ISSN: 1543-9518|Vol. 24

World Leisure: Enhancing the Human Condition

Submitted by: Christopher R. Edginton, Ph.D. – Secretary General – World Leisure Organization – Cedar Falls, Iowa USA

Abstract

Living in the 21st Century has created a new context for the organization of individual, community and national life wherein increasingly greater fulfillment through the provision of leisure services and amenities is sought. Without question, leisure is increasingly valued and central in the lifestyle of individuals. Today, people seek to live in hospitable settings that are alive with social, cultural and leisure opportunities, as well as ones that are ascetically pleasing and environmentally sustainable. Thus, it is evident that leisure is a major force in influencing the lives of individuals, communities and nations as they seek meaningful, relevant and satisfying life experiences.

Introduction

Leisure provides the means for individuals, communities and even nations to transform their quality of life and well being. As Edginton and Chen (2008, p. vii) wrote, “. . . leisure holds infinite possibilities for change. . . [and] . . . is an optimal medium for transformation.” As these authors have suggested, “. . . experiencing leisure is transformation in and of itself. Individuals change as they experience leisure” (ibid). Leisure can and does contribute in many ways to assisting individuals in enhancing the condition of their daily living. It is through leisure that one finds balance in their lives, as well as a temporal space and time for reflection, renewal and a rekindling of the human spirit.

The moral and philosophical foundation for our human rights is expressed in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (1948). This important social construct establishes a standard for all people throughout the world and defines the basic rights for all members of the human family. The most significant statement relevant to leisure is framed in Article 24 suggesting that each individual has “the right to rest and leisure including reasonable limitation of work hours and periodic holidays with pay “(1948). In addition, the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights encourages individuals in Article 27 “ . . .to freely participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.”(1948). A number of other U.N. documents also support the rights of individuals to leisure, especially those pertaining to children and women. The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child states “. . . the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts”(1989). In addition, the U.N. Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women Article 13 indicates “ . . . the right to participate in recreational activities sports and all aspects of cultural life” in an equitable fashion among men and women”(1979). The U.N. Principles for Older Persons Clause 16 notes that women “. . . should have access to the educational, cultural, spiritual and recreational resources of society”(1999).

The World Leisure Organization

The World Leisure Organization (WLO) is a major international professional membership organization which serves to promote and advance concerns related to leisure. Established as “. . . a world wide, non governmental voluntary organization, World Leisure is dedicated to discovering and fostering those conditions which permit leisure to serve as a force to optimize collective and individual well being” (2007). WLO was founded in 1952 and was known as the International Recreation Association. In 1973, the organization changed its name to the World Leisure and Recreation Association and in 2007 to its present title. Through its advocacy, research and educational programs and services, the organization seeks to promote leisure as being integral to social, cultural and economic development (ibid).

The goals of WLO are outlined in its strategic plan titled A World Fit For Living: World Leisure for People 2004-2008 (2003). During this time, WLO has committed its efforts to achieving results in four priority areas as follows: 1) heightening the awareness of leisure benefits; 2) improving policy and legislation; 3) strengthening leadership; and 4) expanding international cooperation (ibid, p. 7). WLO has worked over the span of the aforementioned strategic plan to achieve results in each of these areas. For example, to heighten the awareness of leisure benefits, a World Leisure EXPO was staged and the organization has worked hard to strengthen its interactions with the United Nations and UNESCO. One way that WLO has worked to improve policy and legislation, the organization sponsored a World Leisure High Level Forum held in Guangzhou, The Peoples Republic of China in 2006, focused on raising awareness of the importance of leisure amongst top policy makers in that country. Madam Wu Yi, Vice Premier of China, spoke to a select group of policy makers inside of The Peoples Republic of China along with the Chairman of the World Leisure Board of Directors, Dr. Derek Casey. We also have developed an extensive data base to disperse information on a world wide basis regarding leisure policies and best professional practices. WLO is working to strengthen leadership by developing new opportunities for educational institutions to affiliate with the organization. This past year, a request for proposal was offered to colleges and universities around the world to establish new World Leisure Centers of Excellence featuring post graduate educational programs. International cooperation has been facilitated by the establishment of a number of affiliation agreements and the staging of a World Leisure Summit focused on leisure and community development that will take place in Quebec City, Canada at the 10th World Leisure Congress.

Recently, WLO has worked to establish a new strategic planning initiative. This activity has helped to produce a new strategic planning document entitled Leisure: Enhancing the Human Condition – Priorities & Strategies 2009 – 2014 (2008). Building on the previous activity, this strategic planning initiative emphasized an overarching theme primarily focused on the United National Millennium Development Goals (MDG). WLO is now focusing its capacity and efforts to establish goals, priorities and action programs to guide and strengthen the organization and its efforts at enhancing collective and individual well being. Over the next several years, WLO will focus on improving, enhancing and informing professional practice by emphasizing leisure and its relationship to the concept of identity, the process of transformation and the ways in which it enhances the human condition.

World Leisure’s Organizational Framework

WLO is governed by a 20-member international board of directors. Annually, WLO seeks nominations for or from individuals who are interested in serving as members of this important governing body. The primary role of the members of the World Leisure Board of Directors is to set policy and direction for the organization including approval of program design to accomplish its mission. Individuals are elected to a three-year appointment and may be renewed for an additional three-year period of time. WLO’s Board of Directors includes individuals from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Mauritius, New Zealand, The People’s Republic of China, South Korea, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

There are various administrative positions, both paid and voluntary, that are responsible for carrying out the work of the organization. The Secretary General is the Chief Executive Officer of the organization and is responsible for the overall management and administration of the affairs of the organization in accordance with WLO’s Constitution and By-laws. The Secretary General is supported by Program Associate and a large number of Program Managers focused in the areas of educational services, marketing and promotions, commissions, chapters and affiliates, event management, international scholarship program, publications and representatives to the United Nations and UNESCO. In addition, each of the commissions operated by WLO is headed by a group leader who is responsible for planning, organizing and implementing programs and services offered by these groups.

World Leisure Programs and Services

WLO operates a wide array of programs and services available to its membership and to other interested individuals and parties. Although these programs and services are primarily designed for the membership of the organization, all who are interested in the activities of WLO are strongly encouraged to seek opportunities for involvement. Some of WLO’s programs and services include:

World Leisure Congresses

World Leisure Biennial Congresses is to bring together the membership of the organization for the purpose of gaining new information and insights as well as to provide opportunities for presentations, discussions and conversation regarding timely concepts, ideas, issues or concerns. The 10th World Leisure Congress will be held in Quebec City, Canada in October 2008 and the 11th World Leisure Congress will be hosted by Chuncheon City, Korea.

World Leisure Regional or Specialists Conferences

Such events, which are geographically limited to one or two regions, provide opportunities to focus on specialized topics of regionalized interest. For example, in 2005, a World Leisure Regional Conference focused on “Leisure and Young Immigrants” was held in Malmo, Sweden.

