and richest clubs dominating European football where the nancial rewards
for qualication to the Champions League are now getting bigger and bigger as the pop-
ularity of the sport continues across major television markets. Meanwhile, in North
American professional leagues, revenue sharing, or rather the splitting of operating
prots, is more common, particularly in NFL, NHL and NBA (and to a modest degree in
MLB). As Wenz (2012) noted, while each of these leagues engages in a form of revenue
sharing that differs in formula, all face the same issue in struggling to achieve com-
petitive balance as a result of the ideal, and the highest level of competitive balance that
can exist occurs when all teams are equal, and each team has the same probability of
winning each contest and of winning league championships (p. 479). However, this
ideal is not consistent with each teams individual prot maximisation goal and so
perfect competitive balance in a league is near impossible to achieve, particularly when
you consider the size of the local market (Wenz, 2012). Whether it is gate revenue
sharing, collective sales of media rights or salary caps, each league system operates some-
what differently (Peeters, 2015). In conjunction with the idea of league revenue sharing
come the negotiations that take place during each collective bargaining period between
the league and its players. In the case of the NHL, they have their own special commit-
tee to oversee and adjust league revenue sharing each year with a sophisticated formula
to do so. Peeters (2015) noted that gate revenue sharing, for example, while widely used
in the US major leagues, is largely absent in European soccer.
Another signicant difference between the European and North American model of
sport is that teams in Europe may compete simultaneously in multiple competitions (e.g.
in football, teams can compete in league championships, cup competitions and regional
events). As Humphreys and Watanabe (2012) noted, the EPL sees teams compete in
league matches for the championship, which has no playoff format and is determined
only by the outcome of the regular season league standings. In addition, the teams that
compete in the league also compete in other domestic knockout-style tournaments
(FA Cup and League Cup), and the teams that nish the highest in the league have the
chance to compete within intercontinental competitions like the UEFA Champions
League or Europa League. The leading players from these clubs may also represent their
national teams in international competitions during the regular season.
The global sport environment 67
There are other differences of note, such as the sponsorship success of logos on team
shirts within the EPL. However, some of the North American sport leagues (like
NASCAR and Major League Soccer) have also had similar success in this regard. Most
recently, the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA signed an agreement with StubHub to carry
their logo (Canadian Press, 2016). This emergence of sponsored logos on team shirts is
likely to be another future revenue stream for the NBA and other professional league
teams in North America to adopt.
Today, the expansion of the World Wide Web and various social media has resulted in
the emergence of the connected fan, where fans can connect with other like-minded
individuals (Hull & Lewis, 2014) to both consume and produce content available for
others. Boyle (2011) noted that there are some key factors that are shaping the relation-
ship between media and sport organisations, including the marketisation of the media
itself, the evolution of the digital landscape and the issues within globalisation including
but not limited to the economy, identity and cultural practice/interest in sport. This very
rapid development within the information technology domain, and in particular the
various social media platforms, is changing sport and sport management.
People now have the capability to access all types of information (e.g. player statistics,
sport schedules, archived news pictures etc.), which has shaped the way people consume
sport and the way organisations must now focus and manage the various platforms on
their website and in their facilities. Today, many people now have access to sport
information via their smartphones and personal computers. While watching sport on TV
is still a viable and most popular option (Know the Fan Report, 2014), fans are increas-
ingly spending more time getting information through more instant access and self-
directed means in a mobile fashion anywhere and at any time. Unlike the local
newspaper, this information is not restricted to geography (although geo-blocking can
restrict the type of information available such as live action and video).
Rights holders and media companies are increasingly looking at ways to work social
media into the overall commercial offering for their loyal and new consumer bases
locally, nationally and internationally (given the ability of fans to connect from anywhere
and at any time). Boyle (2011, p. 18) noted that we are moving to an age where debates
about old and new media are becoming outdated and the new paradigm is one that
places the relationship between content and screens at its core. Social media is now at
the heart of sport business and digital rights are driving the changes in the delivery and
type of content produced by leagues and teams.
