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This study empirically tested the Sport Website Acceptance Model (SWAM), proposed by Hur, Ko and Claussen (2007). The SWAM added Perceived Enjoyment (Davis et al, 1992) and Perceived Trustworthiness (Belanger et al, 2002) to the two factors Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness used in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989). This study proposes a competing model to the original SWAM and compares this by incorporating two additional constructs, Sport Involvement (Shank & Beasley, 1998) and Psychological Commitment to a Team (Mahony et al, 2000). Structural equation modeling analyses revealed acceptable model fits, both in the original SWAM and in the competing model. Subsequent analyses led the authors to conclude that the competing model was the better version of the SWAM.

This study proposes a conceptual model to comprehensively understand how sports fans perceive and accept smartphones and applications in a sport consumption context by developing a series of propositions. Theoretically based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Sport Website Acceptance Model (SWAM), this study provides fundamental groundwork to better conceptualise sports fans' decision making processes involving the latest technology used to consume sport.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the beliefs and attitudes toward the use of information and communication technology (ICT). The study examines the challenges of implementing ICT-based training and provides insights for promoting the acceptance of online training in volunteer sports communities.

The study uses an action design research methodology that combines the implementation of ICT-based training, interviews, and a survey of 523 participants to examine the influence of online training on beliefs and attitudes.

The study shows that before the COVID-19 pandemic, soccer referees had negative beliefs about the use of ICT for learning. However, the experience of being forced to use ICT for training during the pandemic led to a positive shift in their beliefs about ICT.

The study offers four lessons learned for promoting the use of ICT-based training in voluntary sports. Future research should investigate the influence of blended learning approaches on affective, cognitive, and skill-based learning outcomes.

The study has practical implications for those responsible for implementing ICT-based training in voluntary sport. The findings suggest that design features such as usefulness, ease of use and enjoyment should be emphasized to increase the acceptance of online training.

The study contributes to the literature by providing insights into the challenges of implementing ICT-based training in voluntary sport contexts. The findings suggest that the experience of being forced to use ICT can promote the acceptance of online training in volunteer sports communities.

Demonstrate proof-of-concept for conducting NFL Draft trades on a blockchain network using smart contracts.

Using Ethereum smart contracts, the authors model several types of draft trades between teams. An example scenario is used to demonstrate contract interaction and draft results.

The authors show the feasibility of conducting draft-day trades using smart contracts. The entire negotiation process, including side deals, can be conducted digitally.

Further work is required to incorporate the full-scale depth required to integrate the draft trading process into a decentralized user platform and experience.

Cutting time for the trade negotiation process buys decision time for team decision-makers. Gains are also made with accuracy and cost.

Full-scale adoption may find resistance due to the level of fan involvement; the draft has evolved into an interactive experience for both fans and teams.

This research demonstrates the new application of smart contracts in the inter-section of sports management and blockchain technology.

Due to the increased growth of Internet users, the examination of compelling online shopping behavior has emerged as a vital topic in developing positive consumer behaviors. However, there is a dearth of studies into how consumers of sport merchandise in the online setting spend their time and what types of factors contribute toward their positive shopping experience. To fill this gap, the purpose of this current study is to investigate the impact and complexity of sport commerce websites by providing the precondition of flow (e.g. convenience, content, aesthetics, interactivity and customization), as well as the consequences of flow (e.g. website satisfaction and shopping well-being).

This study examines relationships among perceived website quality, flow, web satisfaction, and shopping well-being by using structural equation modeling. This current study is based on online sport fans who have recent online shopping experiences of licensed sport products (n = 331).

Results of this present study show that flow plays a mediating role between perceived website quality and web satisfaction, which in turn is positively associated with consumers' shopping well-being.

This current study supports a mediating role of flow state in sport consumer perceptions of website quality and satisfaction; it expands existing knowledge through determining the factors that facilitate flow state and website satisfaction in online shopping. This empirical finding offers important implications regarding the function of flow as an essential factor via the optimization of website services and sport consumers' attitudes.

