Professional Sports Leagues Research Articles

Analogous Forecasting for Predicting Sport Innovation Diffusion: From Business Analytics to Natural Language Processing

The purpose of this study was to analyze the diffusion of one sport innovation to forecast a second. Contextualized within the diffusion of innovations theory, this study investigated cumulative business analytics diffusion as an analog for cumulative natural language processing (NLP) diffusion in professional sport. A total of 89 teams of the 123 teams in the Big Four North American men’s professional sport leagues contributed: 21 from the National Football League, 23 from the National Basketball Association, 22 from Major League Baseball, and 23 from the National Hockey League. Utilizing an analogous forecasting approach, a discrete derivation of the Bass model was applied to cumulative BA adoption data. Parameters were then extended to predict cumulative NLP adoption. Resulting BA-estimated parameters (p = .0072, q = .3644) determined a close fit to NLP diffusion (root mean square error of approximation = 3.51, mean absolute error = 2.98), thereby validating BA to predict the takeoff and full adoption of NLP. This study illuminates an ongoing and isomorphic process for diffusion of innovations in the professional sport social system and generates a novel application of diffusion of innovations theory to the sport industry.

Analysing the Australian Football League’s (AFL) governance structure: how does it compare to Europe’s “club-run” leagues?

ABSTRACT Rationale/Purpose: The Australian Football League's (AFL) governance structure is largely unique in the context of professional sports leagues, yet it has rarely been studied. This paper analyses the various components of the AFL’s “Independent Commission” governance structure and draws comparisons with European football’s “club-run” leagues. Method: This is a primarily conceptual paper that involves documentary analysis of constitutional documents and governance reports relating to the AFL. Findings: The AFL’s governance structure is characterised by a Commission of independent members that, in stark contrast to European football, has near complete powers to run the league through the CEO. While the AFL is “owned” by its clubs, they have limited constitutional power to influence decision-making, but are able to hold the Commission accountable through their ability to elect and remove its members. A policy of “active engagement” exists within the AFL with the intention of promoting harmony between key stakeholders. Research Contribution: This paper contributes to sport governance research by presenting new insight on how the AFL’s distinctive governance structure works from a constitutional perspective and highlights the efficiencies the structure (or elements thereof) may yield in other league contexts. Practical Implications: The paper provides practitioners across the sport industry with an in-depth look at an under-researched and seemingly effective league governance structure, which can inform their debates on sport governance reform.

The clash of capital behind the European Super League --- Comparative research on the organisational structure and the business models of European football leagues and the Major Professional Sports Leagues in the United States

In this study, in retrospection of the concurrent controversies surrounding the formation of the European Super League, the author seeks to uncover the rooted structural problems out of which arising the concerned disputes. With systematic review of existing literatures, the organisational structures and business models of professional sports leagues including European football leagues and US major sports leagues are comparatively analysed with reference to the measurement of organizational efficacy. Comparisons upon the organisational structures, business models and concerned sociocultural context behind the two sets of aforementioned sports leagues are included in the analytical sections. This paper finds that the design of business model and organisational structures of European football leagues and US major sports leagues are deeply influenced by the historical inheritance of the culturally formulated contexts. Functioning of the leagues, based on their incumbent models, dynamically reconstruct the cultural sphere of concerned leagues along the existing track predetermined by the past of the sports within the related societies.

Cannabidiol's neuroprotective properties and potential treatment of traumatic brain injuries.

Cannabidiol (CBD) has numerous pharmacological targets that initiate anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and antiepileptic properties. These neuroprotective benefits have generated interest in CBD's therapeutic potential against the secondary injury cascade from traumatic brain injury (TBI). There are currently no effective broad treatment strategies for combating the damaging mechanisms that follow the primary injury and lead to lasting neurological consequences or death. However, CBD's effects on different neurotransmitter systems, the blood brain barrier, oxidative stress mechanisms, and the inflammatory response provides mechanistic support for CBD's clinical utility in TBI. This review describes the cascades of damage caused by TBI and CBD's neuroprotective mechanisms to counter them. We also present challenges in the clinical treatment of TBI and discuss important future clinical research directions for integrating CBD in treatment protocols. The mechanistic evidence provided by pre-clinical research shows great potential for CBD as a much-needed improvement in the clinical treatment of TBI. Upcoming clinical trials sponsored by major professional sport leagues are the first attempts to test the efficacy of CBD in head injury treatment protocols and highlight the need for further clinical research.

Gender and Racial Diversity Among the Head Medical and Athletic Training Staff of Women's Professional Sports Leagues.

