Sports Management Commons^™

How Do Bills Fan Motivations To Attend Home Games Relate To Their Feelings About The Fan Experience?, Mackenzie Stewart

Sport Management Undergraduate

The purpose of the research was to examine why Buffalo Bills fans come out to games, and how that further affected their individual experience. The importance of the research was critical because the results of the surveys were sent to the Buffalo Bills, to potentially use to help guide decisions which have impacted the Guest Experience positively at New Era Field. With a continued push for enhancing the guest experience positively, the importance of the research was critical due to the potential use of the data being collected to make executive decisions for the organization as a whole. It’s been …

Parental Influence In Youth Sport, Justine Tam

Sport Management Undergraduate

Youth sport has become one of the most popular outlets for children in today’s society. Youth sport programs and organizations play an important role in the lives of the children that are participating. Many aspects go into, what would be considered, a successful delivery of sports (Barcelona & Young, 2010). Moreover, this includes coaches and parent’s influences and when it contributes to a positive experience (Barcelona & Young, 2010). However, one of the biggest contributions to a positive or negative sport experience, is the role of parental influence.

The culture around youth sports has changed in multiple ways throughout the …

Evaluation Of Aau Experiences, Erika Wittmeyer

Sport Management Undergraduate

The purpose of this research was to gain a deeper understanding about what former Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball players took away from their experience during participation. The reason this study was conducted was because AAU often requires a large time and financial commitment. There is a lot that goes into AAU between practices, tournaments, traveling, plus other expenses that show up throughout AAU. This research study is important to people who are thinking about joining the organization but also those who are interested in exploring if it is still beneficial to participate. It is known that a lot of …

An Examination Of How Much Product Extensions Play A Role In Fandom, Skylar Swatt

Sport Management Undergraduate

Executive Summary

The purpose of this study was to determine if product extensions played a role in fandom so sport organizations could see what extensions they could use to gain more fans, generate revenue, and enhance their relationships with their fans. This research was important because sport organizations could use the product extensions that play a role in fandom to enhance their relationships with their fans. It was known that the development of fandom, product extensions, and the growth of sport programing along with the plethora of options for fans to use have been examined and researched individually. The method …

Player Safety In The National Football League, Cody Dubiel

Sport Management Undergraduate

This research was conducted to determine to what extent National Football League fans want player safety rules in the game of football. The NFL received backlash from not only a tremendous amount of fans but players as well. It was essential for the NFL to determine what a happy medium was in order to keep the players safe while they played the game of football, but also the physicality was a large part of the game that the fans loved. The NFL player safety rules reduced the amount of injuries that occurred, but fans and players believed that the rules …

Measuring Greatness In The Nba, Evan Whitmoyer

Senior Honors Theses

The “greatest player ever” debate stems from the controversy of how to measure a player’s effectiveness and contributions. Some analysts focus their arguments on a player’s statistics and advanced analytics. Another analyst may argue that awards play the largest role in a player’s worth to a team. Even though the tendency is to focus on one category of comparison, a player’s career is too complex to use only one category to rank players. In basketball, there are also so many exceptions in these points of comparison due to the team aspect of the sport. These factors all play a role …

Leading By Example: Coaches’ Perspectives Of The Nonverbal Leaders On Sport Teams, Alicia Finnigan

Senior Honors Theses

Within the last century, scholars in sociology and psychology have begun to research roles in society. In recent decades, industrial/organizational psychology research sparked an interest in informal roles, and now sport psychology is beginning to adopt that investigation of informal roles as they appear on sport teams. Current research is sparse, but some early work has determined several informal roles, and one of these has been individually investigated. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the expansion of knowledge concerning individual informal roles by investigating collegiate coaches’ perspectives of a second role: the nonverbal leader. Analysis revealed ideas …

Women In Sport Broadcasting, Charlie Kruger

Student Scholar Showcase

This research project was studied over the course of the fall semester of the 2018-2019 school year. The information was collected through twitter to find what people thought about the woman commentators on Fox Sports, one is including Aly Wagner. Aly Wagner was the first woman to commentate on the men’s world cup game this past summer of 2018, something that had never even been thought of before this summer. Instead of being a sideline reporter that was used just for her appearance, Wagner was given the opportunity to do perform a job that is mainly dominated by men. Past …

Ua80/1 Meeting Minutes, W Club

University Organizations

Meeting minutes for the April 2019 meeting of the W Club Board of Directors.

Ua80/1 Meeting Agenda, W Club

University Organizations

Meeting agenda for the April 2019 meeting of the W Club Board of Directors.

