Purpose – The motivation for this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of some of the important and trending topics in the sport industry. Besides this, to consider the changing landscape of ownership, strategies and organisation of several types of sports in the contemporary environment, there is a need for deeper contextual knowledge of how different sport/s, leagues, clubs, associations, teams etc. own, organise and strategise at local to national to regional to international contexts.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper introduces the special issue on the sport industry that welcomes four interesting contributions of focusing on the important themes related to the sport industry. They include (1) digital transformation and needed capabilities, (2) fan engagement in a digital way using social media, (3) network convergence of business, entertainment and geo-politics through sports ownership and finally (4) the relevance and relation of social capital in the organisational strategy of sports organisations.

Findings – Four generic insights related to the themes and emerging trends in marketisation, ownership and digitalisation strategies in the sport industry are introduced in this paper. The first insight is that sports digitalisation and politicisation significantly impact the strategising, organising and networking activities of sports owners to foster value capture. Secondly, owners’ performance duality of marketisation of their sports clubs and vested business interests unravels the paradoxes of idealism and profit-maximisation. Thirdly, individual sports stars position themselves as an influential platform of value creation through on-field performance, social engagement and self-interests. Finally, the fourth insight is that the dual aims of sporting on-field success and profit making of large capital-funded sports clubs endanger the autonomy and governance of sports bodies/associations and an equitable sporting competition environment.

Originality/value – This paper provides an overview and reflections on the contributions of the papers in this special issue. The papers give different perspectives on how sport has been influenced by the development in society (1) with increasing digitalisation influencing organising of sport clubs and strategies for engaging fans, and (2) the influence of marketisation and politics in ownership strategies. As such, four insightful reflections are developed based on the originality of the contributions and the related extant literature presented on the themes of marketisation, ownership and digitalisation of the sport industry.

The purpose of this paper is to assess how stakeholders perceive sustainability in sport events. In total, a material of 270 interviews from four groups of stakeholders was collected, aggregated and analysed. Four factors directly related to sustainability are identified and analysed which illustrate differences across stakeholder groups in the perception of sustainability efforts associated to the sport event. The research contributes to the event management literature by furthering the understanding of sustainability in events by offering a model including four factors governing the perception of sustainability from a green perspective, from a branding perspective, from a transport and from a communication perspective.  

In this unique book, Sten Söderman explores the prospect of China reaching its goal of hosting the 2050 World Cup. Söderman takes into consideration China’s size, resources, traditions and political system to ask what needs to be done and how.

The book assesses football in China today, discussing the main driving forces behind the development of football in China, and offering an analysis of its organizational structure, strengths, regulations and weaknesses. Taking a comparative approach, Söderman asks if China should simply adopt the European model of football, including values and skills, through imported players and coaches, or if it is better for China to forge its own path by building on its traditions and limiting the possibility of investing in foreign players, coaches and foreign football clubs. Looking to the future, the book outlines new models and tools to analyse the footballization of China. Söderman concludes with the argument that grassroots activity is the most critical factor in the development of football in China.

Examining if a strategic management mix will help China win the 2050 World Cup, this book will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of sport management and Asian business studies.

How is the international discourse of the Chinese Super League (CSL) framed in social media and which actors are driving current developments? Utilizing Social Media Analytics (SMA), we track the international discourse of the CSL and its associated actors throughout the social media landscape. Our findings reveal that the CSL is framed primarily by professional actors offering match information and results as well as betting and streaming services. Yet, fan engagement vis-a-vis CSL clubs, players and matches is limited in its extent. Thus, our results indicate that the international fan base of the CSL remains largely underdeveloped. Altogether, we contribute to extant literature in sports management by illustrating how an emerging methodological approach can be utilised, assessing a critical aspect of China's ambitions with regards to football, and the associated challenges that emerging leagues face in terms of attracting international fans despite considerable investment in recent years.

The overall purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the strategic sponsorship program of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) and, specifically, the partnership of its U.S. subsidiary, BBVA Compass (BBVAC), with the American National Basketball Association (NBA) using a case study method. This paper demonstrates how BBVA, initially through the transformational leadership of former BBVA Group Executive Chairman Francisco González, has leveraged digital transformation and strategic sponsorship to increase its brand equity and revenue. BBVA’s effective sponsorship strategy represents an innovative, agile, and digitally focused model for marketing executives and sport marketers considering a long-term investment in strategic sponsorship. By developing digital assets, leveraging a client-focused business model, and partnering with sport enterprises, BBVA has increased its brand equity and emerged as a leading global financial institution with offices in over 30 countries. BBVAC’s strategic sport and cultural sponsorships, especially its partnership with the NBA from 2010 to 2016, are synergistic with its digital initiatives. This research and its practical implications should enable sport business and marketing professionals to understand the implications of the digital transformation of enterprises for strategic sport sponsorship and provide alternative methods to engage consumers and enhance integrated marketing communications. This case study also should provide insight and direction for further digital transformation and sport management research.

Purpose Regarding globalization trends, it is essential for multinational corporations (MNCs) to operate in China if they are to succeed in the international business environment. It is therefore vital to study how those MNCs investing in China have fared. The purpose of this paper is to devise a robust conceptual framework for the evolvement of market-seeking investments in emerging markets. Design/methodology/approach The typology is based on a network approach to internationalization processes, where a case study is made of Swedish MNCs' experience of the Chinese market. Findings The case study contributes to the mostly static foreign direct investment (FDI) theory as well as the entry mode approach, both of which have paid little attention to the FDI carried out by MNCs in emerging markets 5-15 years after initial entry. Originality/value The case study also contributes to the mostly static FDI theory as well as the entry mode approach, both of which have paid little attention to the various types of FDI carried out by MNCs in emerging markets 5-15 years after initial entry.

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of articles on sport published in leading business studies journals within marketing, organisational studies and strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a review of 38 identified articles within the subfields of marketing, strategy and organisation studies published between 2000 and 2015, the articles’ topical, theoretical and methodological orientation within the studied subfields were analysed followed by a cross-subfield analysis.

Findings

The authors identify considerable differences in topical, theoretical and methodological orientation among the studied subfields’ associated articles. Overall, the authors also find that articles across all subfields tend to be focussed on contributing to mature theory, even though the subfield of marketing in particular exhibits contributions to nascent theory in contrast to organisation studies and strategy.

Originality/value

This paper contributes by illustrating the current state of research that is devoted or related to the phenomenon of sport within three subfields in business studies. Furthermore, the authors discuss the role played by leading business studies journals vis-à-vis sport sector-specific journals and offer avenues for future research.

Purpose - Professional sports organizations have a long tradition of utilizing stories as part of their marketing efforts. However, as the media landscape has undergone considerable change as a result of information and communication technologies, most notably through social media, the conditions under which storytelling evolve have altered significantly. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explain how storytelling in the sports sector becomes integrated in social media.

Design/methodology/approach - A conceptual review in three sequential steps is carried out. First, extant literature on the role and effects of storytelling is reviewed. This is followed by a review of the interplay between storytelling and the contemporary media landscape, with a particular focus on social media. Third, the authors link both literatures and, by doing so, illustrate the dynamic interplay of storytelling and social media in the sports sector.

Findings - The conceptual review shows that storytelling can enact four sequential roles that are characterized by varying degrees of co-creation which, in relation to extant literature, has strong implications for the manageability of storytelling from the perspective of professional sports organizations.

Originality/value - Based on the identified sequential roles that storytelling can enact in social media, this paper contributes to the field of sports marketing by depicting how the dynamics between storytelling and the social media landscape exhibit a shifting degree of manageability with regards to storytelling from the perspective of professional sports organizations.