Professional Sports Leagues Research Articles

Gambling with leadership succession in Brazilian football: head coach turnovers and team performance

PurposeAlthough leadership succession is a popular area of study across different professional sports leagues, existing research has largely ignored South America despite Brazilian football seeming to surpass the limits of coaching turnovers in comparison to any other league worldwide.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines the causes and consequences of 594 head coach turnovers in the Brasileirão from 2003 to 2018. A comprehensive longitudinal dataset was compiled (n = 13,012) and a series of regression analysis evaluated the determinants of coaching replacements as well as their effect on team performance.FindingsStatistical results revealed that coaching survival is significantly determined by a negative spell of three to four games, parallel competitions and performance expectations with three games in advance. Regarding performance outcomes, it takes seven games for a slight sign of improvement to be identified after a coach turnover, but no clear positive effects are recognized as an aftermath, supporting the ritual scapegoating theory.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that decision makers should consider the importance of a rational evaluation and the crucial component of time instead of judging coaches based on subjectivity and immediate results. Meanwhile, coaches should avoid voluntary turnovers, exercising priorities ahead of continental cups and sequences with few points accumulated.Originality/valueThis investigation discloses a valuable reference for coaches, sport managers and academic scholars interested in Brazilian football, as it extends knowledge development and theoretical understanding for a region that still lacks scientific evidence to back up its practical assumptions in sports.

Online Webcast Demand vs. Offline Spectating Channel Demand (Stadium and TV) in the Professional Sports League

This study investigates the online spectating behavior of sports fans. Due to the great mobility and low opportunity/switching costs, webcast sports fans’ spectating behaviors are distinct from those associated with traditional spectating channels such as stadium attendance or TV viewership. We explore the unique characteristics of online webcast demand in professional sports leagues by rigorously modeling all three spectating choices of sports fans. To consider the substitute relationship of the three spectating choices simultaneously, we employ a BLP (Berry–Levinsohn–Pakes)-style random coefficient model. For the analysis, we collect a comprehensive game-level dataset from the Korean Professional Baseball Organization (KBO) League fan samples from three different channels: online webcast viewership, stadium attendance, and TV viewership. We find that the demand for online webcasts is distinctive compared to that of traditional spectating channels. Notably, we find that the impact of team performance is three times stronger than that of TV viewership demand and that the impact of game quality is four times stronger than that of attendance demand. In contrast, a nonperformance variable is relatively less effective in attracting sports fans to online broadcasting. Furthermore, we find evidence of a strong retention effect of online webcast viewers. Our findings indicate that the previous spectating experience of online webcasts increases the next-time choice of sports fans for the webcast because the genuine spectating experience with distinctive webcast services (such as real-time interactive communication or various supplementary programs) can induce consumers to revisit the channel.

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODEL FOR PROFESSIONAL CLUBS IN THE CHINA NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE (NBL): A STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVE

Professional sport leagues are both commercial products and public products. As China’s sports leagues transition from state-governed properties to a more commercial model, professional sports are facing a crucial turning point on balancing stakeholders pertaining to its commercial/market value and social value. How to develop a sustainable business and management model of professional sports teams, fitting Chinese culture and the calls on free economy, has become a major challenge to scholars, practitioners and entrepreneurs in China’s sport industry. Every organisation has its relationships with many groups (stakeholders) that affect and are affected by its decisions, which are dynamic in a constantly changing world. Stakeholder theory was developed through concerns regarding the nature of these relationships in terms of both processes and outcomes for both organisation and stakeholders, and the changing nature of the environment.

Simulation evidence on Herfindahl-Hirschman measures of competitive balance in professional sports leagues

Measurement of the degree of competitive balance, how evenly teams are matched, is central to the analysis of professional sports leagues. A common problem with within-season competitive balance measures, however, is their sensitivity to the number of teams and the number of matches played by each team, i.e. season length. This paper uses simulation methods to examine the effects of changes in season length on the distributions of several widely used variants of the Herfindahl-Hirschman index applied to wins in a season. Accounting for both the lower and upper bounds of the index improves its robustness to variation in the numbers of teams or games played per season, but does not completely remove overestimation of imbalance associated with shorter season lengths. Overall, McGee’s balance measure significantly mitigates the dependence on the number of matches and, of the measures considered, is recommended as the most robust to variation in season length.

