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Co-creation as a collaborative process between organizations and customers generates unique value for both internal and external stakeholders for the company. Research generally examines and portrays customer-company co-creation as a balanced and harmonious relationship. However, a successful co-creation strategy involves understanding the shared interests of the parties and resolving tensions between internal and external stakeholders to avoid co-destruction. This study aims to draw on the intersection of organizational behavior and marketing literature and to examine shared interests and conflicting tensions involved in the co-creation in the context of sports entertainment. This context allows the researchers to unpack and present a more complex process of co-creation that fosters co-creativity and innovation.

Based on a qualitative case-based approach of a major university in the USA, the authors draw on interviews and observations from their athletic administration and fans engaged in a men’s Division I team through an entire season.

This qualitative study illustrates an alternative, more complex dilemma of co-creating emotional and symbolic value based on shared interests while reconciling conflicting internal and external stakeholder interests. The findings suggest a tug of war based on tensions, where management adopted contrasting managerial strategies ranging from attempting to reconcile tension through organic co-creation to controlled manufactured creation.

Emotional and symbolic game experience value is an interdependent process which cannot be created without consumer engagement. Both emotional and symbolic values are enhanced during games to the extent consumers perceive participation in the creative pre-game stages.

This study draws on sports entertainment to identify sources of tension in co-creation and discuss type of solutions among internal and external stakeholders.

Although logistics management is a crucial part of local and global sports events, there is no research-driven characterization of “sports logistics management”. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a framework that allows for a more structured recognition of logistics in sports, in general, and sport event management, in particular. In addition, we conduct a systematic literature review of sports logistics management and locate opportunities for future research both for sports management and logistics management scholars.

Guided by Durach et al.’s (2017) systematic literature review approach, we identify key attributes and characteristics of sports logistics management. These are based on studies featuring at least partial aspects of logistics management in sports and sport events, and that were published between 2000 and mid-2019.

The study reveals that sports logistics management – meaning logistics activities in sports and sport event management – is a heavily under-researched area that provides an abundance of scientific opportunities. Based on the three sport event types of local/regional sport events, major sport events and mega sport events, the authors propose four sports logistics management pillars that are central to the proposed Sport Logistics Framework: venue logistics management, sports equipment logistics management, athletes logistics management, and fan and spectators logistics management.

By providing a conceptual framework for sports logistics, the authors progress towards informing the sport sector on relevant strategic and operational levels of logistics management and set the stage for empirical studies that are likely to advance sport logistics planning and management.

This is the first study that builds on a systematic review of literature specifically focused on the logistics aspect in sports and sport event management. It provides a conceptual framework of sports logistics management and offers an agenda of future research opportunities.

This study aims to develop a battery of items that assess the factors affecting sports events’ success from the promoters’ perspective and a measurement tool that identifies these stakeholders’ main priorities based on the importance-performance analysis (IPA) framework.

The research was conducted using mixed methods. In the first qualitative step, sports event management’s main dimensions were identified based on the existing literature and a comprehensive battery of corresponding items were developed via content analysis of interviews with experts. The second quantitative step focused on Lisbon, the 2021 European City of Sport. Promoters of 21 different medium or large sports events (number = 41 respondents) were asked to fill out a survey ranking each dimension’s items by performance and room for improvement. The IPA’s results are presented both for the overall sample and by promoter type (i.e. events with or without sports facilities).

The 46 items identified fall into the following three categories: sports infrastructure, city image and hospitality and event management (i.e. pre-event, event and post-event). Pre-event includes stakeholder management, organigram and responsibilities, business plan, marketing mix, risk assessment and sponsorship management. Sponsorship management stands out among the areas considered a priority by event promotors.

This study adds to the literature by offering a comprehensive approach to assessing empirically all stages of the event management process.

Given the high unemployment rates being experienced by graduates, the importance of small business start-up has increased significantly, with greater priority being placed upon the development of entrepreneurial skills across the educational sector. However, there is a limited literature considering the student experience and issues involved with supporting non-Business discipline students attaining entrepreneurial competencies. The purpose of this paper is to explore the attitudes and experience of Sports Development and Sports Management students towards entrepreneurship education, highlighting best practice from a pedagogical perspective.

Over 120 Sports Development and Sports Management students on an undergraduate degree were interviewed over a two year period using a semi-structured research instrument. The focus and content of the questionnaire was developed from prior studies undertaken in the field, measuring the impact and value of entrepreneurship education upon attitudes, knowledge and career choice.

The results found that Sports Development and Sports Management students were typically enterprising by nature due to their prior experience in coaching and training within their respective sports disciplines. The majority of students indicated that they were attracted to a future entrepreneurial career in a sports-related discipline. This was driven by the potential of an entrepreneurial career option and the limited alternative choices. Sports Development and Sports Management students were characterised by their mature attitudes towards their career development and future inclination regarding an entrepreneurial career choice.

The results will inform the teaching of entrepreneurship education to non-Business discipline specialist students in terms of the effective construction of entrepreneurship curriculum. Best practice in terms of customised subject informed teaching material, guest talks and interactive pedagogical practice are highlighted.

This study will be of interest to entrepreneurship education providers delivering content to non-Business disciplines at all levels and aid them in the construction of their curriculum to provide fit for purpose provision.

This study investigates how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the sustainability of sports business models by means of a specific case analysis, conducted on M-I Stadio S.r.l., the service management firm that provides all types of backstage activities related to football matches performed at San Siro Stadium in Italy.

