Research question: This study examines how value co-creation experiences affect sport tourists' brand perception of a destination, focusing on non-mega sport events. Value co-creation and tourist evangelism, while gaining attention in the field of general tourism, have not been deeply examined in sport tourism and non-mega events. This study aims to fill the gap by focusing on destination brand evangelism in non-mega sport event-based tourism and examining the processes of mediation and moderation. Research methods: Using data collected from 486 sport tourists who visited Rongjiang County to watch the Village Super League within the past two years, this study employed partial least squares structural equation modelling via SmartPLS 4.1. Data were collected through an online survey platform using convenience sampling in December 2024. Results and Findings: Path analysis revealed that value co-creation experience positively impacts brand equity, which fosters stronger brand attachment and evangelism. The study identified dual mediation pathways: cognitive (through brand equity) and affective (through brand attachment), with a significant sequential mediation effect. Sport involvement did not significantly moderate these relationships, suggesting that the co-creation to evangelism pathways operate similarly for high and low sport involvement tourists. Implications: This research advances service-dominant logic, transformative learning theory, and social exchange theory within non-mega sport event-based tourism, introducing a dual-pathway framework that bridges cognitive and affective dimensions of destination branding. Findings provide destination marketing organisations with strategic insights for leveraging non-mega sport events to cultivate devoted brand evangelists through authentic, community-based experiences.
Research Question: This study explored how collegiate sport clubs demonstrated organizational resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, using Duchek's capability-based model. The pandemic disrupted club operations, underscoring the need to understand the process of organizational resilience to support long-term sustainability during crises. Research Methods: A national governing body of collegiate sport clubs in the United States distributed a recruitment email, and a total of 16 officers participated in semi-structured interviews conducted via Zoom. Results and Findings: Our findings demonstrated a three-stage resilience process involving observation, coping, and adaptation capabilities that responded to the emergence, duration, and decline of the pandemic. Clubs needed to identify the pandemic's impact through observation, develop creative yet context-specific coping strategies, and adapt those strategies over time. Rather than sequential and linear, this process was recursive and concurrent as clubs navigated an evolving regulatory environment. Additionally, the effectiveness of clubs' resilience capabilities was fostered by resource availability, social resources, and a strong sense of responsibility. Implications: The study contributes theoretically by refining how resilience capabilities, timeframes, and key drivers are conceptualized within Duchek's model. Practically, it provides guidance for sport club officers and practitioners seeking to strengthen their organizations' resilience to withstand future disruptions.
Research questionWe aim to explore how sociocultural elements of the integration of a women's semi-professional football team into a men's professional football club in Scandinavia are perceived and experienced by those involved in and impacted by the process.Research methodsOur case study design draws on interview data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with eleven participants holding different roles across both the women's and men's clubs, including board members, administrative staff, coaches and players.Results and findingsThree key sociocultural themes emerged that were central to the integration process and outcomes: (1) maintaining a culture of trust and identity as a community-rooted club, (2) perceived trust and justice in gendered hierarchies and (3) the coming together of club cultures. Our findings across these themes were somewhat contradictory, with surface-level narratives of gender equality contrasting with clear signs of gender hierarchies and resultant potential challenges and threats to long-term successful integration. Post-integration benefits for the women's club were clear to see, particularly with increased resources, but such benefits are balanced with secondary status in the integrated club.ImplicationsOur findings demonstrate the importance of research on mergers and integrations of sport organisations adopting multi-level and nuanced perspectives. This is because processes, outcomes, opportunities and threats span strategic and sociocultural elements, are highly context-specific and influence different actors and stakeholders in different ways and at different times. Such research can support the development of post-integration plans that are dynamic and address changing contexts, needs and priorities.
Research objectivesMulti-club ownership (MCO) is often assumed to enhance talent mobility and squad depth, but its impact on on-field success remains under-researched. The current study investigated whether MCO improves affiliated clubs' sporting outcomes and explored how performance effects vary across ownership models, network structures, and a club's role within its MCO network.Research methodsWe used a difference-in-differences method to analyze a new panel dataset comprising 2,060 club-season observations from 116 MCO-affiliated professional football clubs and 232 independently owned control clubs selected via stratified nearest-neighbor matching. The data analyzed spanned 31 seasons from 1993/1994 to 2023/2024 and covered 348 professional clubs in 46 national leagues in major football markets across six regions.Results and findingsMCO affiliation was not associated with systematic improvements in a club's league performance. This null result holds across most ownership models (private equity vs. football groups), network structures (vertical vs. horizontal), and hierarchical roles within MCO networks (flagship vs. feeder).ImplicationsOur findings challenge the prevailing narrative that MCO automatically leads to performance benefits, as ownership type alone does not seem to be a key factor in sporting success. Hence, MCO networks may not necessarily offer a competitive advantage for clubs in the short to medium term, and independently owned clubs could be just as well-positioned to succeed while avoiding threats to their autonomy or identity.