Pandemic and Sport: The Challenges and Implications of Publicly Financed Sporting Venues in an Era of No Fans

Professional sport leagues suspended their seasons as Covid-19 became a part of daily life in March 2020, leaving stadiums and arenas across the country empty. Lost in the hysteria of the global pandemic has been the consequences that a lack of sports may have on many state and local government budgets in their efforts to fund their share of sport-related infrastructure expenditures. This commentary examines the history of public sector stadium financing in the U.S. and focuses on two current examples in Arlington, Texas and Las Vegas, Nevada. The discussion highlights innovative measures and risk-mitigation strategies implemented after the Great Recession. Public sector finance challenges due to Covid-19 are discussed, before offering recommendations on strategies to limit public infrastructure risk surrounding sport facilities moving forward.

NFL team revenue distribution and revenue sharing: a median voter theorem

PurposeRevenue sharing is ubiquitous among North American professional sports leagues. Under pool revenue sharing, above-average revenue teams of a league effectively transfer revenues to below-average revenue teams. Herein, the authors find and prove that a league will vote into policy a pool revenue sharing arrangement if and only if mean team revenue is greater than presharing median revenue, where this condition is equivalent to the presence of positive nonparametric skewness in a league’s distribution of team revenues. This represents a median voter theorem for league revenue sharing.Design/methodology/approachThe authors consider the case of revenue sharing for the National Football League (NFL), a league that pools and equally shares national revenues among member teams.FindingsThe authors find evidence of positive and significant nonparametric skewness in NFL team revenue distributions for the 2004–2016 seasons. This distribution is observed amid annual majority rule votes of League owners in favor of maintaining the incumbent pool revenue sharing model (as opposed to no team revenue sharing). Distribution of revenues – namely the existence of outlying large market NFL teams – appears to consistently explain the historical popularity of NFL revenue sharing.Originality/valueThe median voter theorem uncovered in the case of NFL applies to all professional sports leagues and can be used predictively as well as descriptively.

Exploring the Role of Social Media Communications in the Success of Professional Sports Leagues: An Emerging Market Perspective

Non-cricket sports leagues are rapidly rising in an emerging market like India. With the advent of web 2.0, sports marketers are using social media platforms to popularize these sports leagues. However, additional research is needed to get a better understanding of using social media communications in sports marketing. The pro-Kabaddi league has emerged as the most successful non-cricket sports league in India. This study observes the role played by social media communications toward increasing fans’ sports involvement and online community engagement resulting in higher game attendance and purchase intentions for sponsors’ products. The descriptive research design was used to conduct this study, and data were collected from 444 respondents. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. The results established that social media communications play a more influential role in boosting fans’ online community engagement, further resulting in game attendance and sponsor’s product purchase intention.

Stadium attendance demand during the COVID-19 crisis: early empirical evidence from Belarus

ABSTRACT In this note, we consider early evidence regarding behavioural responses to an emerging public health emergency. We explore patterns in stadium attendance demand by exploiting match-level data from the Belarusian Premier League (BPL), a football competition that kept playing unrestricted in front of spectators throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic, unlike all other European professional sports leagues. We observe that stadium attendance demand in Belarus declined significantly in the initial period of maximum uncertainty. Surprisingly, demand then slowly recovered, despite the ongoing inherent risk to individuals from going to a match.

