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An empirical investigation based on seven years' data for a professional football league finds that on-field performance bears little relation to the number of paid members or season ticket holders for the clubs.

Despite the perceived benefits of implementing virtual reality (VR) training in elite sport, arguably the most important element – the perceptions of practitioners – has been largely understudied. Therefore, the present study aims to explore practitioners' perceptions of VR training in elite football and baseball, with a focus on the important factors, obstacles, perceived knowledge and practical use of the technology.

A quantitative approach measuring practitioner perceptions via an online questionnaire was adopted. Football respondents (n = 25) represented practitioners from major football leagues across the world, and baseball respondents (n = 15) represented practitioners from Major League Baseball.

Both football and baseball respondents reported that the most important factor for implementation of VR training was improvement in on-field performance (technical and tactical); whilst cost was viewed as the biggest obstacle. Both football and baseball respondents also noted that the most likely group to receive VR training would be injured and rehabilitating athletes. Mann–Whitney U tests revealed that football respondents perceived coach (p = 0.02) and executive approval (p < 0.001) as significantly greater obstacles than baseball respondents.

This research provides novel and invaluable information for stakeholders within VR regarding what the elite organisations of different sports perceive as the most important factors for implementation, as well as greatest obstacles preventing use. This information should guide future development and marketing of VR training systems in sport.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of the Champions League teams using the entropy-integrated Multi Attribute Ideal-Real Comparative Analysis (MAIRCA) and super-slack-based data envelopment analysis for the 2012–2022 period.

This study consists of two sections. First, this study uses the entropy-integrated MAIRCA approach, which is a novel multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique developed by Gigović, to measure the performance of Champions League clubs. Second, this study proceeds with the super-slack-based DEA to evaluate the efficiency of the Champions League clubs.

As per the empirical results, Real Madrid is found to be the best-performing club over the past 10 years in terms of financial and sportive performance. Over the analyzed period, teams from the five Major Leagues of Europe perform better.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, performance measurement studies in football have focused on either DEA or MCDM. This study aims to present novelty for football literature by evaluating holistically both the sportive and financial dimensions. This paper also analyzes Champions League teams from the perspective of both MCDM and super-slack-based DEA methods.

In this study, we empirically analyse the effects of sports celebrities' image on consumers' engagement with them via social media and with their endorsed brand. In particular, we focus on the sport celebrity's athletic performance and marketable lifestyle image dimensions.

An online consumer survey was conducted regarding sports celebrities' endorsement campaigns and consumers' ad recall. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Moderation and mediation effects were examined, and a multigroup analysis was used to test the existence of significant differences between groups.

The motivation to engage with sports celebrities' social media platforms transcends athletic performance and is positively related with the marketable lifestyle. Sports celebrities who highly engage consumers through social media can promote stronger engagement with the endorsed brand, and this effect is positively moderated by the perceived level of congruence between the sport celebrity and the endorsed brand. The effect of the sport celebrity's marketable lifestyle on the endorsed brand is partially mediated by their social media engagement with consumers. Moreover, a multigroup analysis shows no statistically significant differences among gender and age groups.

This study's contribution is a better understanding of the effect of sport celebrities' image dimensions on consumers' engagement with the celebrities' social media platforms. The marketable lifestyles of celebrities are an important asset that promotes engagement with their social media platforms by consumers that in turn, raises their marketing value in terms of endorsement contracts.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the 2010–2015 financial performance (FP) of the national non-profit USA Triathlon (UST) using financial effectiveness (FE) indicators and financial efficiency (FY) ratios.

Archival data were used together with a case study method. FP was evaluated by net income; FE was indicated by total assets and total revenues, while FY was examined by program services ratios and support services ratios.

On average, the FP of the organization was positive ($2,100,591 net income per year), FE was moderate (66 percent increases in assets and revenues) and the FY was mixed (80 percent revenues spent on program services with an impressive return on asset of 14 percent).

By using case study method, the results may not be generalizable to other national non-profit sports organizations with non-financial objectives.

The results revealed that overall FP is a product of both FE and FY, making the study valuable to managers who are often faced with unreliable financial resources.

The study utilized both FE and FY measures to evaluate the FPs of UST – a major shortfall in similar studies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the 2004-2015 financial performance (FP) of the national non-profit US Table Tennis Association using financial effectiveness (FE) indicators and financial efficiency (FY) ratios.

