The Routledge Handbook of Sport and Sustainable Development is a comprehensive and powerful survey of the ways in which sport engages with its social, environmental, and ethical responsibilities. It ...considers how sport can use its unique profile and platform to influence the attitudes of sport fans and consumers to promote positive social and environmental action around the world and to contribute to sustainable development, perhaps the most important issue of our time. The book is structured around the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, with a section devoted to each goal that contains chapters reviewing key theory and current research, measurement and evaluation issues, and the application of current knowledge in real-world development situations. Drawing on research and expertise from management, sociology, development studies, psychology, and other disciplines, the book examines the role that sport must play in areas such as health and well-being, poverty, education, gender equality, decent work, responsible consumption, and climate action. Representing a keynote work on the wider social responsibilities of sport as both an industry and sociocultural activity, this is essential reading for any advanced student or researcher working in sport development, sport management, sport sociology, event studies, development studies, or environmental studies, and for any development practitioner or sport management professional looking to understand how to achieve positive social change in and through sport.
This book explores the local environmental impact of sports stadiums, and how that impact can disproportionately affect communities of color. Offering a series of review articles and global case ...studies, it illustrates what happens when sport organizations and other public and private stakeholders fail to factor environmental justice into their planning and operations processes. It opens with an historical account of environmental justice research and of research into sport and the natural environment. It then offers a series of case studies from around the world, including the United States, Canada, Kenya, South Africa, and Taiwan. These case studies are organized around key elements of environmental justice such as water and air pollution, displacement and gentrification, soil contamination, and transportation accessibility. They illustrate how major sports stadiums have contributed positively or negatively (or both) to the environmental health of the compact neighborhoods that surround them, to citizens’ quality of life, and in particular to communities that have historically been subjected to unjust and inequitable environmental policy. Placing the issue of environmental justice front and center leads to a more complete understanding of the relationship between stadiums, the natural environment, and urban communities. Presenting new research with important implications for practice, this book is vital reading for anybody working in sport management, venue management, mega-event planning, environmental studies, sociology, geography, and urban and regional planning.
Stadium districts are almost always located in central cities. One exception, and the focus of this study, is Truist Park-Battery Atlanta, a $1.3-billion baseball stadium development that opened in a ...suburb outside Atlanta, Georgia, in 2017. Empirical material collected from 134 active voters was used to analyze the perceived impact of the stadium development on the region and consider whether public opinion in this case contrasted with questions traditionally raised in cities affected by urban stadium projects. Nineteen preliminary codes and six categories emerged from a combined approach to qualitative analysis. The primary themes were established a priori based on the goal of identifying both universal and regional attributes. The results provide evidence that public interest in stadium projects may transcend proximity to the urban core, thereby suggesting many-although not all-concerns are universal.
PurposeThis paper aims to explore what environmental justice (EJ) can offer to sport management research and highlights the urgency for sport management scholars interested in environmental and ...ecological issues to engage with EJ as an important research agenda.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is primarily a position and conceptual paper. Drawing from multidisciplinary literature (e.g. critical human geography, environmental sociology, Indigenous studies and postcolonial studies), it provides an overview of the major conceptualizations of EJ and discusses important premises for sport management researchers to engage with EJ topics.FindingsEJ offers opportunities for sport management researchers to form stronger analyses on existing racial, socio-economic, and gender-related inequities manifest in the sport industry. The incorporation of EJ can strengthen the emerging sport ecology research in sport management and offer opportunities for sport management researchers to form stronger analyses on existing racial, class and gender-related inequities manifest in the sport industry.Originality/valueIt provides a critical and original intervention to the sport management literature. EJ's emphasis on power and its position at the convergence of social movements, public policy, and scholarship hold important potential for sport management researchers to advance scholarship with “actions,” addressing environmental harms and seeking practical solutions for enhancing communities' well-being.
