Sports Management Commons^™

Celebrity Athlete Endorser Effectiveness: Construction And Validation Of A Scale, Theodore Byrne Peetz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The use of celebrity athletes as endorsers has become a popular marketing strategy. Celebrity athletes are often used to endorse products because it is believed they positively impact brand attitudes (Friedman & Friedman, 1979; Kamins, et. al., 1989; Till, Stanley, Priluck, 2008) and fostering brand loyalty (Bush, et. al., 2004). In addition, celebrity athletes are used to help a company differentiate their products and build instant name recognition (Henriks, 1996). This dissertation explored factors associated with celebrity endorser effectiveness. The conceptual framework for this study was grounded by the Source Credibility Model (Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953; Hovland & Weiss, …

The Look Of The Line: An Empirical Investigation Of The Impacts Of Facial Symmetry On Salary Levels Of Offensive Linemen In The Nfl, Kristen Wampole

Business and Economics Honors Papers

Evaluation of a professional athlete's performance for the purposes of compensation determination is difficult, especially when decision making may not follow the expected "instrumental rationality." This paper will look to examine the factors, both productive and non-productive, impacting an Offensive Lineman's salary in the NFL. The purpose of this study is to determine whether an offensive lineman's salary is based on productive characteristics adhering to instrumental rationality, or whether the influence of non-productive characteristics influence salary as ultimately determined by team management. Results indicate that players within the tackle position with earning salaries in the seventy-fifth percentile gain additional benefits …

Summitt, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

From across the nation, from the world of basketball and the world of sport, the reaction to Pat Summitt relinquishing her position as head basketball coach at the University of Tennessee has been overwhelming in praise, admiration, and volume. Those who played for Summitt talked of the tremendous impact that she had on their lives, praising her as a coach and human being, often referring to her as a mother-figure. Those who knew her in other capacities talked about her strength in the face of adversity. This quality distinguished Pat Summitt throughout her career and not just in the past …

Assessing Major League Soccer's Efficiency, Chris Maxwell

Sport Management Undergraduate

Since the North American Soccer League dissolved in 1984, there was no longer a prominent professional soccer league in North America until Major League Soccer was founded in 1996. Previous research on MLS efficiency was last recorded after the 2000 season, leaving a ten-year gap. This research revisits MLS efficiency for the 2010 season through a formula based on percentages against averages of each team for all tested elements. The factors used to compute efficiency are absolute attendance, television viewership, points awarded, and total team salary. Efficiency scores are then further analyzed for anomalies. In contrast to previous research, the …

Athlete Endorsements: Effects On College Students, Cory Mcallister

Sport Management Undergraduate

Celebrities have been used as endorsements for years and have often been heralded as the best way for a company to sell their product through advertisements. Professional athletes are known around the globe as the most recognizable celebrities. Numerous studies have been completed in order to find the effects that athlete endorsements have on consumer spending. These studies have discovered changes in purchasing behaviors based on youth, gender, race and geographic location. Yet, there are limited sources that explain the effects on college students and their purchasing intentions. A sample of St. John Fisher College students was used to examine …

American League East Draft Tendencies, Tim Sylvester

Sport Management Undergraduate

This study examined the drafting practices of teams in the American League East Division and the business implications that correspond to these results. Each team has their own drafting strategy and by analyzing this you will gain a better understanding as to why certain decisions are made. The research explored the relationship between teams in the American League East with regards to when and how to draft players. To answer this question an analysis of each of these five team’s draft picks from 1998-2007 was completed by comparing each draftee by point of entry and round drafted in. The results …

Female Athletes In The Media, Christopher J. Maley

Sport Management Undergraduate

Within the arena of sport, there is a common belief that female athletes are inferior and incapable athletes. The media plays a role in reinforcing this stereotype. This study examines the article patterns of female athletes in Time magazine from 2007 to 2009. The study will inspect the length and content of articles in every issue distributed in this time frame to see if these athletes are given appropriate exposure. If past research indicates future findings, the sample will show that female athletes are seen less for their athletic accomplishments and more for their off-the-field endeavors. Furthermore, the athletes that …

The Importance Of Financial Management For Professional Athletes And The Prevention Of Bankruptcy, Christopher Danowski

Sport Management Undergraduate

This research explores the importance of financial management and fiscal responsibility for professional athletes. Professional athletes within the four major leagues earn a salary above six-figures, yet a previous report has suggested that over 78% of professional athletes within two years of retirement experience financial distress or file bankruptcy. Professional athletes earn large amounts of money over a short career span, which averages around 5 years or less where upon retirement, it is a drastic change socially and mentally for these athletes which a lot of them are not prepared for. Agents and financial advisors believe athletes’ bankruptcies are completely …

The Effect Alternate Player Efficiency Rating Has On Nba Franchises Regarding Winning And Individual Value To An Organization, Anthony Van Curen

Sport Management Undergraduate

For NBA organizations, it can be argued that success is measured in terms of wins and championships. There are major emphases placed on the demand for “superstar” players and the ability to score. Both of which are assumed to be a player’s value to their respective organization. However, this study will attempt to show that scoring alone cannot measure success. The research uses statistics from the 2008-2011 seasons that can be used to measure success through aspects such as efficiency, productivity, value and wins a player contributes to their organization. The analysis shows there is a correlation between those factors …

Understanding Professional Sport Organizations Use Of Facebook, Marc Mancini

Sport Management Undergraduate

Facebook has rapidly grown since its inception in 2004. Due to this the purpose of this study is to find out what sport organizations are doing to interact with fans on their Facebook pages. Content analysis was performed to place 930 Facebook posts by sport organizations into one of four categories: interactivity, diversion, content, and promotional (Table-1). This research is important because social media is a growing industry. The study of NFL teams concluded 49% Content, 33% Interactivity, 11% Diversion, and 8% Promotional. The study of NHL teams concluded 35% Content, 17% Interactivity, 34% Diversion, and 14% Promotional.