Wage discrimination in the NBA: Evidence using free agent signings

AbstractThis article takes a step toward understanding potential causes of wage discrimination in an economy highly dependent on the service industry. Traditionally categorized within the service industry, professional sport leagues such as the National Basketball Association (NBA) provides a unique setting to examine the potential impact of race on salary. We analyze free agency contract signings, which allow us to better capture the determinants of players' wages, from 2011 to 2017 to investigate the prominence of wage discrimination in the NBA. Using weighted linear regression models and the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition, we find that Black athletes are paid significantly less than their counterparts. In addition, we also identify the presence of consumer discrimination after controlling the exposure of a player to the audience, which is observed through the interaction term between the share of MSA population which is White and an identifier for whether a player is Black.

Everyday Things Change: Australian Athlete Communication During the Coronavirus Lockdown

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Australian professional sport leagues were impacted by temporary league shutdowns. One example is the Suncorp Super Netball, the world’s premier netball competition. This commentary paper explores the Suncorp Super Netball league shutdown from the perspective of the players. Our commentary has emerged from an ongoing ethnographic study supported by interviews with two players (a representative on the players association and a club captain) conducted during the league shutdown. Such a shutdown was the first in the history of the league, and it required an unprecedented response, coordinated by interdependent stakeholders. The authors outlined the importance of stakeholder communication in effectively navigating this extraordinary situation. In addition, the authors discussed the usefulness of technology-as-context for teamwork and leadership, given the limitations on physical interaction and geographical separation. In conclusion, the authors proposed recommendations for sport practitioners and potential research directions resulting from the coronavirus-related league shutdown.

Investment review in sports leagues: financial evidence from Pakistan Super League

PurposeThe study invites seminal investigation on potential of investment returns in professional sports leagues. In line with scope of research, the analysis of this study brings into focus the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and franchises pertinent to Pakistan Super League (PSL) for investment appraisal and returns analysis.Design/methodology/approachThe methodical aspect of research deals with financial ratios and sensitivity analysis capturing the potential of returns on investment for target sample of study.FindingsThe investment appraisal substantiates the significance of potential returns on sports projects. The returns of investment reports sluggish seasonal returns during initial phase of PSL; however, return on investment (ROI) optimized with the maturity and further capitalization of Pakistan Supper League in more concentrated competitive environment. Sensitivity analysis proves variability of returns with changes in growth prospect of franchises.Research limitations/implicationsThe study provides important working knowledge for existing and potential new investors and sports boards to consider the financial investment feasibility through customized investment models and relative orientations of promotion of sports, new talent hunting and re-fabricating the structure of sports in line with new age.Originality/valueThe efficacy of research is ensured through empirical verification of data obtained from reliable sources, and the novelty of research comes from investment appraisal and analysis of growing sports league familiarized as Pakistan Super League. The research approach and target sample are quite unique in context of sports leagues literature.

We Can Handle It: Advocating in Support of State Legislation of Legal Sports Gambling post-Murphy v. NCAA

Post-PASPA, more than twenty states have either implemented or successfully passed legislation allowing their citizens to gamble on sports. These legislative efforts have created an opportunity for states to capture some of the over $150 billion that Americans annually wager through illegal means. While Nevada has successfully regulated sports gambling for more than seventy years, the Supreme Court’s Murphy decision has spurred calls for uniform federal legislation. Central to this push for a federal framework are the leaders of the major sports leagues and their claim of concern for contest integrity. Our position is that this argument is tenuous at best. Rather, we believe this to be a convenient avenue for the major sports leagues to become involved in the regulatory process and secure additional revenue via integrity fees for providing data to federally mandated sources. Further, we argue that this framework of requiring states to use certified data sources that originate from the leagues themselves is not only economically damaging for potential sportsbook operators but could actually result in a greater chance of contest corruption rather than increased integrity. This article examines the contrasting views of the major North American professional and amateur sports leagues (NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, and NCAA) with respect to the new, legalized sports gambling environment. We then look at the argument of maintaining contest integrity which is focal to proposed federal frameworks. Finally, we advocate for a state framework and demonstrate why states are in a better position to regulate sports gambling without federal interference, as state legislation already provides a mechanism by which income from wagers can be redistributed towards improving local infrastructure and funding social welfare programs; under proposed federal legislation, this revenue would divert elsewhere.

