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Feedback and lessons learned from personal reflection journals submitted by students in an Introduction to Esport course. Students were responsible for marketing, creating content, problem solving (troubleshooting), and streaming a minimum of 30 minutes for an esport game title of their choice. Students were then asked to submit a link and reflection journal of their experiences. This exercise was completed by students four times over the course of a semester.

Not unlike the sport industry, the majority of sport management students in the United States are White, middle-class males. As women in male-dominated academic departments experience gender harassment more frequently than women in balanced or female-dominated departments, the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of sport management doctoral students with gender microaggressions and stereotype threat by gender to examine if such experiences occur at this stage in academia. The results indicate that female students experience gender microaggressions of being excluded, being treated like a second-class citizen, and being placed in restrictive roles by program faculty due to their gender more frequently than male students. This study provides clarity into issues affecting female doctoral student progression postgraduation in sport management. In addition, this study provides context around the student experience in doctoral programs across male-dominated academic disciplines.

This study investigated the determinants of television viewership and its relation to broadcasters’ choices of matches for live telecasts. Also, factors driving the broadcasters’ choices were examined. A panel data set from the 2018 Korea Baseball Organization league pennant race was analyzed. Broadcasters’ choice order of matches and the actual television ratings of each match were regressed on a series of antecedent factors related to the game characteristics and audience preferences. It was found that the broadcasters’ choice order of matches positively affected the television ratings, suggesting that the broadcasters’ decisions were well reflected in the actual viewership. It also appeared that broadcasters’ choices were based on popularity and team performance/quality, whereas viewers showed preference for current games’ on-field performance. There was no evidence of audience preference for games with higher outcome uncertainty, whereas the broadcasters tended to choose games with more certain, rather than uncertain, outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.

In her 2020 Earle F. Zeigler Award address, Marlene Dixon presented and discussed five elements of a sustained career in academia: Lifelong Learning, Authenticity, Relational Mentoring, Work-Life Balance, and Faithfulness. Dixon suggests that remaining open to new learning and taking risks helps increase capacity and vigor. Authenticity brings richness, voice, durability, and purpose. Relational mentoring brings connection, community, enrichment, and longevity. Cultivating work-life balance, rest, and self-care not only helps avoid burnout, but also improves creativity, playfulness, and liveliness. Finally, leveraging the extended metaphor from Tolkein’s Leaf by Niggle, Dixon argues that faithfulness, rather than visibility or measurable outcome, defines the meaning and value of our work and contribution not only to science, but also to our life circles.

Coaches play a vital role in providing sports programs. Investing in formal coach education can serve to increase coaches’ human capital, which in turn, has a positive effect on their coaching practice. The present study investigates factors influencing coaches’ intention to get training for their coaching activity on an individual and organizational level. Nationwide online surveys were conducted in Germany on both nonprofit sports clubs and coaches being active within these clubs. Data were analyzed using multilevel regression analysis on a sample of n = 2,384 coaches in n = 1,274 clubs. Results show that especially the expiring validity of the coaching license, aspects of personal development, and low transaction costs are crucial factors for the intention to obtain a qualification. The results lead to several implications for theory and practice. Clubs could enhance the qualification intention and, thereby, the quality of sports programs by appointing a contact person who informs about qualification possibilities.

This research explored students’ ego development and leadership efficacy during an undergraduate sport management program. A sequential mixed-method case study design and associated methodologies were adopted to explore students’ ego development and leadership efficacy during 3 years of an academic program. Results show fluctuations in leadership efficacy for all but one participant. These fluctuations are discussed in relation to ego development in that growth from self-conforming to self-authoring stages of ego development may partially explain fluctuations in how students see themselves and their potential for leadership in the field of sport management. The role of the ego development construct in relation to students’ perceptions of their leadership capabilities highlights that programmatic elements (e.g., thoughtful experiential education) can be consciously developed and strategically leveraged to more accurately target perceptions of leadership prowess among students. The findings emphasize that students’ level of ego development can be fostered through active and effective program delivery.

Big data and analytics have become an essential component of organizational operations. The ability to collect and interpret significantly large data sets has provided a wealth of knowledge to guide decision makers in all facets of society. This is no different in sport management where big data has been used on and off the field to guide decision making across the industry. As big data evolves, there are concerns regarding the use of enhanced analytic techniques and their advancement of knowledge and theory. This special issue addresses these concerns by advancing our understanding of the use of big data in sport management research and how it can be used to further scholarship in the sport industry. The six articles in this special issue each play a role in advancing sport analytics theory, producing new knowledge, and developing new inquiries. The implications discussed in these articles provide a foundation for future research on this evolving area within the field of sport management.