Sports Management Commons^™

Effects Of Humorous Language In Social Media And Fandom Levels On Sport Consumers’ Merchandise Value Perceptions, Conner Martin

Honors College Theses

Licensed sports merchandise is a sports business sector that is projected to surpass $39.8 billion by 2027. This study examines the influence of humor in social media posts on consumers’ perceived valuations of licensed sport merchandise—specifically, apparel—with consideration to their team fandom. Guiding by Cue Utilization Theory (CUT), the research model assessed the extrinsic cues of team fandom and humor in shaping consumer perceptions, while controlling for product type (high-cost, low-cost), humorous caption (version 1, version 2), generation (Zoomers, Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers), and gender (male, female, non-binary). Fans of South Georgia Tormenta FC, a professional soccer club, served …

Beyond Amateurism: Examining The Potential Labor Expenses Of Ncaa Student-Athlete Employment, Alayna K. Falak

Honors Thesis

In light of recent administrative developments urging the classification of student-athletes as employees, litigation challenging the current status of student-athletes, and the Supreme Court’s willingness to tackle National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) issues, many questions surrounding the future of college sports under an employment model have emerged. The authors analyzed key litigation, recent developments from administrative agencies, and academic literature. Then publicly available data was used from the NCAA, the United States Department of Labor (DOL), and other sources to construct two estimates of what it would cost the NCAA member institutions to treat their Division I athletes as employees. …

Mental Health Among Collegiate Athletes, Stella Elise Fairbanks

Honors Thesis

Mental health has become increasingly more linked with athletics, especially collegiate athletics. There has been an increase in public acknowledgment of the presence of mental health in sports, specifically, more athletes are speaking about their mental health struggles as well as more research is being conducted in order to gain a greater understanding of the relationship between mental health and athletics. This literature review discusses athletes’ personal experiences of their mental health struggles, the presence of stigma associated with mental health and athletics, and the results of the recent NCAA, National Collegiate Athletic Association, research. This thesis aims to uncover …

Nfl Rule Changes Favor Offenses; But Don't Defenses Win Championships?, Kipp Satterlee Ransome

Business and Economics Honors Papers

The NFL's emphasis on favoring the offense through implementing new game rules is likely a significant factor in increasing a team's average points per game. Additionally, an increasing average points per game metric is likely a contributing factor to increasing real team revenue, as prior research indicates that higher-scoring games lead to higher fan satisfaction. Using game, team revenue, and rule implementation data from the 2002-2022 seasons, this author tests two new hypotheses that test whether specific rule changes targeting defenses or special teams increase a team’s average points per game and whether an increased points per game metric positively …

Objective.Gg: Uniting Scholastic Esports, Martin Beirne

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

Objective.gg is a startup online recruitment platform within the scholastic esports scene that seeks to unite esports prospects with collegiate esports programs in an effective manner. Currently, there is a large divide that high school and transfer esports prospects must navigate through, and it is Objective.GG’s mission to build a bridge over that gap. Objective.gg seeks to accomplish its mission by operating an online platform that allows prospects and collegiate coaches to create their own profiles and connect with one another, building a community around the platform in the process. This platform will be accessible to both prospects and coaches …

Online Fan Communities: Welcoming Behavior, Brand Community Markers, And Multiple Identities In Sports Fandom, Blaine R. Huber

Doctoral Dissertations

Online fan communities have revolutionized the way sport consumers engage with fellow fans and the sports product. The traditional regional boundaries that once characterized sports fandom have been mitigated by the emergence of new media, social media platforms, and online fan communities. This dissertation explores the non-geographically bound nature of contemporary sports fan communities, examining the evolving dynamics of fan behavior in the digital age. In Study 1, an interactional perspective is employed to explore online fan socialization. The focus is on how new fans' self-presentation influences acceptance within NFL team-specific Reddit communities. Utilizing data mining, textual analysis, and qualitative …

Biases In The Nba Draft, Shaumik Baki

Major Papers

Drafting in sports is an endeavor in which there is a great degree of subjectivity and value judgement. This requires the individuals responsible for decision making to have sound abilities to evaluate talent. However, each and every draft has a sub-optimal order of drafted individuals. Consequently, there is a need for identification of the biases and systematic errors that take place in the evaluation process.

