Sports Management Commons^™

Murray, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

The words monumental, epic, unforgettable, and historic are thrown around with reckless abandon in our hyperbolic age that specializes in over-inflating the reality of mundane events. As a historian I am especially wary of the term “historic,” when describing a sports event. In the universe of high frequency television commentators, all of these words suffer from overuse.

Wimbledon, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It has been some time since I have watched an entire tennis match. In point of fact my interest has drifted away from the sport. Somehow Wimbledon calls me back. The setting and tradition play a role, as does the fact that it is the only grand slam tournament I have ever seen in person.

Television: The Effect It Has On Small Market Sports Franchises, Stephen Cannuli

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

"In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

Large market baseball franchises are gaining an enormous advantage over smaller market franchises and television is playing a major role in this ongoing problem. This advantage exists for a number of reasons. Most important and most talked of is the reality that large market franchises have more capital than those who make their living in the small market areas do.

The Management Of A Home: An Analysis Of Nba Arena Management Trends, Brandon Lewis

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

Each NBA arena holds the key to the ultimate fan experience. In order for facility managers to make sure that the arena upholds that ultimate fan experience, it is critical for NBA teams to evaluate which management trends are being best utilized to create the best fan experience possible. The purpose of this study was to examine the trends in management of NBA arenas. Data were collected from the 30 National Basketball Association franchises and operators of the 29 NBA arenas. The instrument used consisted of a checklist and a section for written notes. Results from the study indicated that …

A Leader's Impact On Sense Of Community In One Venue At The London 2012 Olympics, Laura Grouchy

All Theses

The importance of creating and maintaining sense of community in workplaces is becoming an increasingly essential facet to help restore bonds and develop support systems which can create happier and more efficient employees. The focus of this research will be on how leadership influences sense of community within one venue at the London Olympic Organizing Committee (LOCOG). This problem is of interest to scholars because Organizing Committees are rapidly growing, temporary and have symbolical strong cultures. In-depth interviews, participant observation and a big five-inventory questionnaire were administered to eight full-time employees at the same venue in London Olympic Organizing Committee. …

Fan Motivation For Attendance To Men's Division I College Soccer Matches, Stephanie Withey

All Theses

Fan attendance rates are a vital part to college athletics. With most athletic programs already losing money for universities, the recent decline in attendance rates has added further stress to budgets (Fulks, 2010). Most of the research on sports fans examines the socio-motivational and psychological motivations for attending games. Fan research has primarily focused on English soccer and American baseball, with little focus being placed on college soccer. While sports like college soccer do not generate enough revenue to sustain themselves, athletic departments still need to maintain positive attendance numbers at these events. Non-revenue sports provide free publicity and advertisement …

It's A Business: A Financial Analysis Of The Bcs System And Its Alternatives, Wilson Neely

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

There is an annual debate over the structure of the postseason format of college football. In this thesis, the current format is explained, along with two popular alternatives. Gameday profitability is determined for each of the three formats to provide an answer to the question of which format is the most lucrative.

Major League Soccer Case Study An Examination Into The Future Of The League, Matt Samost

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Major League Soccer has grown tremendously since its inception in 1996. The league, however, still is a work in progress. The overarching question of this case study deals with an examination into the future of the league. Will it continue to be a niche sport on the American sports landscape or will it challenge the big four leagues in the years to come? Broken into five subtopics, the case study looks to address this question by examining the league through multiple lenses in order to be able to take both an in-depth and wide look at the current condition of …

Determinants Of Major League Baseball Player Salaries, Tyler Wasserman

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In 2003, Michael Lewis published Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, which forever changed the finances and economics of baseball. It began a movement towards using advanced statistical analysis to determine the value of baseball players, in order to build a roster that will win the most games at the lowest cost. The Moneyball movement has resulted in a multitude of new statistics to try to drill a player’s value down to one number that represents his marginal revenue product, or his individual contribution to the team’s success.

Player salaries are typically the largest cost for Major …

How Sports Franchises Communicate Via Social Media, Christopher Jones

HIM 1990-2015

The aim of the research is to evaluate how professional sport organizations communicate via social media and lay groundwork on how to effectively do so in the future. The research focuses on the history of social media and its involvement in sport, how it's used today, examples of effective communication and how it can eventually drive revenue for a sport franchise and build a stronger fan base at the same time.