World Leisure Exhibitions and Trade Shows

Often coupled with World Leisure Congresses, Exhibitions and Trade Shows provide opportunities for participating individuals to view innovative products and services and/or bring greater attention to leisure. In 2006, WLO staged its 1st World Leisure EXPO in Hangzhou, The People’s Republic of China.

World Leisure Summits and Forums

Such activities are designed to promote greater interest in a specific concept, idea, issue and/or concern among policy makers, professionals and to the general public and often result in the creation and distribution of policy statements in the form of statement of principles, declarations, covenants, charters, conventions or other major pronouncements or publications. The Sao Paulo Declaration on Leisure and Globalization and WLO’s Charter for Leisure are two examples.

World Leisure Educational and Training Programs

WLO operates a wide variety of educational programs such as our international post graduate program at the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands. In addition, WLO sponsors the Asian Pacific Center for the Study of Leisure at Zhejiang University in The Peoples Republic of China.

World Leisure Commissions

Commissions are specialized bodies working to promote leisure concerns in specific areas including access and inclusion, children and youth, education, management, leisure in later life, law and policy, research, tourism and the environment, volunteerism and women and gender.

World Leisure Innovation Prize

The World Leisure Innovation Prize was established in 2006 and “. . . seeks to recognize organizations that have implemented creative solutions that foster local, national or international leisure opportunities for the benefit and development of individuals and communities” (2008). The award seeks to identify “. . . use of leisure as a creative solution to enhancing collectively the social, cultural, environmental, and economic quality of life in an area” (ibid). Currently, the award is sponsored by the Beijing Tonghe Times Tourism Research and Planning Institute.

World Leisure Journal

The World Leisure Journal is published on a quarterly basis and includes both basic and applied research. A refereed publication, World Leisure Journal provides a means of hard evidence to inform WLO’s advocacy role.

World Leisure International Scholarship Program

This program is designed to support students to attend and participate in World Leisure Congresses. Successful applicants are provided with an opportunity to participate in the Congress and gain a broader perspective of international leisure trends, issues, philosophies and problems.

World Leisure’s United Nations Partnership

WLO’s most prized partnership is the consultative status we are granted through the United Nations. WLO is developing several programs in support of the UN’s initiatives including a student internship program. We are engaged with the UN primarily through the Department of Public Information and their Non-governmental Organizational Conference (NGO/DPI).

World Leisure Chapters

The WLO Chapters program was established in 2001 to enable groups to associate with the organization and promote its goals on a local basis. The first WLO Chapter was established in Taipei, Taiwan. There are many benefits to this program including networking, unifying various segments of the leisure industry, aligning with the moral framework of the UN and creating opportunities to influence the world’s leisure movement.

World Leisure Affiliates

WLO works to aggressively link its activities with other aligned organizations. For example, WLO holds affiliate status with the World Tourism Organization, the International Council of Sports Science and Physical Education, Australia and New Zealand Association of Leisure Studies, and the American Leisure Academy.

Such programs and services provide numerous benefits to the WLO membership. In fact, there are many benefits to joining the World Leisure Organization including opportunities to network, to advocate and to be provided with relevant educational opportunities, communications and information.

Concluding Comments

WLO provides a framework and platform to assist individuals, communities and nations with their desire to increase the quality of life throughout the world. It is evident that leisure holds great promise for improving well being and fulfilling the dream of creating meaningful, relevant and satisfying life experiences. WLO’s vision and mission provides optimal opportunities which support the rights of all people to quality and accessible leisure experiences. Working with all sectors – government, non government and commercial – WLO seeks to assist in helping individuals, communities and nations to understand the benefits of leisure, acquire appropriate knowledge and skills required for full participation, remove the barriers or constraints to leisure and promote a cooperative spirit so that all may work together to advance quality of life concerns.

References

Edginton, C.R. & Chen, P. (2008). Leisure as Transformation. Champaign, Il: Sagamore.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (1989) Convention on the rights of the child. United Nations Department of Public Information. Retrieved June 13, 2008, from http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1948) Universal declaration of human rights. United Nations Department of Public Information. Retrieved June 13, 2008, from http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (1979). Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. Retrieved June 13, 2008, from http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/

United Nations Division for Social Policy and Development (1999). United Nations principles for older persons. Retrieved June 13, 2008, from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/iyop/iyoppop.htm#Principles

World Leisure. (2003). A world fit for living: World leisure priorities for people 2004-2008. Retrieved June 18, 2008, from http://www.worldleisure.org/about/priorities_for_people/priorities.html

World Leisure. (2007). Constitution of the world leisure organization. World Leisure Secretariat. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

World Leisure. (2008). Leisure: Enhancing the Human Condition – Priorities & Strategies 2009 – 2014. World Leisure Secretariat. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

World Leisure. World Leisure International Innovation Prize. Retrieved June 18, 2008 from http://www.worleleisure.org/innovation_prize.html.

2013-11-25T19:49:29-06:00July 10th, 2009|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off on World Leisure: Enhancing the Human Condition
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NCAA Website Coverage: Do Athletic Departments Provide Equitable Gender Coverage on Their Athletic Home Web Pages?

Submitted by: Coyte G. Cooper and Brandy D. Cooper – West Virginia University

Abstract

The purpose of the current research was to perform a content analysis on the gender coverage provided on intercollegiate athletic home Web pages. One of the primary reasons why the research is necessary is because it focuses on a not-for-profit media outlet with Title IX and ethical constraints due to the fact that the athletic departments are a part of their coinciding universities. Overall, when in comparison to the NCAA athlete and team independent standards, the results demonstrated that women were underrepresented in comparison to men within each of the units of measurement (e.g., advertisements, articles, multimedia, and photographs) presented within the study. The implications of the results are discussed further within the text. The data within the current study was collected from a dissertation that was performed by the author while attending Indiana University.

Keywords: intercollegiate athletic websites, gender coverage, college athletics

The Internet is a contemporary communication medium that provides sport organizations with the opportunity to communicate with both current and potential fan bases (Lombardo, 2007). In today’s realm of sports media, the Internet has become a major media source for fan consumption. Currently, there are hundreds of millions of Internet users worldwide, and the number of individuals accessing the World Wide Web increases at a rapid rate each year (Internet World Stats, 2007). Particularly, the Web has become a primary outlet for news consumption. While only four percent of the population went online to access news in 1995, today nearly 26% of the population accesses news content on the Web on a weekly basis (The Pew Research Center [TPRC], 2007). Furthermore, of the individuals accessing the Internet regularly, 46.5% claimed that sports were a primary entertainment source while browsing the Web (TPRC, 2007).

The mass consumption of sports news on the Internet alone makes it essential for scholars to focus on the sports coverage being provided on the Web. In addition to the growing interest, the Internet is also a unique medium, because it provides athletic teams and programs with an outlet to promote their product to fan segments. As a result, intercollegiate athletic programs have the ability to control the coverage being provided to each of their individual teams on their athletic home Web page. Thus, the athletic departments also have the unique opportunity to control the gender coverage being provided on their individual websites.

