For many, being a Toronto Maple Leafs fan has become a curse from cradle to grave. False hope, hollow promises, and a mind-numbing lack of success - these words describe the Toronto Maple Leafs and the hockey club's inexplicable mediocrity over much of the past decade. Author Peter Robinson has attended some 100 games over the past six seasons and has little to show for it except an unquenched thirst that keeps him coming back. Why does a team that hasn't won a Stanley Cup since 1967, long before many of its followers were even born, have such a hold on its fans? Robinson tries to answer that question and more while detailing what it's like to love one of the most unlovable teams in all of professional sports. Being a Leafs fan requires a leap of faith every year, girding against inevitable disappointment. This book tells what that's like, how it got to be that way, and what the future holds for all who worship the Blue and White.

Destination competitiveness and sustainability are important issues for many stakeholders within the tourism industry. In recent years, destinations have faced some challenges with respect to maintaining sustainability; they must be cleaner, greener and safer in order to safeguard the life quality of holidaymakers and local residents. Providing an invaluable review of the latests research on the topic, global case studies provide a perspective of the worldwide challenges and solutions arising in the management of tourism destinations. The analysis presents an interdisciplinary approach, including contributions of economists, geographers, managers and marketing professionals.

Ambush marketing is a strategy by which a company or organisation uses their marketing communications to associate themselves with an event without being an official sponsor or authorised partner or licensee. It has become a particular concern in the marketing of major sports events, with international sponsorship and branding properties worth many millions of dollars. Ambush Marketing in Sports is the first book to offer comprehensive analysis of the theoretical and practical implications of ambush marketing. Drawing on cutting-edge empirical research data, the book outlines an innovative model for understanding ambush marketing and offers practical advice for all stakeholders, from sponsors and event organisers to media organisations. The book examines the opportunities and the risks of ambush marketing, assesses the legal, ethical and business dimensions, and offers advice for preventing ambush marketing in a range of contexts. Fully supported throughout with examples and cases from major international sports events, such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games, this book is important reading for any student, researcher or practitioner with an interest in sport marketing, sport business or event management.

It is with tremendous pleasure that I share the enclosed contents drawn from more than eighty research presentations delivered at the Inaugural Sport Marketing Association Conference hosted by the University of Florida on 13 to 15 November 2003. Scholarly papers were presented on such subjects as corporate sponsorship, sport consumer behaviour, sport product branding, and technology's role in the promotion and sales process, all subjects of critical importance to those in pursuit of the best sport marketing practices.' -- From Richard Irwin's preface 'A Word From the President'.

Strategic Recreation Management is a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the fundamental principles, managerial techniques and practices in the public administration of recreational services. It covers every key facet of public management as it concerns recreational service, including organizational, operational, planning, developmental, and managerial procedures, as well as examining all the contextual factors that influence the delivery of recreation, such as political pressures, economics, social considerations, physical resources, and citizens' perception of the field and its performance.

Each chapter offers illustrative case studies from the real world of recreation management, with chapters sequenced to represent the typical day-to-day challenges and issues in recreation service. Authors Jay Shivers and Joseph Halper have many years' experience of working in the recreational sector, as educators and practitioners, and the result is a textbook that provides the perfect foundation for any degree-level course in recreation management, as well as being an indispensible reference for all professionals working in recreation service.

The sport and leisure sectors possess unique characteristics that pose particular challenges for managers and human resource professionals. The age profile of workers, seasonality, the pressure to achieve short-term results, media intrusion, wide differences in pay between elite and community levels, and the importance of competition and consumer (fan) behaviour, all combine to set sport and leisure apart from 'mainstream' business and management. Human Resource Management in the Sport and Leisure Industry is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to HRM in sport and leisure that examines these challenges in the context of organisational structure, systems, and individual and group behaviour, encouraging the reader to develop a strategic approach to HRM, and emphasising the importance of reflective professional practice. The book explores the full range of key issues, themes and concepts in contemporary HRM, including: the labour market in sport and leisure personal skills in HRM recruitment and selection learning, training and development evaluation and performance appraisal change management coaching and mentorship. Covering private, public and voluntary contexts, the book includes a wide range of examples and cases from the real world of sport and leisure management. Each chapter also includes highlighted definitions of key concepts, review questions, summaries and learning objectives, to guide student learning and help managers develop their professional skills. Effective human resource management and development is essential for business success, and this book is therefore important reading for any student or professional working in sport and leisure management.

