This article analyzes the differences in the commercialization patterns of professional football between Western countries and China. Based on a literature review, it is concluded that the Chinese commercialization of football needs to be systematically compared with the Western structures of the process to derive a coherent framework for a better understanding of the phenomenon. This comparison is achieved by performing an institutional analysis based on a heterodox socioeconomic approach to commercialization as an organizational change process. Among other factors, the similarities and differences between the politically-led logic and media-driven logic of football commercialization are identified. The result is a model of a comparative framework of commercialization processes of professional football in Western countries and China. The theoretical and management implications of this model highlight that the Chinese case needs to be assessed with special consideration of the policy context. The model moreover unveils promising directions for future research.

In several European countries, a new football fan type has emerged in recent years—the post-consumer fan. These fans break with commercialized football by founding their own clubs in order to incorporate their vision of football. This vision is antagonistic to commercialized “modern football”. However, the newly founded clubs compete in the existing commercialized structures and need to generate financial capital. To date, little is known about how clubs deal with these contradictory goals. Based on a 27 month long ethnographic participant observation and ten semi-structured interviews, this article investigates how the members of the German club HFC Falke negotiated sponsoring and players’ wages. It highlights how the clubs implement alternative practices in order to remain close to their values while being competitive. As a result, they emphasize the democratic process, and implement normative guidelines. Some of the strategies are known from previous research on other clubs but during our research we also detected new strategies. The club and its members experiment with new practices, such as transparent payment based on effort and sponsoring used for the fans’ benefit (e.g., subsidies of beer prices on matchdays). Through these normative guidelines and practices, the clubs strive to establish a more sustainable football in commodified structures. The discussions in the club and its practices might also inspire debates on the future of professional football.

The National Games of China (NGC) are a large multisport event with approximately 10,000 athletes representing regional teams and competing in 350 contests in more than 30 sport disciplines. The NGC are sometimes called the ‘Olympic Games of China’ because of their comparable format and high national recognition. However, the foreign media and the international research community have not taken sufficient notice of this unique sporting event. This article is the first in the international literature to focus on the NGC by pursuing a twofold research question and aim: (1) to analyse the institutional relationships between the General Administration of Sport (GAS) and the Provincial Sport Bureaus (PSB) within Chinese elite sport policy and (2) to assess how the NGC contribute to the coordination of these public sport governing bodies. The study adopts a socioeconomic approach to institutional efficiency analysis and relies on a thematic analysis of nineteen national academic articles in Mandarin and complementary documents. A key element of this approach is an agency analysis of the relationships among sport governing bodies. Notably, the strong emphasis on medal counts at the NGC in the incentive scheme of the PSB is found to induce unintended outcomes. The development of young talent and amateur sport is disincentivised, while manipulation is incentivised. Despite national criticism, the NGC are not found to be responsible for these negative outcomes and are recommended to be maintained. However, Chinese elite sport policy is encouraged to reform its monitoring system based on multidimensional criteria.

This article examines the current governance structures in international competitive snowboarding and analyses empirically how key actors operate within the diverging logics that shape such structures. We expand upon the existing literature on professional snowboarding by offering a more contemporary understanding of the constantly evolving processes of institutionalization. Qualitative data was gathered from the authors’ first-hand experiences with international snowboarding, based on (1) interviews with system insiders, (2) document analysis, and (3) participant observations. Two dominant and contradicting logics of competitive snowboarding were identified, forming a fragmented, dual institutional structure that we call the industry-based and nation-based governance model. Our findings suggest that recent professionalization processes have led to defragmentation efforts, thus signalling a shift towards a nation-based governance focus. Therefore, we conclude that other action sports that will join the Olympics, such as surfing and skateboarding, are advised to find solutions for mediating inherent contradictions of governance logics to avoid institutional fragmentation at an early stage.

This research answers the question of which nudges can be created to subtly influence event attendees in such a way that they contribute to the implementation of a green event. Using the qualitative content analysis according to Mayring, three music festivals were analyzed in detail with regard to their measures for ecological sustainability. All available online resources—in particular, the websites of the music festivals, blog entries, online newspaper articles and, also, observations during several personal visits—were used as sources of the qualitative data. A key result was the development of a model for nudges that can generally be used and implemented for events. The goals, the nudges developed and the possible measures with regard to ecological sustainability are defined in the areas of transport, garbage, electricity, gastronomy, sanitation and compensation of emissions. The more music festival participants already behave in an ecologically sustainable manner, the more others will join them. This can be exploited by using social nudges that consciously inspire group social dynamics. In order to be able to use nudging sensibly, organizers have to internalize that they act as decision-makers, which entails a great ethical and moral responsibility. Even inconspicuous nudges can be very effective.

Purpose: In 2017, the Chinese Super League (CSL), the first professional football division in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), became the highest-spending league in the international players’ transfer market, with a total spending of €377m. Moreover, the government of the PRC is backing the CSL with an ambitious football plan. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the governance of the CSL by questioning the organisational viability of the league. Design/methodology/approach: In addition to the relevant international literature, this study is based on 14 recent scholarly articles published in Mandarin from 2013 to 2018 to reflect the national academic debate. Moreover, website research on all CSL clubs has been conducted. The institutional analysis follows the integrative change model of Cunningham (2002) complemented by agency and bureaucracy theory. Findings: The CSL still faces substantial governance problems caused by the divergence of goal setting, organisational inefficiencies and compliance issues. The organisational change is notably constrained by internal competitive value commitments and external power dependency. Research limitations/implications: The institutional findings on the CSL provide a starting point for empirical studies. The approach contributes to the theory of sport governance processes. Practical implications: The material and insights are informative for decision makers to evaluate the competitiveness of the CSL. Originality/value: This paper is the first international in-depth analysis of the governance of the CSL using the body of knowledge published in Mandarin.