This piece is the Editorial from Volume 1, Issue 1 of the Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal
In preparing the editorial for this first edition of ‘Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal’, for inspiration I decided to reflect upon the latest sports news, as well as some of the more pressing issues facing sport at the time. As a regular user of Twitter, I am exposed to a relentless flow of news stories that not only reflect our popular obsession with sport, but also, increasingly, the business and management of it. Even as I typed, a story was breaking that FIFA was planning to abandon its agent licensing regulations because globally little more than 30% of football transfers are concluded by licensed agents. This story alone is loaded with business and management issues: from regulation and intervention, to representation and jurisdiction, to human resource management and governance.
At this time too, the Ryder Cup had just concluded, with discussions predominating about the economic impact the tournament had had in the southern part of Wales where it took place. The consequences of torrential rain for the event had been at the forefront of discussions, with several clothing companies reporting an upsurge in business as a result of the downpours. Further east, the Delhi Commonwealth Games organisers were having to deal with a multitude of problems including management of the media and public relations; issues in project and risk management; concerns about competition rules; issues in health management; and more general concerns about overall event management. While India tried to get to grips with its problems, Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney was dealing with the consequences of his reportedly deviant behaviour, which had been widely reported across the media. Following Tiger Woods’ misdemeanours, the notion of athlete transgression is something that has entered into the public consciousness, especially in the way that it affects people’s brand perceptions and purchases behaviours. As a consequence, sponsors, lawyers and brands are thinking much more carefully about how endorsements are organised, managed and evaluated. It is interesting that, while one sponsor (Coca Cola) decided to drop Rooney as an endorsement property, another (EA Sports) has continued with him as a lead in its television advertising of a new console game.
While the above examples are by no means intended to be a defining statement about this journal’s scope, they do provide an indication of the market space in which the journal is positioning itself. Sport clearly fulfils a number of roles, some of which may be predominantly historical, socio-cultural, related to the natural sciences, an element of health and participation, or connected to matters of social cohesion. However, ‘Sport, Business and Management’ is deliberately intended to specifically address the growth of sport as a business and the practice of management within this context. Clearly and inevitably, there will be interdisciplinary links between, for instance, the business of sport and culture. The intention is nevertheless that this journal will be at the forefront both of facilitating a further development in the community working in the area of sport business management, and of developing a high-quality, research-driven body of knowledge that establishes sport business management as a respected field.
The arrival of ‘Sport, Business and Management’ is the direct result of a successful sport special which was published in the Emerald journal, Management Decision (2009). Thirteen papers appeared in the special edition, covering areas such as corporate citizenship, benchmarking, consumer behaviour, market dynamics, remuneration and reward, and loyalty. In turn, these studies were undertaken in football, American football, cricket, the Olympic Games and public-sector sport provision. The breadth, diversity and quality of the papers was such, that it clearly signalled a bright future for sport-related research, and also for the potential success of this journal here.
As if further proof was needed to demonstrate the significance of 21st century sport, it is worthwhile noting that estimates indicate that sport may account for as much as 3% of global economic activity. In the UK alone, sport is thought to be worth £17 billion ($27 billion) per annum to the nation’s economy, with around 441,000 people (around 2% of the total workforce) being identified as working in sport (Sport Industry Research Centre, 2010). The UK motorsports industry alone is thought annually to generate approximately £5 billion worth of economic activity. Export earnings from the industry are estimated as being in the region of £2 billion per annum, 2200 companies are thought to generate 50% of their sales from motorsports (UK Motorsport Industry Association, 2010). Further reinforcing the case, readers are also invited to consider the following: that America’s NFL Superbowl is thought to be the world’s most valuable sport event brand, worth $420 million (Forbes, 2010a); that Manchester United is the world’s most valuable sports team brand, worth $270 million (Forbes, 2010b); and that Nike is the world’s most valuable sports brand, worth $10.7 billion (Forbes, 2010c). Fertile ground indeed for sport business and management researchers.
Set against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding and increasingly dynamic sport industry, the market space in which this journal is positioned, and the growing interest in sport research, ‘Sport, Business and Management’ therefore intends to create opportunities for researchers in the following areas:
• Studies which address issues that are distinctive and unique to the sport industry e.g. based around the uncertainty of outcome, or around media relations;
• Studies which apply existing business and management theory to the sport industry e.g. based around athlete motivation, or around financial management;
• Studies which adopt sport as the basis for creating analogies or comparisons that able a better understanding of other industries to be developed e.g. around issues of team building, or around issues of building customer loyalty.
In a paper entitled ‘From outside lane to inside track: sport management research in the twenty-first century’, which I had published in a sport special edition of Management Decision (Chadwick, 2009), I identified several areas in which researchers might carry out further sport, business and management studies. These are reproduced again here in Table 1 as they help to define the focus of this journal, while potentially helping researchers to identify research opportunities. Readers should nevertheless also be aware that the papers appearing in this inaugural edition are also intended to be representative of the nature and type of papers we will be publishing in this journal in issues to come.
In this context, this inaugural edition of the journal not only falls within the above parameters that we have set for the journal, it also sets a benchmark for the breadth, depth and standard of papers that will appear in future editions. To begin with, we present a paper by Burnes, entitled ‘What Business Leaders Can Learn From Sport’. This is an entirely apt first paper as it simultaneously acknowledges the special characteristics of sport and the impact that sport can have on other industrial sectors. At the same time, the paper helps in defining some of the parameters regarding the impact that other industrial sectors can have on sport.
References
Chadwick, S. (2009), From outside lane to inside track: sport management research in the twenty-first century, Management Decision, Vol. 47, No. 1, pp. 191-203.
Forbes, (2010a), World’s Most Valuable Sport Event Brand, Forbes Magazine, accessed 15th March 2010 from http://www.forbes.com/global/2010/0315/companies-olympics-superbowl-daytona-worlds-top-sports-events.html
Forbes, (2010b), World’s Most Valuable Sports Team Brand, Forbes Magazine, accessed 18th May 2010 from http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/17/most-valuable-sports-team-brands-business-sports-brands.html
Forbes, (2010c), World’s Most Valuable Sports Brand, Forbes Magazine, accessed 3rd February 2010 from http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/03/most-powerful-sports-names-tiger-woods-nike-cmo-network-sports-brands.html
Management Decision (2009), Special Issue: Taking Sport Seriously, Vol. 47, No. 1.
Sport Industry Research Centre (2010), Sport Market Forecasts, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield.
UK Motorsport Industry Association (2010), UK Motorsport Industry – definitive reliable statistics, accessed 30th September 2010 from http://www.the-mia.com/UK-Motorsport-Industry---definitive-reliable-statistics
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