Despite increased awareness for promoting diversity, orthopaedics remains one of the least diverse specialties. Studying health care providers in women's professional sports provides a unique opportunity to analyze gender and racial diversity. There would be low female and minority representation across the various women's professional sports leagues. There would be an increased number of female head certified athletic trainers (ATCs) when compared with head team physicians (HTPs). Cross-sectional study. We evaluated the perceived race and sex of designated HTPs and ATCs in the Women's National Basketball Association, National Women's Soccer League, and National Women's Hockey League. Type of doctorate degree, specialty, and years in practice were also collected. Kappa (κ) coefficient measurements were used to determine interobserver agreement on race. Categorical and continuous variables were analyzed using chi-square and t tests, respectively. There were significantly more female ATCs than female HTPs (74.1% vs 37.5%; P = .01). Minority representation between HTPs and ATCs was not significantly different (20.8% vs 40.7%; P = .13). Black HTPs (12.5%) and Black ATCs (22.2%) composed the largest proportion among the minority groups. There was high interobserver agreement of perceived race across HTPs (κ = 1.0) and ATCs (κ = 0.95). Although there were more female ATCs than HTPs in women's professional sports leagues, both cohorts lack perceived racial diversity. These data suggest an opportunity for diversification in medical and training staff of women's professional sports.

The Utility of Including Regular Sport Team Events in Event Portfolios

Event portfolios are a useful way for destination managers to holistically manage their community’s collection of events and, through strategic integration and common objectives, more effectively produce benefits. However, regular sport events such as those played by professional sport teams in a sport league have received little attention from event portfolio managers and researchers. Understanding the value and utility of sport team event assets can inform the successful integration of these events into event portfolios. This research used qualitative methods to examine how team asset components can contribute to achieving event portfolio objectives. The results have significance for event tourism researchers and practitioners and demonstrate that contributions are largely founded on the focal professional sport league structure, which provides constant content and regular communications with key target markets. Analysis of the findings led to the development of a model on the utility of including team events in an event portfolio.

From Gearshifts to Gigabytes: An Analysis of How NASCAR Used iRacing to Engage Fans During the COVID-19 Shutdown

The sport industry is at an inflection point where all major professional sport leagues in North America are struggling to attract the same avid fans, once a staple within the industry. Furthermore, not only are the number of avid fans decreasing, the average age of avid sport fans is increasing. In other words, the current state of the sport industry indicates that fans are decreasing in number while simultaneously aging out of traditional professional sports. The current study aimed to investigate the ability of a traditional sport, NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) in this case, to utilize an esport, iRacing, to attract new and more diverse fans. Through a partnership with Zoomph, Twitter content was analyzed and revealed the shift from traditional racing to iRacing by NASCAR. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it assisted them in attracting new, more diverse fans whose sentiment on Twitter was positive. Overall, the current study demonstrated that traditional sport properties may be well served by tapping into the esport space in an authentic way to enhance their core product(s).

Situational Crisis Communication Theory and the National Football League: A Case Study of the NFL’s Response Strategies to Its Concussion Crisis

This case study analyzes the crisis response strategies used by the National Football League (NFL) in its external communications to address the concussion crisis spanning 2015–2020. The analysis focuses on describing the crisis communication strategies and tactics used by the league. Situational crisis communication theory provides the theoretical framework for analyzing the NFL’s crisis response strategies. A qualitative thematic analysis was conducted of 25 publications published by the NFL on nflcommunications.com, with findings indicating that the NFL focused on the primary crisis strategies of rebuilding and diminishing while employing tactics such as organizational change and shared responsibility. The findings revealed in this case study also highlight a discrepancy between the theoretical ground of situational crisis communication theory and the application of crisis response strategies in a real-life organizational crisis facing a professional sports league.

Selected Issues of (Good) Governance in North American Professional Sports Leagues

In recent years, sport governing bodies (SGB) have been the subject of serious questions regarding their governance structures and decision-making processes. SGB that fail to implement regulatory mechanisms and to improve their governance structures and processes risk being confronted with severe ethically sensitive issues outside and inside the fields, which may eventually result in negative publicity and reduced demand (e.g., fans, sponsors) or financial support (e.g., from governments). This study examines selected regulations and practices of North American professional sports leagues in light of good governance principles. By adopting a qualitative research design, we investigate if there is a need for reforms to be employed by the leagues to comply with core dimensions of governance and thus reduce the risk of not being prepared to deal with ethically sensitive issues that may come up. Our critical analysis suggests that essential reforms need to be employed by the leagues to comply with core principles of good governance. In terms of democracy, professional leagues need to recognise stakeholder interests, implement innovative participation mechanisms, and apply diversity and inclusion policies for board composition. On transparency, it is required to publish internal regulations and financial information despite lax regulations on disclosure policies in the United States. Concerning accountability, professional leagues should separate their disciplinary and executive branches to avoid the concentration of power and potential conflict of interest in the relationship between the commissioner and team owners.

