Sporting Club Stakeholder Alignment: Key Stakeholder Relationships and their Association with On-The-Field and Off-The-Field Performance

Abstract

This article probes the relative importance of alignment amongst key stakeholders as one factor in explaining differences in On-The-Field and Off-The-Field performance of professional sporting clubs. Informed by a survey of 130 professional team sporting executives, and evidence from several related sources of evidence on strong and weak alignment, this research highlights the important role of different stakeholders in club performance and assessments of that performance. Evidence of misalignment is presented in an analysis of Coach and GM exits for clubs with very different levels of alignment between fans of clubs and the owners, coaches, and players of those clubs. The results of this article highlight the important role that the Owner takes in both enhancing or destroying the achievement of On-The-Field and Off-The-Field objectives. The crucial role of General Managers in sporting clubs is also showcased in the findings. The General Manager function has been given limited attention in research on sports management and in many sports management programs.