This paper aims to identify and evaluate the decision making biases commonly present amongst the drafting process and combine them with a data-driven evaluation of the resulting performance of the drafted players. The study will …

Assessing Responses For Hockey Teams Following Team Tragedy, Owen James Bravo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, hockey has been a sport entrenched in a culture of silence rooted in the ideals of hegemonic masculinity and the refusal to show vulnerability. Accordingly, it can be difficult for athletes to receive appropriate care and resources following a team tragedy or crisis. Although there has recently been a greater acknowledgement of the importance of mental health within society, hockey organizations tend to resist change – holding to past patterns. There has been, however, a greater call to action from prominent industry stakeholders to increase mental health resources and provide improved player outcomes. In team-related emergency situations, athletes may …

The Impact Of International Baseball Players On Mlb Organizations: An Analysis Of Performance, Attendance, Revenue, And Valuation, 2012-2022, Aidan Booth

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis investigates the impact of international baseball players on MLB organizations. The paper uses the Sean Lahman Database focusing on team-wide statistics including performance metrics, winning percentage, and attendance. Using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Regression model, the paper examines the effect of share of foreign-born players on team success, attendance, revenue, and valuation. The dataset controls for a number of variables throughout these regressions including payroll, population, stadium capacity, number of all stars on each team, and the number of competing professional sports teams in the metropolitan area in order to isolate the effect of foreign-born players on …

The Effect Of Factors And Constraints On Sporting Attendance, Joshua D. Whitlow

Honors Theses

21,625 fans packed the confines of Brooks stadium on September 3, 2022, for a clash between the Army Black Knights football team and the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team. This was a new record at Brooks stadium, and was followed with just 12,261 the next week vs. Gardner Webb. Meanwhile, a 2022 Coastal Carolina Women’s Soccer game draws in less than 200 spectators. On the surface level, the disparity of these numbers appears confusing and unconnected to one another, however there are a multitude of factors that go into the number of people who show up to a particular sporting …

College Student Attitudes Toward Student-Athlete's Ability To Profit From Name, Image, And Likeness (Nil), Daniel G. Panzano

Honors Theses

Since the recent passing of legislation allowing student-athletes to profit from their own personal brands and sponsorships (Name, Image, and Likeness; NIL), there has been very little research. The purpose of this study was to measure the attitudes and support students have towards the financial compensation of their student-athlete counterparts. The researchers surveyed 67 Coastal Carolina University students. Using a quantitative study, data was gathered pertaining to the opinions toward NIL, feelings of team affiliation, and demographic information. Statistically significant differences were found toward some elements of NIL and gender, major, and academic year. A statistically significant correlation was also …

The Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On Fan Attendance In Major League Soccer (Mls) 2018-2022, Benjamin Appiah

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This culminating experience project investigates the impact of the COVID-19- on Major League Soccer (MLS). The research questions are: (Q1) How did the pandemic impact the trend of fan attendance in the MLS during the COVID-19 pandemic? (Q2) What factors impacted fan attendance in MLS games before the COVID-19 pandemic? (Q3) What factors impact fan attendance in MLS games after COVID-19 pandemic? The findings were: (Q1) Average annual fan attendance declined by 93.61% in 2019 and 2020, and an annua l increase of 49.47% between the year of 2020 and 2021. (Q2) The study revealed that 72.9% of the …

“Volunteers Are Our Bloodline”: Examining Managerial Perceptions Of The Relationship Between Volunteer Behaviour And Event Performance, Emily Stadder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sport organizations and events rely heavily on volunteers to achieve their goals and missions. Currently, volunteer research is heavily focused on the experiences of individual volunteers and the management of volunteers in continuous positions. This research takes a different approach by examining managerial perceptions of the relationship between volunteer behaviour and event performance at Canadian national amateur sport championships. Drawn from the field of strategic human resource management, behavioural perspective theory was used to understand if volunteer managers are linking strategy to their human resource management (HRM) systems, what desired role behaviours they are expecting from volunteers, what HRM systems …

The Role Of Intercultural Communication In Recruiting And Retaining Student-Athletes: A Phenomenological Study On Understanding The Sociocultural Aspects Of Building Non-Revenue Teams In Intercollegiate Sport, Eva Rouser

PhD in Organizational Leadership

Recruiting and retaining student-athletes at NCAA Division I and II member institutions is difficult. However, the coaches of non-revenue-producing sport have developed communication measures to assist in successfully fielding teams of culturally unique individuals that build an ingroup culture to compete despite limiting factors. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the lived experience of non-revenue-producing sporting coaches’ intercultural communication methodical variations in interactions with student-athletes as each coach adapts exchanges to serve as relationship-building elements to balance cultural norms with the acceptance of unfamiliar cultural behaviors. Relevant themes emerged from the data gathered during participant interviews, …

Non-Physical Abuse In Sports: Organizational Culture’S Role, Ian O'Rourke

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of sport professionals who worked in organizations that tolerated non-physical abuse. This qualitative study used active interviewing and grounded-theory design to guide the data collection and coding efforts. The data identified emerging themes to generate essential theory. The research collected data through interviews with 10 sport professionals. This phenomenological study looked at sport professionals’ experiences who worked at private sport organizations and those that worked within a university athletic department. Interview responses illustrated that all participants experienced comparable treatment and felt similarly to the non-physical abuse taking place. An interesting …

