The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) has experienced significant growth, making it crucial to understand attendance drivers at matches. This study evaluated the impact of themed events and promotions on attendance during the 2023 NWSL season. Using data from all regular-season home matches (N = 167), an OLS regression analyzed how various factors influenced attendance measured as a percentage of stadium capacity. Results revealed that themed events significantly increased attendance, while traditional promotions showed a positive but non-significant effect. External factors including post-World Cup timing, visiting team marquee players, and market demographics also significantly influenced attendance. These findings provide actionable insights for NWSL teams seeking to optimize marketing strategies and enhance match attendance.

This paper examines the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to the in-person sport spectatorship experience of hearing-impaired individuals. The delivery of the core sport product, especially at the stadium, is not equally accessible to individuals with disabilities, particularly for audience with hearing impairments. While the ADA mandates accessibility in public accommodations, its implementation for communication access within sport venues remains inconsistent. Through a focused review of legal frameworks, venue practices, and emerging technologies, the paper identifies gaps in current accessibility efforts and outlines practical recommendations to enhance inclusivity. Key strategies include the use of AI-powered real-time captioning, availability of sign language interpreters, and staff training. These measures not only fulfill ADA requirements but also represent an opportunity to engage a growing and underrepresented market of sport consumers.

Caitlin Clark’s emergence as a generational collegiate basketball talent triggered a profound shift in consumer behavior, known as the “Caitlin Clark Effect” (CCE) (Lucas, 2025). This study examined attendance and venue utilization data from the University of Iowa’s women’s basketball program, spanning pre-, during-, and post-Clark periods. Results from one-way ANOVA analyses showed a statistically significant increase in average game attendance (home, away, and neutral), rising from 5,387 pre-Clark to 13,877 in her senior year (p < .001), with a sustained post-Clark average of 9,890. Arena capacity utilization followed a similar trajectory, increasing from 37.3% to 92.4%. Notably, post-Clark utilization remained at 74.3%, indicating durable fan interest. These findings provide time-sequenced evidence of a singular athlete catalyzing lasting institutional and market change in women’s collegiate sports. The study advances sport business theory by illuminating the strategic implications of athlete-driven branding and challenges assumptions underpinning facility planning and resource allocation.

The purpose of this experimental study was to identify if the implementation of an educational gratitude workshop could increase intercollegiate student-athletes’ self-reported perceptions of well-being and reduce stress, considering sport administrators must address rising mental health concerns among athletes. Participants of various sport teams were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group to assess differences among self-reported measures of state gratitude, psychological distress, life satisfaction, athlete burnout, and perceived available support in sport. Statistical significance was found in the data analysis which demonstrated that the workshop was meaningful, and it significantly influenced the experimental group’s perceived available support in sport, emotionally. The data suggests that student-athletes perceive there is not enough emotional support available to them in their sport, and workshops could help. Implementing educational workshops could help collegiate sport administrators meet the needs of student-athletes’ well-being as a cost-effective solution.

The study explored how types of benefit in sponsorship affect fans’ inference of sponsors’ motives and their consequences on sponsorship effectiveness. A total of 1,478 National Basketball Association fans were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk and completed surveys through Qualtrics. Findings indicated that sponsors’ motives varied with types of benefit, with egoistic motives linked to utilitarian benefit and altruistic or normative motives tied to hedonic and social benefit. These results extended previous research by exploring more than the altruistic-egoistic motive dichotomy in linking benefit types to sponsorship effectiveness, highlighting the importance of aligning benefit with fan preference to boost relevance.

The Journal of Applied Sport Management (JASM) is the official publication of the Applied Sport Management Association (ASMA), which is a scholarly organization that builds research partnerships between faculty and students. ASMA also facilitates connections between sport management faculty and students studying sport and practitioners working in the sport industry. In 2025, the annual conference was hosted by the University of Cincinnati under the direction of Dr. Matt Huml. Highlights from the annual conference include Dr. Chad Seifried from Louisiana State University receiving the ASMA Distinguished Service and Mentorship Award and Dr. Lawrence Judge of Ball State University becoming an ASMA Research Fellow.

In jersey sponsorship, some sponsors today have decided to modify their logo colors to match the team colors. The present research examined the role of team-colored sponsor logo in jersey sponsorship, paying particular attention to its impact on perceived aesthetics of the jersey and fans’ willingness to purchase. Three experiments using both fictitious and actual sponsors across two different sports showed that the team-colored sponsor logo on a jersey was a positive predictor for both perceived aesthetics and purchase intention at all levels of team identification. The findings also revealed the indirect effect of the team-colored sponsor logo on purchase intention via perceived aesthetics. The findings provide insights for both sponsors and teams to maximize jersey sponsorship outcomes for short- and long-term benefits.

This study examines the relationship between financial investment and team performance in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football programs from 2010 to 2023. Key variables include total football spending, head coach salaries and bonuses, and win-loss records. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models were used to examine these associations, controlling for conference affiliation by distinguishing between the so-called power and non-power conferences. The results indicate that greater investment in football operations and coaching compensation is significantly associated with higher win percentages, particularly within power conference programs. However, the impact of financial investment on final rankings differs by conference type. Total football spending is a significant predictor of rankings in power conferences, whereas head coach salary is the only significant predictor in non-power conferences. These findings suggest that financial investment enhances team performance, though its effectiveness varies depending on institutional context.

Guided by conservation of resources theory, the authors examine how team identification, impulse control difficulties, coping strategies, and psychological capital shape fans’ well-being in negative fan experiences. Survey from 300 sport fans were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results showed that identification promoted adaptive coping and reduced cutting off reflected failure, whereas impulse control difficulties increased denial and cutting off reflected failure. Denial unexpectedly enhanced psychological capital while reducing well-being, and venting functioned as a double-edged mediator across positive/negative pathways. Psychological capital was the strongest predictor of well-being, underscoring its role as a central resource linking coping to outcomes.

The International Olympic Committee generated $7.6 billion in revenue from 2017-2021, with 30% coming from The Olympic Partnership (TOP) Program marketing rights, which has grown from $96 million to $2.3 billion since 1985. In addition to the direct sponsorship costs, additional activation costs are incurred by the organization as they market, advertise, and highlight their product during the event they sponsor to achieve a financial return. The purpose of this study is to assess whether TOP partners outperform a matched non-partner during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. This study utilizes an event study methodology to create three event windows related to the 11 trading days prior to, the 11 trading days during, and the 11 trading days post the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The 14 TOP partners were matched with a non-partner to ascertain what effect TOP sponsorship had on the companies during these Olympic event windows using a multiple regression model. The results of the linear regression do not demonstrate a TOP effect for outperforming a non-partnering competitor. There was a 5.9% reduction in returns for tech companies prior to the Olympic Games, which taken together can provide potential trading strategies related to the Games.