For even the casual sport fan, the ability to connect and consume information is
important. This requires sport organisations to employ staff who can write compelling,
trustworthy and interesting stories quickly and on a regular basis. However, what is com-
pelling to an older audience may not be the same thing that is sought by millennials.
Whereas perhaps as much as 10 years ago, social media was the domain of younger gen-
erations, we now see that the passion and use extends to people of all (or older) ages.
Hence, for a sport organisation, this also means that it must have knowledge of not just
68 Eric MacIntosh and John Harris
the production of interesting and relevant content, but also the backroom technology
needed to ensure that its platforms are up to speed and that (for example) geo-blocking
protection is working to help protect it from copyright or licensing issues.
The availability and accessibility of connected devices such as live HDTV and Inter-
net streaming allows fans around the world to consume sport live. The second screen,
and screen size (tablets vs phones), can provide people with the action they are seeking
in different formats. Rowe and Hutchins (2014) provided an interesting example of
watching Usain Bolt win the mens 100-metre sprint during the 2012 Olympic Games.
Although only 80,000 people could have seen the event in live site, by means of media
arrangements the real live audience numbers could be measured in billions (or at least
hundreds of millions) rather than thousands. Today, people are not limited to spatial
locations for sport consumption. The real reach of sport, through various broadcast
rights and media platforms, is tremendous. Rowe and Hutchins (2014) noted that the
purchasers of broadcast rights for the Olympics were initially concerned that new/social
media would splinter audience attention and so reduce the size of the audited audi-
ences on which they rely (p. 12). Consider that now people who live site can share
their experience through photo, video and/or text with others almost instantaneously
through the likes of Twitter and other shareable content. This technology provides an
account of (or close to) real-time experiences and exposure on a broad international
platform. However, this concern about reducing the size of audience gures proved a
moot point, as the conversation between people using social media actually brought
people into viewing the live televised event (Rowe & Hutchins, 2014).
Social media, in conjunction/simultaneously with traditional media, allows fans to
communicate directly and easily with each other and to build identity at a time, place
and frequency that best suits the individual. Without doubt, there is a strong conver-
gence of sport organisations using social media. The effect of social media has seen tradi-
tional media like newsprint begin to combine social media into their format. Some
organisations now use social media to bring in consumer opinions so that the broadcast-
ers can interact with the people/fans watching the programme by answering questions.
Hence, we see that social media, accompanying traditional modes, are advancing the
second screen experience.
For sport organisations and or property rights holders, the advent of social media and
the new technology that is constantly appearing has created a need to have policies that
help manage their products and services. Interestingly, we have seen new policy created
for how athletes are allowed to use social media. Professional teams want to have their
fans connect with the team and they use the prole of star players to bring fans into the
two-way communication. Yet there is also concern about the potentially damaging
effects of athletes tweeting inappropriate comments or posting images on social media
that could cause offence.
SUMMARY
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The global sport environment 69
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Foundations of sport
management
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CHAPTER 6
Chapter objectives
At the end of this chapter, readers should be able to:
Key Terms: High Performance Sport; Managing HP Sport; Athlete Attraction, Retention,
Transition and Nurturing Processes; HP Sport Strategy Formation and Implementation
INTRODUCTION
This chapter outlines the three principles of managing high performance (HP) sport.
These principles are (1) the elite athlete development process, (2) the determinants of
managing the HP sport environment, and (3) the strategic management of HP sport.
Understanding and applying these principles helps sport managers and sport organisa-
tions to manage HP sport environments, athletes and team successfully.