All good managers working in sport need to have a clear understanding of the principles of finance and accounting. Whether working in the private, public or voluntary sectors, a firm grasp of the basic concepts and techniques of financial management is essential if a manager is to make effective decisions and to implement those decisions successfully. Managing Sport Finance is the first book to offer a comprehensive introduction to financial management and accounting specifically designed for managers working in sport. The book assumes no prior knowledge of finance or accounting on the part of the reader. It clearly and succinctly guides the reader through each key concept and practical technique, including: balance sheets income statements costing systems and decision making investment appraisal budgeting and budgetary control double entry bookkeeping funding for sport interpreting annual reports. Using a rich variety of case studies, examples and data from the real world of sport management, the book places each concept into a managerial context, ensuring that the reader understands why that concept is important and how best to employ each technique. Each chapter also contains a range of useful features, including chapter introductions, learning objectives, activities, summaries, review questions and further reading. This is the most useful, comprehensive and accessible introduction to financial management for sport currently available and is essential reading for any student of sport management or sport development.

The growing complexity and importance of sports and event marketing has pushed scholars and practitioners to apply sophisticated marketing thinking and applications to these topics. This book deals with the professional development in the sense that sports marketing can be viewed as an application of consumer behavior research. Readers will learn about new opportunities in using consumer behavior knowledge effectively in the areas of: influencing behaviors in society and sports; building relationships with consumers through sports and events; and providing services to consumers through sport and event sponsorships. This book, by a superb group of authors, includes comprehensive reviews, innovative conceptual pieces, empirical research and rigorous attention to data.

Service quality is at the forefront of how the leisure, events, tourism and sport (LETS) sectors operate. An important consideration for any business, and therefore any student of the subject, this new edition of a successful textbook addresses the key points and principles of managing service quality across the industry sector. Fully updated and enhanced, it: - Covers areas such as the experience economy, capacity management and service culture, as well as methods for measuring quality and satisfaction. - Includes numerous case studies to help students apply classroom-based theory to practice. - Is packed with student-friendly pedagogy and full colour illustrations throughout to enhance the learning experience. Considering the underpinning theory of service quality, this book informs the reader of the practical application of service quality management tools and techniques in an industry with distinctive features and challenges. An invaluable read for students within the LETS sectors, it also provides a useful refresher for practitioners working in the industry.

What role can strategic thinking play in contemporary sport management? It can be the difference between leading or languishing - it's that important! Covering sport at all levels, from community-based sport to elite sport, this is the first textbook to focus on strategic management in a sport context. The book introduces the fundamentals of strategic planning, environmental analyses, strategic direction and leadership, strategy formulation and selection, implementation, strategic control, and change management. Designed to encourage students to develop a strategic mindset, as well as critical thinking and problem-solving skills, the book unpacks key concepts such as leadership, governance, organizational change, and the multiple layers of strategy in sport. Full of real-world case studies from diverse, international sport business environments, and useful pedagogical features such as review questions and guides to online resources, this is an essential text for any sport management course and an invaluable resource for sport development, recreation management, or events management courses.

The first edition of The Price of Football quickly established itself as the go-to guide to understanding football club finance for the serious fan. Kieran Maguire, one of the UK's top football finance analysts, shows how professional clubs operate as businesses and explains, in non-technical language, how to read, understand and interrogate club accounts. As a clear-headed analysis and presentation of the financial imperatives and challenges facing football clubs across the English and Scottish Leagues, it has become a welcome resource not only for students of the industry, but by a wider constituency of supporters looking to understand their club's latest transfer deal, or season ticket price. This fully revised and updated edition includes analysis of the most recent club accounts, the latest legal rulings on club affairs, as well as the impact of Covid-19 on the game's finances.

Fans of baseball, football, basketball, and hockey have long been exploited and oppressed by the monopolistic practices of team owners. The time has come for a revolution in the organization of major U.S. sports! Fans of the World, Unite! is a clarion call to sports fans. Appealing to anyone who is in despair due to the greed and incompetence of team owners, this book proposes a significant restructuring of sports leagues. It sets out a rational program for a revolution that will serve the best interests of the fans and of the sport itself. But Stephen F. Ross and Stefan Szymanski are no Marxists: they show how a revolution in the organization of sports might even benefit the owners. By harnessing the power of markets, sports leagues can be made both more responsive to the needs of the fans, and more efficient. Ross and Szymanski have spent many years evaluating the ways in which leagues work across the globe. Drawing on their extensive study of leagues, the authors boil down their plan to two major reforms. Borrowing from NASCAR, they propose that team owners should not own sports leagues as well. Rather, league ownership should be separate. Their second proposal is drawn from soccer: introduce competition through a promotion and relegation system. In this type of system, the worst teams in the league are kicked out at the end of the season and replaced by the best performing teams in the next division down. This gives poor performing teams incentive to step up their game, and allows fresh blood to enter the leagues if the poor performers fail to do so. The main goal of these reforms is to align the financial interest of those who own the league with the best interests of the fans and the sport. Having laid out the problem and the solution, the authors skillfully address practical implications of introducing their scheme, suggesting how leagues might at least make some changes, if not all of those suggested. The time for change has come! Armed with this book, and with fairness on their side, fans can set forth to begin a revolution.

