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Sport participation is the lifeblood of community sport clubs. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how sport clubs can leverage participation from local, medium-sized, elite sport events.

This study used an action research approach where researchers, along with representative stakeholders from two elite tennis tournaments and 23 local tennis organizations, collaborated to develop and implement a series of interventions as part of a wider leveraging plan. The interventions were developed and evaluated in one cycle of action research that incorporated predominantly qualitative research methods.

The interventions stimulated the interest of event spectators by offering a free tennis lesson at a participating club. However, the conversion from interest to club participation was limited.

Key recommendations for clubs to leverage participation from a medium-sized event include: a leveraging plan should consider the resources and capacity of local community sport clubs; clubs should act collectively and collaboratively; and clubs should have a strong physical presence at the event(s).

Regional sports organizations can utilize existing collaborative networks to enable community clubs to design and implement event-leveraging initiatives. This study also highlights the limited capacity of community sport clubs to leverage participation outcomes from medium-sized annual events. The use of collaborative networks may ameliorate the organizational capacity deficiencies of clubs.

This study examined brand hate within the context of the (German) Bundesliga and (Australian) National Rugby League (NRL). The study pursued two research questions: (1) What types of brand hate were expressed towards the Bundesliga and the NRL? (2) To what extent did hateful comments attract more likes than non-hateful comments?

Brand hate was studied in the context of competition restrictions in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We analysed reader comments posted below online articles published in three German (119 articles and 8,975 comments) and three Australian online newspaper articles (116 articles and 4,858 reader comments). The data were analysed deductively.

Non-parametric tests found that all types of brand hate were expressed. Approximately 85% of the hateful comments were mild, or more specifically, cold (n = 445 or approximately 53%), or cool (n = 250 or approximately 30%), or hot (n = 20 or approximately 2%). Hateful comments attracted more likes than non-hateful comments.

This study advances our understanding of how negative brand perceptions underpin an extreme negative emotional reaction in the form of brand hate. The empirical evidence enables brand managers to better address disgusted, angry, or contemptuous consumers (or stakeholders) and consider whether the feeling is enduring, strong or weak, and linked to either aggressive or passive behaviours.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of purchase intentions for utilitarian and hedonic counterfeit sporting goods among Muslim’ consumers. The moderating effect of income and status consumption was also examined.

Questionnaires were distributed among male undergraduate university students who were consumers of sports goods. A total of 360 valid and usable questionnaires were collected and analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics.

The results showed that perceived risk, personal gratification, religiosity, information susceptibility and normative susceptibility all have a positive and significant effect on negative attitudes toward counterfeit sports goods. The effect of a negative attitude toward counterfeit goods was also negative and significant for the intention to purchase utilitarian and hedonistic goods. Income was not a moderator in the relationship between negative attitudes and the intention to purchase utilitarian and hedonic goods. However, the moderating effect of status consumption on the intention to purchase both utilitarian and hedonic goods was significant.

The use of a male-only student sample potentially limits the generalization of the findings, but not the underlying relationships between the variables. Efforts to discourage or prevent the purchase of counterfeit sporting goods should highlight the risk and reduced personal gratification associated with purchasing counterfeit products, while also appealing to a person’s faith-based ethics.

This study produces a novel model explaining the purchase intentions for utilitarian and hedonic counterfeit sporting goods. This model can inform the development of anti-counterfeiting strategies in Muslim countries.

This study aims to investigate drivers of co-branding, and the relative strength of these drivers within the Persian Gulf Pro League (PGPL). The study examines sport sponsorship, and specifically the relationship between professional football teams and on-field apparel sponsors.

Sixteen experts participated in semi-structured interviews and ranked the co-branding drivers. The expert opinions were organized into estimates and triangular fuzzy numbers were established before the Mamdani Fuzzy Inference System converted the fuzzy outputs into crisp output values using the Centroid method. Next, the rankings of the drivers by the same 16 participants were analyzed using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP).

The study identified four main factors with 19 indicators: brand management (i.e. enhancing brand value, utilizing the knowledge and experience of partner brands, brand position, brand identity, brand equity and brand image), partner relationships (i.e. satisfaction, mutual trust, commitment, common interest, product reliability and innovative strategies), marketing factors (i.e. marketing mix, market position, competitive advantage and entry into new domestic markets) and supporting factors (i.e. copyright, contracts and social media law). The AHP identified the most influential factors as marketing, partner relationships, brand management and support.

Based on the study’s findings, the authors recommend that PGPL teams adopt a partnership mindset, seek alignment of values and recognize the plurality of stakeholders to a sponsorship and their relationships to each other. The study highlights the challenges of co-branding activities in a developing country where trademark laws are not well developed.

Given the increasing demands placed on a sport event workforce in servicing the needs of spectators, to attract and recruit volunteers to the industry, it is important for sport event managers to know what is driving how much time volunteers allocate to an event. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the individual and macro-level factors influencing the allocation of time to volunteer at sport events.