Archival data were used together with a case study method. FP was evaluated by net income; FE was indicated by total assets and total revenues while FY was examined by program services ratios and support services ratios.

On an average, the FP of the organization was poor ($6,475.00 net loss per year), FE was moderate (50 percent increases in assets and revenues), and the FY was poor (80 percent revenues spent on program services with a return on asset of 201.5 percent).

By using case study method, the results may not be generalizable to other national non-profit sports organizations with non-financial goals.

The paper suggests that national non-profit organizations can enhance their FP by focusing on both FE and FY.

The study utilized both FE and FY measures to evaluate the FPs – a major shortfall in similar studies.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on two internal organizational factors in college football teams (team powerfulness and team reputation) and their combined relationship on game attendance. Authors aim to validate new data published by Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and NCAA websites; and to develop a new conceptual model to examine the interaction effect of team powerfulness and team reputation on game attendance.

This study relies on secondary data collected from the WSJ’s “College Football’s Grid of Shame” publication and the NCAA official website. Data for 123 US college football teams are collected representing 13 conferences for seasons 2010–2014. Multi-level regressions are utilized for statistical analyses.

Results reveal that not only team’s powerfulness is required for more public attendance to games, but also team reputation strengthens this relationship. In other words, team reputation plays an important role in increasing games’ attendance. Team reputation alone does not bring more attendees to games.

This paper studies the relevance of team reputation in the field of sports management. This paper argues that in order to achieve superior financial benefits in college football games, it is important to properly manage team powerfulness and its legal and ethical behavior. In this way, a positive reputation can leverage game attendance to a larger extent.

The first Australia and New Zealand semi-professional women's rugby league premiership (NRLW) was launched in 2018. This chapter charts the players' journey through the first two seasons of the competition. A questionnaire was distributed at the end of both seasons to all contracted players in each of the four clubs to capture feedback on their experiences, perceptions, challenges and suggestions for improvements. Players were asked about contracts, sacrifices, support, club culture and their views on coaching and training. The findings indicated despite significant stressors and challenges, players were highly appreciative of the chance to play in a semi-professional league, to be part of a landmark competition, and to inspire future generations of girls to play rugby league. Positive satisfaction across most dimensions of league and club practices and operations were evident in season one. By the end of season two, attitudes were changing, with data showing that players expected to obtain increases in remuneration, number of clubs, season length, media coverage and improvements in coaching, training and support services. Sports such as rugby league need to be particularly mindful of addressing issues arising, as options for women in professional team sports is growing rapidly and competition for talent will only accelerate into the future. This case study of women in rugby league demonstrates that women's experiences and perceptions are shifting from an initiation phase of gratefulness and acceptance of personal/family sacrifice for the opportunity to play semi-professionally, to having increased expectations of reasonable employment conditions and legitimacy as professional athletes.

This article provides a plain language commentary on the distributive equity structure of the English Premier League (EPL) with the aim of introducing sport business practitioners to a foundational challenge facing professional leagues as they grow financially with market opportunities, namely financial inequality between clubs.

Introducing and discussing data from seasons 2009/10–2018/19, the article reveals that despite maintaining a consistent distribution of the EPL prize fund over time, the financial imbalance within the league has grown throughout the period.

The EPL's financial distributive equity is exacerbated by growing imparity in the acquisition of sponsorship revenues, the distribution of broadcasting revenues and the implications of policies concerning financial fair play and parachute payments, leading to a problematic differential in the talent distribution and win–wage relationship experienced by the top six teams and the remainder.

The EPL's market-driven continuation of its revenue allocation policies has led to a broadening financial imbalance, in favour of the top clubs, which could paradoxically undermine the financial security of the teams and league. Sport business practitioners should be familiar with this fundamental challenge for sport leagues that accompanies financial growth.

Whilst the percentage difference in prize fund allocation between top and bottom clubs appears minor, there is a significant financial variation across the league, primarily due to the large increase in broadcasting income. This is compounded by positive feedback via the relative dominance of the top six clubs receiving the larger share allocated to higher finishing teams.

This paper looks at how two sports teams, hockey club the Toronto Maple Leafs and Football Club Barcelona, have each built and leveraged their brand equity. The main differences between the two clubs lie in how they position their brands. For TML, the affective and experiential sides of the product are emphasised to make the brand grow; for Barcelona, the cognitive and affective dimensions of the product are prioritised to nurture the brand. Differences between hockey and soccer also contribute to branding discrepancies in terms of exposure and global influences.