Browse

Recent changes to the National Collegiate Athletic Association policy on name, image, and/or likeness and transfer policies have transformed how college athletes may market themselves as human brands. Above all, branding success depends on consumer perceptions. Using a national survey of U.S. consumers and an experiment, we test how transfer behavior impacts consumer purchase intentions for a collegiate athlete’s brand. We find that transferring to a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I or Division II school decreases purchase intentions by lowering consumer identification with the athlete through perceived profit motive or perceived athlete quality, respectively. These findings contribute to branding theory and provide insight to players and schools, as they navigate the changing landscape of college athletics.

Modern sport management scholars have paired the fields of positive organizational behavior and human resource development with sport management to enhance the productivity of sport organizations through their employees. One area of study receiving increased attention is meaningful work, an emerging employee well-being metric whose definition is debated. The purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which sport employees conceptualize meaningful work. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 32 sport employees. The following themes were identified: meaningful work is work that serves, meaning gained from sport organizations, and individual meaningful work experiences. Discussion offers valuable implications for practitioners of sport management, as well as the emerging scholarly field of human resource development in sport management, and the evolving discourse surrounding meaningful work.

Student-athletes face a variety of stressors and are at risk for mental health issues, particularly with “name, image, and likeness” issues creating new pressures and distractions. This article outlines a leadership development program geared toward student-athletes and the enrichment of their mental health. The courricular content described within includes self-development material delivered by faculty in a team context. Early findings indicate that the Positive Leadership Program appears to make impactful improvements in mental health outcomes and can be introduced into sport management curricula.

Lesley Johnson is the athletic director at Provincial University where a generous donation has recently been made to the Athletic Department to create an endowment to fund scholarships—called Athletic Financial Awards—at Provincial University. Lesley is tasked with devising the best plan to utilize these funds within the risk parameters established by Provincial University’s Board of Governors. Here, different investments are contemplated; however, with the guidance of Kelly Simpson, from Capital and Revenue Consultants, financial analyses to estimate returns, pricing, and risk factors for various fixed income options are completed.