Women executives and off‐the‐job misconduct by high‐profile employees: A study of National Football League team organizations

SummaryThe risk of off‐the‐job misconduct by high‐profile employees is a serious concern of top management in professional sport organizations, media and entertainment companies, and public‐facing entities in the government and education sectors. Yet there is little research on how to prevent or mitigate this form of misconduct in organizations. Utilizing upper echelons theory and the literature on demographic composition, we examine the relationship between the gender composition of executives of team organizations in a men's professional sport league and subsequent misconduct by players on those teams. Specifically, we employed multilevel and logistic regression analyses to unique data on U.S. National Football League team organizations, and we found that firms with a critical mass of women executives experienced fewer player arrests. No support was found for executive power as a moderator of this relationship. We discuss the implications of our findings for the demographic composition literature. We also offer guidance for preventing and managing off‐the‐job misconduct by high‐profile employees.

프로야구 방송중계권료 수익 배분에 관한 분배공정성 원칙

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the principles of distributive justice held by male and female fans of a Korean Professional Baseball League in allocating broadcasting rights revenues.<BR> Methods: A total of 380 participants from professional baseball fans responded to the survey questionnaire, which contained a scenario describing the allocation of broadcasting rights revenues to teams. The nine allocation principles listed under the scenario were: (a) equality of treatment, (b) equality of results, (c) equality of opportunity, (d) win-loss records, (e) spectator appeal, (f) effort, (g) need due to lack of resources, (h) need due to high operating costs, and (i) need to be competitively successful.<BR> Results: Results indicated significant differences in the perceived fairness of distribution principles based on gender. Specifically, males perceived equality-based principles such as equality of treatment and equality of results fairer than those of females, while females perceived equity-based principles such as win-loss records, spectator appeal and effort fairer than those of males. Results also indicated that win-loss records was identified as the most fair distribution principle among eight principles.<BR> Conclusion: The overall findings of this study would provide some meaningful information for the decision makers of professional sport leagues on how broadcasting rights revenues can fairly be allocated.

Stadium Attendance Demand During the Covid-19 Crisis: Early Empirical Evidence from Belarus

In this note, we consider early evidence regarding behavioural responses to an emerging public health emergency. We explore patterns in stadium attendance demand by exploiting match-level data from the Belarusian Premier League (BPL), a football competition that kept playing unrestricted in front of spectators throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic, unlike all other European professional sports leagues. We observe that stadium attendance demand in Belarus declined significantly in the initial period of maximum uncertainty. Surprisingly, demand then slowly recovered, despite the ongoing inherent risk to individuals from going to a match.

Free Agency for the Front Office: How Data Analytics and Non-Compete Agreements Threaten to Disrupt Competitive Balance in U.S. Professional Sports Leagues

U.S. professional sports teams are increasingly relying on sophisticated forms of data analysis to identify potential areas of competitive advantage over their league rivals. Indeed, emerging evidence suggests that the most sophisticated teams in this area are using the insights that they derive from data analytics to establish durable and significant gains over their competition on the playing field. At the same time, sports franchises frequently utilize non-compete agreements to protect the resulting, proprietary information that their data analysis yields. Unfortunately, recent academic research suggests that this reliance on covenants not to compete can decrease the rate of knowledge diffusion within an industry, making it more difficult for teams to catch up to early adopters of data analytics. Thus, teams’ growing reliance on data analytics — and their use of non-compete agreements to protect it — could have significant, but heretofore unrecognized, ramifications for league efforts to maintain an adequate level of competitive balance amongst their franchises. This article explores this state of affairs, as well as the implications it presents for the governance of U.S. professional sports leagues.