Since the athletic programs are part of their coinciding universities, the expectation would be that the athletic departments are providing equitable gender coverage on their websites due to Title IX constraints. Under Title IX, athletic institutions are required to provide women with equal opportunities within the general benefits and services program areas (Policy Interpretation, 2007). More specifically, in the “laundry list” of items stated under the third category of Title IX, athletic programs are expected to provide equitable promotions for women (National Association for Girls and Women in Sport [NAGWS], 2007). While the Internet coverage makes up only a portion of the promotional activities within the athletic department, it is still a viable concern when focusing on gender equity within college athletic programs. Furthermore, due to the fact that the universities are part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), you would expect that the gender coverage would be equitable from an ethical standpoint as well. The current research attempted to understand the coverage provided on intercollegiate athletic websites by examining the gender coverage provided during an academic school year.

Review of Related Literature

In today’s society, the media has a major influence on the beliefs of individuals residing within our culture (Duncan, Messner, Williams, & Jensen, 1994; Kane, 1988). In fact, Coakley (1998) explained that by ignoring certain aspects of female participation in sport, the sports media is essentially shaping the public’s opinion on the value of female sports. Cunningham, Sagas, Satore, Amsden, and Schellhase (2004) added that “if girls and women are not represented in an equitable fashion by the media, then girls are not afforded the necessary exemplars to emulate” (p. 861). Thus, as a result, there is a chance that the future participation in sports can suffer, and as a result Pedersen (2002) explained that “females can lose out on the benefits provided in sports that can help them develop both professional and personal skills” (p. 420).

When focusing on past gender studies within sports settings, research has shown that women receive inequitable coverage allocations within each of the media outlets examined (Bishop, 2003; Cunningham, 2003; Duncan & Sayaovong, 1990). Recently, scholars have indicated that a difference exists in the gender coverage provided within for-profit (Cuneen & Sidwell, 1998; Fink & Kensicki, 2002) and not-for-profit (Huffman, Tuggle, & Rosengard, 2004) media outlets. Sagas, Cunningham, Wigley, and Ashley (2000) explained that a primary difference in the two types of media outlets is that for-profit sources tend to cater to the wants and needs of their customers in order to remain profitable. Cunningham et al. (2004) added the following:

Given the dependence upon consumers and consumer preferences among for-profit media sources, an alternative approach is to study the representation of men and women in not-for-profit media outlets, such as university newspapers, athletic department Internet Web sites, and/or the NCAA News, a publication of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (p. 862).

The NCAA News is a not-for-profit media outlet that has received attention from scholars in past research. Overall, research within the publication has demonstrated more favorable results for women when in comparison to for-profit media outlets (Shifflet & Revelle, 1994). Cunningham et al. (2004) confirmed the improvement in gender coverage in not-for-profit media outlets when reporting that women received 42.4% of the article coverage and 39.7% of the photographic coverage within the publication. The coverage rates presented in the study represent two of the most favorable coverage allocations for women in any media outlet.
An additional emphasis in research on not-for-profit media outlets has been the examination of gender coverage in media outlets with campus affiliation. Outside of the previous studies on the NCAA News (Cunningham et al., 2004; Shifflet & Revelle, 1994), the research on media outlets with a campus affiliation has demonstrated some of the most favorable coverage rates for women within intercollegiate athletic settings (Wann, Schrader, Allison, & McGeorge, 1998). One of the primary reasons for the more favorable coverage rates for women is the influence of Title IX on publications with campus affiliation. Additionally, Huffman et al. (2004) explained the following:

Because student journalists working for campus media belong to a generation that grew up with Title IX and because they live in college communities that include male and female student athletes, these student journalists might be more likely than professional media practitioners to cover athletes in a way that results in gender equity (p. 480).

While the coverage allocations have improved for women within not-for-profit media outlets, research has demonstrated that women are not fully represented within the campus media sources. In an analysis of campus newspapers, Wann et al. (1998) found that women were underrepresented when in direct comparison to both the female participation and enrollment rates at each of the coinciding universities examined in the study. In a similar study, Huffman et al. (2004) reiterated the previous results when demonstrating women received 27.3% of the overall newspaper coverage. Thus, despite small improvements, the results confirm that women are not fully represented within campus newspapers.

Recent research has also extended the analysis of media outlets with campus affiliation by focusing on the gender coverage provided on intercollegiate athletic websites (Sagas, Cunningham, Wigley, & Ashley, 2000). Sagas, Cunningham, Wigley, and Ashley (2000) provided an initial analysis when concluding that women’s softball teams were not fairly represented when in comparison to men’s baseball teams. Additionally, in a follow-up study, Cunningham and Sagas (2002) again demonstrated that the women’s softball team received less coverage than the men’s baseball team. On a positive note, the study demonstrated no difference in the coverage provided to the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

The purpose of the current study was to analyze the overall gender coverage provided to each of the teams contained within athletic departments on intercollegiate athletic websites. An analysis of the overall gender coverage provided on intercollegiate sites to each of the teams in the athletic department is essential for a couple of key reasons. First, as shown in the review of literature, it is clear that there is a limited amount of research available on the gender coverage provided on intercollegiate athletic websites. Further analysis would be beneficial in building new information on the media outlet. Second, in the limited research available, scholars have focused solely on the comparison between two to four similar female and male sport teams. Thus, the analysis of the coverage provided to each of the various teams housed within a college athletic department would provide new insight into the overall gender coverage rates offered on intercollegiate athletic websites. As a result, the current research provides additional depth that is useful to the literature on sports media coverage. Through an analysis of past related studies, the following hypotheses were created to guide the current research:

(1) Women will receive significantly less total overall [1A, 1B, 1C, 1D] coverage on intercollegiate athletic home Web pages than men, when in comparison to coinciding NCAA athlete and team gender participation rates.
1A) Advertisement
1B) Article
1C) Multimedia
1D) Photographic

(2) Women will receive significantly less non-scroll [2A, 2B, 2C, 2D] coverage on intercollegiate athletic home Web pages than men, when in comparison to coinciding NCAA athlete and team gender participation rates.
2A) Advertisement
2B) Article
2C) Multimedia
2D) Photographic

Methodology

The current research was a content analysis of the gender coverage provided on intercollegiate athletic home Web pages over an academic year. Particularly, the current research involved the analysis of the following four units of measurement on each individual athletic home Web page: advertisements, articles, multimedia content, and photographs. The decision was made to include the four categories, because it offers an opportunity to segment the coverage being provided on the websites. Thus, there was an opportunity not only to understand the overall gender coverage, but also to understand the gender coverage within higher quality coverage areas. Due to the nature of websites, there was an opportunity to further segment the coverage due to the fact that the sites offer advertisements and multimedia content. The advertisement content was characterized by the block advertisements provided to individual teams on athletic websites. The multimedia content was characterized as the audio and video content dedicated to individual teams on the home Web pages.