Attrition in entry-level ticket sales positions: a survival analysis

PurposeSport ticket sales is often positioned as a “foot in the door” to the sport industry due to ample job opportunities, but anecdotal reports of high turnover raise questions of the efficacy of recruitment, training and retention efforts in sport sales. The purpose of this study was to determine attrition levels among entry-level ticket sales personnel, observe whether entry-level sales positions lead to other non-selling positions within sport organizations and determine if education and market related variables are related to job tenure.Design/methodology/approachLinkedIn profiles were analyzed for 1,122 entry-level ticket salespeople listed in media guides between 2015 and 2019 in the “Big Four” North American professional sports leagues. Names were obtained from 26 NBA, 21 MLB, 20 NHL and 12 NFL teams. Survival analysis provided defection rates and demonstrated the relationship between those rates and key variables.FindingsOne in every four entry-level ticket salespeople defected within the first year and one in every two defected within 26 months. Only 8% moved on from ticket sales to a non-sales role within the sport industry. Increases in cost of living, working for an NFL team and having sport industry experience prior to taking a sales position decreased the likelihood of defecting, while increased distance between the salesperson's university and the team's location increased the likelihood of defecting.Originality/valueThis study applies survival analysis to a sport human relations context to understand turnover in a specific occupational discipline and establishes the turnover rate for sport sales positions.

“My definition of community is community, and their definition is more around fan engagement”: balancing business and social logics of professional sport teams’ community activities

ABSTRACT Professional sport teams operate within an increasingly complex institutional environment and are required to often confront incompatible prescriptions from multiple institutional logics, such as performance and commercial goals (i.e., business logics) relative to community development and altruistic goals (i.e., social logics). The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of institutional complexity on managers perceptions of community-oriented practices across 12 professional teams within a single Australian sport league. Using Raynard’s (2016) configurations of institutional complexity, we identify two types of hybrid responses that professional teams utilise to address multiple logics: aligned and segregated. When community managers perceived social logics to be aligned with business logics, community activities were more aligned with commercial organisational outcomes such as brand, fan and sponsorship benefits. Alternatively, when managers perceived social logics to be segregated from business logics, community activities were more autonomous from commercial drivers, allowing a greater focus on community development outcomes including education, health and increased trust. Theoretically, our research adds to institutional logic scholarship by showing that multiple logics can be compatible with each other, central logics influence peripheral logics and organisational responses to institutional complexity can vary within a professional sport league.

Exploring the Internationalization Potential of the Persian Gulf Pro League

Professional sports leagues, like so many other organizations, seek to access international markets. The purpose of this research was to explore stakeholder perceptions of the internationalization potential of the Persian Gulf Pro League (PGPL). Data were collected via 20 in-depth interviews with football federation marketing executives, club marketing executives, and experts in internationalization and sports marketing. The data analysis was guided by the principles of grounded theory with the aid of open and axial coding. The analysis produced 39 issues affecting the internationalization of the PGPL. These were classified into five main dimensions—political, economic, managerial, legal, technical-marketing, and socio-cultural factors.

Major League Baseball during the COVID-19 pandemic: does a lack of spectators affect home advantage?

A home advantage is present in most professional sports leagues. Spectators may be a major factor in home advantage, but empirical results have been mixed. Professional games were played without spectators during the 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigated home advantage in Major League Baseball (MLB) during 2020 as compared with the 2015–2019 seasons. A total of 13,044 regular-season games (898 in 2020 and 12,146 in 2015–2019) were analyzed. The sum of wins above replacement of all players was used as an indicator of team quality. The likelihood of a home-team win with spectators was not significantly different to that without spectators (odds ratio = 1.068; 95% confidence interval = 0.932–1.224, p > 0.05). The relative home advantage, percentage of home wins of total wins by a team in a specific season, was not significantly different across years, team quality, and attendance. Factorial analysis of variance models that included the variables of year, team quality, and attendance also revealed that none of these variables significantly affected the relative home advantage. The results suggest that spectators may not be an important factor of home advantage in MLB.

Segmentation of Ticket Holders in Minor League North American Professional Sport

Minor professional sport in North America includes the many leagues that are not part of the “Big Five.” For these leagues, ticket sales, especially season ticket sales, are one of the major sources of club revenue. Segmenting customers into homogenous groups is well established as an effective means to render efficient marketing. In addition, market segmentation has been well researched in a variety of contexts; however, further research in the area of minor professional sport in North America will advance our knowledge and offer practical value to practitioners. Therefore, this research, in collaboration with a minor league professional sport club, provides a framework for season ticket holder segmentation application by minor professional sport leagues and clubs, and offers practical recommendations to reach niche markets.

