Chinese Professional Baseball League Research Articles

The Dynamic Interplay of Team Image and Cheerleader Involvement-the Impacts on Consumer Willingness to Purchase Tickets in Chinese Professional Baseball League

The Dynamic Interplay of Team Image and Cheerleader Involvement-the Impacts on Consumer Willingness to Purchase Tickets in Chinese Professional Baseball League

Employee assistance program for players in the Chinese Professional Baseball League

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) offer services that assist in the management of problems faced by employees. EAP can assist in addressing employee-related issues in various workplaces, including the problems faced by professional baseball players. The purpose of this study is to develop the framework for a suitable EAP for the players of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). This study chose the modified Delphi method to develop the EAP for players of the CPBL. The selection of members of the expert panel was based on their expertise in human resource management, counseling, EAP, and sports management, as well as retired professional baseball players. The two rounds of nine-week survey were conducted to collect the opinions of the panel experts. The results indicated that EAP for CPBL players fall into four categories: EAP about work, which can help players pursue their career development; EAP about health, which can help players maintain their physical and mental health; EAP about family life, which can help improve the quality of life of players and their families; and other EAP, which can be used to establish communication channels with the teams. There are a total of 40 EAP items developed in this study.

Opposite effects of Covid-19 infection on pitchers and batters: a retrospective study on Chinese Professional Baseball League players.

The influence of COVID-19 infection on elite athletes remains largely unknown, especially on baseball players. The goal of this study is to examine the actual performance of infected elite baseball players from the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) from a sabermetric point of view. This was a retrospective observational cohort study. CPBL players who were infected with COVID-19 from April 27th to May 31st, 2022, were eligible for this study. The performance of study participants before and after COVID-19 infection was compared, and statistics from the batters and pitchers were analyzed separately. During the study interval, 56 players were infected with COVID-19, including 35 batters and 21 pitchers. After excluding injured players and players with inadequate playing opportunities, 23 batters and 12 pitchers were enrolled. For batters, there were no significant differences before and after COVID-19 infection. However, batters older than 28 years of age showed a decline in slugging percentage (0.372 vs. 0.292, P=0.049). Analysis of pitchers revealed significantly boosted fastball velocity after COVID-19 infection (142.10 km/h vs. 142.82 km/h, P=0.028) and improved strikeouts per nine innings (6.89 vs. 8.56, P=0.021). COVID-19 might have a potential influence on professional baseball players. For batters, veteran players more than 28 years of age were more likely to be negatively affected by COVID-19, whereas the effect of COVID-19 on pitchers was generally positive, with significantly improved fastball velocity and K/9 numbers.

Analysis of COVID-19-Related User Content on the Baseball Bulletin Board in 2020 through Text Mining.

The world engaged in online sport watching during COVID-19. Fortunately, in Taiwan, the pandemic was stably controlled in 2020, allowing for the continuation of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL); this attracted international attention and encouraged relevant discussions on social media in Taiwan. In the present study, through text mining, we analyzed user content (e.g., the concepts of sports service quality and social identity) on the Professional Technology Temple (PTT) baseball board-the largest online bulletin board system in Taiwan. A predictive model was constructed to assess PTT users' COVID-19-related comments in 2020. A total of 422 articles and 21,167 comments were retrieved. PTT users interacted more frequently during the closed-door period, particularly during the beginning of the CPBL in April. Effective pandemic prevention, which garnered global attention to the league, generated a sense of national identity among the users, which was strengthened with the development of peripheral products, such as English broadcasting and live broadcasting on Twitch. We used machine learning to develop a chatbot for predicting the attributes of users' comments; this chatbot may improve CPBL teams' understanding of public opinion trends. Our findings may help stakeholders develop tailored programs for online spectators of sports during pandemic situations.

