Integration of Forecasting, Scheduling, Machine Learning, and Efficiency Improvement Methods into the Sport Management Industry

Sport management is a complicated and economically impactful industry and involves many crucial decisions: such as which players to retain or release, how many concession vendors to add, how many fans to expect, what teams to schedule, and many others are made each offseason and changed frequently. The task of making such decisions effectively is difficult, but the process can be made easier using methods of industrial and systems engineering (ISE). Integrating methods such as forecasting, scheduling, machine learning, and efficiency improvement from ISE can be revolutionary in helping sports organizations and franchises be consistently successful. Research shows areas including player evaluation, analytics, fan attendance, stadium design, accurate scheduling, play prediction, player development, prevention of cheating, and others can be improved when ISE methods are used to target inefficient or wasteful areas

An Exploration of Ticket Pricing in Intercollegiate Athletics

Ticket sales represent a significant revenue stream for FBS athletic departments, yet little is known about how administrators determine prices for those tickets. This three-paper format dissertation is an attempt to begin filling this gap in the literature so that we may better understand ticket pricing from a managerial perspective. Paper one is conceptual in nature, and includes a review of extant ticket pricing literature and presents a research agenda for studying pricing in the unique environment of intercollegiate sport using the theoretical frameworks of stakeholder theory and institutional theory. The second and third papers are empirical examinations of ticket-pricing from the viewpoints of athletic administrators with various departmental responsibilities so that we may better understand the role of ticket pricing in intercollegiate sport from different points of departure. Using a phenomenological approach, twenty athletic administrators, representing two Power 5 and two Group of 5 institutions, were interviewed about their experiences with ticket pricing. Paper two represents an attempt to better understand the pricing process utilized in college sport, including the organizational objectives and influencing factors identified by administrators, while also suggesting a cyclical model for spectator sport ticket pricing. Paper three is an exploration of the perceived roles of athletic administrative stakeholders, as well as departmental isomorphic behavior, as they relate to ticket pricing decisions in intercollegiate athletics

Voice lessons : local government organizations, social organizations, and the quality of local governance

As part the Local Level Institutions study of local life in villages in rural Indonesia information was gathered on sampled household's participation in social activities. We classified the reported activities into four distinct types of social activity: sociability, networks, social organizations, and village government organizations. Respondents were also asked about questions about their village government: whether they were informed about village funds and projects, if they participated in village decisions, if they expressed voice about village problems, and if they thought the village government was responsive to local problems. Several findings emerge regarding the relationship between the social variables and the governance activities. Not surprisingly, an individual household's involvement with the village government organizations tends to increase their own reports of positive voice, participation, and information. In contrast, the data suggest a negative spillover on other households. There is a strong"chilling"effect of one household's participation in village government organizations on the voice, participation, and information of other households in the same village. The net effect of engagement in village government organizations is generally negative, while the net effect of membership in social organizations is more often associated with good governance outcomes. These findings indicate that existing social organizations have a potentially important role to play in enhancing the performance of government institutions in Indonesia and in the evolution of good governance more generally.Health Economics&Finance,Decentralization,Community Development and Empowerment,Housing&Human Habitats,Public Health Promotion,National Governance,Governance Indicators,Housing&Human Habitats,Community Development and Empowerment,Educational Sciences

Athletic Ticket Pricing in the Collegiate Environment: An Agenda for Research

As pressure mounts for intercollegiate athletic departments to be more selfsufficient, administrators must respond by increasing generated revenues. Despite the importance of ticket sales in this endeavor, however, little is known about the underlying ticket pricing structures and policies used by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) institutions. Of the limited existing scholarship focused on managerial pricing decisions in the field of sport management, only professional sports settings have been addressed. Given the unique operational differences between professional and intercollegiate sport, this paper is designed to establish a foundation from which to build future research concerning the pricing of college sport tickets. The frameworks of stakeholder theory and institutional theory are proposed to ground future study in an attempt to strengthen our understanding of the process and behavior of price setting in intercollegiate athletics

A Qualitative Exploration of Ticket-Pricing Decisions in Intercollegiate Athletics

Ticket sales represent a significant revenue stream for NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision athletic departments, yet little is known about how administrators determine prices for those tickets. Utilizing strategic planning as the primary framework and supplemented by stakeholder theory, this study examines ticket-pricing decisions from the viewpoint of athletic administrators with various departmental responsibilities to better understand the role of ticket pricing in intercollegiate sport. Twenty athletic administrators, representing two Power 5 and two Group of 5 institutions, were interviewed about their experiences with ticket pricing. In addition to common pricing objectives related to revenue, patronage, and operations, administrators also suggested attendance-oriented pricing objectives unique to college sport pricing theory. However, findings suggest no well-defined organizational objective for ticket pricing exists within the departments sampled. The factors athletic administrators consider when contemplating pricing decisions can be categorized into seven areas: (a) scheduling, (b) research, (c) team performance, (d) stakeholders, (e) discrimination, (f) fan experience, and (g) competitive comparisons

Athletic Ticket Pricing in the Collegiate Environment: An Agenda for Research

s pressure mounts for intercollegiate athletic departments to be more selfsufficient, administrators must respond by increasing generated revenues. Despite the importance of ticket sales in this endeavor, however, little is known about the underlying ticket pricing structures and policies used by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) institutions. Of the limited existing scholarship focused on managerial pricing decisions in the field of sport management, only professional sports settings have been addressed. Given the unique operational differences between professional and intercollegiate sport, this paper is designed to establish a foundation from which to build future research concerning the pricing of college sport tickets. The frameworks of stakeholder theory and institutional theory are proposed to ground future study in an attempt to strengthen our understanding of the process and behavior of price setting in intercollegiate athletics

Student Family Support Services Initiative: Final Evaluation Report

The Student Family Support Services Initiative (SFSI) provided intensive case management and housing assistance to families with children who were identified as residing in "doubled-up" living situations (e.g. living with relatives or friends because they had lost stable housing but were not yet in homeless shelters or cycled out of shelters) and considered at risk of becoming homeless by the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in 2009 and 2010. The program offered case management, housing assistance, and a menu of services that families might need to stabilize in housing including therapeutic services, employment services, and asset building. The theory of change was that addressing a family's primary housing and employment needs would positively impact the educational stability and achievement of students, while at the same time benefiting the family overall. This report, prepared by the Social IMPACT Research Center, presents a final evaluation of the initiative