High performance sport is the top end of sport development and encapsulates any
athlete or team that competes at an international or national level (Sotiriadou &
Shilbury, 2013). High performance sport management is about identifying, measuring and
developing the performance of athletes and teams, and aligning their performance with
76 Popi Sotiriadou and Veerle De Bosscher
the strategic goals of the sport organisation. Therefore, HP sport management is dened
as the process of (1) understanding what is to be achieved (planning), (2) developing the
capacity of people and organisations to achieve it (capacity building and leading), (3)
providing the required support (resourcing), and (4) offering feedback to athletes and
teams to improve their performance (monitoring and evaluating). Planning, capacity
building and leading, resourcing, and monitoring and evaluating athlete progress and per-
formances represent the key performance management functions in managing HP sport.
Consequently, managing HP sport is the application of performance management pro-
cesses to the context of HP sport in order to obtain and maintain sporting excellence
(Sotiriadou, 2013).
The evolution of managing HP sport dates back to the 1950s and the onset of the
Cold War. Political and military tensions between Western Bloc (i.e. the United
States and its allies) and Eastern Bloc (i.e. the Soviet Union and its allies) powers
prompted government support to systematically develop elite sport, to achieve diplo-
matic objectives (Riordan, 1978). Consequently, in their efforts to demonstrate
superiority over American capitalism, communist bloc countries, including the Soviet
Union and the German Democratic Republic, invested heavily in HP sport. Since
then, systematic talent identication processes, evolutionary sport sciences, special-
ised coaching, training and facilities, as well as advanced athlete development pro-
grammes, became the new HP model that many other countries outside the
communist bloc, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, have
embraced and further advanced.
As the know-how of managing HP sport and the well- and long-held secrets of
developing athletes and nurturing success were disclosed over time, many countries have
replicated successful HP systems and structures and improved performances and success.
The success of replicating a systematic development of elite athletes from country to
country came to a halt when nations realised that there is no one model ts all
approach to managing HP sport. In the early 2000s, researchers, countries, national sport
organisations, high performance managers and coaches began to seek sport-, country-
and context-specic mechanisms to manage HP sport. Over the past two decades, the
focus in managing HP sport has shifted towards the search for better or new ways to
develop elite sport and create a competitive advantage for nations.
Due to a lack of HP-specic planning tools, sport organisations and people working
within HP sport have long borrowed and applied generic management principles, the-
ories and models (such as situation analysis and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats analysis). As the management of HP sport is an established eld of study, generic
management principles alone are insufcient to explain the complexity of the eld, and
the need to develop HP specic practices and theories is clear. It is now well understood
that these mechanisms need to be country and context specic for the principles of man-
aging HP sport to generate results. There is a consensus among researchers that the
development of elite athletes requires a systematic approach to create pathways that will
attract talented athletes and allow them to transition to elite level and maintain elite
level success long term (Sotiriadou & Shilbury, 2009; Sotiriadou, Quick & Shilbury,
2006). Consequently, countries, governments, sport systems and sport managers all over
the world recognise the need to advance the development of sport in a strategic and
systematic way.
}iv}w}>> 77
The three principles of managing HP sport that this chapter outlines are:
1 The principle of elite athlete development process. The elite athlete development
process is explained using an organisational approach and by applying the elite
athlete Attraction, Retention, Transition and Nurturing model (Sotiriadou, Shilbury &
Quick, 2008).
2 The principle of HP sport environments. The HP sport environment and its implica-
tions for elite athlete development are explained from a macro, meso and micro
level perspective.
3 The principle of strategic management of HP sport. Strategic management in the
context of HP sport is explained using HP sport strategy formation and implementa-
tion models.
The three principles of HP management offer the necessary guidelines for the decisions
and actions of HP managers, and represent the underlying factors that form the founda-
tions of successful HP sport management within sport organisations.
sports get the balance of athlete continuation and progression right while others struggle.
