Foundations of Sport

ManagementChapter 1

Introduction• Management structures: “building blocks”

– Clubs– Leagues– Professional tournaments

• Primary theme– Structures grow in response to broad social

changes and/or to address specific social issues• Secondary themes

– Honest play– Inclusion: “who gets to play?”

Who Gets to Play?

• Defined by who has the “power” in society

• Eugenics movement

• Legal racial segregation

• Ideology of white racial superiority

The Club System• England

– Birthplace of modern sport and sport management • Eighteenth century

– English aristocracy developed exclusive sport clubs with limited membership

• Nineteenth century – Continued club evolution with standardizing of

rules, settling disputes, and organizing schedules

Thoroughbred Racing • Races drew broad and diverse audience

– No admission charged• Initially local club system

– Racing existed for entertainment only, not financial gain; prestige more important

• Need for more complex club system because:– Desire of owners to breed and train fast horses– The increasing complexity of gambling

• 1830s: Rail system allowed national competition• Gambling provided entertainment, tangible evidence

of ability of horses, and ensured honest competition

The Jockey Club• Established around 1750• Settled disputes, established rules, determined

eligibility, designated officials, regulated breeding, and punished unscrupulous participants

• Organized, sponsored, and promoted local events• Met need for a strong national governing body to

establish rules, standards, mechanisms for resolving disputes, and innovations to the sport

• Served as model for wider sport management practices in England with rugby, cricket, and boxing

The Modern Olympic Games• International club event with little resemblance to

ancient Olympic Games

• First Modern Olympics held in 1896 in Athens, but the revival can be traced back to at least 1850 with club-based Olympic festivals in England

• Founder Pierre de Coubertin was inspired by English revivals and Victorian notions of character building and peace movements through sport

• Introduced concept of amateur Olympic Games competition hosted every 4 years

Present-Day Club Structure• Commitment to serve broad membership and

manage elite sport enterprise– No longer just local; international expansion

• Clubs organize youth teams and academies, adult recreational leagues, and social events for members

• Large built-in memberships and loyal fan bases• Characterized by nonprofit status and exclusive

membership – Ex: Augusta National and male-only membership

• European club system resembling U.S. league system: owners, business, entertainment, and profit

American Structures• European club system did not suit the United States

– Lack of aristocratic tradition, gambling prohibited– League structure arose out of harness racing

• Better spectator sport than thoroughbred racing– Sprint vs. 4-mile race; horses could compete

daily, large field of competitors• Managed by track owners and race promoters

– Willing to create spectator interest for sport• Issues emerged such as race fixing and management

lacking credibility = loss of fan trust and popularity

Leagues

• Baseball was first to adopt league system• First pro team: Cincinnati Red Stockings• Some teams in the league paid players and

some did not, creating controversy and eventually pro league

• 1871: Creation of National Association of Professional Baseball Players (pro league)

• Initially lacked leadership and financially unstable

William Hulbert • Provided leadership and stability to new league;

became “Czar of baseball”• 1876: Took over management of National League of

Professional Baseball Players• Believed stability achieved only if teams were run

like businesses• Teams should compete against each other and

owners could not collude• Hulbert understood that without strict rules forcing

honest competition, collusion would occur

William Hulbert (cont.)

• Hulbert also believed that owners must take some financial risk– Abandoning seasons early to prevent losses in

short term eroded long-term faith of public• Owners must field competitive teams to be

profitable• Integrity of baseball was suspect as long as the

players’ honesty was questionable– Gambling prohibited and ticket prices raised

Early Success of National League

• Excitement of pennant race

• Honoring of contracts (reserve system)

• Favorable media attention

• Appealed to fans’ loyalty and pride in their cities

• Early form of revenue sharing

• Rules that distributed talent

Leagues Today• Successful contemporary commercial sport leagues

depend on consolidated league play with strong centralized control and regulation

• Audience has changed

– Public’s perception of locus of honest effort resides more with the players than with ownership structure

• Single-entity structures: MLS

Professional Sport Tournaments

Professional Golf• Early golf professionals were instructors and

caddies• Professional leagues failed to capture public interest

or attract golf professionals• Attempts to generate gate revenues at tournaments

failed• Stability of tournaments was achieved when prize

money was put up by companies and corporate sponsors

Corcoran’s Tournaments • Fred Corcoran: Architect of golf tournament• Created the financially “self-sufficient” golf event• Tournament was medium through which celebrity,

politician, manufacturer, charity, town, or product gained exposure

• Used athletes and golf tournaments to sell advertising space to the public

• Bing Crosby and Bob Hope created charity golf tournaments in pro-am format for WWII fundraising

Corcoran’s Tournaments Continue After World War II Ends

• Good business = Tax deductions• Charities encourage volunteers and good publicity

for tournaments• Golf equipment manufacturers paid Corcoran to

create golfer association and arrange tournaments using prize money as player payments to reduce cost of hiring player representatives

• 1950s press changes policy and begins naming tournament sponsor not location = free publicity

Tournaments Today• Golf tournaments have evolved into corporate

celebrations of golf and products• The medium through which a person, community,

or corporation can buy exposure• PGA Tour viewed as private group; set eligibility• Associations not as exclusive as private clubs (e.g.,

the Casey Martin case)• Trend of event management moving away from

nonprofit private associations and toward marketing agencies and/or broadcast media (e.g., ESPN X Games)

Importance of Women in Sport Management

• Female sport managers have contributed to industry

• Contributions in ancient times

– Heraea Games: Competition for unmarried girls, administered by women

• Contributions in modern times

– Effa Manley of Newark Eagles (Negro League)

– Billie Jean King (WTT, WSF)

– Judy Sweet and Christine Grant (NCAA)

Importance of Women in Sport Management (cont.)

• Women making impact in current sport industry:

– Kim Ng (Major League Baseball)

– Heidi Ueberroth (NBA International)

– Lesa France Kennedy (NASCAR)

– Stephanie Tolleson (IMG)

– Buffy Filipell (TeamWork Online)

– Annette Akins (NIRSA)

– Many others both currently and previously

Academic Field: First Programs• Continuing growth of sport industry and its importance to

numerous sponsors and institutions created demand for the systematic study of sport management practices– 1957: Walter O’Malley (Brooklyn Dodgers) and James

Mason discuss the idea– 1966: Ohio University created first master’s degree

program in sport management – Late 1960s: Biscayne College (now St. Thomas

University) and St. John’s University founded undergraduate sport management programs

– 1971: The University of Massachusetts–Amherst started the second master’s program in 1971

Academic Field: First Programs (cont.)

• By 1985:– 40 undergraduate sport management programs– 32 graduate sport management programs

• Today:– More than 350 programs internationally– North American Society for Sport Management

(NASSM) established to create curricular standards to promote quality academic programs

– Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA) created to promote and recognize excellence in sport management education

Summary• The sport industry demands managers who

understand the historical complexity of the profession

• Clubs, leagues, and tournaments are three cornerstone sport structures that evolved in response to changes in broader social structures

• COSMA has been established to maintain excellence in this fast-emerging discipline known as sport management