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Although name, image, and likeness policy officially changed on July 1, 2021, actions leading up to this policy modification provide insight into the desires and perspectives of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Feeling pressure from individual states and federal legislators, the NCAA engaged in discussion regarding name, image, and likeness in Fall of 2019. In response to newly introduced name, image, and likeness policy changes, the NCAA listed their official statements on the Taking Actions: Name, Image and Likeness webpage. These statements (n = 10) were analyzed using critical discourse analysis methodology underpinned with a Foucaultian perspective. Using critical discourse analysis, we extrapolated three overarching themes related to power dynamics: (a) Establishing Control While Undercutting Oppositional Power, (b) Power Shifts Away from NCAA, and (c) Power Reinforcement. We conclude by discussing the importance of examining discourse within organizations and implications for policy and practice.

A central issue within sport management is the extent to which the field should develop a distinctive theoretical knowledge base. This paper empirically investigates the connectedness within (intrafield) and between (interfield) management and sport management disciplines in one specific knowledge domain—institutional theory. We utilized a database of 188 sport-related institutional studies and conducted a citation network analysis of the aggregated reference lists from these articles. We argue that the fields of management and sport management act like “ships in the night.” That is, as the field of sport management has become more distinctive, the field is becoming less connected with general management literature and contemporary theoretical discussions. Potential implications for sport management scholarship and understanding the nature of the field are discussed, along with how it may be possible (if desired) to bridge the gap between sport and management research.

Most collegiate athletes in the United States monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL) through social media influencer marketing. This provides an opportunity to examine the factors that impact their social media NIL value. Therefore, we investigate the effects of personal branding factors (quality of Instagram biography, posting frequency, and account verification status) and institutional factors (competition level, university brand, and sport gender) on the social media NIL value of men’s and women’s college basketball athletes (N = 907) in California while controlling for local market characteristics. A linear regression analysis shows significant relationships between social media NIL value and competition level, university brand, sport gender, posting frequency, and account verification. Our results offer new theoretical and practical understandings of the relationships between brands in the sport brand ecosystem and the NIL value of sport influencer’s social media posts.

While recent scholarship emphasizes the potential role of shared leadership as a viable alternative to help address existing challenges in the Sport for Development and Peace sector, limited attention has been given to understanding how and when shared leadership can be developed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore antecedents of shared leadership based on practitioners’ lived experiences within multiorganizational collaboratives. A total of 30 practitioners involved in two multiorganizational Sport for Development and Peace collaboratives was interviewed. Data were analyzed through a two-cycle coding process. Four themes were identified, including (a) strategic planning, (b) support from vertical leaders, (c) shared events, and (d) personal characteristics of members as critical antecedents of shared leadership. The findings of this study provide a foundation for refining shared leadership theory. Additionally, the findings also allow for the identification of field-sensitive strategies practitioners can implement to develop environments more conducive to shared leadership development.

The purpose of the current study was to develop a valid and reliable measure of team representation, which refers to the extent to which the residents of a community perceive a local sports team to be representative of the community. Through our literature review, focus groups, and surveys, we identified four key dimensions that serve as formative indicators of team representation (i.e., normative, descriptive, symbolic, and substantive representation) and developed scale items measuring those dimensions. The results of exploratory factor analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling confirmed the validity of our scale items and reflective–formative measurement model. As the first study to develop and validate scale items measuring specific dimensions of team representation, the current research provides significant contributions to the literature. Our scale items also enable sports teams to assess their representative status in their local communities and develop effective strategies to improve their representation.

Despite a growing body of scholarship exploring university–organization collaborations in the sport for development (SfD) field, there has been limited consideration of the experiences of practitioners and partnering organizations in these partnerships. The purpose of this study was to examine their experiences when partnering with academic institutions, programs, scholars, and/or students, with a specific focus on research and evaluation partnerships. Interviews were conducted with 22 participants working at 20 SfD organizations in the United States. Findings were organized into six main categories (e.g., motivations, factors that facilitate or impede collaboration, collaboration outcomes). A conceptual process framework for university–organization collaboration emerged from the data. This study is one of the first in the SfD field to examine practitioners’ perspectives of university–organization collaborations centered on research and evaluation activities. The findings help advance the SfD field, identifying the various factors at play as these partnerships are formed, activated, and sustained.