A typical example in the Australian context is represented in two football codes, the
Australian Football League (AFL) and soccer. While both codes are very popular plat-
forms for grassroots participation, pathways to elite AFL game appear to be a lot better
structured with better talent retention and transition to elite compared to soccer and the
A-League. Consequently, the AFL player participation pathways are: (1) comprehensive
(levels of participation that link), (2) inclusive and equitable (accommodates all young
people), (3) coherent (prescribes links between levels), (4) developmental (meets chil-
drens needs), and (5) informed (by research and practice) (Australian Football League,
2016).
Considerable research has focused on identifying the ideal trajectory for athletes, from
the rst exposure to fundamental movement skills to elite competitive success (Richards,
2016). Many sports have tried to design pathways and deliver effective support and
systems. Yet, understanding the pathway to athletic excellence remains a coveted
objective for a range of sporting stakeholders (Gulbin, Weissensteiner, Oldenziel &
Gagn, 2013). There are three key reasons that explain why many sports fail to design
and deliver successful athlete development pathways.
vocational level. Over the past years, this literature has been complemented with authors
highlighting the importance of the context within which development takes place. For
example, Baker and Horton (2004) distinguish the primary inuences of performance
(e.g. genetics, training, psychology) from the secondary inuences that indirectly inu-
ence performance such as sociocultural factors, cultural importance, instructional
resources, familial support and sport maturity. Henriksen, Stambulova and Roessler
(2010) shifted researchers focus from individual talent to the Athletic Talent Develop-
ment Environment (ATDE) model that consists of micro and macro levels, athletic and
non-athletic domains and the given time frame (past, present and future).
These models offer substantial insight into the athlete pathways continuum in terms
of skills development, training and micro level driven athlete traits and provide a useful
approach to coaches and trainers in designing programmes and training techniques that
reect athlete needs. However, as the denition of an athlete pathway denotes, in addi-
tion to understanding the developmental continuum, it is also essential to understand
the role of sport organisations at various levels (e.g. international, national, local), and
the people within them (including coaches, umpires, commentators, administrators, HP
directors or volunteers), on athlete movement in the sport system. In other words, exam-
ining athlete development from an organisational perceptive.
As such, in sport management literature, Sotiriadou (2010, 2013) proposed the
ARTN model previously described. The ARTN is an organisational model of athlete
development that examines sport organisations and their efforts to develop athletes as an
open system (Sotiriadou, 2013). This means that as sports and sport organisations
interact with their environment and exchange or process information with various stake-
holders, they operate in an open system where inputs, throughputs, outputs and perform-
ances are all important factors to consider. As sport organisations interact with their
environment, they draw certain inputs from it (e.g. funding, programmes and policy dir-
ection) and convert these to performance outputs. In summary, the ARTN model places
sport development within the context of systems theory (Midgley, 2003) (i.e. a process
of input throughout output) and outlines sport development as a process that is inclu-
sive of stakeholder involvement (input) that provides strategies or policies (throughput)
for successful pathways (output) (Sotiriadou, Brouwers & De Bosscher, 2016). This
means that the ARTN takes into account the environment within which sport organisa-
tions develop athletes.
pyramid or some other closely related linear model. There was a time when a pyramid
was quite a logical way of building sport programmes (besides the fact that not all
athletes follow that pyramid and drop out earlier from sport). However, the sport
environment has changed, with many other stakeholders and organisations being
involved in sport (e.g. commercial sector) and the pyramid model does not cover sport
development in its entirety. As sport development is a much more convoluted process
and far from linear, in order to achieve a more informed understanding of athlete devel-
opment, researchers have advocated for a more detailed assessment of the development
process (e.g. Vaeyens, Lenoir, Williams & Philippaerts, 2008). Furthermore, Abbott,
Button, Pepping and Collins (2005) argued that approaches that fail to acknowledge the
multifaceted nature of development are in danger of missing the complex, dynamic and
linear nature of athlete development.
To illustrate the multifaceted nature of sport development from an organisational per-
spective, simply consider the role of a coach at the different levels of athlete develop-
ment and the ways their role varies depending on the level at which they operate.