Potential Baseball Fan Engagement: The Determinants of a New Television Audience in the Chinese Professional Baseball League during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic increase in baseball viewership, thereby providing an opportunity to comprehensively explore the determinants of the new audience. To this end, we analyze the preferences of the Taiwanese audience in 2019 and 2020, both before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, through TV ratings based on the effect of outcome uncertainty, tournament factors, consumer availability, and game quality. The empirical findings show that the behavior of the small-scale Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) sports television viewing market differs from that of large-scale markets such as Major League Baseball. Additionally, the effect of the outcome uncertainty of the game is inconsistent before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. New audiences, unlike existing audiences, have been affected by team quality and consumer availability that are statistically significant, but tournament factors are not significant. This study provides the first empirical analysis of the factors driving TV ratings of CPBL games as well as the impact before and after the COVID-19 outbreak as a contribution to filling the gap in sports communication research. The observations can be used by strategic departments of professional teams for their marketing target, to identify potential fans, and to direct their marketing resources towards sustaining or even growing during the pandemic events.

Coronationalism: The Nationalist Discourses of Taiwanese Professional Baseball in the Media During the Outbreak of COVID-19

<p>新冠肺炎於2020年爆發初期，臺灣管控相對得宜，中華職棒於4月以閉門比賽搶先全球開打，並於Twitter進行英語直播，吸引美日等地球迷關注。本研究探討2020年臺灣職棒於疫情中開打後，與象徵臺灣公衛的疫情控制成就互相結合，構成「新冠國族主義」。媒體國族論述將職棒賽事與防疫成就視為國族驕傲，藉由翻譯外電及外國球評推文，強調全世界「看見臺灣」。再者，「中職改名」論戰，反映了臺灣社會內部的國族認同之衝突。最後，疫情期間的國族論述複製全球化的世界體系，以美國與日本棒球作為標準。臺灣的新冠國族主義論述與其他國家的種族歧視與排外情緒有明顯差異，強調職棒與防疫作為國族之光，並作為全球危機中受到國際社會承認與接納的具體象徵。</p> <p> </p><p>Since Taiwan controlled well against the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in beginning of 2020, the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan (CPBL) was able to hold ball games without attendance in April and became the “only” professional baseball season in the world at that time. The CPBL launched live English-language broadcast on Twitter to attract sports fans from the U.S., Japan, and the rest of the world. This paper critically examined the “coronationalism” (the nationalist discourses during the outbreak) in Taiwan. First, Taiwanese professional baseball games, as well as the relative success in controlling the spread of coronavirus, were regarded as a national glory during the pandemic. Related news reports in foreign media and tweets from foreign baseball commentators were evidences that “the whole world was watching Taiwan.” Moreover, the debate of renaming the CPBL reflected the conflicting national identities within Taiwan society. Furthermore, the nationalist discourses duplicated the world system of baseball modeled after professional baseball leagues in the U.S. and in Japan. The nationalist discourses in Taiwan during the pandemic, which emphasized the CPBL games, the pandemic management as the national glory, and the world’s recognition of Taiwan, were distinctively different from racism and xenophobia observed in many other countries during this global public health crisis.</p> <p> </p>

Antecedents and Outcomes of Social Capital: Evidence from a Professional Baseball Franchise.

PurposeThe empirical paper aimed to develop a theoretical model of social capital in professional spectating sports by investigating the antecedents and outcomes related to social capital from the spectator’s viewpoint.Participant and MethodBrothers Elephants, a professional baseball franchise in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, provided the research setting. The study’s participants consisted of 422 spectators of a Brothers Elephants game at its home field, Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Field. Around half of the participants were male; 46.4% of them aged between 30 and 39 years old. Data analysis was conducted through structural equation modeling.ResultsResults revealed that social interactions positively correlated with social capital, prosocial behavior, and spectator intention to re-attend the sporting event. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) also positively predicted intention to re-attend the sporting event, social capital, and prosocial behavior. Social capital significantly correlated with prosocial behavior and subjective well-being, and prosocial behavior significantly correlated with subjective well-being and intention to re-attend the sporting event.ConclusionThe results suggest that social capital can be developed through social interactions and perceived CSR in the context of professional spectator sporting events, with such social capital increasing, in turn, prosocial behavior, subjective well-being, and intention to re-attend the sporting event. From perspective of practical implication, professional sports franchise can develop more campaigns that boost sports spectators’ perceived social interactions and CSR, which can increase their social capital, prosocial behavior, subjective well-being, and their intention to re-attend the sporting event.