Survey data were collected from volunteers at 25 sport events (n=2,303). Multi-level modelling was used to identify common effects controlling for event differences.

Male gender significantly influences time allocated to an event at the individual level. At the macro-level, the number of local inhabitants has a significant negative effect whereas the status of an international event and duration contribute positively to time allocation.

The results provide clear evidence that macro-level variables can stimulate interest in event volunteering opportunities.

This paper uses a multi-level approach to assess the influence of micro- and macro-level variables on time allocation by sport event volunteers. Using this approach, event heterogeneity can be controlled.

The purpose of this study is to critically examine the financial health and performance of the English and Australian cricket networks. This includes the county cricket clubs (CCC) and state and territory cricket associations (STCA) affiliated to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) respectively, as well as the ECB and CA themselves. The authors apply resource dependency theory to understand if there are any financial dependencies within the networks of cricket in England and Australia.

The data for this research was obtained from the financial statements of the ECB, the 18 affiliated CCCs, CA and the six affiliated STCAs. This sample covers the last 5 years of financial information (2014–2019) for all the organisations at the time of writing. Ratio analysis was conducted on all organisations within the sample to assess financial health and performance.

Both CCCs and STCAs show signs of poor financial health. There is a clear dependence on the financial support they receive from the ECB and CA respectively and this dependence appears more prominent in Australia. The ECB and CA have better financial health which ultimately allows them to financially support the CCCs and STCAs.

The ECB and CA are facing difficult financial decisions to remain financially secure themselves due to the impact of COVID-19 but also to support their affiliated clubs. The affiliated clubs do not generate sufficient revenues and must diversity their revenue streams if they are to become financially self-sustaining. This financial structure and distribution mechanism will be vital in safeguarding the future of some of England’s and Australia’s most important cricket organisations.

Although both sports and cities have transformed over the last century, research on the intersection of sports and urban development remains scarce. This special issue was designed to advance a research agenda in relation to sports and urban development. The sports and urban development special issue of International Journal of Sport Marketing and Sponsorship brings together a collection of conceptual, empirical and commentary papers from four continents. Themes explored in this special issue include legacy, governance, image, climate change and sustainability. We encourage collaborative approaches between sport researchers and those with a focus on urban development, urban design and urban governance. Understanding the role of sports in the development of smart cities is an excellent opportunity for these collaborations to occur.

A comprehensive review of literature was undertaken to assess the literature related to sports and urban development.

In addition to this introductory article, there are ten manuscripts selected for this special issue investigating sports and urban development.

This special issue seeks to promote more research on sports and urban development, ultimately ultimately advancing theories and providing solutions.

The purpose of the study was to compare young adult responses to rational and emotional sports product advertisements. The moderating roles of product type and gender were also examined.

The study utilized a 2 (advertising appeal: emotional vs rational) ×2 (gender: male vs female)×2 (sport product type: utilitarian vs hedonic) research design. Data were collected from 160 sport product users. The collected data were analyzed using three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

The results indicated that emotional advertising has a greater impact on the attitude toward advertising and the intention to purchase sports products. The results also revealed that rational advertising appeals have more impact for utilitarian sports products and that emotional advertising appeals are more effective for hedonic sports products. However, there were no significant effects for gender as a moderating variable.

This is the first study to examine responses to rational and emotional appeals in sports product advertisements.

Social media has enhanced the ability of fans to interact with each other. Whilst previous research investigates fan co-creation, few studies focus on the interactive effects within the co-creation process. The authors develop a model for synthesizing the interactive concepts related to fan co-creation in social media, which leads to team identification.

Participants (N = 483) were recruited from fans of clubs in the Persian Gulf Pro League of Iran. Structural equation modelling was applied to test the research model.

The results showed that fan knowledge facilitates fan co-creation, which in turn leads to team identification. Additionally, fan engagement had a moderating effect on the mediating role of fan co-creation in the association between fan knowledge and team identification.

The findings suggest that fan knowledge is an important antecedent of fan co-creation and highlight the significance of fan co-creation in promoting team identification in highly engaged fans at football clubs.

The current study contributes to the field of fan co-creation and provides significant implications for sport fan marketers.

This study investigates the role of athlete brands for the international marketing of professional sports leagues by examining how athlete brands contribute to initiatives of football leagues.

Through a single case study of the German Bundesliga underpinned by 17 semi-structured interviews with league, club and media executives, we identify specific brand co-creation opportunities of athlete brands and the sports league brand.

Our findings reveal that athlete brands play a significant role in enhancing league visibility, engaging global audiences and unlocking new markets. Moreover, we identify specific opportunities for co-creating league brand meaning through strategic partnerships and athlete endorsements.

This research contributes to the literature by highlighting the importance of athlete brands in sports league marketing and offering insights for practitioners on innovative marketing strategies. Using a multi-actor perspective, this study provides valuable insights by revealing how sports leagues can pursue innovative marketing strategies by considering the role of athlete brands, thereby offering new ways for fans and sponsors to engage with the sports league.