New York Redefines “GAMBLING” … and What Could this Mean for Poker?

New York Redefines “GAMBLING” … and What Could this Mean for Poker?

Women’s professional sport leagues: a systematic review and future directions for research

ABSTRACT Women’s professional sport has grown over the last decade and so has academic scholarship investigating it. It is timely to review and consolidate extant scholarship to identify patterns and gaps in research and future directions for research to support continued advancement in women’s professional sport knowledge and practice. This paper presents a systematic quantitative literature review (SQLR) of 57 academic peer-reviewed journal articles researching women’s professional sport leagues and published between 2000 and 2019. We provide bibliographic findings, extend the typical SQLR approach and provide an inductive thematic analysis of article findings to synthesise the knowledge base present in the extant research. Based on our SQLR findings, we highlight four key research directions, including the need for (1) diversity in inquiry and reflexivity by researchers, (2) innovative and enabling theories and conceptual frameworks, (3) transdisciplinary research approaches and (4) sustainable business models for women’s professional sport. We emphasise that to advance our theoretical understandings and sport management practices in women’s professional sport, academics must commit to exploring women’s sport in new and different ways, to achieve new and different knowledge and outcomes.

Features of pre-trial settlement of labor disputes of professional athletes in the norms of all-russian sports federations and professional sports leagues

The article discusses the features of pre-trial settlement of labor disputes in professional sports. The historical aspect of formation of legislation in terms of dispute settlement in professional sports is revealed, the main signs of pre-trial settlement of labor disputes in professional sports are given, in particular, signs of autonomy and confidentiality. The approaches of All-Russian Sports Federations and professional sports leagues to the resolution of labor disputes of professional athletes both in the first and in the appellate instances are specified. The article also examines the problems of legal regulation of the status of bodies of all-Russian sports federations and professional sports leagues that resolve labor disputes of professional athletes. Necessary amendments to the current labor legislation of the Russian Federation are proposed for the purpose of properly consolidating the status of the above-described bodies. Possible risks are considered in the event of no changes in the labor legislation.

Where the stars still shine: Some effects of star‐performers‐turned‐managers on organizational performance

AbstractResearch summaryDo former star performers become superior managers? If so, why? Using performance data from a professional sports league, this study finds that organizational performance is greater under star‐performers‐turned‐managers (SPTMs) than other managers. We develop a typology of six causal mechanisms by which SPTMs might affect organizational performance, and we indirectly test for each of them using data from a professional sports league. Our results indicate that SPTMs outperform other managers, and that this benefit is due to their role modeling and their superior ability to train and incentivize subordinates.Managerial summaryOrganizations are often, but not always, led by managers who previously achieved outstanding performance in an individual contributor role. Do such star‐performers‐turned‐managers (SPTMs) benefit an organization's performance more than other managers? If so, why? Our statistical analysis finds that National Basketball Association (NBA) teams managed by head coaches who had previously been All‐Star NBA players win games more often than other NBA teams, and also that this effect is due to a combination of SPTMs serving as a role model for their players, as well as training and incentivizing their players better.

Competition and Fan Substitution Between Professional Sports Leagues

A peculiarity in professional sports is the fact that leagues regularly hold monopoly power within their sports. However, whether and to what extent these leagues may compete with other leagues across sports is relatively unexplored. This paper contributes to the literature by analyzing competition and fan substitution in Germany, where top-tier league managers in handball, basketball, and ice hockey have recently claimed that their teams suffer from football’s dominant position. Our attendance demand models confirm the existence of significant substitution effects in this setting, which suggests that leagues indeed do compete economically across sports for fan attendance.

Association membership, election cycles, and political donation patterns

There is increasing attention on the intersection of sports and politics, with a particular focus on tying owners’ political donations to organization-level outcomes. However, the extant research leverages within-league panels of donations over time, so we know little about inter-league heterogeneities of political donations. Furthermore, extant work does not explicitly investigate the effect of election cycles on owners’ donation patterns. These limitations create questions about the generalizability and model robustness of current research. This paper analyzes N = 2,789 donations made by 158 team owners across six professional sport leagues during the 2016, 2018, and 2020 election cycles. Models suggest that donations from WNBA owners were significantly smaller and went to more progressive recipients on average than donations from owners in other leagues. Results also suggest that donations from WNBA, NASCAR, and NHL owners became significantly more moderate during presidential election cycles than during the midterm election cycle. Implications for future research are discussed.