Research QuestionThis study investigates how Olympic media exposure moderates the trickle-down effect (TDE) of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Korean sport club memberships. By analyzing interaction effects between media exposure and sporting success (athlete representation and medal wins), and by accounting for gender differences, it offers new insights into how distant mega-events influence sport participation through mediated exposure.Research MethodsFour regression models were estimated separately for men and women to examine how sporting success and its interaction with media exposure influenced one-year and two-year post-Olympic changes in sport club membership. All models included key control variables such as professional league status, regional population, GDP per capita, and number of sport facilities.Results and FindingsAthlete representation and medal wins alone did not increase membership, but their effects shifted substantially once media exposure was considered. Media exposure moderated the relationship between sporting success and participation, with both direction and strength of associations varying according to the amount of media exposure. These moderating effects differed by gender: male participation increased mainly in response to visible male medal success, whereas female participation responded both to visible female athlete representation and to highly exposed male medal success.ImplicationsBy empirically demonstrating media exposure as a key moderating mechanism, this study advances the theoretical understanding of the TDE and highlights how mediated visibility shapes participation in non-host contexts. The findings underscore the importance of strategic and equitable media coverage for leveraging sporting success to promote sport participation across genders.
Research Questions The study examines how digital platforms shape the construction and expression of sport fan identities within visually mediated and data-driven online environments. It addresses three key questions: (1) How do fan-generated images on Instagram reflect emerging forms of identity construction that extend beyond traditional sport fandom frameworks? (2) What mechanisms underpin the identity expressions in visual, platform-based contexts? (3) How can the mechanisms contribute to the refinement of existing identity theories in sport management? Research Methods The analysis draws on 355,043 fan-generated Instagram posts from Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) games collected between January and June 2023. A multi-stage visual analysis was conducted, in which images collected via team and venue hashtags were processed using the Google Cloud Vision API and validated with deep learning models (ResNet-50 and VGG16) alongside expert review. Semantic clustering, statistical analysis, and interpretive coding were employed to identify identity patterns and to develop the Visual Identity Transformation (VIT) Framework. Results and Findings The findings reveal three interrelated mechanisms of digital fan identity formation: Environmentally Anchored Identity, grounded in spatial and collective expressions of fandom; Materially Embedded Identity, shaped by tangible symbols and performative practices; and Spatially Integrated Identity, which connects spatial and temporal dimensions to construct continuous narratives. The mechanisms extend and adapt existing theories of narrative identity, performative identity, and place attachment to visual and platform-based contexts. The results also highlight the cultural specificity of KBO fandom and highlight the need for comparative research to test the framework across diverse cultural and sporting settings. Implications The study advances theoretical understanding of sport fan identity as a visually mediated and platform-dependent phenomenon. It provides a conceptual foundation for future cross-context research and offers practical insights for sport organizations seeking to engage audiences and build brand communities within visual and algorithmically driven media environments.
Research question: Prior research on the value of sponsorship for companies yields mixed evidence. While many studies focus on naming rights for sport venues, few have explored the impact of naming rights for professional league teams on firm value. This paper addresses this gap by examining the short - and long-term effects of corporate naming of professional league teams in China on firm value. Research methods: We employ ordinary least squares (OLS) and instrumental variable (IV) regressions in our empirical analyses. Our sample includes 41 listed firms from China's A-shares, the Heng Sang Index, the New York Stock Exchange, and Nasdaq, each of which sponsored a team in a Chinese professional sport league. Results and Findings: In the short term, naming a league team has a negative impact on firm value, as indicated by significantly negative cumulative abnormal returns. In the long term, however, naming sponsorship is associated with a positive effect on firm value, reflected in an increase in Tobin's Q. These findings remain robust after addressing endogeneity concerns through instrumental variable and matching techniques. Implications: Our findings suggest that increased sponsorship spending does not automatically translate into better firm performance. Companies should regularly and carefully assess the cost-effectiveness and strategic value of such investments. Realizing long-term benefits from naming sponsorships requires consistency, planning, and alignment with the team's development. Firms should approach sponsorship decisions with a long-term perspective and be prepared for sustained engagement to enhance firm value effectively.