Sample
The data were collected from 30 athletic home Web pages during an academic school year. The data collection process involved a random selection of 30 programs from the NCAA Division I-A database. The sampling frame selected for the analysis was the 2005-2006 academic school year. Particularly, the following stratified samples were chosen to obtain a sample representative of each sports season presented during the school year: fall (October – December), winter (January – March), and spring (April – June). As recommended by Riffe, Lacy, and Fico (2005), a one-week random sample was taken from each of the sports seasons. Thus, the study included an analysis of 630 home Web pages during the academic year.

Data Collection
The data collection process involved a series of protocol that were developed to ensure reliability in the study. In order to accurately assess the coverage within each unit of measurement, the following measures were created to guide the coders during the data collection process: gender, location, and square inch coverage. As recommended by Malec (1994), the gender measure only included female and male, and did not include the “combined” and “neither” categories. In addition, the current research utilized a location measure that identified the area of the Web page where the coverage occurred. Similar to the front page newspaper coverage examined by Pedersen (2002), the study examined the non-scroll coverage directly available upon immediate access to the media outlet. In this case, the coverage was coined as “non-scroll” coverage, and this was characterized by the unit of measurement coverage appearing on the website prior to scrolling down the webpage. When multiple rotating stories were presented, each of the storylines were collected and considered as non-scroll coverage.

Data Analysis
Upon the completion of the data collection, the data were combined and calculated for data analysis. In order to examine the gender coverage differences, the Chi Square test was utilized in order to analyze the coverage within each of the units of measurement. Riffe, Lacy, and Fico (2005) explained that the Chi Square test is the most common statistical method used in content analysis research. Additionally, as stated by Pedersen (2002), it is necessary to develop an independent standard in order to compare the results to the expected outcome. The current research utilized the same independent standards adopted by Cunningham et al. (2004) in their analysis of the NCAA News: (1) NCAA individual athlete gender participation rates, and (2) NCAA team gender participation rates. The NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report (NCAA Sports, 2006) was used to calculate both the percentage of athletes (women = 42.1%; men = 57.9%) and teams (women = 53.2%; men = 46.8%) participating in the NCAA. The rates were calculated according to the teams that were included in the study.

Results

Overall, the analysis of 630 intercollegiate athletic home Web pages produced 43,866 square inches for analysis. As shown in Table 1, the results demonstrated that the units of measurement each received the following square inch coverage allocations: advertisements (7,712 square inches), articles (19,311 square inches), multimedia (1,522 square inches), and photographic (15,321 square inches). Similarly, when focusing on location of the units of measurement, the results revealed that 57% of all of the coverage was considered non-scroll coverage. The results of the overall and non-scroll coverage for each of the units of measurement are presented in the following sections.

Table 1
Gender Coverage Allocations within the Four Units of Measurement

Gender Advertisement Article Multimedia Photograph
Men 5420(70.3%) 11587(60.0%) 1189(78.1%) 9240(60.3%)
Women 2292(29.7%) 7724(40.0%) 333(21.9%) 6081(39.7%)
Total 7712(100%) 19311(100%) 1522(100%) 15321(100%)

Note. Data in Square Inches and Percentages.

Article Coverage
The analysis of the article unit of measurement helped demonstrate the article coverage provided to women and men on intercollegiate athletic websites. In comparison to the other four units of measurement presented in the study, the results demonstrated that women received a slightly more favorable coverage allocation within the article unit of measurement. Overall, women received 40.0% of the total article coverage included in the study. Despite receiving a slightly higher coverage allocation, the Chi Square comparison (Table 3) revealed a significant difference than men when in comparison to the 42.1% female athlete participation rate (x² = 34.95, df 1, p < .05) and 53.2% female team participation rate (x² = 1351.86, df 1, p < .05).

Further analysis of the article unit of measurement demonstrated that women received a less favorable coverage allocation when focusing on the location of the coverage. In comparison to the number of female athletes active at the intercollegiate level, the results showed that the 36.4% non-scroll article coverage rate provided to women was significantly below the 63.6% coverage allocation offered to men (x² = 1351.86, df 1, p < .05). Similarly, when in comparison to team participation rates, the results illustrated that women were once again underrepresented when in comparison to men (x² = 868.57, df 1, p < .05).

Advertisement Coverage
In the analysis of the advertisement unit of measurement, the results demonstrated that women received 29.7% of all of the advertisement coverage included on the intercollegiate websites. In comparison, males received 70.3% of the overall advertisement coverage included during the study. As shown in Table 4, when in comparison to the overall female athlete (x² = 484.87, df 1, p < .05) and team participation rates (x² = 1707.68, df 1, p < .05), the advertisement allocation provided to women was significantly less than the advertisement coverage provided to men on the athletic sites.

Similar to the previous article unit of measurement, women received an even less favorable coverage allocation when focusing on the non-scroll advertisement coverage. In fact, the difference between the overall advertisement coverage and the non-scroll advertisement coverage represented an 8.8% decrease in coverage. When in comparison to athlete participation rates, the results confirmed that women received significantly less advertisement coverage in prime locations when in comparison to men (x² = 638.99, df 1, p < .05). Further analysis demonstrated that women were further underrepresented when in comparison to NCAA team participation rates (x² = 1452.13, df 1, p < .05).

Multimedia Coverage
Overall, when in comparison to the other units of measurement, the multimedia coverage area contained the least favorable coverage allocations for women. Particularly, as illustrated in Table 5, the investigation showed that the 21.9% multimedia coverage allocation provided to women was significantly less than the 78.1% coverage allocation provided to men (x² = 254.50, df 1, p <.05). Furthermore, when in comparison to team participation rates, the results demonstrated that women received slightly less favorable coverage allocations x² = 597.16, df 1, p < .05). Thus, women received even less coverage within units of measurement with a higher potential to influence fan consumption habits.

Similar to the article and advertisement coverage, the analysis of non-scroll multimedia coverage revealed a coverage allocation slightly below the 21.9% overall multimedia coverage rate provided to women. Overall, the Chi Square analysis helped determine that the 20.4% non-scroll multimedia coverage rate provided to women was significantly less the 79.6% coverage rate provided to men (x² = 164.56, df 1, p < .05). Similarly, the analysis also confirmed that females were severely underrepresented as well when in comparison to the NCAA team participation rates (x² = 367.64, df 1, p < .05).

Photographic Coverage
Overall, when in comparison to the other units of measurement, the photographic coverage area represented the second most favorable unit of measurement coverage for women. Despite demonstrating a more favorable coverage allocation, the 39.7% photographic coverage allocation provided to women was significantly lower than the 60.3% coverage allocation provided to men when in comparison to the individual athlete independent standard (x² = 36.5, df 1, p < .05). Similarly, the results also confirmed that women were underrepresented in comparison to men when focusing on the NCAA team coverage rates (x² = 1123.05, df 1, p < .05).