Building on interviews on its management team's direct experience and on archival data, the authors depict the consequences of the pandemic in terms of corporate governance, accounting choices and overall strategic business development through information triangulation from a forward-looking perspective.

Complying with restrictions, M-I Stadio S.r.l. preserved its financial position by embracing digitalization, increasing information flows with partners and adopting a risk aversion behaviour. Overall, results indicate that the pandemic played a catalyst role in the transformation process of the football industry. Moreover, apart from the physical and virtual merge acceleration, well-being for athletes, society and the planet, transcending the gaming part of sports activities has also been taking place. The study also illustrates the foreseeable developments of sustainable sport management practices from a critical perspective.

Since the San Siro Stadium management company might represent one of the forefront companies, within the sports industry, this study results should be conveniently taken into consideration by sporting authorities and international bodies, emphasizing the relevance of sustainability (i.e. environmental and social practices within the sports industry) and digitalization so as to better prepare sports organizations and to provide the overall industry with the tools deemed necessary to navigate this important transition in a smoother way.

No psychometrically sound measurement scale exists to effectively measure sports team reputation. The current study proposed and developed the Spectator-based Sports Team Reputation (SSTR) by considering the most important stakeholder groups - spectators. The results indicated that SSTR had a positive and direct impact on team identification and trust towards a team. The most significant theoretical contribution of this study is the conceptualisation and development of the SSTR scale, with a multi-dimensional approach from the spectator perspective.

To improve the operational management benefits of large-scale sports venues, the literature data method, questionnaire survey method, and comparative analysis method were used to study the planning and management of large-scale sports stadiums in China. From the macro external environment, the micro external environment and the internal management of the venue, the opportunities and challenges of China's large stadiums were analyzed. Corresponding countermeasures to improve the efficiency of venue operation management were proposed. The results show that the proportion of business structure of large-scale sports stadiums in China was unreasonable, and the ontology management was in a polarized development trend. The venue utilization rate was generally low. In addition, the operational management benefits of large-scale sports stadiums in China were affected by the micro-external environment and the internal conditions of the venues. Therefore, this research has important reference significance for the operation and management of stadiums.

Many voluntary sports clubs face financial difficulties and consequently turn to external funding sources. Recent developments suggest that sports clubs have been successful in significantly increasing sponsorship income by professionalizing their sponsorship activities. However, not much is known about how voluntary sports clubs professionalize their sponsorship management (e.g. sponsorship staff). This study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the components addressed and the practices used by voluntary sports clubs to professionalize their sponsorship.

An exploratory case study was conducted to gain in-depth insights into voluntary sports clubs’ organizational developments in the context of sponsorship management. Data were collected from six sports clubs through document analyses and problem-centered interviews with decision makers. The data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis approach, which included both deductive and complementary inductive coding of the data.

The results show that the components addressed in the professionalization of sponsorship management are reflected in three dimensions: “people and positions” (e.g. sponsorship staff), “structures and processes” (e.g. differentiation of responsibilities), and “strategies and activities” (e.g. sponsorship rights orientation). It was also found that clubs, which have diverse characteristics and levels of professionalization, pursue distinct approaches.

In contrast to studies on professional sports organizations that focus primarily on the sponsor’s perspective, this study sheds light on sponsorship management in sports clubs in the non-profit sector. The findings can help voluntary sports clubs to transform their sponsorship management strategically and increase sponsorship income in the long term.

Financial problems of football clubs during economic crises (such as COVID-19 pandemic) highlight the necessity of achieving economic sustainability. In addition, the economic sustainability of football clubs is accepted as a principle of the development of sports business. Therefore, it is reasonable to conduct a study with the aim of examining economic sustainability in the field of sports club management.

The present study adopted a qualitative approach to research and used semi-structured interviews in order to develop a framework for the economic sustainability of football clubs. A total of 13 members of football clubs in the Iranian premier league participated in this study.

The findings highlighted the fact that a number of factors, including media and social networks, entrepreneurship and development of club business, commercialization of the club, privatization, investment and ownership, strategic communication plan, financial management and management instability, promoted the economic sustainability of football clubs and improved their financial performance.

This study highlighted the importance of the changes in the structure of football clubs and the strategic plans for promoting entrepreneurship and commercialization. Moreover, it underlined the major role of the environmental and management components of football clubs in their financial sustainability.

The demand for sport tourism throughout the world has risen in recent years for several reasons, most significantly an increased emphasis on health and fitness and the increased use of sporting events by cities in order to attract tourists. The purpose of this case study is twofold. First, to trace the corporate communication process implemented by the management of Isrotel Hotels in its effort to build the new Sport Club Hotel, focusing on internal and external communications. Second, to describe how the marketing and promotion of sport hotels differs from that of ordinary hotels.

This article describes one unique example of a hotel based entirely on the idea of fulfilling the dreams of active sport tourists, provided by the Isrotel Hotel Management Group, who have given the concept of a sports vacation a whole new meaning in the world of hospitality.

The case study described here suggests that sports‐oriented hotel identity must be achieved via the most efficient corporate communication channels in the hospitality industry – nomenclature and branding, graphic design, formal statements, architecture, media relations and routine interactions.

This case study provides insights into the marketing and communication strategies used in creating a sports‐oriented hotel for people who wish to live and breathe sports 24 hours a day during their vacation. This case can serve other hotel managements in their attempts to provide their guests with a different experience that effectively amalgamates hospitality and sports.