Sport and the Pandemic

Perspectives on Covid-19's Impact on the Sport Industry

Paul M. Pedersen, Brody J. Ruihley, Bo Li, Paul M. Pedersen, Brody J. Ruihley, Bo Li

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780367616656
• eBook ISBN: 9781000224771
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

This book takes a close look at how the sport industry has been impacted by the global Coronavirus pandemic, as entire seasons have been cut short, events have been cancelled, athletes have been infected, and sport studies programs have moved online. Crucially, the book also asks how the industry might move forward.

With contributions from sport studies researchers across the world, the book offers commentaries, cases, and informed analysis across a wide range of topics and practical areas within sport business and management, from crisis communication and marketing to event management and finance. While Covid-19 will inevitably cast a long shadow over sport for years to come, and although the situation is fast-evolving and the future is uncertain, this book offers some important early perspectives and reflections that will inform debate and influence policy and practice.

A timely addition to the body of knowledge regarding the pandemic, this is an important resource for researchers, students, practitioners, the media, policy-makers, and anybody who cares about the future of sport.

Chapter 1

Overview of perspectives on a global pandemic’s impact on the sport industry

Paul M. Pedersen, Brody J. Ruihley and Bo Li

In late December 2019, reports emanating from Wuhan, China first shed light on unusual health conditions that were quickly identified as a novel coronavirus, named 2019-nCoV or Covid-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO). With delayed symptoms or even asymptomatic transfer, the virus rapidly crossed borders and spread throughout the world. The virus has taken a toll on both big and small aspects of life. From international travel and global relationships to social isolation, self-quarantining, and the way in which we communicate with others, all aspects of personal and professional life are under scrutiny in order to battle this pandemic. One aspect of life abruptly removed from society was sport. What once was a part of daily life for many, was now curtailed for an indefinite amount of time. With a death count of over 700,000 and billions of dollars lost because of cancellations, postponements, etc., Covid-19 has impacted everyone in some way. In sports, local, amateur, and professional leagues and stakeholders have been wading through these uncertain waters.

The sport industry has been significantly affected – and in some cases permanently altered (e.g., the dissolution of some sports businesses, organizations, events, and leagues) – by Covid-19. This book explores a few of the ways this global pandemic has impacted the sport industry and affiliated stakeholders (e.g., marketers, fans, sponsors, athletes, media members, viewers, administrators, policymakers). In addition to covering some of the challenges faced and strategies adopted in response to this public health crisis, the contributions in the book include some of the trends and expectations in the aftermath.

In addition to the pandemic’s impact on sport practitioners, participants, and spectators, Covid-19 has changed – at least at the moment – academia in a myriad of ways (e.g., the introduction of online classes, social distancing, cloud-based video conferences, vacated campuses, virtual committee meetings). Sport management scholars, who have researched and are continuing to conduct studies assessing how Covid-19 is affecting the various segments of the sport industry, have commenced the dissemination of their findings via academic journals. For instance, the International Journal of Sport Communication (IJSC) has recently released a double-sized special issue entitled “Sport and the Coronavirus Crisis.” Other journals have made calls for submissions related to Covid-19 and its impact on the field European Sport Management Quarterly (ESMQ), sport management education Sport Management Education Journal (SMEJ), the hospitality industry International Journal of Hospitality Management (IJHM), and sport economics Journal of Global Sport Management (JGSM), among others. This book – which covers a wide variety of topics, ranging from corporate social responsibility and crisis management to sports gambling and media framing – is another outlet in which sport management scholars are able to distribute their work related to Covid-19 and sport.

For this book, 60 sport industry professionals (e.g., scholars, researchers, practitioners, students) contributed perspectives on the subject of Covid-19 and its impact on sport. Their solo or co-authored contributions make up the remaining 29 chapters in this book. The chapter contributors are from around the world (from Croatia, Israel, and Denmark to Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea) and combined possess a wide range of specializations and backgrounds within the study of sport. Their topics are just as diverse, with a wide variety based on geographic focus (e.g., Slovenia, Hong Kong, Scotland, Poland, China), level of competition examined (e.g., youth, amateur, elite, professional), and type of sport covered (e.g., tennis, golf, e-sport, soccer). Their chapters cover many areas that are typically included in the study of sport management (e.g., communication, marketing, administration, sociology, consumer behavior, governance) and, as such, they all fit into five general categories within the study of sport management: management; marketing and communication; governance; spectators and participation; and sociology and psychology.