Despite still remaining underrepresented when in comparison to men (x² = 100.33, df 1,
p < .05), the 37.7% non-scroll photographic coverage allocation provided to women was the most favorable non-scroll unit of measurement rate provided to women during the investigation. While the coverage allocation is somewhat favorable, the results showed that females still received significantly less coverage than men when in comparison to the 53.2% female NCAA team participation rate (x² = 1248.36, df 1, p < .05). Thus, as a result, women received significantly less coverage than men in each of the units of measurement examined during the study.

Discussion

Similar to the study performed by Cunningham et al. (2004), the essential question when analyzing the gender results is to ask the question whether the glass is half full or whether the glass is half empty. In other words, the significance of the results provided to females within the study was dependent upon how you chose to interpret the data. On one hand, there was a unique opportunity to demonstrate a favorable response when the data were compared to past content analyses focusing on gender coverage in sports media outlets (Bishop, 2003; Fink & Kensicki, 2002). On the other hand, the results were not as promising when the data were compared to NCAA athlete and team gender participation rates (NCAA Sports, 2006). Depending on the area of focus, the glass could have either been half full or half empty.

A Revisited Perspective – Half Empty
An ideal starting point for analyzing the coverage allocations provided to women in the current study involved the direct comparison of results to present NCAA gender participation rates. When focusing on the comparison with NCAA athlete (42.1%) and team (53.2%) gender participation rates, the results revealed that the women were underrepresented in comparison to males in each of the units of measurement analyzed. In addition to the investigation of overall coverage allocation and units of measurement coverage allocations, the current research added depth by focusing on the coverage provided to women in prime website locations. Similar to a study performed by Pedersen (2002), the results of the study confirmed that women received slightly less favorable coverage allocations when focusing on the non-scroll coverage. Thus, the results confirmed that women received less attention than men in locations with more potential to reach fan segments.

In addition to the analysis of non-scroll coverage, the current research also provided additional insight by further segmenting the types of coverage offered on intercollegiate athletic websites. Overall, the segmentation provided the opportunity to examine the gender coverage being provided in the units of measurement with a higher potential to influence fan consumption habits. Thus, the lower coverage allocations within the advertisement (29.7%) and multimedia (21.9%) units of measurement for females is somewhat disappointing considering the coverage areas tend to draw more attention than your traditional article and photographic units of measurement.

The lack of coverage allocated to females on websites is a critical issue for a variety of different reasons. As illustrated by Cunningham et al. (2004), when females are not provided equitable coverage, then younger generations of athletes are not provided with role models to emulate. Thus, there is an opportunity that future participation interest in female sports will suffer because athletic departments are sending the message that female athletic teams are not important. Furthermore, with a potential lack of opportunities, females can lose out on important professional skills that are learned through participation in sports. In order to ensure that females are provided with an equal opportunity to succeed within intercollegiate athletics, athletic departments must provided equitable coverage allocations to female athletes.

A Varying Perspective – Half Full
An additional perspective on the gender coverage that was provided during the study is that the results were promising when in comparison to past content analyses on sports media outlets (Huffman et al., 2004). As previously mentioned, the results can potentially be seen as a step forward for women when judging them based upon past research focusing on for-profit media outlets. For example, when in comparison to the 10% of overall article and photographic coverage provided to women in Sports Illustrated (Fink & Kensicki, 2002), the article (40%) and photographic (39.7%) coverage provided to women in the current study helps demonstrate an overall improvement in the type of coverage being offered to female athletes.

An additional area of consideration when evaluating the results from the current study involves the direct comparison to content analyses examining not-for-profit media outlets (Sagas et al., 2004; Shifflet & Revelle, 1994). When in comparison to the not-for-profit media outlets, the results of the study are still somewhat promising. Overall, while the 40% article coverage rate is slightly lower than the allocation reported by Cunningham et al. (2004), the results confirmed an identical photographic coverage rate (39.7%) when in comparison to the previous study. Despite the fact that the article coverage is slightly lower than that which was reported by Cunningham et al. (2004), the results are still very promising considering the fact that the study focused on the coverage being provided on intercollegiate athletic websites. In contrast, the previous study by Cunningham et al. (2004) had focused on the gender coverage within the NCAA News. Thus, the results overall helped confirm that the glass seems to be half full due to the fact that women were being taken seriously within the not-for-profit intercollegiate athletic websites.

Conclusion

In future years, it is critical that minority groups of athletes receive an equal opportunity to succeed within intercollegiate athletic environments. In order to ensure equitable participation opportunities, athletic departments must monitor coverage on their home Web page to ensure that females are receiving fair coverage allocations. Particularly, there needs to be an emphasis on higher quality coverage areas to ensure that female sport teams are being provided with significant advertisement and multimedia content. Additionally, it is critical that females are provided with sufficient amounts of non-scroll coverage so that they are recognized as important entities to athletic programs in future years.

In addition to the previously addressed concerns, the gender coverage on intercollegiate athletic websites is also important for another crucial reason: the intercollegiate websites set gender coverage precedence for independent media outlets without NCAA affiliation. After all, when athletic departments provide inequitable gender coverage on their home websites, they are sending a message to independent media outlets that female sports participation is not important. As a result, independent media outlets such as Sports Illustrated and USA Today have even less incentive to cover female athletics in their publications. Thus, it is critical that athletic departments understand the importance of setting a positive precedence for independent media outlets.

In the future, it will be important that scholars continue to focus on the gender coverage being provided on intercollegiate athletic websites. A limitation of the current research is that it focused on the gender coverage on the websites during an academic year. In order to provide additional insight, future research should examine the gender coverage over a longer time frame to determine whether the coverage provided to females is improving over time. Additionally, scholars could also provide additional depth to the study by investigating the gender coverage provided during the summer months.

In addition to the investigation of intercollegiate athletic websites, future studies should also focus on identifying the gender coverage being provided on a variety of different sites featured on the Internet. For example, scholars could focus on the units of measurement coverage provided on conference websites to determine the message being sent by NCAA conferences. Furthermore, in addition to the gender coverage provided on sites with NCAA affiliation, future research should also examine the individual team coverage being provided on websites. The identification of individual team coverage not only provides data to alleviate gender inequalities, it offers an opportunity to understand the men’s nonrevenue teams receiving inequitable coverage allocations.

References

Bishop, R. (2003). Missing in action: Feature coverage of women’s sports in Sports Illustrated. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 27(2), 184-194.

Coakly, J. J. (1998). Sport in society: Issues and controversies. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Cuneen, J., & Sidwell, M. J. (1998). Gender portrayals in Sports Illustrated for kids advertisements: A content analysis of prominent and supporting models. Journal of Sport Management, 12(1), 39-50.

Cunningham, G. B. (2003). Media coverage of women’s sport: A new look at an old problem. Physical Educator, 60(2), 43-50.

