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The purpose of this paper is to identify types of professionalization in Swiss national sport federations (NSFs) and analyze organizational characteristics associated with specific types of professionalization. Such types reveal common patterns among the increasingly complex organizational designs of NSFs and thus contribute to the understanding of professionalization in NSFs.

An online survey of all Swiss NSFs was conducted to identify types of professionalization in these organizations using hierarchical cluster analysis, based on a multi-dimensional framework of professionalization.

The analysis revealed four types of professionalization: formalized NSFs managed by paid staff, NSFs managed by volunteers and a few paid staff off the field, NSFs with differing formalization and paid staff on the field, and moderately formalized NSFs managed by volunteers. The types differ in terms of the NSFs’ organizational characteristics, in particular, size, financial resources, Olympic status, and performance.

Applying factor and cluster analysis is a new approach to analyzing professionalization in NSFs that makes uncovering distinctive organizational patterns among a large number of NSFs possible. These results lay the foundation for understanding the professionalization of NSFs, counseling NSFs on their organizational development, and conducting future research on the design types of sport organizations.

In 2005 Manchester United was taken over by US businessman Malcolm Glazer, in part because of the club's brand name prominence in the global sport of soccer. This paper examines how Manchester United rose to a pre-eminent position in world football through its on-field performances and its off-the-field management strategies. It shows how the club took its storied history into world markets to take full advantage of globalisation, the opportunities extended through the English Premier League's reputation and developments in global media technologies. Astute management of club resources is identified as the major factor in global brand management.

Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

In addition to on‐the‐field competition by athletes and coaching staff, sports teams compete “off‐the‐field” for spectators, consumers, sponsors, media coverage and investors. As such, sports teams are increasingly becoming business entities with professional managers.

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.

The purpose of this paper exploratory study is to decipher sport consumer associations and sentiments connected to the brand image of retired athletes.

In total, 14 sport consumers, who demonstrated an in-depth knowledge of throwback branding tactics and expertise in athlete brand promotion, participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews.

The findings indicate there are three prevalent themes across the present data (i.e. epoch epitome, athlete-team connection and off-the-field persona).

While the proliferation of throwback merchandise and affinity for brands of retired athletes is evident, the internalization of associations related to retired athletes has escaped empirical investigation. Numerous questions concerning how specific facets of a retired athlete’s image (e.g. athletic skills or life off the field) activate nostalgic feelings, drive consumer loyalty and establish market permanence remain unanswered. The current study contributes to the understanding of the brand image of the retired athlete and the existing literature concerning athlete branding.

This paper aims to examine how change‐management specialist SFL is improving the performance, on and off the pitch, of English Rugby Union club Sale Sharks.

Details the leadership message that is helping to achieve success for the team, supporters, sponsors, the community and shareholders.

Stresses the importance of sticking together, having courage and integrity, fostering a winning mentality, and combining humility and high performance.

Highlights the links between success on and off the field.

Describes how change‐management and leadership principles are being applied in a sporting context.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the catalyzing factors team managers of previously successful European football clubs could capitalize on in order to build or rebuild the brand identity of their respective team via the Europa League.

The authors followed a case analysis method. The authors selected teams that have had a history of good performance in European competitions in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, before falling off the radar. A total of 19 teams, representing 15 countries, accepted the invitation.

The managers underlined eight major catalyzing factors. The managers specifically emphasize the importance of branding and how it can crystallize the promise these teams articulate to their fans, on and off the football pitch. Moreover, the values that a team encapsulates and communicates through its daily actions seem to represent the essence of the brand.

One risk relates to the respondents who could very well know what a brand is and how a brand should be managed in theory, but it does not necessarily mean that they know how to do it at all.

The paper highlighted the importance of shrewd management, especially when resources are scarce. A competition such as the Europa League might provide some room to maneuver but, above all, the organization must deliver the brand promise to its fans.

This is one of the first studies looking at the leverage a European football competition could provide to previously successful clubs.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the new collaborative learning methods and tools used by elite FIFA referee technical instructors, referees and assistant referees to master the Laws of the Game. These tools allow instructors to learn through practical exercises off the field of play, while they carry out activities in a participative context in which they can share and improve their knowledge regarding the Laws of the Game and consequently the interpretations and the considerations soccer referees throughout the world use to make decisions on the field of play.

In this work, we assess a collaborative learning experience that took place during the annual FIFA FUTURO III courses that FIFA provided to FIFA referee technical instructors from its six confederations between 2013 and 2015, where 48 referee technical instructors selected from 211 national associations participated. These instructors constitute the elite of FIFA’s professional training and development chain. They teach other referee technical instructors who will then instruct international referees and assistant referees all over the world with the aim of achieving uniformity when applying the Laws of the Game.

The course participants showed a high degree of satisfaction with respect to these materials and methods, especially regarding the possibilities they offer for organizing group discussions and for “learning by doing,” and a lack of skills in ICT management has been detected for some participants, who have shown a willingness and interest to improve their skills in this field.

The training and education of soccer referees is one of the most heterogeneous training processes in the world. This complex task is even more difficult because of the growing demand for video technology in referee decision making where successful teamwork requires a high level of communication and agreement among its members.

With 211 associations, FIFA is one of the largest organizations in the world. In international competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, the referees’ decisions are analyzed by media, thousands of fans and millions of viewers. Preparing new professionals for match analysis, interpretation of Laws of the Game and working in a team is a priority for FIFA and the world of soccer.

It is the first time that collaborative learning methods are used with interactive multimedia tools that facilitate collaborative work in the training environment of soccer referee instructors, international soccer referees and assistant referees. This paper establishes a basis and a reference for future research on the effectiveness of the new collaborative technologies used by FIFA for the training of international referees and assistant referees in general.

This paper seeks to build understanding of the evaluation of sponsorships involving high human mortality risk. Examples of risky sponsees are presented, with two assessed as in-depth case studies. Based on this research, a sponsorship evaluation framework for sponsors is presented that includes: sponsee selection, risk management, strategic tactics, contingency planning, contract elements and post-contract tactics.

The purpose of this study is to document and analyse Standard Bank of South Africa's sponsorship of Standard Bank Pro20 Cricket as a case study of effective cricket, stadium and broadcast sponsorship activation.

An in‐depth case study methodology is employed, drawing on quantitative and qualitative data.

The main conclusion is that a partnership approach to sponsorship and the creative use of multiple sponsorship activations contributes to the achievement of sponsorship objectives.

The study is limited to one case of a large‐scale sponsor of a major international sport. As such, it has limited generalisability to dissimilar sponsorship situations.

The case documented and analysed suggests that sponsoring organisations may increase their return on sponsorship investment through the adoption of a partnership approach to sponsorship.

The study answers the call of Irwin, Zwick and Sutton, Chadwick and others to significantly increase the researching of sports marketing theory and practice outside traditional Western markets. It documents the creative leverage of a new cricket format that has received no attention in the academic literature, although the 20‐over game continues to enjoy widespread and strong sponsor, media and fan support.

This lesson uses Dad, Jackie, and Me, a book that takes place during the summer of 1947 and focuses on Jackie Robinson as the new first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers as well as the first black player in Major League Baseball. In the book, a young boy shares the excitement of Robinson's rookie season with his deaf father, who sees Robinson's perseverance through prejudice on and off the field as a parallel to his own experience. This lesson focuses on the challenges and hardships of discrimination and how an individual can have an impact on society and future generations. This lesson can be used with upper elementary students to examine discrimination and various people that overcame the hardships brought on by discrimination.