Market Typologies
Extraordinary Devotion to Ordinary Play: Fan Co-production of Professional Sports
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Gillian W. Oakenfull
In its inaugural season, FC Cincinnati broke every USL league attendance record, often outdrawing many MSL teams in major sporting markets. FC Cincinnati’s mediocre league and playoff performance does little to explain the continued growth of fan loyalty in the team’s second season, including a doubling of season ticket holders, new attendance records, and year-over-year gains in merchandize sales. So how does a town known more for a devotion to bats, mitts, and the oval kind of football, with a fledging soccer team in the third tier of the American professional soccer pyramid, get labeled “Soccer City, USA” by the US Soccer Federation? The answer may have nothing to do with team performance and celebrity players and everything to do with drums, smoke, tifos, and chants – the artifacts of fan devotion and sports ritual on display every home match day in the “Bailey,” a standing room only section in a university football stadium. Using event day observation and qualitative research of fanatical, devoted, and casual fans, this research explores the extent to which these fanatical fans may be considered “co-producers” of the game day experience and identifies the key components of value creation for each type of fan.
Opportunities and Challenges of Sponsorship within Elite Disability Sport
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Victoria Myers
The sustainability of organisations supporting disability sport and athletes, is contingent on their ability to manage increasing pressures of commercialization (Gomez, Martı & Opazo, 2008). Within this environment, the reliance on income generated from various stakeholders, such as sponsors, has become an important feature of disability sport. This presentation draws on a larger research project that aims to investigate how sponsorship decision making processes occur within the context of elite disability sport. In particular, I specifically consider the experiences of elite disabled athletes involved in the sponsorship process. How do such athletes engage in this process, what value do they believe this brings to them, and what challenges are encountered on their sponsorship journey? I explore these questions by drawing upon Bourdieu’s conceptual tools including the notions of social, cultural and economic capital (Bourdieu 1986). Data were collected from (n=5) semi structured interviews with British Paralympic athletes who have successfully secured sponsorship and those that had not. The presentation explores how disabled athletes seek and secure sponsorship early on in their career. In this way, they recognise how this activity contributes to accumulating social and cultural capital in their sport. This research demonstrates that, although there has been an increase in Paralympic sponsorship since the London 2012 Paralympic Games, it is clear that these opportunities are not afforded to all elite disabled athletes and those who are not successful in securing and/or maintaining ‘useful’ sponsorship are acutely aware of how this impacts on their ability to generate valued capital in disability sport and sponsorship.
Big Fix: The Social, Cultural, and Campus Effects of Adding Football at a Small University
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Robert Epling
In an effort to boost enrollment, small colleges and universities in the United States use sports programs as a recruiting strategy. While most scholarly attention focuses on issues associated with "big-time" intercollegiate athletics, less emphasis is given to similar efforts at smaller institutions. This case study examines the results of adding an intercollegiate football program at a small university (1500 students) by evaluating program impact on campus and community culture, athletic facilities, and institutional finance. The presenter chaired the review committee tasked with determining the feasibility of adding the sport, and authored the final feasibility report.
