Sport and International Management: Exploring research synergy

• Date: 01 March 2021
• Author: Mike Szymanski,Fiona Lee,Richard A. Wolfe,Wade Danis,Marilyn A. Uy
• Published date: 01 March 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/tie.22139

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Sport and International Management: Exploring

research synergy

Mike Szymanski

1

| Richard A. Wolfe

2

| Wade Danis

3

| Fiona Lee

4

|

Marilyn A. Uy

5

1

EGADE Business School, Tecnologico de

Monterrey, Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

2

Executive Education Faculty, Ross School of

Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,

Michigan

3

Peter B. Gustavson School of Business,

University of Victoria, Victoria, British

Columbia, Canada

4

College of Literature, Science, and the Arts,

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

5

Nanyang Business School, Nanyang

Technological University, Singapore

Correspondence

Mike Szymanski, EGADE Business School,

Tecnologico de Monterrey, Avenida General

Ramón Corona 2514, Jardines del Valle, 45138

Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico.

Email: mikeszym@tec.mx

Abstract

The objective of this article is to indicate how international business (IB) research can

benefit from using sport as a research context. We present the rationale for studying

organizational phenomena within sport, with a focus on benefits specific to IB

research, and present examples wherein sport is used to study organizational phe-

nomena relevant to IB. Among the examples we present, we focus on the influence

of identity integration on performance of multinational teams, the influence of inter-

national experience on performance of multinational teams, and the influence of cul-

tural differences on emotions in organizations. We conclude with suggestions for

future research.

KEYWORDS

cross-cultural management, emotion, multiculturalism, multinational teams, sport

1|INTRODUCTION

On February 10, 2015, an English enterprise signed exclusive con-

tracts with two independent partners to distribute its product in the

United Kingdom and Ireland. The combined value of these two deals

amounted to over $7 billion USD (Gibson, 2015). A year later, the

same enterprise signed another contract, this time for global distribu-

tion rights, for $4.17 billion USD (Sweney, 2017). While the revenue

generated from these two contracts might be less than that of corpo-

rations on the Fortune Global 500 list, it is more than the gross

domestic products of Malta or Nicaragua. Interestingly, the enterprise

has witnessed 24 consecutive years of sales growth. More impor-

tantly from an international business (IB) perspective, over 120 million

consumers from more than 210 countries and territories consume its

product at least once a week (Sweney, 2017), and most are regulars,

consuming on a weekly basis. The enterprise described here is the

English Premier League (EPL), one of the most popular and financially

successful sport organizations on the planet.

The EPL is by no means the only sport organization generating

significant revenue. Over the last three decades or so, sport has

become a formidable global industry. In the U.S., the National Football

League generated over $13 billion USD in the 2016 season

(Belzer, 2016), while the Major League Baseball revenues during 2016

are estimated at almost $10 billion USD (Brown, 2016). The Interna-

tional Olympic Committee (IOC) (2016) assessed its revenues from

the 2016 Summer Olympics at $5.7 billion USD. FIFA, the interna-

tional governing body of association football, estimated the World

Cup 2014 revenues to be around $4.6 billion (FIFA, 2019). It is worth

noting that the revenue reported above refers to direct league

income, not including economic benefits to host nations and cities.

Undoubtedly, sport is a big business. Professional sport is also

becoming increasingly international and multicultural, both in terms of

active (athletes) and passive (spectators) participants. The last summer

Olympics, in 2016, involved over 11,000 athletes from 207 countries

competing for medals and global fame, as the games were watched by

over 9 million spectators attending the games in Rio de Janeiro and

over 900 million TV viewers (IOC, 2016). Two years later, The FIFA

World Cup final between France and Croatia in Moscow was watched

by over 78,000 in the stadium, 12 million TV viewers in the US alone,

and over a billion people worldwide. The 2019 Champions League

final in Madrid was broadcast to over 200 countries and watched by

over 300 million viewers. Moreover, the Champions League final,

between two English teams Tottenham and Liverpool was contested

by players from 18 nationalities, led by managers from Spain and

DOI: 10.1002/tie.22139

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