Browsing by Subject "Sport Management"
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Item Addressing the lack of Baseball Consumption amongst African Americans(2013-08-06) Brown, Brandon LeighThe African American consumer represents a valuable market segment in the United States. This target market possesses both substantial purchasing power and future growth potential. Yet, baseball marketers have failed to secure the African American target market as a viable consumer base. As such, marketers should understand what factors encourage African Americans to consume sport, and what factors deter African Americans from consuming baseball. Thus, the purpose of my study was to advance the literature by investigating the factors influencing African American baseball consumption. African American participants were surveyed in order to ascertain the motivational aspects they perceived to be present (or absent) in both a favorite sport and baseball. Results suggest that African American participants believed baseball failed to contain the following motivational factors: skill, drama, aesthetic value, group entertainment, family value, escape, and cultural affiliation. Still, of the factors measured, results suggest that the factors, ?skill? and ?drama? were the two most influential factors motivating participants to consume sport. The current study utilized a set of focus group interviews to identify what factors, if any, deterred baseball consumption amongst African Americans. Results suggest two broad categories best represent the reasoning for a lack of baseball consumption: perception of baseball and socio-cultural dynamics. Within these two categories, six general dimensions were found that best characterized the reasons for not consuming baseball: A perceived lack of excitement in baseball, a perceived lack of skill in baseball, a distaste towards baseball?s structure, a lack of access for young African Americans, African American player representation, and African American players in pop-culture. The current study examined African American attitudes towards baseball consumption by investigating the role of perceived fit and its association with the theory of reasoned action. The study utilized an experimental design to investigate if racial identification and identifiable motivational factors would influence perceived fit. Results from the study indicate that advertisement setting (i.e., advertisements containing identifiable motivational factors) was not influential upon perceived fit; yet, endorser race did moderate the relationship between advertisement setting and perceived fit. Subsequently, perceived fit was found to be influential upon attitudes and subjective norms. Furthermore, these factors ? attitudes and subjective norms ? were significantly related to intentions to consume baseball.Item Examining the Experiences of Women Sport Management Faculty: A Case Study Analysis(2012-07-16) Daehnke, Hailey E.Framed as an instrumental case study, the purpose of this investigation was to examine the challenges women face and the experiences that women have as faculty members in academia. Data was collection by using a qualitative in-depth semi-structured interview methodology. The women who were chose for this research are tenured or tenure-track faculty in sport management departments at a University in the Midwest. The data analysis consisted of unitzing the data, followed by coding the data in categories and themes. Feminist standpoint theory was utilized to help understand the experiences of the female faculty. This investigation found that female tenured or tenure-track faculty had several common experiences during their academic careers. All of the women discussed the importance of the institutional and departmental climate at the University. Additionally, they examined the marginalization they had felt while teaching classes from their students. Specifically, they cited many students question their knowledge about sport because they are female. Furthermore, the participants also discussed the challenges that came from work-life conflict. Each participant discussed the impact various mentor relationships had on them throughout their academic careers. Mentoring relationships were critical to those participants that had them both as students and as current faculty members. Finally, the support mechanisms each faculty member used to benefit their career were examined, noting specifically the impact of conference attendance as both a means of professional and personal support.Item Forecasting the financial trends facing intercollegiate athletic programs of public institutions as identified by athletic directors of the ACC, Big 12 and SEC Conferences(Texas A&M University, 2008-10-10) Penry, Jason CoyThe purpose of this research was to provide a forecast of financial trends in major intercollegiate athletics over the next 15 years for strategic planning purposes. This study focused specifically on the trends of revenue generation and cost containment in the athletic departments of the public institutions in the ACC, Big 12 and SEC Conferences. Most of these large programs are expected to externally produce a majority of their fiscal resources and compete at a high level. This forecast is important because of administrator's increasing difficulty to find the fiscal resources to adequately subsidize their program. The mixed methods study uncovered the myth that intercollegiate athletic programs are in great fiscal health and outlined where leaders in intercollegiate athletics think the future will take us. Over 35 forecasts were identified through interviews with an intercollegiate athletic conference commissioner and an intercollegiate athletic consultant and were then rated by a panel of athletic directors from the aforementioned conferences based on their desirability, impact and likelihood of occurrence. After two rounds of a Delphi procedure, it was determined that over half of the issues, should they occur, would have a high impact. None of the 35 issues were rated as having no or low impact. One issue was rated as having the highest possible likelihood of occurrence. The issue was that employee compensation, utility bills, travel costs, and medical insurance will increase for institutions and athletic departments faster than the general, national rate of inflation. 32 issues were rated as having between a 21-80% chance of occurring, while two issues were given only a 0-20% chance of occurring within the next 10-15 years. The first forecasted that football scholarship limits will be lowered from 85 over the next 10-15 years. The second forecasted that an antitrust exemption will be implemented over the next 10-15 years for intercollegiate athletics by the federal government to cap wages. Over one-third of the issues obtained consensus in two of the three areas rated. Three of the issues obtained consensus in all areas rated.