Municipal Public Policies and the Case of Male Basketball in Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was identify whether the municipal administrations participated in the maintenance of teams participating in NBB and in affirmative cases, verify if such support can be understood as an incrementalist public policy. The methodology of case study was employed, having as object the Brazilian National Basketball Championship [NBB], from 2011 to 2017. A documentary analysis was carried out, using as source the Official NBB Media Guides of the seasons related to the selected time period, to verify the presence or absence of support/sponsorship of the municipal government to the teams. We found that between 40 and 60% of the teams that participated in NBB in the studied period received public funding. Based on political science literature, we developed the hypothesis that the recurrent use of this type of funding to support high performance teams come from sport-focused policies of incrementalist character. The data pointed to the use of public resources in Brazilian basketball teams in all seasons, mainly in teams located in the countryside Thus, the hypothesis could be confirmed. The findings may serve to mark out the action of political agents in decisions referring to the funding (or not) of high performance teams, and it can also indicate to managers of professional teams that there is a tendency of decrease of this type of financing and, consequently, a need to think of other alternatives for the maintenance of these teams.