Exploring Sport and Fitness is a comprehensive guide to the development of essential professional and interpersonal skills in the sport, leisure and fitness sector. Designed to bridge the gap between the classroom and the workplace, the book introduces the fundamental principles of reflective practice in sport and fitness, and explains how students and professionals can develop their personal effectiveness and workplace performance.

The book draws together important material from a wide range of academic and professional sources, including articles from leading experts in sport management, psychology and coaching, and explores key topics such as:

• reflective practice

• the importance of effective communication
• motivation and Leadership
• working in teams
• working with customers
• learning and instructional frameworks for coaches and instructors
• organizational cultures in sport and fitness

Exploring Sport and Fitness is essential reading for all students of sport, leisure and fitness management, sports coaching or sports development, and for all sport and fitness professionals looking to improve their performance and practice.

Football is big business - the biggest sport on the planet, it has seen a massive commercial boom over the last twenty years which has resulted in it being worth $12 billion per annum, globally.
Managing Football is the first book to respond to the growing professionalisation of the sport and the need for a text which both students on sport management courses and practitioners in the field can use. Expertly edited by two well known specialists in football management, it draws together the work of a world-class contributor team to form a comprehensive diagnosis of the most important issues facing football managers across the world, providing the reader with:
* Cutting edge analysis of all the important issues in the football industry and the management of football
* A clear and structured presentation and examination of key issues in football internationally
* A strong balance of academic and practitioner analysis and comment
* A strong pedagogy and structure allowing the material to be navigated easily by the reader
* Global coverage of the football markets including England, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, North America, United Arab Emirates, China, South Africa, Argentina, Netherlands, Mexico, South America, Russia.
Managing Football is simply a must-read for anyone studying or working in football management and is set to be an important landmark in this rapidly moving and globally expansive field.
* Contributed to by a world-class team of experts and well edited by two specialists in football management
* Comprehensive coverage of all key issues in football internationally, with a strong balance of academic and practitioner analysis andcomment
* Presented in a clear and structured format, easy-to-use for readers with clear signposts throughout the text and online resources for lecturers

This practical textbook explains the sport development process from a practitioner's viewpoint, showing what actually works, how, and why. Focusing on the development of sport, the book considers the efforts of sport organisations to revitalise their sports at a community level to ensure their future relevance, growth, and sustainability. Full of real-world cases and data, as well as the voices and reflections of a wide range of practitioners, Sport Development in Action explains how to research and draw up a development plan, how to design and implement programmes and establish delivery networks, and how to monitor and evaluate initiatives. This is essential reading for any sport development course, and useful reading for courses in sport management, sports coaching, or sports studies. It is also an indispensable reference book for practitioners.

Sports betting has become a truly global phenomenon, facilitated by new communication technologies. As a result, the development of deviances, from match-fixing to money laundering, has accelerated. This new reality has numerous implications, for both the regulation of this billion-dollar industry and the very integrity of sport, sport financing and betting operations. Written by an international team of academic researchers and industry professionals, International Sports Betting explores the central concepts of integrity and deviance, governance and policy, as well as perennial issues linked to the gambling sector, such as regulatory responsibilities and the fight against gambling addiction. Unlike other treatments of the gambling industry, the book offers a multi-disciplinary sociological and managerial critique that goes beyond a traditional focus on law and regulation. This is fascinating reading for any student, researcher or practitioner working in the areas of sport business, international business, international regulation, policy studies or gambling studies.

Grape wine has been produced for at least 4,000 years, having been aged, stored and transported in every conceivable type of vessel. Its seductiveness has been enhanced by this packaging: primarily three strikingly different containers - amphorae, wooden barrels and glass bottles. Henry H. Work brings extensive wine experience as a cooper, working with wine barrels and living in California's Napa Valley to provide a richly detailed and vivid account of wine containers through the ages. This book delves into the history, evolution, and present use of containers, vessels, and stoppers; from animal skin sacks to barrels, from glass bottles to upstart packaging such as wine casks, and even aluminium cans. It considers the advantages and weaknesses of their construction, designs and labels, methods of shipment and storage, as well as their impact on marketing wine to customers. This is an enlightening and innovative read which draws on the most current archaeological research, scientific data and wine business trends. It is richly peppered throughout with the author's own visits to many of the locations explored in the book, bringing history to life. This book will appeal to individuals within the wine industry, undergraduates in the fields of history, archaeology, food and hospitality, as well as all people interested in wine.