Multidimensional Attitudes Toward Sponsorship Scale, Zachary Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is focused on investigating consumers’ attitudes toward sport sponsorship. The general purpose of this dissertation is to examine the current instruments and theories utilized in the measurement and evaluation of consumers’ attitudes toward and beliefs about sponsorship in order to: 1) develop a new conceptual framework for evaluating consumers’ attitudes toward sport sponsorship; 2) create and refine a scale to measure consumers’ attitudes toward sport sponsorship; 3) establish the reliability and validity of the scale in addition to developing standards for interpreting the results it provides; and 4) test the relationship between scale dimensions on a large sample …

Statistical Analysis And Machine Learning To Improve League Championship Series Teams, Alexander Gilles

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

One area for further study in Esports is the use of advanced analytics from a performance standpoint. This culminating experience project sought to find and implement effective performance analytics techniques, using the most popular Esport (League of Legends) as its subject. The research questions asked are (Q1) How do champions, players, and their associated in-game variables impact the results of League of Legends matches? (Q2) How can machine learning algorithms be implemented to utilize descriptive and predictive analytics for League of Legends most effectively? Additionally, while not an element of the analysis and machine learning model, it is important …

Southeastern Conference (Sec) International Student-Athlete (Isa) Career Transitions - A Cultural Intelligence (Cq) Perspective, Tsu-Lin Yeh

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigated international student-athletes’ (ISAs’) transition experiences of being recruited for, matriculating in, and then leaving high-performance and commercialized Southeastern Conference (SEC) institutions. Adopting the Cultural Intelligence (CQ) theory, this dissertation specifically examined how the four CQ elements (metacognition CQ, cognition CQ, motivation CQ, and behavior CQ) existed in an ISA’s transition process. CQ explains a person’s capability for performing well in culturally diverse environments (Fang et al., 2018). Traditional CQ studies have been utilized to manage international organizations’ diversity and inclusion (Triandis, 2006), particularly regarding employee retention, career transition and development (Mangla, 2021). However, although sports management is …

Platform Of Growth: An Analysis Of Earnings And Social Media Engagement Among Esports Athletes, Colleen Marie Dibble

Theses and Dissertations

Esports consists of online gaming, cyber sport, and virtual sport in a highly competitive environment. The industry has grown tremendously over the last 30 years (Leroux-Parra, 2020). Professional esports competitions are often now contested with a large scale, global audience, and millions of dollars potentially at stake in some competitions. Hundreds of esports athletes earn a living from the multi-billion-dollar esports industry. In addition to players earning salaries and prize pool money in a professional setting, many colleges have offered scholarships to enrolled students and have begun to offer esports-related curriculums (Dominguez, 2022). Networks such as ABC, ESPN, and TBS …

No More Empty Stadiums: A Meta Analysis Of Mega Sporting Events And Their Economic Impact, Tayte O. Gleason

Honors Thesis

Mega sporting events have faced increased scrutiny in recent decades for their negative economic impacts, externalities, and environmental effects. As multimillion dollar stadiums lay abandoned and future host city bids are withdrawn as public opinion on mega sporting events worsens with time, economists, governing bodies, and sports fans worry about the future locations of these massive sports festivals. In my thesis, I will conduct a meta analysis of articles measuring the various impacts and effects of hosting a mega sporting event. I will begin by performing an extensive literature review of the various factors contributing to a mega sporting event’s …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Fan Attendance To Sports Events: The Case Of Major League Baseball, Alondra Aleman

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the world in 2020 causing nationwide lockdowns in many countries. During this time in 2020, the MLB shortened their regular season and played with no spectators in attendance. This project aims to provide insights into the impact of the MLB stadium closures on fan attendance. The research questions asked are: (Q1) How did MLB stadium closures during the COVID-19 lockdowns affect individual teams' attendance in the seasons after COVID-19? (Q2) What factors influenced MLB stadium attendance pre-COVID-19? (Q3) What factors influence MLB stadium attendance post-COVID-19? An empirical model was developed through recommendations from past studies. The …

Just Be Happy?: Investigating The Role Of Joy In Influencer Marketing Campaigns Within The Fitness Industry, Grace Gill

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Influencer marketing has become exceedingly relevant with the rise of the digital age, difficulties of the attention economy, and successes of social media marketing. Clearly, influencer marketing can be advantageous for brands, however research is limited, and best practices are generalized. This particular research focuses on influencer marketing in the fitness industry and best practices for brands implementing fitness influencers. This paper specifically analyzes the emotion breakdown of fitness influencers’ content and the value of portraying joy through branded content to the success of these influencer marketing campaigns. Through comparing quantitative data collected from third-party platforms with data gathered through …

