The Role of Recovery Marketing to Recapture a Sport Market over the Past Decade: From Travel and Tourism to Professional and Amateur Sport Business

Recovery marketing can be defined as the actual or possible regaining, restoration, or improvement of something lost or taken away as a result of a significantly negative situation or event through the transfer of goods and services from producers to consumers. This article seeks to elaborate on the concept of recovery marketing historically and in terms of the sport industry, and how sport marketing efforts can be utilized in various situations to recuperate from negative scenarios. In addition, suggestions will be presented regarding the creation of a recovery marketing plan for sport organizations, as well as propositions for future research

Transnational venue management corporations and local embeddedness: A case study on the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China

Purpose The case of the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China raises an important issue with respect to transnational venue management corporations embedding and operating in foreign markets. The purpose of this paper is to examine how Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) has implemented social embeddedness strategy to influence the management structure and enhance operational performance of the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach was chosen to examine the social embeddedness of AEG through the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. An in-depth interview was conducted with John Cappo, the President and CEO of AEG China, in April 2016. In addition, the relative news and interviews of leaders from AEG and AEG China over the past ten years was also collected. Qualitative content analysis of the data was conducted through a coding approach. All the materials were coded into three main categories based on three aspects of social embeddedness: local stakeholder relations, reputation and trust-building, cultural and institutional adaptation. Findings AEG has demonstrated how a transnational venue management corporation can successfully integrate social embeddedness strategy with the management structure and operational procedures of the Mercedes-Benz Arena in three ways. First is through the relationship between AEG and its partners in the joint venture, OPG in terms of the enforcement of the contract, the clear division of responsibilities, and the mutual understanding and use of relationship building. Second is the relationship between AEG and the local government in Shanghai. Third was adapting the structures of AEG to fit within local culture and institutional contexts. Originality/value The unique multi-stakeholder relationship inherent to venue management in China raises important questions with respect to transnational venue management corporations operating in foreign markets. The adaptation to the local context, as a moderating factor to the institutional exposure of a venue management company involves more challenging obstacles for non-local firms, compared to firms which are familiar with their institutional context. Understanding the key solutions in building relationships and trust with partners in joint venture and local government, as well as the key methods to adopt in local contexts, have applications across any number of sport industries. </jats:sec

Social Marketing as a Catalyst for Building New Relationships between Sport Practitioners and Academicians

Social marketing, conceptualized by Kotler and Zaltman (1971) as a means to promote social objectives and causes more effectively, has the potential to be the catalyst for addressing the disparity and creating positive perceptions. Social marketing is a significant means to address communication, conceptualization, and intellectual gaps between groups, which often results in clarifying differences in product and value outcomes; and the need for change and shifts in paradigms associated with practitioner-academician interaction (Hanna, 2001). Primary and secondary research conducted showed that there is fragmentation within the sport industry between academicians and practitioners, resulting in a large intellectual gap. It was evident that a majority of practitioners understood the concepts of research and consumer behavior, but do not understand how to utilize these concepts in the application of promotions, advertising, and sponsorship. There also seemed to be differences based on the divergence of beliefs between sociological theorists who look at the big picture and marketers who only look at the application aspect. These findings led to the determination that there is a need for further analysis of theoretical research and application methods related to this interaction between academicians and practitioners. Through the analysis of documented research and current best practices, the goal is to help understand the disparities between academia and practitioners and provide a conduit that would serve as a catalyst to create real change in the sport industry

Collaborative Consumption Sport Hosting: Value and Consumption Constraints

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to find evidence of the benefits and constraints of collaborative consumption experiences by investigating the perceptions of hosts and visitors that attended professional regular season basketball and baseball games in the USA. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through four focus groups with 37 total participants, and were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Findings – The results show that participants in a collaborative consumption experience perceive four types of value: social interaction and belonging, new fandom, travel bucket list experiences, and local and sport knowledge. In addition, the results provide evidence of five consumption constraints related to collaborative consumption: expenses, average experiences, seat location, interpersonal disconnects, and personal risk. The selection of only two sites for the study limited the data triangulation that was possible. This study should be replicated across a wider range of teams and countries to confirm the main findings of the study. Practical implications – Practitioners can use this initial study to better understand the benefits hosts and visitors perceive in the experience, and therefore the kind of experience design that would encourage increased purchases and loyalty. Originality/value – This paper provides qualitative insights into the benefits and detriments of a collaborative consumption sport experience, based on participants’ involvement in an innovative peer-to-peer platform

S-Duality at the Black Hole Threshold in Gravitational Collapse

We study gravitational collapse of the axion/dilaton field in classical low energy string theory, at the threshold for black hole formation. A new critical solution is derived that is spherically symmetric and continuously self-similar. The universal scaling and echoing behavior discovered by Choptuik in gravitational collapse appear in a somewhat different form. In particular, echoing takes the form of SL(2,R) rotations (cf. S-duality). The collapse leaves behind an outgoing pulse of axion/dilaton radiation, with nearly but not exactly flat spacetime within it.Comment: 8 pages of LaTeX, uses style "revtex"; 1 figure, available in archive, or at ftp://ftp.itp.ucsb.edu/figures/nsf-itp-95-15.ep

Understanding Lifeguard Recruitment and Selection Practices in Victorian Aquatic and Recreation Centers (ARCs)

Extensive research has focused on human resource management (HRM) and recruitment and selection practices across different settings. However, there is a gap in the scholarly literature in ARC settings, including lifeguards. Additionally, the aquatics industry is experiencing unprecedented levels of lifeguard turnover within aquatic facilities. The recruitment and selection process can impact employee turnover. Therefore, an important first step to address lifeguard turnover is to better understand the current recruitment and selection practices of lifeguards. This study focuses on the recruitment and selection practices of ARC management to better understand the recruitment and selection of lifeguards. The analysis is based on 16 semi-structured interviews with ARC managers involved in lifeguard recruitment and selection. Participants included center managers, assistant center managers, and operations managers/coordinators. A deductive analysis was able to effectively explain the current recruitment and selection practices for recruiting lifeguards in Victorian ARCs