The first section is comprised of six chapters, which examine how Covid-19 has impacted the managerial aspects of the field. In Chapter 2, four contributors (Tomika Ferguson, Maggie Brocklebank, Marra Hvozdovic, and Vanessa Moore) examine communication and leadership by intercollegiate athletic administrators during this crisis. Their work is followed by Karlee A. Posteher, whose chapter (Chapter 3) also focuses on college sports by examining how the pandemic has affected the relationship, assessment, and authenticity areas of athletic recruiting. In Chapter 4, Stavros Triantafyllidis looks at how Covid-19 has impacted the environment and proposes a mechanism to monitor and control sport organizations in an effort to improve environmental performance. Austin Duckworth, Jorg Krieger, and Thomas H. Hunt (Chapter 5) provide a scholarly perspective on health-related security concerns as sport organizations deal with the pandemic. In Chapter 6, Juha Yoon focuses on the return to play and the crisis response strategies used by two sports leagues in South Korea. The final chapter in this opening section (Chapter 7) examines the issues and adjustments related to crisis management within the sport of tennis in New Zealand.

Scholarly perspectives on sport marketing and sport communication, as they relate to Covid-19, are covered in the second section. The six chapters that make up this section examine sponsorship, strategies, sport consumption, media framing, and live streaming. In Chapter 8, Sarah Wymer, Ashleigh-Jane Thompson, and Andrew Martin explore Australian sport organizations’ use of live streaming services during a time of quarantining and social distancing. Chapter 9 has Norm O’Reilly and Gashaw Abeza reporting on sport practitioner perspectives about the impact of sport sponsorship during the Covid-19 pandemic. In Chapter 10, Jason M. Simmons, Mark A. Slavich, and Peyton J. Stensland discuss ways leagues, teams, and athletics are utilizing innovative communication and marketing tools to stay connected with their fan base. Chapter 11 is written by Olan Scott, Adam Pappas, Alex Stoikos, Paul Morra, and Patrick Reid and highlights media coverage of a sports league during a period of time with no live sport. In the last chapter of this section (Chapter 12), Timothy Robeers and Lindsay Caroline Sharp examine how and to what extent the recent rise in esports has been framed in American and British media.

Aspects of the governance of sport are examined in the next six chapters. Chapter 13, written by Siu Yin Cheung and Jennifer Mak, provides an in-depth analysis of how Covid-19 has impacted the Hong Kong sports industry. In Chapter 14, Cecilia Zhang, Bo Li, and Brody Ruihley examine the Chinese Super League’s decisions and response to Covid-19-based internal and external pressures. Michael M. Goldman, Raul A Rosales Zavaleta, Gustavo A. San Martin Castillo, and Shaun Read, in Chapter 15, explain how information impacts the decision-making process in Peruvian Olympic sports during the Covid-19 crisis. Chapter 16 has Simon Ličen analyzing official statements and social media messages exploring the Slovenian Olympic Committee’s crisis management strategies and stakeholder reaction. In Chapter 17, Kelsey Slater and Jim Watkins assess the impact of Covid-19 on professional tennis governance and the impact on relationships between players, major events, and governing bodies. This section concludes with John Sugden and Jack Sugden. Their first co-authored publication as father and son provides a critical analysis on the future of global sport governance in a post-Covid-19 environment (Chapter 18).

The fourth section consists of six chapters providing scholarly perspectives on how Covid-19 has affected sport spectators and participants. In Chapter 19, Fiona Skillen examines the pandemic-induced challenges of operating golf clubs in Scotland. Chapter 20, by Rocco Porreca, discusses the rise and progression of XFL betting and subsequent fall of the league. Chapter 21’s author, Fred Ariel Hernandez, utilizes field observations to report on local and school-oriented precautions in Japanese sport. The next three chapters focus on fútbol/soccer spectators exchanging their tickets for civic engagement and support. In Chapter 22, Michal Mazurkiewicz sheds light on the work of Polish soccer fans aiding their community. Chapter 23, written by Benjamin Perasović, Marko Mustapić, Dino Vukušić, and Andrej Ivan Nuredinović, highlights how a radical fan group, the Ultras, provide logistical help to crisis centers in Croatia. Concluding this section, Alex Gang’s Chapter 24 discusses European fan communities utilizing online communication outlets to explore and continue civic activism.