Influence of Hot Environment on Pitching and Hitting Performance in Professional Baseball

Huang, J-H, Chiu, Y-C, and Chang, C-K. The influence of hot environment on pitching and hitting performance in professional baseball. J Strength Cond Res 35(11): 3251-3255, 2021-Baseball is usually played outdoors during the warmest months of the year. The long exposure to a hot environment may lead to hyperthermia and subsequent impaired cognitive function, which is crucial for hitting and pitching performance in baseball. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of apparent temperature on pitching and hitting performance in Chinese Professional Baseball League games in Taiwan. Each pitched and batted ball from a total of 480 regular season games in 2018 and 2019 was analyzed. Each game was categorized into one of the 4 groups on the basis of the average apparent temperature at which it was played: cold (below 21° C), warm (21-28° C), hot (28-34° C), or extremely hot (above 34° C). Differences in pitching and hitting variables were compared across the 4 groups. In the extremely hot environment, slugging percentage, isolated power, base on balls per 9 innings, home runs per 9 innings, and walks plus hits per inning were all significantly higher than those in the other 3 environments. The results suggest that offensive production was significantly increased in extremely hot environments in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. It is recommended that pitchers could adopt cooling interventions to alleviate the decline in performance in an extremely hot environment.

Comparison Between Various Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives Based on Spectators’ Attitudes and Attendance Intention for a Professional Baseball Franchise

Abstract: The effects of different corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives—child and family, community relations, health and wellness, and environment protection—were compared in this study based on spectators’ attitudes toward a sports franchise and event attendance intention. A total of 354 spectators were recruited from the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan. A quasi-experimental design was used as the research design, and a one-way multivariate analysis of covariance was conducted for data analysis. The results of this study indicate that spectators perceive the environment protection initiative to be more persuasive in terms of the attitude of sports spectators toward sports franchises and event attendance intention than child and family and health and wellness initiatives. Additionally, community relation initiatives are perceived to be more effective than child and family initiatives in terms of consumers’ attitudes toward sports franchises and event attendance intention. This article contributes both theoretical and practical knowledge and implications to CSR studies pertaining to sports from an Asian perspective.

Testing a Structural Model of Constraints Negotiation in Spectator Sports: The Moderating Effect of Satisfaction with Marketing Strategies

This study extends the leisure constraints literature and empirically tests the constraints–effects– mitigation model within the context of spectator sports. The moderating effects of satisfaction with marketing strategies on the constraints–negotiation relationship and the motivation–negotiation relationship were also examined. Data (n = 997) were collected from spectators attending Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) games during the regular seasons in 2014 and 2015. Results showed that 1) negotiation works to independently influence participation; 2) the relationship between motivation and participation is partially mediated by negotiation strategies; 3) the relationship between motivation and negotiation is moderated by satisfaction with marketing strategies; and 4) constraints have no significant influence on participation and negotiation. The results advance our understanding of the factors influencing consumers' leisure participation and the decision-making mechanism. This could help professional sport teams develop more effective and targeted marketing strategies. The findings may also help enrich sport spectators' consumption of leisure experiences.

How Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Identities Lead to Corporate Brand Equity: An Evaluation in the Context of Sport Teams as Brand Extensions

Abstract: This study examines relationships among perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR), perceived team CSR, social identities, and corporate brand equity in the context of using Chinese professional baseball teams as brand extensions. Data from online surveys of Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) consumers ( N = 467) were analyzed using structural equation modeling and the SPSS macro PROCESS. Findings revealed that perceived CSR and perceived team CSR have a direct positive effect on corporate brand equity. The results also showed that consumer-company identity mediates the relationship between perceived CSR and corporate brand equity; the relationship between perceived team CSR and corporate brand equity is sequentially mediated by team identity and consumer-company identity. Beyond the CSR initiatives, city identity positively influenced corporate brand equity via team and consumer-company identity. Implications for fostering brand equity and brand values are discussed, focusing on using CSR and city identity as the means of positive influence.

How Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Identities Lead to Corporate Brand Equity: An Evaluation in the Context of Sport Teams as Brand Extensions

This study examines relationships among perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR), perceived team CSR, social identities, and corporate brand equity in the context of using Chinese professional baseball teams as brand extensions. Data from online surveys of Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) consumers (N = 467) were analyzed using structural equation modeling and the SPSS macro PROCESS. Findings revealed that perceived CSR and perceived team CSR have a direct positive effect on corporate brand equity. The results also showed that consumer-company identity mediates the relationship between perceived CSR and corporate brand equity; the relationship between perceived team CSR and corporate brand equity is sequentially mediated by team identity and consumer-company identity. Beyond the CSR initiatives, city identity positively influenced corporate brand equity via team and consumer-company identity. Implications for fostering brand equity and brand values are discussed, focusing on using CSR and city identity as the means of positive influence.

Social Entrepreneurship in Professional Sports: Antecedents and Outcomes from the Consumer Perspective

This study empirically explored antecedents and outcomes related to social entrepreneurship in the context of professional sports from the customer’s perspective. Two parent companies—FuBon and ChinaTrust, both financial holding firms—and two franchises—FuBon Guardians and ChinaTrust Elephants—in the Chinese Professional Baseball League were the research elements in this study to ensure generalizability of the findings of this study. The participants of this study were 268 spectators of a FuBon Guardians game and 201 spectators of a ChinaTrust Elephants game. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. Results indicated that innovation and corporate social responsibility positively correlated with social entrepreneurship. Moreover, social entrepreneurship was positively associated with affective commitment to the parent company and sports franchise. Finally, affective commitment to the parent company not only exerted a positive effect on the intention to purchase the products of the parent company but also promoted the intention to purchase licensed merchandise and attend games. Similarly, affective commitment to the sports franchise not only exerted a positive effect on the intention to purchase licensed merchandise and attend games but also promoted the intention to purchase the products of the parent company. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed in this study.

Persuasion effect of corporate social responsibility initiatives in professional sport franchise: Moderating effect analysis.

This study used the elaboration likelihood model as a theoretical basis to explore the effects of various persuasion strategies on consumer perception and attitude regarding the corporate image of sports organizations that engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The moderating effects of involvement, sports team identification, and sports fan curiosity were also examined. The multiple-study approach was employed to increase the external validity of the research. Two studies with cross-sectional between-subject pre–post experimental design were conducted with a total of 390 participants. The research setting was the Fubon Guardians baseball team of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Study I and the Taiwan Beer Basketball Team of the Super Basketball League in Study II. Communication through the central and peripheral routes improved consumers’ CSR perception. Furthermore, under low involvement, weak sports team identification, and low sports fan curiosity conditions, communication through the central route and peripheral route improved the participants’ CSR perception. However, under high involvement, strong sports team identification, and high sports fan curiosity conditions, the different communication methods had nonsignificantly different effects. The findings of this study provide both academic contributions and practical implications.

Multiple Criteria Decision-Making: A Novel Applications of Network DEA Model

Do retired professional baseball players become effective coaches? Are Taiwanese coaches up to the job of coaching in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL)? What are the key coaching factors affecting a CPBL team’s performance in the regular-season? In this study, we examine the key coaching factors affecting the efficiency of CPBL teams from the perspective of efficiency and productivity, using network data envelopment analysis, truncated regression analysis, and bootstrapping methods to provide specific recommendations. We calculated the efficiency of each CPBL team from the 2014 to 2016 regular-seasons. First, the “ex-member” indicator had a significant negative impact on team performance, indicating that a coaching team consisting of coaches with different backgrounds or experience is advantageous to a team’s performance in games; and second, the “ex-professional player” indicator had a significant impact on team performance in the regular season, indicating that the valuable experience of retired professional baseball players definitely has value. The proposed model, after being modified appropriately according to practical needs, can be widely applied to comprehensively track the coaching ability of professional baseball teams and coaches, as well as the players’ ability and efficiency, and will help implement improvements in all aspects of performance management with originality and significant impact.