This edited text, intended to support a research-informed approach to learning and teaching, presents an array of concepts, collaborations and in-depth cases related to managing events, festivals and the visitor economy. Authors offer an array of philosophical, political, cultural, and ethical perspectives on how to achieve this across a range of contexts, from Cambodia, China, Egypt to the British cathedral city of Lincoln. Though recognising individual difference, each chapter unites in their common pursuit of supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). This is significant as utilising the UNSDGs as a normative organising framework for how we all think about, plan, and manage a 'good' visitor economy is increasingly ubiquitous. It is with this in mind that each chapter provides explicit links to the UNSDGs and policy and/or practical implications, along with a series of critical self-assessment questions to reflect on the chapter's key arguments. This collection aims to satiate what appears to be an increasing appetite of readers and students alike who seek exposure to rigorous debate in and out of the classroom.

The public sector is the largest provider of sport and leisure facilities and the biggest employer of leisure management graduates - the last decade has seen enormous changes in this sector. In this significant new student textbook - the first to investigate leisure management in a public sector context - Leigh Robinson examines the unique issues facing public sector managers and analyzes the application of contemporary management strategies and techniques to public sector leisure. It provides thorough coverage of the work and skills required in addition to the challenges and issues facing leisure managers. This book also challenges the perceptions and negative comparisons with the private sector. Written using a clear and user-friendly style, this textbook will be core reading for students of sport, leisure and recreation management, and makes an accessible reference for practicing managers working across the spectrum of leisure provision, from sport facilities through to parks, arts and heritage.

Sports Tourism: participants, policy and providers is an unparalleled text that explains sports tourism as a social, economic and cultural phenomenon that stems from the unique interaction of activity, people and place. Unlike other texts, it seeks to present sports tourism as a unique area that produces its own unique issues, concerns and controversies. The text tackles these issues from three viewpoints: participants: examining the profiles, motivations and behaviour patterns of sports tourists to create a typology of participants policy: analyses the response by policy makers to this phenomenon and the problems of achieving integration between two sectors with historically different cultures providers: their motivations, aims, objectives and strategies Illustrated by international case studies in each chapter, and with four extended case study chapters, Sports Tourism: participants, policy and providers examines this area using real life experiences and concrete evidence.

Contents:
Introduction 1. Sport - What it's All About 2. The Sporting Context 3. The Voluntary Sector 4. Sports Development 5. Leadership 6. Working Together 7. People 8. Organizational Management 9. Management in Practice 10. Management Challenges 11. Marketing 12. Event Management 13. Education and Training 14. Personal Skills 15. Into the Future

Der Autor untersucht anhand eines intensiven Studiums der Forschungsliteratur und der Auswertung wissenschaftlicher Studien, ob Stress eine wesentliche Variable fur Burnout darstellt und Stressregulation als Loesungsstrategie zielfuhrend ist. Neben einer Einfuhrung zu den Themen Gesundheit und Krankheit in der Medizingeschichte nahert sich der Autor dem Konstrukt Burnout als psychischer Erkrankung und besieht das Thema im Kontext von Unternehmen und der Volkswirtschaft, speziell im Hinblick auf die volks- und betriebswirtschaftliche Relevanz psychischer Erkrankungen. Die Studie stellt Stresskonzepte und Stressmodelle vor und bespricht Moeglichkeiten der Rehabilitation und Intervention.

This is the first in-depth global study of women's football across the world. This collection considers women's football, in fifteen countries worldwide, in a global context, and analyzes its progress, challenges and problems it has faced.

It shows how women's football has made a significant contribution to the emancipation of women's football in many countries. It also traces the evolution of women's football in face of resistance, rejection and prejudice and describes women footballer's struggle for equal rights in a male dominated football world.

This book focuses on how the sponsorship of sports works: the costs, the goals, evaluation and selection of the property a sponsor chooses, how to activate a sponsorship, how to create a brand association, public relations and brand image possibilities. Anything is possible in a sponsorship, it is simply what the sponsor and the property can agree to during their negotiations. There is for example the opportunity for product category exclusivity--no competing brand at a particular location. With the audience being harder to reach because of technology, sponsorship continues to be a viable way to obtain brand exposure and better connect a brand with a consumer. With global sponsorship spending totaling more than $48 billion, it is clear that many companies see this as an important promotional communication strategy.