Cunningham, G. B., & Sagas, M. (2002). Utilizing a different perspective: Brand equity and media coverage of intercollegiate athletics. International Sports Journal, 6, 134-145.

Cunningham, G. B., Sagas, M., Satore, M. L., Amsden, M. L., & Schellhase, A. (2004). Gender representation in the NCAA News: Is the glass half full or half empty? Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 50(11/12), 861-870.

Duncan, M. C., Messner, M. A., Williams, L., & Jensen, K. (1994). Gender stereotyping in television sports. In S. Birrell & C. L. Cole (Eds.), Women, culture, and sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Duncan, M. C., Messner, M. A., & Jensen, K. (1994). Gender stereotyping in televised sport: A follow-up to the 1989 study. Champaign Ill.: Human Kinetics. Retrieved May 8, 2007, from http://www.aafla.org/Publications/ResearchReports/ResearchReports3_.htm.

Duncan, M. C., & Sayaovong, A. (1990). Photographic images and gender in Sports Illustrated for kids. Play and Culture, 3, 91-116.

Fink, J., & Kensicki, L. (2002). An imperceptible difference: Visual and textual constructions of femininity in Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated for Women. Mass Communication & Society, 5(3), 317-339.

Huffman, S., Tuggle, C. A., & Rosengard, D. S. (2004). How campus media cover sports: The gender-equity issue, one generation later. Mass Communication & Society, 7(4), 475- 489.

Internet world stats: Usage and population statistics. (2007). Top 20 countries with the highest Internet users. Retrieved February 23, 2007, from the World Wide Web
http://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm

Kane, M. J. (1988). Media coverage of the female athlete before, during, and after Title IX: Sports Illustrated revisited. Journal of Sport Management, 2(2), 87-99.

Lombardo, J. (2007, March 5). Blazers first with social networking site. Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, 9(43), 3.

Malec, M. A. (1994). Gender (in) equity in the NCAA News? Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 18(4), 376-378.

NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report. (2006). The Online Resource for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Retrieved February 21, 2008, from http://www.ncaa.org/library/research/participation_rates/1982-2006/1982_2006_participation_rates.pdf

National Association for Girls and Women in Sport. (2007). Title IX – The law and its implications. Retrieved October 25, 2007, from http://www.aahperd.org/nagws/template.cfm?template=titleix/law.html

NCAA Members by Division. (2007). The Online Resource for the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved October 25, 2007, from http://web1.ncaa.org/onlineDir/exec/divisionListing

Pedersen, P. M. (2002). Investigating interscholastic equity on the sports page: A content analysis of high school athletics newspaper articles. Sociology of Sport Journal, 19(4), 419-432.

Policy interpretation: Title IX and intercollegiate athletics (2007). U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved October 25, 2007, from http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/t9interp.html.

Riffe, D., Lacy, S., & Fico, F. G. (2005). Analyzing media messages: Using quantitative content analysis in research (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Sagas, M., Cunningham, G. B., Wigley, B. J., & Ashley, F. B. (2000). Internet coverage of university softball and baseball websites: The inequity continues. Sociology of Sport Journal, 17, 198-205.

Shifflet , B., & Revelle, R. (1994). Equity revisited. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 18(4), 379-383.

The Internet news audience goes ordinary. (1999, January 14). Pew Research Center. Retrieved October 25, 2007, from http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=72

Title IX, Educational Amendments of 1972 (Title 20 U.S.C. Sections 1681-1688). (1972). U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved October 25, 2007, from
http://www.dol.gov/oasam/regs/statutes/titleix.htm

Wann, D. L., Schrader, M. P., Allison, J. A., & McGeorge, K. K. (1998). The inequitable newspaper coverage of men’s and women’s athletics at small, medium, and large universities. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 22(1), 79-87.

2016-04-01T09:42:22-05:00April 24th, 2009|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Management, Women and Sports|Comments Off on NCAA Website Coverage: Do Athletic Departments Provide Equitable Gender Coverage on Their Athletic Home Web Pages?
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Is Revenue Sharing Working for Major League Baseball? A Historical Perspective

Submitted by: Michael R. Elanjian and Dessislava A. Pachamanova – Babson College

Abstract

This article attempts to evaluate whether the system of revenue sharing in Major League Baseball since 2000 (after the Blue Ribbon Panel report) has had a statistically significant effect on team revenues, payroll, attendance, and performance. Analysis of data for two distinct time periods, 1995-2000 and 2001-2007, suggests that since the adoption of the current revenue sharing system (1) the ratio of the highest to lowest team revenue has decreased; (2) the marginal effect of revenue on performance as measured by percentage of wins during the regular season has improved in a way that has benefitted lower-revenue teams; (3) the payroll expenditures of the lowest revenue quartile teams have increased significantly; and (4) attendance levels for the lowest revenue quartile teams have increased slightly. Historical trend analysis suggests, however, that the system is working slowly.
(more…)

2016-10-12T14:59:55-05:00April 24th, 2009|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off on Is Revenue Sharing Working for Major League Baseball? A Historical Perspective
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Strategic Planning in University Athletic Departments in the United Kingdom

Submitted by: Thanos Kriemadis – University of Peloponnese

Abstract

The study’s purposes were to (a) determine the extent to which university athletic departments in the United Kingdom use strategic planning, (b) identify key factors discouraging strategic planning, and (c) examine relationships between use of strategic planning and the variables university size and athletic director’s background. Of athletic departments studied, 59.5% were strategic planners that wrote long-range plans, assessed external and internal environments, and based strategies on department mission and objectives. The remaining 40.5% were nonstrategic planners using just some components of the strategic planning process, as either users of short-range written plans and budgets, for the current fiscal period; users of unwritten short-range plans maintained in an administrator’s memory (intuitive planners); or users of no measurable planning procedures.

Keywords: planning, strategic planning, strategy, university athletic departments

Private and public organizations today use a structured planning process to select appropriate long-term objectives and develop means to achieve these objectives (Christensen, Berg, Salter, & Stevenson, 1985; Elkin, 2007; Mintzberg, Lampel, Quinn, & Ghoshal, 2003; Wheelen & Hunger, 2008). The business sector of society has long recognized that continued profitability requires maintaining a strategic fit between organizational goals and capabilities and changing societal and economic conditions. As its environment changed, the business sector developed planning systems which made possible coordinated and effective responses to increasing unpredictability, novelty, and complexity (Ansoff, 1984). Strategic thought and practice generated in the private sector can also help public and nonprofit organizations anticipate and respond effectively to their dramatically changing environments (Bank, 1992; Bryson, 1988; David, 1989; Duncan, 1990; Espy, 1988; Laycock, 1990; Medley, 1988; Nelson, 1990; Robinson, 1992; Wilson, 1990).

