Sports Management Commons^™

Pragmatic Factors Of Nationally Ranked Ncaa Division Ii Men's Golf Teams: A Grounded Theory Inquiry, Ekren Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Abstract

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) added Division II men’s golf in 1963. Since then, teams in the South/Southeast (S/SE) NCAA Region have been dominant, with the last nine of 11 national champions from schools in Florida. What are the pragmatic factors that make a top 50 nationally ranked team or an elite team in the top 25? This study had 14 head coaches of nationally ranked teams (or previous national rank) and included three former national champions in the participant sample. These coaches were interviewed individually or set into focus groups within the S/SE and Central/Midwest NCAA Regions. …

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 …

Overcoming Ethos: How To Give Sport Broadcasters Credibility Who Did Not Play Their Sport At A High Level, Tyler Hill

Senior Honors Theses

A common assumption among viewers of broadcast sports is that broadcasters who have not participated in the sport they are discussing do not have the same credibility as broadcasters who have played Division 1 or professional sports. These broadcasters may not have the same level of ethos, which is known as one of Aristotle’s three pillars of credibility. This thesis examines different approaches to build up credibility among broadcasters who do not have experience as Division 1 or professional athletes. The methodology includes a review of scholarly and popular literature to discover what is known about credibility in sports …

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 …

Manque De Réussite : Le Préjudice Dans Le Football Français, Will Bedell

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

Despite being called The Beautiful Game, soccer in France has a few issues that take away from its beauty. This presentation aims to identify the causes and reasons behind the issues of racism, homophobia, and sexism which plague the French soccer scene. By looking at the causes of these from within French culture, history, and their society we can hope to understand why they exist as well as to establish the sources from which these issues arise.

A Geospatial Analysis Of Patterns In Neighborhood Characteristics And United States Professional Sports Stadium Relocations From 1922-2022, Kara Logan

Master's Theses

In the United States of America, 135 stadiums for new or relocating teams have been constructed between 1970 and 2020 (Bradbury et al., 2022, p. 3). Within those years, researchers, journalists, and community members have examined the impact of those new stadiums on local communities, including economic, environmental, and residential impacts. However, the current scope of literature consists of a considerable number of case studies that examine a single stadium or mega-event, such as the Olympics.

This study will determine what patterns, if any, exist between the demographic and housing characteristics between the stadiums that major league United States professional …

The Rise And Fall Of A Video Game Dynasty And Its Road Back To Glory, Kade Rogerson

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

For years the EA Sports NCAA Football series had been a long-standing success story in the world of sports video games. Combining the unique feel of collegiate athletics with the realistic nature of the game that its technology provides led the series to be a major source of revenue for Electronic Arts, Inc. in the extremely competitive and profitable industries of video games and sports merchandising.

However, the series came to an abrupt halt in 2013. Spearheaded by the O’Bannon v. NCAA lawsuit, EA was forced to discontinue the series after legal action was taken regarding the game’s unauthorized use …

A Triadic View Of Name, Image, And Likeness From The Point Of Athletes, Universities, And Consumers Of College Athletics, William Monroe

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

Name, Image, and Likeness is a new era of college athletics that allows student-athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness through personal appearances, social media platforms, commercials, selling merchandise, signing autographs, serving as ambassadors, and leading camps or clinics, among others. In simpler terms, NIL allows student-athletes to be paid to play. Before it was introduced, the NCAA took a strong stance against this but soon flipped its stance once states started passing laws relating to the subject. In the past, athletic departments, coaches, and student-athletes were punished by the NCAA because of bribes as well as athletic departments …

The Implications Of Nil Collectives On College Baseball, Matthew Magre

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Under current regulations, the allocation of athletic-based aid in public universities is slanted away from non-full scholarship sports like baseball. Since the approval of student-athletes to benefit from their name, image, and likeness, college sports have ascended into far larger businesses than ever before. This expansion has raised concerns over the future of college sports and its historic stance on amateurism. While the focus of NIL has centered around blockbuster deals for individual athletes, the changes in regulation have created avenues to support student-athletes better financially. Universities have formed NIL collectives to facilitate money from donors to student-athletes in exchange …

Leadership Experiences Of Athletics Directors In Faith-Based Small College Departments: A Phenomenological Study, Michael Teague

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the leadership experiences of intercollegiate athletics directors at faith-based, small colleges and universities throughout the United States. The theory guiding this study was Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership theory, as it explores how leaders can most effectively lead and engage their employees given unique circumstances and how those types of leaders are found within the faith-based, small college and university intercollegiate athletics departments. The central research question in this study is: How do athletics directors describe their leadership experiences in a faith-based, small college intercollegiate athletics setting? The phenomenological research using …