During the attraction process coaches have a very different role as the development of
basic skills is important. However, their role in developing elite athletes or training them
for success is greatly different. Such stakeholder role details, and much more, also needs
to be taken into account in developing HP pathways in sport.
As Gulbin et al. (2013) at the Australian Institute of Sport have demonstrated, the
performance development of an athlete does not always follow a predictable or linear
ascent. In their work, Sotiriadou et al. (2016) suggested that there are seven pathways.
Figure 6.1 shows the movement of individuals (elite or not elite) within the sport devel-
opment space. The seven pathways recognise that people could play sports without the
desire to become elite athletes (1). Other people may transition to higher levels of com-
petition (2) and become elite athletes (3). At the end of their careers some athletes may
retire and leave sport (4), while others may re-enter a pathway as an athlete in a dif-
ferent sport (5). Athletes or participants can stop participating and work or volunteer in
the sport system in various capacities (e.g. coaching or umpiring) (6), or leave the elite
level and play sport at grassroots (e.g. at a Masters club) or competitions levels (7) (e.g.
Masters Games) (Sotiriadou et al., 2016).
Re-entry
Entry paths
Exit paths
(6) Re-entry in another capacity
Exit
(7) (4)
Talent/pre-elite
Entry point(s) competitions Re-
(2) entry
Exit
Grassroots participation (4)
(1)
(referring to a particular political system) (e.g. De Bosscher, 2007). These factors cannot
be directly inuenced and as such are difcult to manage. Some consensus is building
among researchers that the impact of these macro level factors has decreased over time.
For example, their predictive value to medals was only 41.6% at the London Olympic
Games in 2012 (De Bosscher et al., 2015). Nevertheless, macro factors are important to
consider and necessary to understand when shaping HP sport strategies (Andersen &
Ronglan, 2012; Bergsgard, Houlihan, Mangset, Ndland & Rommetveldt, 2007). While
macro level factors have an important effect on HP systems and athletes, they are hard
to manage and difcult to evaluate (De Bosscher et al., 2015).
In summary, commercial, political, social and cultural factors are closely intertwined
with the management of HP sport and affect the operation of all sport organisations
(public, non-prot or commercial sectors) at national or international levels (Houlihan,
2013). This is why HP systems in different sports have similar goals, but different tracks
on how these systems are developed and, consequently, how they are managed
(Andersen & Ronglan 2012; De Bosscher et al., 2015). How these macro level factors
inuence HP management and the way managers deal with them is hard to determine or
generalise, because they are complicated, multilayered and country, sport and context
specic. The HP environment is also dynamic because initial policy decisions can deter-
mine a future policy choice, which is referred to as path dependency (Houlihan &
Green, 2007). Therefore, managers need to formulate the strategies that best t the
historical, cultural and political context of the HP sport system.
One of the meso level models frequently used by performance managers and policy
makers is the SPLISS (Sport Policy factors Leading to International Sporting Success)
model (De Bosscher et al., 2006). This model identies nine pillars and species 96 crit-
ical success factors (CSFs) that contribute to improving the HP sporting success of a
nation (De Bosscher et al., 2015). Specically, nancial support (pillar 1) and an integ-
rated approach to policy development through organisation, structure and governance
(pillar 2) are necessary conditions for the development of athletic careers. Pillars 3, 4 and
5 represent the sequences of the athlete development stages, including foundation and
participation (pillar 3), talent identication and development systems (pillar 4) and ath-
letic and post-career support (pillar 5). Investment in the four remaining pillars (pillar 6,
training facilities; pillar 7, provision for and development of coaches; pillar 8, national
and international competition structure; pillar 9, scientic research and innovation) is
essential for the development of elite athletes.
The model has also been applied to other contexts at a sport-specic level (e.g. ath-
letics, Truyens et al., 2013; tennis, Brouwers et al., 2015b; canoe, Sotiriadou et al., 2014;
judo, Mazzei, 2016), or Paralympics at a state level (Brazil; Bhme et al., in press).