With the ever-increasing popularity of smartphones, it has become one of the most important medium to increase sport fan engagement. However, very little attention has been paid to understand how fans use smartphones to follow sport. With that in mind, the purpose of this paper is to investigate specific factors that influence the use of smartphones in the sport consumption context.

This research empirically examined theoretical relationships between three categories of variables (perceptions toward smartphones, sport-specific factors, and smartphone-specific factors) and intention to use the smartphone in following sports.

Of the 11 proposed hypotheses, eight hypotheses were supported. Approximately 79.4 percent of variance in the usage intention was explained by the three categories of the variables.

As one of the first to take a holistic approach toward understanding sport consumption behaviors using smartphones, results of the current research can be employed as a base for studies examining other multi-functional technology medium in various sport settings.

The paper investigates the factors influencing spectators’ adoption of digital (mobile) ticketing by expanding the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM; Davis, 1989) to include two variables overlooked in previous ticketing research: (1) trust of digital ticketing and (2) willingness to pay convenience fees. The study provides information on consumer behavior that may aid sports managers’ decision-making.

Through a paper-and-pencil survey of high school American football spectators (N = 523) over 12 games, the study examined perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, the trust of digital ticketing, willingness to pay convenience fees and their effects on spectators’ intention to use digital ticketing.

Trust of digital ticketing, willingness to pay a convenience fee and the perceived ease of use were found to influence the perceived usefulness of the technology, which, in turn, had a significant effect on the intention to use. Willingness to pay fees also had a direct effect on intention.

Although every intention was made to ascertain a diverse sampling of schools (urban vs. suburban, large vs. small), it is worth noting that the sample location may be a limitation for the overall applicability.

The manuscript includes practical applications for marketers and ticket sales staff. Digital (mobile) ticketing is on the rise. As segments like high school athletics adopt the technology, spectators’ evaluation of digital ticketing must be considered, given its impact on intentions to use.

The findings support the use of willingness to pay convenience fees and trust of digital ticketing as considerations in the TAM for understanding digital ticketing.

This study aims to identify the variables that could influence the intentions to use fitness apps based on the attractiveness of the fitness apps.

The technology acceptance model (TAM) was used in this study. For this purpose, an online questionnaire was sent to 200 sports consumers of a fitness center (117 women and 83 males) to find out their perceptions regarding attractiveness, usefulness, ease of use, enjoyment, trust and intention to use of the fitness app of the fitness center. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted.

The results showed that the variables analyzed have a positive influence on the intention to use fitness apps, with the attractiveness and usefulness and the ease to use and intention to use having the strongest relationship.

These findings show the importance of these variables for the use of fitness apps in fitness centers. Furthermore, the findings represent advancement and help in the design and development of apps in fitness centers, as well as in the field of sports management.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumers’ acceptance and use of sports and fitness wearable devices based on technology readiness (TR). In addition, the technology readiness and acceptance model (TRAM) will be used to investigate consumers’ intention to use sports wearable devices (for simplicity, sports wearable devices will be simplified to the term “sports wearables”).

Convenience sampling was conducted from Korean consumers (n=247). Data were analyzed by partial least squares–structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 3.0.

The results found that positive TR has a positive influence on perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU), and negative TR had a negative influence on PEOU and PU. PEOU had a positive influence on perceived usefulness (PU). Both PEOU and PU led to intention to use sports wearable devices. Also, the multi-group analysis found a positive correlation between TR and PEOU for especially male users.

The findings of this study provide a better understanding of consumers’ behavioral intent to use sports wearables. Particularly, it also provides evidence that the TRAM is an appropriate framework for predicting users’ intention to use sports wearables. This study also stresses the important role of TR in consumers’ psychological processes leading up to the actual use of novel sports wearables.

Stick Cricket is a website visited by more than 2 million unique users every month, with each user averaging more than 20 minutes per visit. The website is positioned outside the sporting website category by internet research firms, and this oversight does not consider the valuable consumer segments that these types of websites may hold. This case study describes the business decisions of the Stick Cricket developers in taking a flash-based computer game and creating a website that has been transformed into a sporting portal. The factors that contribute to this success are discussed and provide useful tips for website developers and sports marketers.