Powerhouse Problem: The Examination Of The Nfl Draft And Possible Biases, Nicholas Troha

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This research explores the NFL draft's dynamics, investigating potential biases in player selection. Despite stars like Tyreek Hill and Antonio Brown emerging from small D1 institutions in the later draft rounds, a bias towards Power 5 conference players persists, particularly with wide receivers. Drawing from NFL draft data (2016-2020), this research finds that not only does there seem to be a premium placed on Power 5 receivers, but Southeastern Conference (SEC) linebackers as well. Quarterbacks were also evaluated in this research but revealed little information about what factors influence their draft position. The discrepancy of what influences a player’s draft …

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 …

The Impact Of The Anthem Protest Movement And Covid On Nfl Viewership, George W. Stone, Michael A. Jones, Kirsten Passyn

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This research is based on 3 different surveys conducted over several NFL football seasons. The first study investigated the impact of the Anthem Protest Movement on the attitude of NFL fans. The “Anthem Protest” reemerged during the 2020 season during the “lockdown” season associated with the COVID epidemic. Co-mingled with COVID and societal unrest, many analysts were predicting irreparable harm to the NFL’s once indomitable position as America’s favorite sport resulting from this confluence of events. Given the importance of the topic in terms of future NFL fan support, this report looks back over the last several NFL seasons to …

Sport Management Experiential Learning: Faculty Perceptions Of Opportunities, Benefits, And Support, Janet M. Howes Phd, Cheryl R. Rode Phd

The COSMA Journal

Experiential learning is an important aspect in any learning program, but in sport management programs, it might be considered essential to the learning process and post-graduation career success. There are several types of experiential learning which include in-classroom activities, internships, practicums, cooperatives, and service learning. In many instances, more than one type of experiential learning is being used to enrich the student’s experience and prepare them for post-graduate careers. The purpose of this study is to understand the experiential learning opportunities available in collegiate sport management programs in the United States. This study utilizes interviews and open-ended questionnaire responses to …

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 …

Barriers To Baseball: A Comprehensive Analysis Of Factors That Impact Contract Value In Major League Baseball, Ryan A. Crowl

Senior Theses

The landscape of Major League Baseball’s free agency is an evolving one with numerous factors impacting negotiated contracts as player salaries escalate and teams adopt new strategies of luring players to their organizations. This study delves into the intricate dynamics of this free agent market, exploring the factors that influence contract values and negotiating power. Through empirical analysis and mathematical regressions, we explore the enduring significance of multiple factors on contract value, encompassing demographic indicators as well as on-field performance. Subsequently, we propose our own explanations of any observed inequities or significance and provide rational approaches for players and their …

From Fan Avidity To Nil Ramifications: An Assessment Of The Attitudes Held By American University Students On An Array Of Sports Issues, Sam Fullerton, Tammy Mccullough

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2024

A sample of 667 students drawn from seven universities in various regions of the United States provided feedback regarding 11 specific sports-related issues. These issues include the new NIL rules, fan avidity, and athlete compensation along with several other issues that are commonly addressed in the popular media. Means and percentages were used to derive aggregate measures for the respondents, and the same measures were used to assess the responses based upon one’s gender. For all 11 variables under scrutiny, a statistically significant difference was documented for the two gender-based groups. Thus, it is apparent that the market of intercollegiate …

The Development Of A Social Media Strategy For The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights, Natalie Ritter

Senior Honors Theses

In this thesis, an examination is conducted on the design, development, process, and execution of a social media strategy for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights, a junior hockey team composed of 16-20 year old players based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The strategy takes into consideration not only the extraordinary role that social media can play in the success of a team’s overall development and marketing plan, but also the team’s specific mission and objectives as well as the intricacies that come with media within the sports industry. An in-depth literature review discusses the importance of a social media strategy and how an …

Is Average Home Stadium Attendance Determined By A Team Payroll?, Jessica Saunders, Nate Egan, Samuel Schreyer

SACAD: John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activity Days

We investigate how owner spending (team payroll) affects team attendance in 2022 in Major League Baseball. There are many factors that determine win percentage, so we controlled for win percentage, number of all-stars per team, city population, and which league the team is affiliated with (American League or National League). Attendance is an important revenue generator for teams, and MLB would like to enhance its ability to generate revenue. Average fan attendance is the dependent variable, while team payroll is the primary explanatory variable. The model provides evidence that indicates there is a relationship between team payroll and attendance numbers …