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Despite the acknowledged importance of investigating the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance (CFP) within a single industry, very few studies have examined this relationship in the context of the sport industry. Using charitable giving data as a proxy of CSR, this study investigated if CSR would affect CFP of professional sport teams within the four major U.S. leagues. Although the positive CSR-CFP relationship was hypothesized based on instrumental stakeholder theory, CSR was found to have non-positive effects on CFP. These results are still notable since they may highlight the importance of the connectedness between CSR and team operations and the awareness of CSR activity among stakeholders in leveraging CSR benefits. Overall, through the use of improved methodology, the current study furthers the understanding of the CSR-CFP relationship among the U.S. professional teams.

The purpose of this study was to explain the process of how a sport team could induce consumers to engage in proenvironmental behavior. Building on Kelman’s (1958, 1961, 2006) internalization perspective, this study demonstrated that positive environmental practices by a team increased consumer internalization of the team’s values. In turn, this increased internalization mediated the relationship between environmental practices and proenvironmental behavior measured by two behavioral intentions: intention to support the team’s environmental initiative and intention to engage in proenvironmental behavior in daily life. The results of this study contribute to the literature by highlighting the significant role of internalization. This research further provides a significant insight into the social impacts of sport organizations.

This study investigates the determinants and consequences of the perceived social impact of a sport event by analyzing data obtained from 458 local attendees of the 2012 FedEx St. Jude Classic. Results show that a sport event generates a higher level of social impact for local attendees if they feel a greater sense of social camaraderie at the event and/or perceive a higher level of the social responsibility of the event. In turn, the creation of social impact leads to greater business returns, such that local attendees perceiving a high level of social impact are likely to support the event and its sponsors. These results offer some empirical evidence for Chalip’s (2006) framework of social leverage, and show why events and their sponsors need to make efforts to generate social benefits for host communities.

Fundraising for a charity sport event (CSE) is a critical and challenging aspect of the event experience. CSE participants (i.e., CSE fundraisers) must engage with their network of friends, family, and colleagues (i.e., CSE donors) to solicit donations. A better understanding of CSE donor motives can translate to more effective fundraising among participants, which could be applicable to other peer-to-peer and sport-based fundraising initiatives. The researchers explored the factors driving CSE donors to contribute on behalf of CSE participants. Eight mechanisms driving charitable giving provided the theoretical framework. Semistructured interviews (N = 24) were conducted with individuals who had donated to a CSE participant within the previous 12 months. Four themes emerged: feel good factor, perceived efficacy of donations, inspired by youth, and affinity for the participant. With these themes in mind, CSE managers may implement school outreach programs and testimonials from donors to achieve positive fundraising outcomes.

This article examines the current state of research regarding the effect of spectator sport on population health. We conducted a scoping study that involved a comprehensive search of published and gray literature between 1990 and 2014, and identified 135 studies empirically examining the effect of spectator sport on population health. A frequency analysis shows that there is a paucity of studies on this topic published in sport management journals. A thematic analysis further reveals that the reviewed studies can be classified into nine research themes depicting the relationships among certain categories of spectator sport and population health. Based on this scoping study, we develop a framework and identify several gaps in the literature that should be addressed to advance our understanding of the relationship between spectator sport and population health.

The current study investigated the role of running involvement in helping improve the lives of a homeless population through an examination of a community-based program that utilizes running as a means to promote self-sufficiency. Data collected from 148 individuals before and after their participation in the program for one month revealed participants increased their psychological involvement in running. A regression analysis further indicated that the participants’ perceived self-sufficiency from participating in the program was significantly explained by the extent of their increase in running involvement. These findings highlight the role of enhanced involvement in sport, in particular in the form of running, in creating important psychological benefits for homeless individuals, and provide theoretical implications for the literature on sport-for-development.

The failure to adequately address nonresponse issues in survey research may lead to nonresponse bias in overall survey estimates, which can severely restrict researchers’ ability to make inferences to a target population. This study was designed to assess the frequency of nonresponse analyses in articles published in the Journal of Sport Management (JSM). All articles from the years 1987 through 2008 published in JSM (N = 371) were content analyzed based on a previously established coding scheme as well as additional indicators. The results revealed that only a small number of articles reported the use of nonresponse analyses as a means to control for nonresponse error.

This study aims to empirically investigate how sport media consumption influences the relationships among the spatially explicit risks of COVID-19, resilience, and positive and negative affect, considering social class. To achieve this, we employed an integrated approach using spatial and aspatial analyses. The findings indicated that the negative effects of the spatially explicit risks of COVID-19 on resilience are mitigated by sport media consumption. In turn, an increased level of resilience enhances positive affect and reduces negative affect. Moreover, consumers in the upper class showed a more pronounced resilience process through sport media consumption than those in the lower class. This study contributes to the knowledge regarding the sport−resilience association by identifying the moderating effect of sport media consumption within social classes and addressing the spatially explicit risks of COVID-19. The present findings provide a basis for sport-based resilience strategies in times of adversity.

The periodic examination of research agendas in sport management is necessary for the field’s advancement. In this mixed-method Delphi study, 15 leading sport management scholars forecast how the field can have a more influential voice in understanding the relationship between spectator sport and population health. Panelists agreed on the importance to not oversell or oversimplify the role of spectator sport; to improve interdisciplinary collaboration, theorization, and research design; to recognize opportunities to advance mental and social well-being; to better relate to stakeholders; and to identify distinctive health effects of spectator sport. A lack of consensus existed about the relationship between spectator sport and environmental well-being and prospects for leveraging spectator sport for participant sport. Drawing from these findings, the authors suggest that future research consider moving beyond simply measuring the effects of spectator sport on population health and, instead, assess its health effects relative to multiple forms of leisure and entertainment.