Case Study 1-1: Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future

What can we learn from historical investigations of todays sport organizations? For starters, we most certainly can learn to avoid the mistakes that sport managers made in the past. Granted, sport managers were products of their times, and often those times were neither inclusive nor forward thinking. In general, the sport industry has been slow to evolve and resistant to change and modernization. As this chapter pointed out, while some forward-thinking innovators such as Mark H. McCormack have played notable roles in advancing the industry, those individuals are exceptions to the rule.

The early business practices of professional sports leagues often relied on the guidance of people who were former players or coaches rather than people with strong business-based leadership experience. In addition, sport organizations have lagged behind in having a diverse front office workforce that reflects not just the athletes who compete, but society in general. This chapter described the development of several different sport systems, but there was a primary focus on the development of professional baseball, which produced North Americas first professional sports league, the National League. For purposes of this case study, choose one of the other major North American professional sports leagues (NBA, NFL, or NHL) and answer the questions that follow.

Please answer the following questions for Discussion:

6. A current example of a new league blending the different sporting structures is Athletes Unlimited. Athletes Unlimited follows what it calls an all-new model for pro athletes and sports. It is designed to be a player-centric league. How does this model fit within the models discussed previously? And how is this innovative model a response to various tensions evident in sport business history?

7. Sport history is full of the expected and unexpected, and full of change. Pick a league of your choosing and describe some of the changes you would make to the business model of the league. No change is too big or too smallbe innovative. How would your proposal help spur positive change for your league of choice?