Unifying Power Of Sport Fandom, Anna Faso Miranda

Sport Management Undergraduate

Through previous research, it was known that sport has many physical and non-physical benefits to participants and is a powerful tool used to bring people together in light of social and political differences. However, little was known about the impact of sport fandom on feelings of social connectedness. The purpose of this study was to further the understanding of feelings of social connectedness in sport fandom within the context of the current polarized political environment in the United States. Survey methodology was used to capture demographics and other variables including political identity and behaviors, sport fandom identity and behaviors, and …

Making The Cut: Receivers Of The National Football League, Anthony Kent Davis

Mathematics Senior Capstone Papers

In this paper the prospects of the National Football League, or NFL, are studied in order to determine the relationships between past college statistics, other “measurables,” and how they translate to successful careers in the league. When referring to measurables, this consists of all of the numerical data from each player that should, in theory, help teams get an idea of the players strengths or weaknesses. The data being used comes from an annual scouting combine for NFL teams that is held prior to each season. Information about the player’s college statistics and pre-draft measurables are being compared to several …

Pay-For-Play In College Athletics: A Phenomenological Study Of Former And Current College Student-Athletes’ Perception Of Pay-For-Play, Brittany Dobson

Masters Theses

The literature suggests the conceptual definition of amateurism set by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the increase in corporate athleticism within the NCAA has resulted in a controversial debate concerning the pay-for-play model, which would allow student-athletes to receive additional compensation. Numerous studies related to pay-for-play have been implemented, however, few have examined how student-athletes feel about the pay-for-play model. The purpose of this study will be to explore student-athletes’ perceptions of pay-for-play. In order to understand student-athletes’ perceptions of pay-for-play, a phenomenological research design was chosen. Three former and two current NCAA Division I student-athletes from Liberty …

Child Sport Fan Behavior: An Examination Of The Effects Of Socialization, Branding, And Alternatives On Children’S Psychological Connections To Sports Teams, Katherine Rose Nakamoto Reifurth

Theses and Dissertations

This three-study dissertation focuses on child fans of professional sport teams and the ways in which they become fans and attach themselves and connect to these sport brands. In Study 1, the researchers focused on the socialization into fandom of young children and the effects of communities and the game-day environment on this socialization utilizing qualitative observations and interviews with children ages 6 to 14 and resulted in an expanded understanding of the dame-day aspects that attract and excite children most. In Study 2, the researchers focused on the aspects of a new team’s brand that children ages 5 to …

Premium Seating In College Athletics: Trends Of Today And The Future, Kendra Holaday

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to assist college athletic departments in attracting more fans to premium seating areas within their football stadiums. Existing research covers professional sporting venues in depth, but lacks volume regarding collegiate athletics. Due to the minimal knowledge and research recorded on premium seating in college football venues, there is a crucial need for the gap in research to be filled. The interviewing method and qualitative research was used to gain information on premium seating within college football venues. During the interview process existing premium seating, renovations in progress, and future addition plans were all explored. …

Ua80/1 Meeting Minutes, W Club

University Organizations

Meeting minutes for the March 2019 meeting of the W Club executive committee.

How The Perception Of Athletic Academic Services Affects The Overall College Experience Of Freshmen Student-Athletes, Marcella G. Otto, J. Michael Martinez, Christopher R. Barnhill

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

More and more intercollegiate athletics programs are allocating strategic resources towards building attractive athletics facilities, lavish training and academic complexes, and high-quality support services. Strategic investments in these areas continue to be a high priority for major college athletics programs, all with the hopes of enhancing the overall college experience for student-athletes. As such, researchers have begun to examine the role these various support services play in the overall athletic program. In this aim, the present study seeks to understand how academic support services are successful in enhancing this experience. Findings indicate that freshmen student-athletes’ perceptions of service quality provided …

Wearable Gps Devices In A British Elite Soccer Academy Setting: A Foucauldian Disciplinary Analysis Of Player Development And Experience, Luke Jones

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

Conventional wisdom dictates that the use of GPS surveillance technology in sport to assist athletic performance is an overwhelminglypositive phenomenon. Specifically, the health and performance benefits of the application of GPS and surveillance technologies have been well documented across a range of field sports. Previous research into the developmental implications of GPS surveillance in professional rugby league (Jones, Marshall, & Denison, 2016) has identified that there are some significant unintended consequencesof their use for elite athletes. We utilised the disciplinary analysis of Foucault to investigate the experiences of academy soccer playersin relation to wearable GPS technology. Five academy players took …

“Support Is What Really Helped Me Get Through”: Understanding Athletes’ Online Disclosures About Pursuit And Receipt Of Social Support During Concussion Recovery, Jimmy Sanderson, David Cassilo

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

This research examines the role of social support in athletes’ lived experiences with concussion injuries. Fifty-eight blog posts authored by athletes documenting their concussion injuries were analyzed to determine the types of support athletes sought and received while rehabilitating from a concussion. A deductive approach guided by Xu and Burleson’s (2001) social support typology guided analysis of the blog posts. Results indicated that to varying degrees, athletes sought and received emotional, informational, network, esteem, and tangible support. Analysis revealed that athletes experience support deficits with esteem and emotional support, while they appear to have network support needs met. The results …

Identifying Athlete’S Majors And Career Aspirations: The Next Step In Clustering Research, Amanda L. Paule-Koba

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

The purpose of the study was to examine current collegiate athlete’s academic majors and identify their career plans after graduation. The goal was to see if the athlete’s academic major was congruent with their career aspirations. Previous research studies have shown that academic clustering, when 25% or more of an athletic team are in the same academic major, exists within a variety of athletic teams. However, there has not been a study done that assesses whether the athletes are majoring in disciplines that are related to their ultimate career goal. A total of 605 athletes from eight sports in the …