Understanding match-fixing from the perspective of social capital: A case study of Taiwan’s professional baseball system

The present study aims to explore the social conditions and underlying mechanism of match-fixing, especially when it is not facilitated in a quid pro quo relationship. Analyzing scandals in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League, our research investigates how both individual agendas and organizational interests are served in match-fixing. Practically, the prerequisites and actors’ rationales for their involvement in match-fixing are explained. Theoretically, actors’ motivations and the exchange of intangible resources (not in the form of money) are examined. Our findings speak to theories of structural, cognitive and relational social capital by elaborating on the dark side of social capital. The relational attributes possessed by actors embedded in their social networks are involved in the cognitive process of actors’ decision making. Alternative policy implications are proposed to reduce the potential for match-fixing.

It’s not all about money: the code of brotherhood has a role to play in match-fixing

The purpose of this paper was to examine the invisible hand behind a corrupt structure in professional sports. Specifically, this paper sought to explain the match-fixing phenomenon in sports from the perspective of the Code of Brotherhood (CoB, yiqi 義氣) and to address the underlying mechanisms through which illegal behaviour is generated and continuously practised, as well as the dynamics serving both individual agendas and organisational interests. Taking Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) as a case study, the findings revealed that the origin and embodiment of CoB, the nature of CoB, and the CoB as the driver of trust illustrate how CoB functioned in and paved the way for match-fixing. The application of CoB as an emic Chinese construct helps to explain why match-fixing is conceived and realized, not just for money, but rather in the name of righteousness and loyalty.

Does fan discrimination exist? Mixed-method investigation of customer discrimination in Chinese professional baseball league

This paper focuses on customer discrimination in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). Using the 2005–2017 annual spectator attendance data, we first show that inverse customer discrimination exists for international players. We next explore the roots of customer discrimination from the perspective of economics alongside social psychology. We find customer discrimination in the CPBL a combined outcome of taste-based and statistical discrimination, and can be explained by reference group theory. This study thus aims to develop a sports fans’ customer discrimination scale, which is demonstrated to consist of three major elements: players’ characteristics, prestige and experience, and spectators’ confidence.

Team Social Responsibility Embedded in Correlates of Universalism Values, Sport Involvement, and Team Identification for Sustainable Management in Sporting Settings

This study investigated the fans’ knowledge of team social responsibility (TSR) as well as the motivation and intentions associated with TSR. Other correlates included in the conceptual model are the fans’ value orientation of universalism, sport involvement, and team identification. A questionnaire was administered at three Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) games in Taiwan (n = 520). It was found that perceptions of team social responsibility were linked to TSR-induced motivation to watch baseball. Universalism values, spectator sport involvement with CPBL, and team identification were found to be positively related to TSR knowledge, TSR-linked motivation, and TSR-linked intentions. The results provide useful insights that professional baseball teams can use to pursue a goal of sustainability and to ensure a uniquely engaged fan base.

Service quality, perceived value and behavioral intentions among highly and lowly identified baseball consumers across nations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand how team identification and country influence professional baseball team spectators’ evaluations of service quality factors, perceived value and future behavioral intentions.Design/methodology/approachData were collected online from sports consumers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan (n = 600) and Major League Baseball in the USA (n = 460). A regression-based estimation method (PROCESS) and structural equation modeling approach were used to assess the relationships.FindingsBoth direct and indirect (via perceived value) effects of most service quality factors (schedule convenience, economic consideration, game amenities, ticket service and venue quality) on behavioral intentions are stronger for lowly than for highly identified CPBL fans. The indirect effect of home team on behavioral intentions is stronger for the lowly identified CPBL fans. The direct effect of game amenities and the indirect effect of venue quality (via perceived value) on behavioral intentions are stronger for the highly identified MLB fans. The indirect effect of opposing team and economic consideration is stronger for the lowly identified MLB fans. The positive relationship between venue quality and perceived value is stronger for the USA than for Taiwan fans. The relationships between game amenities and perceived value and between perceived value and behavioral intention are perceived to be invariant between fans from the two countries. Taiwan fans’ behavioral intentions tend to be directly and indirectly affected by service quality factors, whereas US fans’ behavioral intentions tend to be indirectly affected by service quality factors.Originality/valueThe study provides empirical evidence of the moderating role of team identification associated with the relationships between separate service quality factors, perceived value and behavioral intentions among consumers of a professional spectator sports in two different countries.