When these nine pillars are compared to recent international comparative studies on
elite sport systems (e.g. Andersen & Ronglan 2012; Bergsgard et al., 2007; Digel et al.,
2006; Houlihan & Green, 2007), they show a high degree of overlap with what other
authors consider to be the elements of an HP system. The main difference is that the
nine pillars in the SPLISS study are underpinned by CSFs and subfactors, and that the
focus is on meso level factors in relation to the success of countries. It is important to
stress that the nine pillars of the SPLISS model are general dimensions for which it can
be argued that all factors are manageable and can be classied under one of these pillars.
De Bosscher et al. (2006, p. 209) state that the SPLISS function is not deterministic:
rather it aims to identify pivotal issues and to generate crucial questions in a benchmark
study of elite sport systems. The SPLISS model is therefore dynamic and will continu-
ously be adapted over time, over different sport settings, different sport contexts and
situations.
level approach, it uses systems theory (Patton & McMahon, 2006) to shift researchers
focus from individual talent to the ATDE model. Starting from the athlete at the centre
of the model, it also describes the factors that inuence talent development at the micro
level (managers, coaches, clubmates) and the personal environment (peers, family,
school). In addition, it adds the meso level (e.g. sport federations and clubs) and macro
level (education and sport culture) factors.
There are links between meso and micro level factors. Well-considered micro level
factors provide a fertile ground for HP management at the meso level to be effective.
When, for instance, coaches adopt age-appropriate sport development programmes
that take into account the athletes physical and psychological stages of development
(i.e. micro level factors), inevitably they work towards and allow for optimal talent
development and identication processes (i.e. meso level factors that lead to athlete
success). Similarly, meso level policies, such as athlete support services and sport
scientists, cater for athlete-specic needs at a micro level. These micro and meso
level factors, and the ways they link, are discussed in the following case study on
equestrian sport.
comprehensive analysis of the existing elite athlete development process (Principle 1).
Signicantly, this section explains that there is a distinction between HP sport policies
and HP sport strategies since elite sport policies help sport organisations to determine
what is to be done. HP strategies represent the plan of action and help operationalise
the policies into actions that will help achieve goals. Policy is a guideline to achieve
objectives whereas strategy is about method of understanding environment and making a
plan for what needs to be done to achieve the objectives outlined in the policy. For
example, the SPLISS model offers a useful policy framework because it lends itself as
the guideline for HP managers to operationalise and action strategies for HP sport.
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Chapter objectives
After completing this chapter you should be able to:
INTRODUCTION
This chapter introduces the viable system model (VSM) of Stafford Beer (1979, 1981,
1985) as a tool for understanding factors inuencing performance in organisations. The
model is used to depict and analyse the effectiveness of organisational structures
observed in well-known sport organisations. The discussion reveals the impact of
observed systemic structure on organisational performance and effectiveness. The case
situations presented in this chapter are drawn from contemporary and historical sport
organisations notional, virtual and real. An appendix presents a set of questions for
evaluating the structure of sport organisations.
96 Winnie OGrady and John Davies
A full description of the VSM is provided in Beers major works (1979, 1981, 1985)
and in more recent interpretations in Christopher (2007) and Hoverstadt (2008). A
parsimonious outline of the VSM and its conceptual underpinnings is provided here.
A schematic representation is shown in Figure 7.1. The VSM is based on cybernetics,
dened as the science of effective organisation the science of communication and
control, in the animal and machine (Beer, 1985, p. ix). The cybernetic building blocks
pertinent to the examples in this chapter, namely viability, complexity, single and
double-loop learning, variety, requisite variety and variety engineering, are explained
briey in Table 7.1.