Research questionThis study explored (1) how participants' well-being changed after a running event from both hedonic (i.e. positive emotion and life satisfaction) and eudaimonic (i.e. engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment) perspectives and (2) how these changes differed between participants who ran for charity and those who did not.Research methodsUsing a pre-post design, we collected data from participants of the 2024 Reykjavik Marathon (N = 180). A repeated-measures ANCOVA was employed to test the research questions.Results and findings(1) Participants experienced increases in positive emotion and accomplishment following the event. (2) Engagement increased after the event for participants who ran for charity but not for those who did not.ImplicationsThe findings extend the literature by demonstrating that sport event participation and its interaction with charity involvement generate dimension-specific changes in well-being, rather than uniform improvements across outcomes. Practically, the results suggest that event organizers can enhance participants' positive emotion and sense of accomplishment through goal-oriented event design, while charity components may further strengthen engagement by linking participation to meaningful social impact.
Research question:We investigate whether the state-funded construction and renovation of football stadia results in sustained attendance growth, addressing a significant gap in European sport management literature, particularly regarding Central-Eastern Europe. Hungary presents a unique research context due to its extensive government-funded stadium redevelopment program.Research methods:Utilising match-level attendance and stadium capacity data from Hungary's top two football divisions (NB I and NB II) covering the 2005/06-2023/24 seasons, we apply a difference-in-differences (DID) methodology. Clubs that received new stadia (treatment group) are compared against clubs without stadium renovations (control group), employing two-way fixed effects and advanced DID-imputation techniques to robustly isolate causal impacts on attendance and stadium utilisation rates.Results and Findings:The findings reveal a significant 'honeymoon' increase in attendance immediately following the opening of new stadia, lasting approximately five seasons. However, stadium utilisation rates show no lasting improvement beyond the initial season. Results demonstrate considerable variation across clubs. Unlike some Western European contexts, the novelty effect observed in Hungary closely resembles that found in North American leagues, reflecting the limited commercial incentives for clubs in fully state-funded projects.Implications:This research provides crucial insights into the implications of public stadium funding models, suggesting that fully taxpayer-financed projects may lead to suboptimal long-term outcomes, characterised by temporary attendance boosts and persistent underutilisation. The findings underscore the necessity of complementary fan engagement strategies and incentive-aligned financing structures to ensure sustainable attendance growth and effective use of public resources in sport infrastructure projects.
Research questionThis study extends research on place attachment and fan identification, which primarily rely on qualitative methods and unidimensional conceptualisations. It examines the multidimensional nature of place attachment, drawing on environmental psychology and social identity theory, to explore how these dimensions relate to fanship, fandom, and loyalty among local sport fans.Research methodsThe study uses a sample of 404 local fans from a mid-level sport team, combining structural equation modelling with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to explore the antecedents of fanship, fandom, and loyalty.Results and FindingsThe findings focus on the interplay between fanship, fandom, place attachment, and loyalty. Results reveal that two dimensions of place attachment, social bonds and place dependence, are positively associated with fanship and fandom. In turn, fanship positively relates to attitudinal and behavioural loyalty, and fandom only to behavioural loyalty.ImplicationsOur results suggest that mid-level teams should leverage different dimensions of place attachment to cultivate fanship and fandom. Marketing efforts should thus foster emotional connections and create spaces for social bonding in physical and online spaces. This may be salient for teams with poor performance, where fostering community and fan identity is essential for sustained engagement.
Research questionAlthough social innovation has recently received some interest in the sport management field, extant studies have predominantly focused on the organisational factors leading to innovations in the Sport-for-Development and Peace (SDP) context. There is limited understanding of the context - and place-specific factors affecting social innovation in sport in rural areas. This research aims to unveil the key factors that lead to successful social innovations in sport in rural areas.Research methodsThis study adopts a Constructionist Grounded Theory approach to explore how sport has been anchored for a social innovation project to revitalise an impoverished rural area through the case of Village Super League (VSL) in China. A total of 28 open interviews have been conducted with stakeholders involved in the social innovation process.Results and findingsThe main result of this study is the empirically grounded identification of five place-based factors, namely, domain (football), local context, institutional support, individual agency and empowerment, and community engagement, as well as digital technology as a catalyst, which jointly contributed to the success of the VSL. The result is strengthened by providing a conceptual framework that depicts these factors and their interplay in leading to successful social innovation in sport.ImplicationsThe conceptual framework provides a theoretical basis for future empirical research on social innovation in the sport context and practical implications for practitioners and policymakers on how best to design and leverage localised sport-based social innovation projects for community and/or rural area development.