Today’s colleges and universities have experienced rapid change. Educational administrators are confronted with changes associated with aging facilities, changing technology, changing demographics, increasing competition, rising costs, funding cuts, and so on. The educational sector has begun to recognize that strategic planning is necessary in order to maintain responsiveness to the rapidly changing environment (Agwu, 1992; Busler, 1992; Hall, 1994; Williams, 1992). Since athletic programs are so much a part of colleges and universities, athletic departments face the same problems as do the institutions to which they belong. If athletic departments are to respond well to change, they must anticipate it and adapt programs and resources to meet their mission and objectives in new situations (Bucher, 1987; Kriemadis, Emery, & Puronaho, 2001). Strategic planning may help athletic departments do this and may further point them to the strategies necessary to achieve their missions and objectives (Dyson, Manning, Sutton, & Migliore, 1989; Ensor, 1988; Gerson, 1989; Kriemadis, 1997; Smith, 1985; Sutton & Migliore, 1988).
Duncan (1990) stated that strategic planning is a method of decision making developed in the private sector that has been adopted by public sector organizations. Proponents of strategic planning argue that traditional long-range planning fails in the contemporary world, and strategic planning is now the powerful tool for organizations to cope with an uncertain future.

The service sector today includes a growing nonprofit segment, including social services, schools and universities, research organizations, sports organizations, religious orders, parks, museums, and charities. Strategic planning is earning its place in the management systems of service businesses (Kriemadis, 1997; Kriemadis et al., 2001; Sutton & Migliore, 1988; Wilson, 1990). Pearce and Robinson (1985) have argued that strategic planning consists of the following steps:

1. Determining the culture, policies, values, vision, mission, and long-term objectives of the organization.
2. Performing external environmental assessment to identify key opportunities and threats.
3. Performing internal environmental assessment to identify key strengths and weaknesses.
4. Developing long-range strategies to achieve the organization’s mission and objectives.
5. Establishing short-range objectives and strategies to achieve the organization’s long-range objectives and strategies, a process called strategy implementation.
6. Periodically measuring and evaluating performance, a review known as strategy evaluation.

Steps 1–4 together are referred to as strategy formulation.
A number of authors (Ansoff & McDonell, 1990; Barry, 1986; Bryson, Freeman, & Roering, 1986; Bryson, Van de Ven, & Roering, 1987; Elkin, 2007; Kotler, 1988; Mintzberg et al., 2003; Rowe, Mason, Dickel, & Snyder, 1989; Steiner, 1979; Wheelen & Hunger, 2008) argue that, in turbulent environments, strategic planning can help organizations to

  • think strategically and develop effective strategies
  • clarify future direction
  • establish priorities
  • develop a coherent and defensible basis for decision making
  • improve organizational performance
  • deal effectively with rapidly changing circumstances
  • anticipate future problems and opportunities
  • build teamwork and expertise
  • provide employees with clear objectives and directions for the future of the organization and increase employee motivation and satisfaction

Wheelen and Hunger (2008) and Newman and Wallender (1987) stated that basic management concepts should be applied to both profit and nonprofit organizations. The present study is useful in extending the basic management concept of strategic planning to university athletics. It may help athletic administrators to further their understanding of the strategic planning process in their respective athletic departments.

Management of University Athletic Departments in the U.K.

Both the nature and context of sports programs in the United Kingdom—and specifically of sports in higher education there—have changed in unprecedented ways in the last decade. For instance, public income per student has declined by 40% in real terms, and universities have responded by rapidly expanding student numbers and developing alternative income-generation activities involving nongovernmental sources (Lubacz, 1999).

Sports in the university sector in the U.K. has historically been managed by each university’s athletic union, a largely student-run body attached to the student union. The role of the athletic union, the fact that students belonging to it are untrained, and the voluntary nature of athletic union offices (filled annually by election) have rendered management of university sports largely ineffective, strategic planning virtually nonexistent. But sports’ profile has increased considerably, as has the value attached to sports. Many universities in the U.K. have already recognized that by managing their sports programs more effectively, fully endorsing a corporate-type strategy within their athletic departments, they should be able to develop new opportunities at local, regional, national, and even international levels. To establish a rationally planned and coordinated approach to sports, many universities have introduced relatively formal sports management structures. These have often involved full-time paid positions emerging from either academic departments, central services, or, more directly, from a university’s student union.

Because the scale and scope of such developments in university athletic departments over the last five years have varied widely, university sports in the U.K. now involves many diverse approaches to management. At one extreme, some universities still feature programs run entirely by students for students. At the opposite end of the continuum, some universities have recently created institutes of sports that are separate cost centers employing up to 20 staff members or more. Such institutes of sports aim to fully realize roles that may include (a) encouraging and supporting sports participation by students and staff, (b) establishing the university’s place as a center of excellence in sports, (c) managing the university’s sports facilities, programs, and events, and (d) organizing short courses, seminars, conferences, research, consultancy, and publications that reflect both university expertise and strong international, European, and regional links enjoyed by the university (Ilam, 1999).

Thus the functions of university sports and the nature of university sports programs are now considerable in some cases, much broader than campus athletic clubs and student competitions. Stakeholders can include internal and external clientele: participants, spectators, coaches, administrators, sponsors. Sports products and services can relate to anything from merchandising to organizing short courses; from national athlete awards to requirements of degree study in sports-related areas. University sports facilities can be used for a variety of leisure purposes over all 52 weeks of a year, and the meaning of recreational sports can extend to providing personalized health fitness programs. Consequently, within higher education, sports has a growing, diversifying audience, only one part of which is involved with competitive performance. Many universities have positioned themselves accordingly, establishing the balance and management practices to meet new needs.

Where universities and their students wish to compete against one another, either nationally or internationally, they must become institutional members of the British Universities Sports Association (BUSA). This voluntary association has its origins in the first intervarsity athletic meeting between nine institutions from England and Wales, held in 1919. Since that time, membership eligibility has been limited to U.K. institutions of higher education, but in 1999 BUSA had 148 members and some 200,000 students participating in nationally organized championships in 43 different sports (BUSA, 1999).

The present study addressed two research questions: (a) To what extent do university athletic departments in the United Kingdom use the basic management tool of strategic planning? and (b) What are the key factors discouraging athletic departments’ use of strategic planning? In addition, the study tested the following two hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1. The extent to which strategic planning is used by the athletic department of a U.K. university is independent of the university’s size.
Hypothesis 2. The extent to which strategic planning is used by the athletic department of a U.K. university is independent of the background of the university’s athletic director.

Method

Population
The population for the present study consisted of 101 of the 148 institutional members of the British Universities Sports Association (BUSA). The 101 BUSA members studied represented all U.K. universities that had participated in more than 10 sports competitions during 1999 and that furthermore employed a full-time coordinator of sports. These criteria were established in order to ensure participation by sports planning units large enough to pursue the kind of strategic planning under investigation. Surveys were sent to the athletic departments of the 101 BUSA members. Out of these, 37 responded (37% response rate). Nonrespondents’ characteristics did not appear to follow a pattern of geographical location or institutional size. This fact, combined with the response rate, suggests that results of the study can be generalized to the target population.