Organisations that conform to cybernetics principles are able to self-regulate. They
can respond to changes in the environment so that they maintain progress towards their
goals and purposes, i.e. they are able to remain in control. Being in control implies the
organisation behaves as expected and can achieve its intended outcomes. Obversely,
being out of control implies the organisation does not act or perform as expected or
uphold organisational values, and has divergent goals and purposes.
Beer (1979) recognised that clear communication of organisational purpose, identity,
visionary values (ends) and missionary values (means) are critical for achieving control.
Accordingly, he investigated how managing communications, both information channels
and information, inuence performance and the fullment of purpose. Poorly designed
communications force managers to wade through too much information, make decisions
based on incomplete information and delay decisions. Well-designed communications
provide information and advice that is complete, actionable and timely.
Beers conceptualisation of organisational structure differs from other representations
focused on managerial hierarchies, operational and functional compartmentalisation and
authority relationships. The viable systems structure encompasses organisational iden-
tity, purpose, values, systemic functions, communication channels and information
ows, as discussed next.
>>}}}>>>iv>Vi 97
Meta-system
Environment
S5 decides:
identity, purpose, vision,
System 5
mission, values
S4 strategises:
System 4 gathers intelligence and engages
Future in strategy development
environment
S3 resources and supports
System 3
S3* S2 the carrying out of purpose
engages in financial and
operational planning and
Local control
environment
S3* informal audit-like monitoring
and intelligence gathering
S2 informal and
formal coordination
S1 operations
S1 units deliver on purpose
THE VSM
TABLE 7.1
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to respond to conditions in a semi-professional league by improving its playing squad,
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and informal discussions with knowledgeable individuals. The cases are intended to illus-
trate how the VSM guides the diagnosis of an organisation rather than to judge the effec-
tiveness of the organisations per se.
The Auckland Football Kingz joined Australias National Soccer League (NSL) in 1999
but struggled for success both on and off the eld. They failed to win, to develop a
fanbase or gain nancial support (Gray, 2003). By mid-2003 their performance was
subject to considerable criticism (Maddaford, 2003a, 2003b, 2003c, 2003d). While they
managed to survive in the short term, they trailed the NSL standings, were unable to
>>}}}>>>iv>Vi 99
pay facility hire fees on time and struggled to build a full-time playing squad. Ultimately,
they resorted to evening training sessions to attract local players and reduce their salary
bill. Effectively they had become a semi-professional club. A major restructure addressed
the clubs identity, organisation and personnel, and the Kingz resurfaced as the New
Zealand Knights. The Knights rst season (2005) coincided with the inaugural season of
the A-League, which replaced the NSL, before losing their playing licence to the
Wellington Phoenix in 2007.
A VSM depiction of the effectiveness of the Kingz organisation is shown in Figures
7.2a and 7.2b. The right-hand side of Figure 7.2a shows the Kingz as one element of our
System in Focus (SIF ), which is the New Zealand Football system. The Kingz football
team is shown as one of the S1 units carrying out the purpose of the wider SIF. New
Zealand Football manages the allocation of S3 resource to its S1 units, and provided the
Kingz with the licence needed to compete in what was then the NSL.
Each S1 unit of a viable system should be able to survive in its own right, meaning
it must also be a viable system (Beer, 1985). Figure 7.2a depicts, with the arrow, how
an S1 at a higher level of recursion can be viewed as a SIF at a lower level of recursion.
The VSM in Figure 7.2b enlarges the Kingz and depicts it as the SIF. As a SIF, the
Kingz should perform the ve functions comprising the subsystems of a viable system,
albeit at one level of nestedness or recursion lower than the original NZ Football level
SIF. With their licence in hand, the Kingz could have been expected to develop their
own S5 role to uphold the reputation of NZ Football and establish their own identity
as a club. However, the ease with which the Kingz organisation changed their name
to the NZ Knights in 2005 signalled a weak and dysfunctional S5. The Kingz had
failed to create and project their unique identity to stakeholders within and outside
the organisation.