The external effect of a migrated star player on domestic sports league: an empirical analysis of three Asian leagues – Japan, Korea and Taiwan[1

PurposeThis study aims to examine the “external effect” of a migrated star player on their domestic sport industries. By exploring the new aspect of star power, this study provides important insight and critical implication to many relevant stakeholders in the professional sports league. Particularly, this is critical under the recent circumstance where the globalization of sports products becomes the central strategic issue of the world-class leagues.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the external effect of star players migrated from three Asian leagues (Japan, Korea and Taiwan) to Major League Baseball in the USA, the world-class baseball league, on their domestic league attendance demand was empirically investigated. For the analysis, comprehensive historical data from various reliable sources from each league were collected.FindingsThe findings of the paper strongly support the external effect of migrated stars significantly existing in all the three leagues. The effect is consistent across various measurements of migrated star players. More interestingly, the effect was found to be mixed across different leagues; for example, migrated star players increases in domestic league attendance in Japan, while it decreases in Korea and Taiwan. This indicates that the external effect of migrated star players depends on the characteristics of the domestic leagues. In addition, it was found that the external effect was substantial enough to compare to the effect of major demand drivers such as team winning, competitive balance and star power. For managerial implications, this study also provides revenue projections induced by the impact of migrated star players.Originality/valueThis study opens a new chapter related to star power topic and immediately calls for future studies regarding this external effect, particularly, theoretical and behavioral approaches.

Establishing a professional Rugby Union Football League in the USA: Managing institutional pluralism in sport entrepreneurship

Given the growth of sport leagues globally, we sought to understand how sport entrepreneurs addressed institutional plurality as they worked to establish a new professional sport league in the USA. Drawing on institutional pluralism, we critically examine two efforts to establish professional rugby union football leagues in the USA. Pluralism resulted in tensions among rugby stakeholders. While both leagues sought to reconcile tensions through institutional infrastructure work, one of the leagues garnered more stakeholder support as it was attentive to more institutional contexts. The other league’s infrastructure work was limited and resulted in the alienation of many important rugby stakeholders. Our research demonstrates the theoretical and practical importance of institutional infrastructure work within sport entrepreneurship, especially when navigating institutional pluralism.

Changing the sport product: marketing implications for championship rugby league clubs in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT Purpose: Professional sports teams and leagues operate in a crowded market, thus, occasionally change league structures to remain competitive in the marketplace. However, the implications of such changes on strategic marketing planning is seldom explored. Design: Semi-structured interviews with 11 second-tier Rugby Football League (RFL) club executives and 1 national governing body executive. Findings: Very few clubs had a marketing strategy, therefore, engaged in very little strategic marketing planning. Furthermore, the main barriers were resource and skills, and, organisation and leadership. Practical Implications: The RFL need to concentrate on making sustainable shared resources which develop capabilities. For example, developing a standardised yet mouldable strategic marketing package would reduce the financial and knowledge resource barriers. Research Contribution: d This paper makes theoretical contribution to sport management, specifically barriers to strategic marketing practices within professional sports organisations. It also brings lower-tier professional sport clubs into focus, which are often overlooked.

An Exploratory Analysis of the Environmental Sustainability Performance Signaling Communications among North American Sport Organizations

Sport organizations across North America promote and claim deep commitments to environmental issues through sustainability performance signaling. These signals are conveyed through external associations or memberships (e.g., Green Sports Alliance) or internally (e.g., environmental reports and communications). However, researchers have not explored this communication strategy as it relates to environmental initiatives in sport nor compared environmental communications of sport organizations from the major professional sport leagues in North America. We analyzed the websites of 147 North American sport organizations and their associated venue websites for environmental performance signaling communications. We found that only one sport organization featured an environmental report on its website, and 42 sport organizations highlighted environmental initiatives through dedicated webpages on the respective team or venue’s website. Predominately, these communications focused on fan engagement initiatives (i.e., awareness, participation) but lacked goal setting, measurement metrics, or performance summaries. We discuss these themes, the implications, and recommendations for how sustainability performance signaling can be better leveraged in the North American sport sector.