Fan Safety At Sports Facilities, Benjamin G. Ward

Sport Management Undergraduate

Accidents involving fans occur at sports facilities around the globe. The purpose of this research was to discover the reactions of local facility managers and their customers to fan accidents at sports venues, recommendations to address safety concerns at their sports facilities, opinions of customers expressed to their facility managers regarding possible installation of additional safety measures as related to the fan experience at sports events, and opinions of facility managers to the possible elimination of the assumption of risk or “baseball” rule. Baseball is the sport with the most reported fan accidents at their stadiums but other sports have …

Service Quality Determinants Of College Students Attending A Live Sporting Event, Stephen N. Gonzalez

Sport Management Undergraduate

Service quality can be defined as striving to make every interaction with a consumer a quality encounter, and has steadily become an important facet of the experience of attending a live sporting event. While many studies have been done to examine how consumers determine quality of service, little research has focused on college aged students. This study was done using Michael Brady’s hierarchical framework of service quality determinants applied to college students age 18-24. Results indicated that determinants of service quality change as college students grow older, it identified that interaction quality was the primary determinant for this age group, …

Sports Illustrated Coverage Of Player Arrests In Sports, Jacob P. Quinn

Sport Management Undergraduate

There are numerous studies that exist which discuss the issue of race along with media coverage. This issue exists as studies often find that the coverage of white athletes is significantly different than that of black athletes. Many of these previous studies are centered around the main concept of the Critical Race Theory. This study went more in depth with this theory and examined if the specific coverage of player arrests differed by race. A content analysis was performed that looked at the featured articles from Sports Illustrated dealing with player arrests over a three year period from 2008 to …

Utilization Of Social Media Platforms In The National Hockey League, Josh Schroeder

Sport Management Undergraduate

The rise of social media has created a plethora of new opportunities for the savvy sport marketer. Despite the existence of data pertaining to social media marketing, there is a distinct lack of literature regarding its implementation within the evolving sports industry. Using content analyses of the official National Hockey League and team websites, this study identifies patterns of social media usage around the league. Specifically, it looks into the ways that social media and other forms of web content are used on both the traditional and mobile versions of National Hockey League websites. From the findings, conclusions regarding the …

The Way Consumers View Male And Female Athletes, Kayla M. Kent

Sport Management Undergraduate

American society has created separate and unequal gender roles for men and women. It logically follows that male and female athletes also receive unequal treatment. This inequity has been shown in the quantity of media coverage each receives as well as the consumption patterns of the general public. Using a survey method, this study sought to uncover responses of consumers when presented with four different types of images of athletes. Results indicated that for image conditions of athletic competence and sexy, male and female respondents showed distinct behavioral differences. Adjective descriptors of athlete images also revealed significant insights into how …

The Art Of Promotions: The Side You Don’T See, Trevor Stearns

Sport Management Undergraduate

Baseball organizations are always looking for new ways to fill the seats in their stadiums. Promotions have a positive effect on whether or not a fan will attend a minor league baseball game. This study examines the motivational elements of fans and why promotions have a role in persuading fans to attend a game. After polling the St. John Fisher College campus on their attitudes toward promotions, it was clear that promotions had a large affect on whether or not they would attend a game. For the professionals that were surveyed, it was clear that each had similar processes that …

Fantasy Sports: What Is The Appeal?, Andrea Keane

Sport Management Undergraduate

This research aimed to find the motivations and appeal of fantasy sports in today’s society. Research has found that there are various types of motivations that lead a person to participate in a fantasy sports league. The more frequent motivations are for intrinsic, or internal, purposes. Past research has looked at males, but this study will use a survey to look at both males and females within the Saint John Fisher College undergraduate population. The results further clarified the reasons for participation in fantasy sports. Males showed that they had more reasons why they participate in fantasy sports, while females …

Rookie Contracts In The Nfl, Brian Shuman

Sport Management Undergraduate

One of the most analyzed and crucial aspects of the National Football League is the annual draft held every April. The contracts received by rookies each year has been steadily increasing, and the hopes of a franchise can sometimes lie in the success these rookies have, making the draft process increasingly difficult for franchises. The aim of this paper was to discover what factors teams use in drafting a player and determining their starting rookie salary. Factors that were analyzed include race, market size, player specialization and even attendance. The analysis of the research done attempted to find trends that …

Understanding Loyalty And Motivation Of Professional Sports Fans, Victoria Wilkins

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors which create continuous and permanent commitment to a specific professional sports team.

Statement of Objectives: There is no denying that the current economic standing of the United States does not promote spending large sums of money on entertainment and leisure. Since taking a family to a professional sports game gets rather expensive, families are lead to pursue other alternatives while deciding how to spend free time. The costs of game attendance, including tickets, parking, food, beverages and souvenirs, can easily surpass one hundred dollars, which is undoable for many …

Violence In Youth Sport: Potential Preventative Measures And Solutions, Cheryl Danilewicz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Youth sport events are part of a growing industry to which event venues are tailoring their policies, procedures, and designs. The competitive nature of the events and their participants have caused these venues to examine their existing policies and adjust them to increase security and safety measures for the athletes, coaches, spectators, game officials, and venue staff. Tempers at these events will flare, and in recent years violence is becoming increasingly more common. Parents and athletes have attacked each other, coaches, and game officials due to the intense nature of these events. The result of these acts could range from …