NZ football 2003
S5
National level
S3 resourcing S4
obtain licence for Pro
Team to compete in ASL
now the A League S3
S4 strategy S3
and intelligence S5 identity
seek and develop must uphold reputation << All Whites
NZ players and of NZ soccer National Team
coaches
S2 coordination
must prevent NZ NSL Kingz
S3 resourcing teams fighting for Pro Team
provide well- reserve players
resourced
assistant/techno
coaches,
facilities and
venue S1 units
players perform! << National League
Federations
Football Kingz
S5 identity >>>
$
of NZ soccer $
$ans did not identify $
" $!"
S4 strategy and intelligence >>> $!
$velop NZ acilities to players
play
S2 coordination
$vent NZ NSL teams
<< Kingz or reserve players
Pro Team
in ASL
<< Limited development
activities
S1 units
$players did not perform!
The Kingz could have been expected to establish their own S4 strategy for seeking
out and developing New Zealand players and coaches. Their decision to recruit several
players nishing their careers in English and other European leagues proved inappropri-
ate and infeasible. Finally, the Kingz S3 resourcing subsystem failed to provide appropri-
ate coaches or playing and training facilities (see Figure 7.2b).
In VSM terms, the Kingz case provides an instructive example of systemic failure. It is
therefore not surprising that despite rebranding as the New Zealand Knights the organisa-
tion did not survive beyond the inaugural season of the A-League. The weaknesses in the
Meta-System and in S1 operations explain the failure of the football club. In contrast to the
New Zealand Knights, the Essendon Football Club had no apparent systemic weaknesses at
the turn of the millennium (Connolly, 2010). Essendon is discussed next.
In 2000, the Australian Rules football club, Essendon, had a stellar season both on and
off the eld. The club was described as having one of the most well-rounded and skilful
playing teams and squads in the history of the Australian Football League (AFL). Their
success was viewed as an indicator of a dynasty in the making.2
The case situation reects Essendon Club as having a clear sense of identity and
purpose expressed as the Essendon Way. In Figure 7.3a, it is aligned with S5 identity.
This identity pervaded the Meta-System and its functions, through actions and commu-
nications expressed by S4, S3 and S2, and subsequently manifested in the S1 playing
units supportive team culture and values of trust and autonomy.
>>}}}>>>iv>Vi 101
Club level
Environment
S5 identity
System 5 $the Essendon way
S4 strategy
System 4 $search and recruit
Future Essendon people
environment
S3 resourcing
System 3
S3* S2 $load the coaching staff
with Essendon people
Local S2 coordination
environment $coaching common
skills, moves, values
S1 units
$trust and autonomy
$supportive team
culture
S1 Operations deliver
on purpose
Figure 7.3b similarly depicts how other elements of the Essendon Meta-System (S4
strategising and S3 resourcing functions) at the club level inuenced the S1 operations
at the club level. The gure not only reveals the congruence of focus between systems
1 to 5 at the teams level, but also with the Meta-System of the wider Essendon club
level. This alignment signies the organisation has achieved systemic and holistic
balance.
According to Mike Atherton, former captain of the England cricket team, money and
gambling syndicates are impacting the way cricket is organised and played throughout
the world. Their inuence is apparent on in-game activities such as spot xing, on the
results of cricket matches, and on businesses associated with the game. Of particular
concern is how money is impacting the Indian Premier League the IPL and also the
governing body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which authorises and
distributes licences for the franchised teams playing in the IPL. Various conicts of inter-
ests are evident, including BCCI members having ownership stakes in franchise teams;
media commentators sitting on the IPL governing body; and media payments to BCCI
inuencing broadcast rights for test, state and IPL matches and the scheduling of
matches (Atherton, 2008, 2010).
102 Winnie OGrady and John Davies
S4 strategy S3 resourcing
s @SEARCH AND RECRUIT System 4 s @LOAD THE COACHING STAFF