THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

This paper begins with a brief review of the evolution of the unique brand of Australian football and the development of a fully-professional and national Australian Football League (AFL) comprising 16 clubs from the Victorian Football League (VFL) formed in 1897. Analysis of clubs' finances and stated objectives suggest that AFL clubs are win-maximisers (subject to breaking even financially) rather than profit maximisers. The win-maximising objective stems from the nature of club ownership. Of the 16 clubs, ten are owned by their members, one is shareholder-owned, four are owned by their respective state football Commissions and one licence is held by the AFL. The objectives of the league and the changes in its governance are also discussed. The history of labour market devices and revenue sharing rules the VFL/AFL has used to try to increase competitive balance is outlined. Six different periods between 1897 and 2003 are identified and the different levels of competitive balance are calculated for each year and then matched against the devices and rules used in each period. It is suggested that the high levels of competitive balance achieved in the VFL/AFL in the most recent period could well be the result of the introduction of both a national player draft and team salary cap.Australian Football League (AFL); economic development; competitive balance; club ownership; club objectives; league objectives; league governance; player draft; salary cap.

Political discourse in football coverage : the cases of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana

Football coverage in newspapers is both an arena for and a mirror of political discourse within a society. The paper argues that discourses within football coverage referring to political issues reflect dominant – and, possibly, contesting – “truths”, which themselves are linked to power relations and political struggles within a given society. The comparison of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, two neighbouring countries in very different conditions (particularly with regard to their historical trajectories and the degree of societal consensus), and more particularly, the comparison of dominant discourses on the topics of patriotism, peace and good governance related to the World Cup qualification of both national teams supports the hypothesis of a strong context-relatedness of a politically loaded “football language”. For instance, whereas in Ghana patriotism is, when football comes in, quickly merged with pan-africanism, the Ivorian team renewed the heated political debate about “Ivorianess” by putting forward a notion of inclusive patriotism.Die Fußball-Berichterstattung in Zeitungen stellt eine Arena, aber auch einen Spiegel der politischen Diskurse innerhalb von Gesellschaften dar. Der vorliegende Text argumentiert, dass Sportberichte dominante, aber auch Gegen-“Wahrheiten” reflektieren, die in Verbindung zu Herrschaftsbeziehungen und politischen Auseinandersetzungen in einer bestimmten Gesellschaft stehen. Der Vergleich von Côte d’Ivoire und Ghana, Nachbarstaaten in sehr unterschiedlichem aktuellen Kontext (im Hinblick auf den Verlauf der jüngeren Geschichte und in der Ausprägung von gesellschaftlichem Konsens), und im besonderen der Vergleich von prägenden Diskursen zu den Themen Patriotismus, Frieden und Good Governance in der Berichterstattung über Qualifikation zur sowie Leistung bei der Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft 2006 durch beide Nationalmannschaften stützt die Hypothese einer starken Kontextgebundenheit der politisch aufgeladenen „Fußballsprache“. Während in Ghana beispielsweise Patriotismus schnell mit „Panafrikanismus“ gepaart wird, sobald von Fußball die Rede ist, hat das ivorische Team die politisch hitzig geführte Debatte über die „Ivoirité“ weiterentwickelt, indem eine inklusivere Form des Patriotismus breite Unterstützung findet

Political football

Much has been written in recent years about governance in the areas of political science, public policy, local government and international relations. However, little research effort has been devoted to examining the term in relation to the organisation, administration and management of sports bodies. This paper is concerned with the way sport is governed, and in particular evaluating the utility of the concept of governance in understanding aspects of the management and policy process in English professional football. The research finds that governance broadens our conceptual repertoire, introduces greater sensitivity and subtlety into policy analysis, and highlights problems of coordination across sports' governing bodies, interest groups and policy actors

The Board of Directors in Greek Football Clubs: 2005-2014

Boards pf Directors of the Greek Syper Leagu

Co-opetition models for governing professional football

In recent years, models for co-creating value in a business-to-business context have often been examined with the aim of studying the strategies implemented by and among organisations for competitive and co-operative purposes. The traditional concepts of competition and co-operation between businesses have now evolved, both in terms of the sector in which the businesses operate and in terms of the type of goods they produce. Many researchers have, in recent times, investigated the determinants that can influence the way in which the model of co-opetition can be applied to the football world. Research interest lies in the particular features of what makes a good football. In this paper, the aim is to conduct an analysis of the rules governing the “football system”, while also looking at the determinants of the demand function within football entertainment. This entails applying to football match management the co-opetition model, a recognised model that combines competition and co-operation with the view of creating and distributing value. It can, therefore, be said that, for a spectator, watching sport is an experience of high suspense, and this suspense, in turn, depends upon the degree of uncertainty in the outcome. It follows that the rules ensuring that both these elements can be satisfied are a fertile ground for co-operation between clubs, as it is in the interest of all stakeholders to offer increasingly more attractive football, in comparison with other competing products. Our end purpose is to understand how co-opetition can be achieved within professional football

Assessing the sociology of sport: On sports mega-events and capitalist modernity

On the 50th anniversary of the ISSA and IRSS, one of the leading international scholars on sport and consumer culture, John Horne, considers the trajectory and challenges of research on sports mega-events and their place in capitalist modernity. In anchoring work on this topic in Roche’s definition of mega-events, Horne notes that sports mega-events are important symbolic, economic, and political elements in the orientation of nations to stake their place in global society. Fundamental issues about the concept of ‘mega-event’ pose challenges for scholars as questions remain over what qualifies as a sports mega-event and how ‘lived experience’ with such events transacts with media spectacularization and characterization. The essay closes by posing broader questions for further investigation about the economic, political, and social risks and benefits of sports mega-events and how these events may portend and relate to changing relations of economic and political power on a global scale

Football and media matters

Examines how media and communication studies have engaged with football, both as a cultural form and as industry over the years

Creating an enduring developmental legacy from FIFA 2010: The Football Foundation of South Africa (FFSA)

Research question: The legacies of sport mega-events are widely contested. Whilst the short-term impacts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa have been largely considered to be positive, there is little evidence of longer term outcomes. This paper contributes to the sport mega-event legacy literature by presenting empirical evidence of the longer term developmental legacy using a case study of a community-focused sports project. Key factors underpinning sustainable legacy outcomes are identified. Research methods: The Football Foundation of South Africa (FFSA) was selected as a case study due to the novel ways in which the project developed. Thirty-eight interviews were conducted with stakeholders involved directly in the FFSA’s day-to-day delivery and management, people from organisations who deliver sport and recreation services at the local and regional levels and children who use the facility. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the data were analysed using qualitative content analysis approach. Results and findings: The FFSA is achieving substantial and increasing reach into local, especially disadvantaged, communities. Children expressed very strong positive feelings about the contribution it makes to their lives. Several factors have enabled the FFSA to be successful, with the most critical being the strong institutional context within which the project is embedded involving local, regional, national and global organisations. Implications: The success of the FFSA highlights gaps in mega-event legacy planning. International sport bodies should develop formal mechanisms for drawing their corporate stakeholders together with community-based groups to identify and deliver sustainable developmental programmes.</p