Six scholarly reflections on sport sociology and sport psychology topics related to Covid-19 are in the fifth section and final section of the book. In Chapter 25, Illan Tamir examines the ritualistic, social, and emotional significance of sports broadcasts and the deprivation felt by sports fans when such broadcasts are no longer available. The next scholarly perspective (Chapter 26) was written by Kelsey Leonard, Natalie Welch, and Alisse Ali-Joseph. With affiliations to the Shinnecock Nation, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the authors cover some of the ways in which Indigenous Peoples are responding to Covid-19 within a sport setting. Zack P. Pedersen and Antonio S. Williams provide, in Chapter 27, an analysis of the ability of sport to impact public consciousness. In particular, the authors focus on the degree to which sport influenced the public’s recognition that the pandemic was a significant threat. In Chapter 28, Theoklitos Karipidis and Jesse A. Steinfeldt examine the potential benefits to athletes who have faced the disruption caused by the stoppage of play due to Covid-19. Braden Hale Bagley, in Chapter 29, relies on crisis communication, media framing, and image repair research to analyze the reputational crisis of a professional athlete who tested positive for Covid-19. The final scholarly perspective (Chapter 30) in this book is provided by Kenneth Corsten, who examines various challenges (professional, commercial, financial, etc.) faced by women’s professional football in Denmark.

Part I

Managerial reflections

Chapter 2

The role of advocacy, coping, and communication for athletic administrators in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis

Tomika Ferguson, Maggie Brocklebank, Marra Hvozdovic and Vanessa Moore

The Covid-19 crisis has been traumatic. Society has witnessed a near global shutdown in businesses, social relationships, and education. The impact within higher education has led to college closures, significant financial stress, a shift to online classes, and the cancellation of many athletic seasons and events (National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA], 2020a). College athletics have been forced to respond to an adaptive challenge, the Covid-19 crisis.

The Covid 19 crisis is an adaptive challenge. An adaptive challenge is when “problems that are not amenable to authoritative expertise or standard operating procedures...cannot be solved by someone who provides answers from on high…they require experiments, new discoveries, and adjustment from numerous places in the organization or community” (Heifetz & Linsky, 2017, p. 14). Covid-19 creates a difficult environment in which to lead. Student-athletes want immediate answers about when they will compete, families are worried about their children living on campus, and senior leaders are worried about budget deficits. Solutions in adaptive challenges are not easy to develop and implement. Heifetz and Linsky recommend assisting individuals to better understand their current reality, by adjusting unrealistic expectations and encouraging patience and creativity in response to adaptive challenges.

In this chapter, we seek to acknowledge the components of the adaptive challenge that is facing athletic administrators throughout this period. The future of college athletics is shifting as a result of this crisis. This is a campus crisis, i.e., “an event, often sudden or unexpected, that disrupts the normal operations of the institution of its educational mission and threatens the well-being of personnel, property, financial resources, and/or reputation of the institution” (Zdiarski, 2006, p. 5). Shaw (2017) suggests that a campus crisis can “be a catalyst for organizational change” (p. 111). This is significant and a point of hope.

We highlight specific administrative disruption in work routines, ethics and agency, and student advocacy. Each section is intrinsically linked to an adaptive challenge in identifying the multi-layered adaptive challenges that have been experienced. Next, we provide recommendations about how college athletic administrators can enhance decision-making and support for athletic administrators moving forward. Despite the negative impact of Covid-19, there are opportunities to reflect and develop new institutional cultures that are mutually beneficial to student-athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators.

Administrative disruption

Work routines

With regular work routines disrupted by Covid-19, new challenges have arisen for athletic administrators as they continue their role of supporting student-athletes, coaches, and others while also remaining aware of their own personal needs. Rather than attending championships, hosting student-athlete development workshops, and working with coaches to recruit new student-athletes, virtual meetings and cancelled seasons are the “new normal.” Student-athletes are no longer able to practice, receive tutoring, or engage with their peers in a convenient manner. Athletic...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of contributors
• 1 Overview of perspectives on a global pandemic’s impact on the sport industry
• PART I Managerial reflections
• PART II Marketing and communication perspectives
• PART III Governance during the pandemic
• PART IV Spectatorial and participatory aspects
• PART V Sociological and psychological reflections
• Index