PurposeThe usage of sport stadia for public service is increasingly common and may come in different forms. In the COVID-19 pandemic, this included sport entities hosting mass COVID-19 vaccinations ...at their stadiums. The purpose of this study was to examine the branding effects of a COVID-19 mass vaccination center as communicated by (1) a sport entity (i.e. stadium and its two teams) and (2) the public.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyzed the entity's social media messages related to the mass vaccination center for the three groups, the stadium and its two sports team tenants (N = 48) while comparing the public's social media content about the vaccination center (N = 187). An empirical material coding analysis was conducted.FindingsThe sport entity's posts revealed 12 codes, five categories and two themes communicated about their brand: In this together–community impact and showcasing brand attributes. The public posts analysis revealed 21 codes, eight categories and four themes, creating brand awareness, establishing/reaffirming brand attributes, affective response and in this together–community response.Originality/valueThe identification of the two organization themes and four public themes provided an initial examination of the mass vaccination efforts' impact on the sport entity's brand. With the rise of stadia being utilized as public service venues (e.g. voting centers and disaster shelters), the results of the study can provide guidance to communicating the host team's brand during these times. Results also suggest the public perception of such service reflected positive opportunities for brand exposure and subsequent effects for the teams.
In this conceptual article, we seek to extend the domain of the conservation of resources (COR) theory to the collegiate student-athlete population in the context of academic-athletic role conflict ...and stress. Aside from reviewing the direct effects academic-athletic role conflict may have on psychological strain, this conceptual study also continues to build on the theory by proposing mediational pathways of role conflict, and the moderating effects of personal characteristics and social support on the stressor-strain relationship. Although this theoretical framework has been mainly applied in the work-family context, it could be proven useful in alleviating the pressures resulting from student-athletes' competing roles by providing stress-coping strategies. Focusing on addressing student-athletes' challenges in managing their college careers, the study provides a theoretical foundation for enhancing student-athletes' well-being and collegiate experiences. Implications for managerial practices and research are discussed.
Research question: Owners and architects face mounting pressure to incorporate environmentally sustainable features in new arenas, ballparks, and stadiums. In this study, we apply Rogers' ...diffusion-of-innovations framework to highlight the key influencers and factors contributing to the decision to adopt pro-environmental initiatives.
Research method: We conducted interviews with 13 senior architects whose portfolios collectively contained over 25 eco-friendly sport facilities spanning Europe, Australia, Africa, and North America. The facilities discussed were used for a variety of leagues and events, including FIFA World Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, college football and basketball, Major League Baseball (MLB), and the National Football League (NFL). The data were transcribed and analyzed following the open, axial, and selective coding sequence.
Results and findings: The results of the study indicated that owners and quasi-owners reviewing green facility proposals considered the input of several groups, including the design firms, the media, political leaders, environmental activists, and local citizens. According to interviewees, the primary incentives for owners and quasi-owners to adopt sustainable designs were economic savings over the life of the facility, perception-management opportunities, and demonstration of their innovativeness. Finally, facility designers predicted the diffusion of pro-environmental sport facilities would continue in the immediate future.
Implications: Innovation diffusion is driven by early adopters, who prioritize an innovation's relative advantage and compatibility over its complexity, lack of trialability, and lack of observability. Additionally, pro-environmental facilities are being used by organizations to demonstrate both environmental stewardship and their cultures of innovation. Future research should explore both the decision-making process and barriers to sustainable design adoption in further depth.
The natural environment is a central issue in both academic and wider societal discourse. The global sport industry is not immune from this discussion and has to confront its responsibility to reduce ...its impact on the natural environment. This book goes further than any other in surveying both the challenges and the opportunities presented to the sports industry as it engages with the sustainability agenda, exploring the various ways in which sport scholars can integrate sustainability into their research. With a multidisciplinary sweep, including management, sociology, law, events, and ethics, this is a ground-breaking book in the study of sport. Drawing on cutting-edge research, it includes over thirty chapters covering all the most important themes in contemporary sport studies such as: climate change, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility ethics, governance, and the law event management, tourism, and pollution marketing, branding, and consumer behavior the Olympics, urban development, and mega-event legacies. With contributions from world-leading researchers and practitioners from around the globe, this is the most comprehensive book ever published on sport and the environment.
PDF
