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The 2017 Earle F. Zeigler Lecture Award presented in Denver, CO, addressed doctoral training in Sport Management programs. A review of the doctoral-granting degree programs listed on the website of the North American Society for Sport Management was completed. The review addressed the following three points: (a) number of hours required to earn a doctoral degree; (b) number of credit hours required for research tools, methods, and/or inquiry courses; and (c) whether program requirements included philosophy of science and/or philosophy of inquiry courses. The range of required hours for degree completion was 45–80. The number of required hours for research tools, methods, and/or inquiry ranged from 9 to 26. Four programs included specific content on the philosophy of science and/or inquiry. Concerns regarding the breadth, and to some degree the depth, of training were presented. Suggestions for action at the local level were shared as part of the conclusion.

The current study was a measurement of whether or not females and males were equally likely to report being sport fans, and to identify whether the motives influencing the consumption of women’s college basketball were different than the motives influencing the consumption of men’s college basketball. Fans of women’s basketball and fans of men’s basketball were compared on nine sport consumption motives. Data for the project came from 318 fans attending women’s basketball games and 316 fans attending men’s basketball games. Based upon the results, men had significantly higher sport fan ratings than women. There were significant differences between females and males on two of the sport consumption motives, Aesthetics and Knowledge. Men reported a greater appreciation for the natural beauty in the game of basketball, and greater enjoyment of games because of their knowledge of basketball. There was no significant difference between the two motives rated highest by women and men, the Action in games and the opportunity to Escape from one’s daily routine. The reasons for watching and following a specific sport were similar for females and males, regardless of the sex of the athletes.

A challenge with advertising communications is to better understand beliefs driving people’s attitude toward advertising. Successful use of sport communication requires a better understanding of the beliefs composing attitudes toward advertising through sport. A 4-phase study was conducted to develop a scale measuring 7 belief dimensions as indicants of attitude toward advertising through sport. Phase 1 (N = 125) provided an initial test of the proposed instrument. Phase 2 (N = 215) included an assessment of the revised scale based on internal-consistency tests and exploratory factor analysis. In Phase 3 (N = 424) the scale’s reliability and validity were verified using confirmatory factor analysis. In Phase 4 (N = 263) the internal consistency and factor structure of the scale were reexamined. The combined results provide support for the conceptualization and measurement of the belief dimensions for future investigation of the relationships between beliefs about and attitude toward advertising through sport.

Understanding and promoting sport consumer well-being are essential for legitimizing sport in the policy sector and for building long-term relationships with sport consumers. To better understand the relations between sport consumption (i.e., sport participation, sport spectating, and sport media viewing) and long- and short-term subjective well-being, a study was conducted using ecological momentary assessment and multilevel structural equation modeling. Need fulfillment (detachment-recovery, autonomy, achievement, and belonging) was also tested as a key construct explaining the short-term subjective well-being effects associated with sport consumption. Sport participation and sport spectating were found to have positive relationships with long- and short-term subjective well-being; both positive and negative relations were reported for sport media viewing. The four types of needs fulfillment were significant predictors of short-term subjective well-being. The four needs were fulfilled in the three activities, with the exception of achievement need fulfillment in sport media viewing.

Sport marketing researchers have generally studied two types of satisfaction at sporting events: game satisfaction and service satisfaction. One gap in the literature is studying the two types together. A model of the relationships between service quality, core product quality, game and service satisfaction, and behavioral intentions is proposed and tested. Data were collected from spectators at a professional baseball game in Japan (n = 283) and at two college football games in the United States (n = 343). The results in both Japan and the United States indicate that game atmosphere was a strong predictor of game satisfaction whereas stadium employees and facility access were the major antecedents of service satisfaction. Game satisfaction had a significant impact on behavioral intentions across the two settings, although the service satisfaction-behavioral intentions relationship was significant only in Japan. The research findings, managerial implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Prior research has demonstrated a direct relationship between loyalty and reasons for liking a particular sport team. The current study replicates and extends this line of inquiry by examining the mediating role of attachment, a process by which an individual moves from merely liking a team (attraction) to becoming loyal to a team (allegiance). Data (Collegiate N = 194; Collegiate and Professional N = 402, Favorite Sport Team N = 808) were collected to examine 13 benefits and attributes associated with liking a sport team, 3 attitude formation properties, and allegiance. A three-stage test of mediation using MLR revealed that attachment mediated the relationship between allegiance and Vicarious Achievement, Nostalgia, Star Player, Escape, Success, and Peer Group Acceptance. Results demonstrate that allegiance is the outcome of a process by which individuals develop stronger emotional reactions to, more functional knowledge about, and greater symbolic value for benefits and attributes associated with a sport team.

Group identity theory suggests that fans of sports teams see themselves as members of an organization, not just consumers of a product. To foster greater loyalty toward a sports team, managers should concentrate on strengthening fans’ team identity. One way to accomplish this goal is to recognize that a team identity is more than an association with a collection of athletes and coaches or an association with other fans. A team identity can also be symbolic of other types of group identities. Two main types of external group identities are demographic categories and membership organizations. Identifying the external group identities that a sports team is believed to represent and then aligning more closely with key external group identities provides managers with an opportunity to strengthen fans’ team identity and, consequently, their loyalty to a team.

To combat the declining number of finishers plaguing the distance-running industry, it is increasingly important for organizers to optimize event satisfaction levels. Participants’ survey responses from two distance-running events (n ₁ = 2,324 and n ₂ = 2,526) were analyzed to challenge the traditional managerial scope and theoretical lens through which event satisfaction is conventionally examined. Results revealed five event benefits that capture key motivational antecedents of event satisfaction. Collectively, these benefits, including euphoric, fitness, competition, social, and entertainment benefits, influenced event satisfaction levels (R ² = 43%) and repeat consumption intentions (R ² = 23%). For event organizers to foster event satisfaction, it is central to encourage event preparation and participation that promotes the enjoyment of physical activity, fitness and appearance enhancement, socialization, competition, and excitement among registrants. Academics should also extend their scope of event satisfaction to fully capture the entirety of event experience lifecycles (e.g., from registration through event participation).

The Team Brand Association Scale (TBAS), which is intended to measure professional sport team brand associations, was developed through the use of a free-thought listing technique in combination with a confirmatory factor analysis procedure. Information was provided by individuals regarding their favorite sports team, and 11 dimensions underlying professional sport team brand associations were identified: nonplayer personnel, team success, team history, stadium community, team play characteristics, brand mark, commitment, organizational attributes, concessions, social interaction, and rivalry. Review of the TBAS psychometric properties indicated that eight dimensions had acceptable reliabilities (Cronbach’s alpha scores ranging from .76-.90), as well as content validity (verified by a 3-member expert panel review), discriminant validity (based on correlations among latent constructs and their standard errors), concurrent validity (significant correlations with an external measure), and construct validity.

The objective of this research was to test the application of an alternative hierarchy of effects model (affect, cognition, and conation) in the context of sponsorship. Activity involvement and team attachment (affect) were proposed to influence sponsor image and attitudes toward sponsorship (cognition), which in turn were proposed to influence consumer behavioral intentions (conation). Fans of a professional basketball team in Greece (N = 384) participated in the study. The results provided support for the alternative hierarchy of effects model and its application in the context of sponsorship. Team attachment (affect) was shown to have both a direct and indirect relationship with behavioral intentions (conation), through its influence on sponsor image and attitudes toward sponsorship (cognition). Furthermore, the attraction dimension of involvement was shown to influence team attachment. The theoretical and managerial implications of these results are discussed.