Name, Image, And Likeness In College Athletics, Kinsey Landry

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

Name, Image, and Likeness, “The three elements that make up the 'right of publicity,’ a legal concept used to prevent or allow the use of an individual to promote a product or service.” (“Understanding the NCAA Likeness Rule”, 2021). There is a hot topic affecting college institutions, student-athletes, and the communities that support these major sports schools known as Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). Throughout this writing, there will be a dive into the history of how we got to July 1, 2022, the pros, cons, and gray areas in the sports industry of NIL, the real experiences …

The Role Of Event Operations In Collegiate Athletics: A Reflection Of My Internship With University Of Arkansas Event Management, Cameron Terrell

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Today, millions of people throughout the globe are taking part in sport, either through active participation or through watching athletes. According to the State of the lndustry Report from the Sports & Fitness lndustry Association and Sports Marketing Surveys USA, 232.6 million Americans participated in sports and fitness activities during 2021 (Broughton, 2022). Add to this number the millions of people who do not participate but are regular attendees or viewers at sport events, and it is staggering to realize how society's interest in sport has increased. Thus, the need for more informed sport managers in the public, nonprofit, and …

Salivary Microrna As A Concussion Biomarker And The Implications For Athletic Trainers' Practices, Thomas Richard Campbell

Rehabilitation Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Many concussions are sustained globally each year; however, research suggests that a large number may go undiagnosed due to a reliance on subjective information from patients and limitations of current objective measures. Recently, efforts have been focused on identifying clinical biomarkers of concussions, including salivary microRNA (miRNA), to improve healthcare professionals’ concussion management practices. Even if salivary miRNA were shown to be a valid and reliable measure for managing concussions, healthcare professionals, such as athletic trainers (ATs), must be familiar with the tool and have positive attitudes toward the implementation into clinical practice. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was …

Analyzing The Impact Of Salary Discrepancies Between Professional Sports Organizations, Benjamin R. Garner

Senior Theses

While it has long been theorized by sports fans that an organization’s salary influences the success of the team, this thesis will look to examine if the supposed correlation is accurate. This thesis compiles existing research regarding current salary cap systems in American professional sports leagues and examines league-wide methods employed to maintain competitive balance. The discussion then shifts to consider the additional governing factors that determine organizational success, such as team cohesion, the rise in international players, and the increased player movement via free agency. The research then shifts to examine two specific professional sports leagues: Major League Baseball …

An Examination Of Celebrity Product Involvement And Endorsement Effectiveness, Eric Nichols

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate celebrity product involvement and its relationship with endorsement effectiveness. Due to the increased leverage in creating their own brands, celebrity athletes are increasingly engaging in entrepreneurial endeavors such as collaborations on product development, an investment relationship, and outright ownership and creation of a brand or product. This paper also studied the extent which parasocial interactions and athlete identification may moderate endorsement effectiveness in the form of brand attitudes as well as what role product congruence may play.

Participants were recruited to complete an online survey that exposed them to manipulations of narrative …

Building A Platform For Advancing Women's Engagement In Sport, Swarali H. Patil

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Women are active participants in sport, as administrative leaders, coaches, and elite athletes, and it is important to understand and continue to advance their engagement and experiences in that realm. Women have made gains in leadership but their actual progress towards such roles continues to be slow-paced (Burton & Leberman, 2017), indicating that additional action is still needed. Further, women’s experiences in sport roles are critical to their performance in, and for the organization, and to their personal job satisfaction (Kanter, 1977, 1993). Yet, they may face several challenges in their work, that may reduce their autonomy in relation to …

A Content Analysis Examining The Nfl's Social Media Communications In A Global Market, Lauren Cavanaugh

Honors Theses

To better connect with the potential fan base in the United Kingdom, the NFL created another Instagram account, separate from their main “NFL” account, with the username “NFLUK”. In this thesis, I conducted a content analysis comparing a selection of posts made during the 2021 NFL season for each account, “NFL” and “NFLUK” to examine how the NFL modified their posts and communication for their new target audience. The posts were examined through the perspective of two different communication theories: The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion and the Adaptation versus Standardization Model of International Marketing. The goal was to determine …

Evaluating The Effect Of Nil Laws On College Athletic Department Revenue, Dylan C. Cherullo

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This paper examines the impact of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) laws on revenue for public Division I universities' athletic departments, challenging the long-standing debate within the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA). Utilizing panel data from the Knight Commission on College Athletics, which encompasses over 350 public Division I universities from 2002 to 2021, this study employs a difference-in-differences model. The model investigates state-level changes in university athletic department revenue from sponsorships (sponsrev), with special focus on the post-NIL law era. The analysis is bolstered by controls for various factors including ESPN’s FPI data, coach and equipment expenditures, and COVID-19 …