A Profile Of The Characteristics And Professional Development Needs Of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division Ii Athletic Directors, Dustin Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose for conducting the study was to identify the personal, professional, and educational backgrounds of NCAA Division II athletic directors. The study was designed to detail the professional development opportunities that existed among the population, and determine how frequently the NCAA Division II athletic directors took advantage of the opportunities that were available to them. The significance of the study rested on the ability to identify the NCAA Division II athletic director population and describe the qualities and characteristics that comprised the target population. Since little data existed detailing this population, the study provided an opportunity to describe a …

Predicting Chest Press Strength From A 4rm Triceps Brachii Exercise In Trained Women, Krystina Nadia Moschella

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Determining maximal strength is important when developing a resistance exercise program for trained athletes. The most frequent strength procedure used to evaluate maximum strength is the 1RM test. However, risk of injury from a 1RM test increases for the athletes, therefore a 4RM test is used in the following study. The purpose of the study is to test whether there is a linear relationship between the bench press and the triceps rope extension exercise. A secondary purpose is the development of a prediction equation for the purpose of prescribing bench press exercise loads from triceps brachii loads using a 4RM …

Actual Vs. Perceived Value Of Players Of The National Basketball Association, Stephen Righini

Honors Projects in Mathematics

Over the past few decades the media has played an increasingly large role in shaping how player effectiveness in the National Basketball Association (NBA) is perceived. Several factors have caused fans, announcers, and even NBA team management to have unintentional bias toward certain players. This study aims to utilize various formulas created by NBA statisticians, called Player Raters, to identify how efficient each NBA player actually is in comparison to the rest of the league. Data from the past 12 seasons was compiled and six Player Raters were used to place values on every NBA player since the 2000-2001 season. …

Who Is The American League Mvp On A Per Dollar Basis?, Patrick Decker

Honors Projects in Mathematics

This study will look at the value of MLB players in the American League on a per dollar basis. It will be based on the 2011 statistics and will use a linear regression model to create a value for each player. The value will be based on a variety of statistics based upon position. For all players: age, team wins, and years in the league will be accounted for. For field players: games played, hits, runs, doubles, triples, home runs, runs batted in, walks, strike outs, stolen bases, on base percentage, slugging percentage, fielding percentage and errors will be accounted …

Does Specialization Matter? An Investigation Of Female Di And Diii Soccer Players And The Pathways That Led Them To The Collegiate Level, Anne Gavett, Jase Miller, Cuyla Coogan, Kelly Burnett

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

This paper investigates whether current female collegiate soccer players decided to diversify or specialize in high school, while noting the key influential factors that impacted their decision making process. During the 2012-2013 season, a survey was completed by 114 female collegiate (DI and DIII) soccer players. The findings indicated that there is no difference between female athletes who specialized or diversified in high school in regards to playing at the collegiate level. The results from this study attempt to further clarify previous research that examines if specialization or diversification in high school is necessary to reach the collegiate level.

Social Media’S Correlation To Fan Behavior, Aj Van Scott

Sport Management Undergraduate

Social media and fan behavior are two very interesting topics. More and more people are learning more about social media everyday and it is here to stay, it is not a fad, and people expect organization to be posting about games or events so that they can find out the information on social media. It is important for organizations to be on Twitter or Facebook because it is important to integrate into people’s lives. Fan behavior research proves that environmental factors are one of the biggest deterrents for fans when it comes to trying to attend games and that record …

How Are Student Athletes Perceiving Female Coaches, Avery Light

Sport Management Undergraduate

This study was designed to assess the perceptions that student athletes have of female coaches and relate these perceptions to the establish factors within the literature review. Research has suggested possible explanations for the decline of females coaching female sports, however, the focus has not been on the extreme low number of women coaching male sports. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to gain an understanding as to why females are not coaching male sports. A cross sectional survey will be designed and sent out to Male and female student athletes within the NCAA Division III Empire 8 conference. …

Recruiting: An Undervalued Asset?, Brandon G. Harrison

Sport Management Undergraduate

NCAA Division I basketball has grown to be an enourmously lucrative business venture in recent years. However, in order to capitalize on the revenues that can be generated by NCAA Division I basketball schools need to be successful. Therefore, it is important to address what can lead to success. Previously, it was thought that coaching status and skill were the key factors leading to success. However, research has been done to discover the relationship between recruiting and success in Division I Football, but very little research has been done on Division I Basketball. The purpose of this study is to …

Nba Star Power: Impact On Attendance, Cory Metcalfe

Sport Management Undergraduate

In lieu of an abstract, here is the paper's first paragraph: One challenge many team’s in many different leagues face is the ability to recognize fan motives and fan attendance to their team’s games (Ouray 2006). Team owners struggle every year to find the best balance between winning games, winning championships, training players and hiring coach’s all on the base of making money. Teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) earn money through T.V contracts, licensed goods, and Ticket sales. Many different owners in different leagues have their own approaches and goals when the thought of raising attendance at games …

Division Iii Student-Athletes Perceptions Of Pay For Play, Daniel P. Maloney

Sport Management Undergraduate

Since the NCAA was first created, the subject of academic corruption in intercollegiate athletics has been of significant concern and empirical inquiry (Ridpath, 2008). There are many current issues that are still ongoing today such as: the denial of payment of Division I football players, the exploitation of student-athletes in academics, and the difference in treatment between student-athletes and students academically. Although this may not always hold true at all Division I schools, previous studies have concluded the values and missions of the NCAA seem to be misaligned with what they are actually promoting. I would like to prove that …