Research questionsA team name is a fundamental element of a team's brand equity. This research addresses two key questions concerning team-naming practices. First, we explore how teams achieve brand differentiation despite paradoxically adopting similar naming strategies - namely, employing metaphors. Second, we discuss whether the dominant conceptual metaphors that underlie sport-team names bear ethical implications.Research methodsTo investigate these questions, we conducted a systematic metaphor analysis of team names from the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL (Study 1). Building on these initial results, we then examined perceptions of different types of metaphorical team names among a sample of 1140 basketball spectators (Study 2).Results and FindingsWe found that 79% of teams utilize metaphorical names. While athletes are predominantly conceptualized as 'wild beasts' and sport as a 'brutal fight' across the four leagues, alternative metaphors exist, offering teams diverse opportunities for brand differentiation. Finally, although these dominant conceptual metaphors raise ethical concerns regarding the normalization of violence in sport, more positive conceptual metaphors for both athletes and sport are also available.ImplicationsFar from being mundane and without consequences, selecting a metaphorical name, such as 'Bulls' or 'Jazz', is a crucial decision with implications for both brand differentiation and social responsibility. By investigating the pros and cons of different types of metaphorical names concerning these two aspects, this research provides managerial and ethical insights relevant to situations in which managers address the creation or rebranding of sport clubs.
Research methodsWith the aim of capturing the experience of serving as citizen sport diplomats and making sense of it to inform future practice, this research utilized a collaborative self-ethnography approach. This reflexive approach brings together: (a) analytic autoethnography as individuals themselves are engaged in the ethnography and study, and (b) collective ethnography as a team collects and makes sense of shared data regarding the same context and phenomena.Results and findingsDuring the outbound exchange, we each created journal entries about our experiences, followed by daily discussion of entries, and highlighting possible emerging themes. This process was repeated nine times. The discussions were recorded and transcribed and we used a reflexive thematic approach to uncover the first three teams of Odyssey, Border Straddling, and Throwing Seeds/Planting Rows. Representative quotes for Brush Sets, the fourth theme, were identified using a deductive thematic analysis approach.ImplicationsOur findings revealed the need for future research to understand how planning, preparation, and resource allocation impacts the long-term success and sustainability of sport diplomacy exchanges. From a practical standpoint, each theme provides a framework for the required mental and physical resources of a sport diplomatic exchange and highlights that deep levels of transformational learning can occur during these programs.
Research questionThis study examines how game outcomes and fans' counterfactual thinking ('what if') influence word-of-mouth (WOM) and participation intention toward team events, and how trait competitiveness and team identification moderate these effects.Research methodsTwo experimental studies used championship game outcomes (NBA Finals and Super Bowl) as comparison stimuli. Following the actual game results, participants engaged in either reflective or evaluative counterfactual thinking. Trait competitiveness and team identification were measured as moderators, and WOM intention toward a team event served as the dependent variable, with participation intentions additionally measured in Study 2.Results and FindingsStudy 1 revealed that reflective counterfactual thinking enhanced positive WOM intention, even after a team's loss, especially for less competitive fans. Highly competitive fans exhibited stronger WOM intention when they engaged in evaluative counterfactual thinking after a loss. After losses, fans with high and low levels of team identification had significantly higher levels of intention with reflective counterfactual thinking. However, after wins, only lowly identified fans showed significantly stronger intentions with evaluative thinking, while highly identified fans showed no significant difference between counterfactual modes. Study 2 revealed a similar pattern for participation intention.ImplicationsThis research highlights the role of reflective counterfactual thinking in sustaining fan engagement through WOM and team event participation, even after negative outcomes. Sports marketers can use these insights to develop tailored strategies based on fans' competitive traits and level of team identification to promote fans' positive engagement through targeted messaging, even in challenging circumstances such as team defeat.
