An analytical framework for a political economy of football

A political economy of football has become more essential as the game has been colonized by elements of the business class. There is a tension between its profit maximizing understanding of football and a more community oriented, democratic vision that seeks to pursue government policy goals. The insights of economics and politics are both necessary to understand the political economy of football, but they should not be hybridized. Economics allows us to understand the distinctive characteristics of the football market while politics permits an analysis both of the politics of cooption and engagement and the politics of resistance. Four variables are identified that represent a political science contribution to the analysis of football and its relationship with government

Sports attendance: A survey of the Literature 1973-2007

Introduction – 1. Theoretical aspects – 2. Demand definition, data andempirical model – 3. Determinants of attendance (I): Economical aspects – 4.Determinants of attendance (II): Expected quality – 5. Determinants of attendance(III): Uncertainty of outcome – 6. Determinants of attendance (IV): Opportunity cost and other factors – Conclusions – Abstract In this paper, we show a review of the empirical analysis literature about the factors that explain attendance to the stadiums on different sports, mainly in the case of professional sports. Apart from the traditional economic determinants of demand (attendance), the sports events in which the performers have more quality and in those which exists uncertainty of outcome of the match or the championship, have a larger number of spectators. On the other hand, these are not the only factors that explain attendance. Variables that capture the opportunity cost of going to the stadium and other determinants, like unobservable factors associated to the contender teams, also have relevance at the time of analyzing this side of the demand related to professional teams of sports eventsAttendance, elasticity, quality, uncertainty of outcome

The effects of fantasy football participation on team identification and NFL fandom

Nearly 27 million people in North America played fantasy sports in 2009. This quantitative study examined how a person’s level of participation in fantasy football affects team identification, team loyalty, fandom of the National Football League (NFL), and consumer behavior. I also looked at whether fantasy football participants prefer a win by their fantasy team or their favorite team. An online survey was conducted using a snowball sample. I found higher participation levels result in higher team identification, higher team loyalty, and higher fandom, where fandom of the NFL is higher than team identification. Higher levels of participation also led to more time spent watching NFL games as well as more time spent online researching and updating their fantasy football team. I also found that over 41% of fantasy football participants prefer a win by their fantasy team, instead of their favorite team. A win preference of fantasy team resulted in lower team identification and team loyalty, which could have major implications on ticket sales, team merchandise sales, and sponsorship sales

Sports, Inc. Volume 3, Issue 1

The ILR Cornell Sports Business Society magazine is a semester publication titled Sports, Inc. This publication serves as a space for our membership to publish and feature in-depth research and well-thought out ideas to advance the world of sport. The magazine can be found in the Office of Student Services and is distributed to alumni who come visit us on campus. Issues are reproduced here with permission of the ILR Cornell Sports Business Society.https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/sportsinc/1003/thumbnail.jp

Ballpark boom : new minor league stadiums spring up across the region

Related links : http://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/region_focus/2009/winter/feature3_weblinks.cfmSports teams

League Control of Market Opportunities: A Perspective on Competition and Cooperation in the Sports Industry

An issue unsettled for at least the past decade is the proper characterization of a professional sports league for antitrust purposes. Recent litigation over the efforts of the National Football League to block the move by the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles should have been the occasion for a significant judicial clarification. The Ninth Circuit decision in the case seeks to limit league discretion and give individual clubs the right to pursue their separate entrepreneurial advantage. When subjected to close examination, however, the decision appears to be premised on themes that are fundamentally inconsistent. The present article suggests that a more coherent view of the antitrust issues in league governance requires that greater weight be given to the corporate nature of the league\u27s enterprise. An outcome sensitive to this characteristic is more apt to satisfy the basic antitrust policy of enhancing consumer welfare. Other antitrust and public policy questions remain, but their resolution should not proceed from a conspiratorial view of league governance

Brand Community, Loyalty and Promise in myfootballclub.co.uk

Purpose The primary purpose of this paper is to link the notions of brand community, loyalty and promise as a reminder to marketers of the importance to brands of keeping their commercial promises to brand community members. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports on a questionnaire survey (n=500) of members of a sport brand community as part of an investigation into the relationship between brand community and brand loyalty. Findings Brand loyalty was predicted by age, frequency of attendance, motivations for joining the brand community and the degree to which expectations built by the brand promise are met. Research limitations/implications In common with many inquiries in the area of brand community, this is a single case study. It is primarily a cross-sectional study, with a minor longitudinal element. Practical implications Branding practitioners and consultants with responsibility for brand community management issues need to balance the consumer-to-consumer dimensions of community with a careful understanding and operationalisation of the brand promise. Originality/value (mandatory): This is the first paper to integrate the constructs of brand community and brand loyalty with that of brand promise

An Analysis of Sports Markets: Franchise Relocation, League Expansion, and Fan Bases

Through sports, cities can reach fans from all different walks of life to rally together and support a competitive cause. Each city’s fan base is distinct—with their individual personalities being reflective of the culture and environment of the home city. The intent of this paper is to study the effect of multiple on and off field factors as they relate to attendance across three major professional sports in city markets. This will determine which city markets have the strongest, or weakest, overall fan bases. Ultimately, this study will end with an educated recommendation for professional sports franchise relocation or a league expansion

Evaluating minor league baseball social identity, social image, and brand equity.

An understanding of brand equity, the value a brand adds to a product (Keller, 1993), can provide valuable information to sport managers. This is due to the fact price elasticity, competitive strength, and brand loyalty are consequences of brand equity (Keller, 2001). The degree to which fans identify with teams has been found to predict brand equity in major professional sport (Boyle & Magnusson, 2007) and major college sport (Watkins, 2014) contexts. One purpose of this study is to assess whether fan identification is predictive of brand equity in a MiLB context. Further, Lassar, Mittal, and Sharma (1995) found social image had a halo effect over performance, value, trustworthiness, and attachment as predictors of brand equity. An assessment of this relationship between social image and brand equity in a MiLB context, as well as comparisons with major college and major college sport for context, comprise another important purpose of this study. A total of 458 surveys were collected for this study. The results indicated fan identification is predictive of brand equity in a MiLB context. In addition, results indicated MiLB social image differed from both major professional social image and major college sport image. However, MiLB social image, major professional sport social image, and major college sport social image all shared strong relationships with brand equity. MiLB organizational affiliation (the team’s affiliation with a MiLB parent) and MiLB league affiliation (the team’s affiliation with its league) shared medium strength relationships with brand equity. These MiLB affiliations, however, had means that indicated participants found them more unimportant than important. Implications included the fact Minor League Baseball teams should emphasize their venue and their ties to the community based on the fact these variables were statistically significant predictors of fan identification. Because MiLB social image is weaker than that of major professional sport and major college sport teams, new and relocating MiLB team should consider avoiding competitive sport marketplaces. Neither the MiLB team’s affiliation to its league nor its MLB parent proved impactful, indicating marketing messages related to these ties will not prove valuable to the MiLB team