Enhancing the goods of sport: conceptualizing metatheory of sport management
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Research question The purpose of this perspective article is to explore the predominant assumptions that underpin research and teaching in the sport management field, while pointing out a direction toward which we think the field should be heading.Research methods Our approach is guided by the few exemplary texts in our field that intend to conceptualize the phenomenon of sport and what it means to manage sport.Results and findings We find that the continuous development of sport management as a field of study results from four interconnected assumptions: The one-sided representation of sport as a product and business; the depiction of sport stakeholders (e.g. athletes, staff, officials) as objects, not subjects; the notion of the fan as a consumer as the critical target of those managing sport and a technical and managerialist approach to management. Guided by the principles of autonomy, solidarity and responsibility, and based on two meta-dimensions, external and internal good, we present a metatheory texture and four quadrants of sport output to provide a reference for critical dialogue of the position and impact of our scholarly outputs.Implications We conceptualize a meta-theoretical framework to direct further dialogue and development within the research community.
Institutions: Molde University College, Hamad bin Khalifa University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4403713573