Instrument
Data describing the 37 participating athletic departments’ strategic planning practices were collected using a questionnaire developed by the author and validated by a panel of experts in strategic planning, higher education, management, and sports management. The reliability of the survey instrument was determined via Cronbach’s alpha (a); all alpha coefficients were within acceptable ranges for comparable instruments (Nunnally, 1967). Coefficients for each subdimension were as follows: general planning factors, a = .67; external factors, a = .89; internal factors, a = .87; constraint factors, a = .82; type of plan factors, a = .74; short- and long-range plans factors, a = .68. A pilot study was also conducted, and recommended improvements were incorporated in the final research instrument.

Results

Data from the survey instrument showed that 75.7% of the responding athletic departments have developed a vision statement, and more than 90% have developed a mission statement, conducted a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of the internal and external environment, and developed long-range and short-range plans (Table 1). In addition, 73% of the surveyed athletic departments reported that they evaluate the performance of their planning process, while 78.4% reported that they evaluate the performance of the athletic department.

Table 1
Activities Included in Surveyed Athletic Departments’ Current Planning Processes

Item Frequency Percentage
Vision statement
Yes 28 75.7
No 9 24.3
Mission statement
Yes 35 94.6
No 2 5.4
Evaluation of strengths and weaknesses
Yes 34 91.9
No 3 8.1
Evaluations of opportunities and threats
Yes 34 91.9
No 3 8.1
Formulation of goals and objectives
Yes 35 94.6
No 2 5.4
Formulation of long-range plans
Yes 35 94.6
No 2 5.4
Formulation of short-range plans
Yes 35 94.6
No 2 5.4
Formulation of planning process
Yes 27 73
No 10 27
Performance Evaluation
Yes 29 78.4
No 8 21.6

However, the percentage fitting all three criteria specified to indicate authentic strategic planning was smaller, only 59.5% (Table 2). The three criteria are (a) the formalization of long-range written plans; (b) the assessment of the external and internal environments; and (c) the establishment of strategies based on a departmental mission and objectives. The remaining 40.5% of the surveyed athletic departments were identified as nonstrategic planners not meeting the three criteria, although they may have indicated that they did pursue some components of the strategic planning process. Athletic departments in the nonstrategic planner group were excluded from the present analysis, because their planning endeavors represented the use of only short-range written plans and budgets, for the current fiscal period; or the use of only unwritten short-range plans maintained in an administrator’s memory (intuitive planners); or no use of measurable planning procedures at all.

Table 2
Surveyed Athletic Departments’ Level of Planning

Type of Plan Used Frequency Percentage
Structured long-range plan 22 59.5
Operational plan 11 29.7
Intuitive plan 3 8.1
Unstructured plan 1 2.7

The study found that at least 50% of the responding athletic departments reported that they weighed three external factors—competition, community opinion, and government legislation—to a “very great or great” extent when formulating their plans (Table 3). In addition, at least 78.3% of the responding athletic departments reported that they weighed three internal factors—financial performance, adequacy of facilities, and department staff performance—to a “very great or great” extent when formulating plans (Table 4). The study also found that at least 75.7% of the responding departments considered financial plans and human resource plans to a “very great or great” extent during their planning activities (Table 5).

Table 3
Frequency and (Percentage) of External Factors Considered to Three Different Extents by Athletic Departments During Plan Formulation, in Descending Order of Consideration

External Factor Very Little or Little Some Very Great or Great
Competition 4(10.8) 10(27.0) 23(62.1)
Community opinion 7(19.0) 12(32.4) 18(48.6)
Government legislation 10(27.0) 9(24.3) 18(48.6)
Economic/tax 10(27.0) 12(32.4) 15(40.5)
BUSA trends 10(27.0) 13(35.1) 14(37.8)
Demographic trends 4(10.8) 20(54.1) 13(35.1)
Political trends 17(47.9) 14(37.8) 6(16.2)
Spectators 22(59.4) 14(37.8) 1(2.8)

aCorresponding Likert-type scale self-measures: 1 (very little), 2 (little), 3 (some), 4 (great), 5 (very great).

Table 4
Frequency and (Percentage) of Internal Factors Considered to Three Different Extents by Athletic Departments During Planning Process, in Descending Order of Consideration

Internal Factor Very Little or Little Some Very Great or Great
Financial performance – 2(5.4) 35(94.6)
Adequacy of facilities 1(2.7) 3(8.1) 33(89.2)
Staff performance 3(8.1) 5(13.5) 29(78.3)
Athletic performance 4(10.8) 12(32.4) 21(56.7)
Coaches’ opinion 6(16.2) 16(43.2) 15(40.5)

aCorresponding Likert-type scale self-measures: 1 (very little), 2 (little), 3 (some), 4 (great), 5 (very great).

Table 5
Frequency and (Percentage) for Management Factors Incorporated to Three Different Extents by Athletic Departments During Planning Activities, in Descending Order of Consideration

Management Factor Very Little or Little Some Very Great or Great
Financial plan 2(5.4) 3(8.1) 32(86.5)
Human resource plan 3(8.1) 6(16.2) 28(75.7)
Facilities master plan 2(5.4) 10(27.0) 25(67.5)
Marketing plan 9(24.3) 11(29.7) 17(45.9)
Contingency plan 17(45.9) 13(35.1) 7(18.9)

aCorresponding Likert-type scale self-measures: 1 (very little), 2 (little), 3 (some), 4 (great), 5 (very great).

What are the key factors that discourage UK university athletic departments from engaging in strategic planning activities? Insufficient financial resources and time were identified by this study as factors that, to a “very great or great” extent, discourage 35% or more of the athletic departments from engaging in strategic planning activities.

Table 6
Frequency and (Percentage) for Factors Discouraging Athletic Departments from Strategic Planning, to Three Different Extents (in Descending Order of Influence)

Discouraging Factor Very Little or Little Some Very Great or Great
Insufficient financial resources 8(21.6) 12(32.4) 17(45.9)
Insufficient time 15(40.5) 9(24.3) 13(35.1)
Insufficient training in planning 20(54.0) 12(32.4) 5(13.5)
Inadequate communication 23(62.1) 9(24.3) 5(13.5)
Staff’s resistance 27(72.9) 5(13.5) 5(13.5)
Lack of a planning policy 27(72.9) 5(13.5) 5(13.5)
Planning is not valued 30(81.1) 5(13.5) 2(5.4)

aCorresponding Likert-type scale self-measures: 1 (very little), 2 (little), 3 (some), 4 (great), 5 (very great).

Both hypotheses tested by the study were supported. Chi-square analysis X2(2, N=37)=2,811, p=0,245 showed that the extent to which an athletic department uses strategic planning is indeed independent of the size of the university. No significant relationship was found between the extent of strategic planning and university size (p = 0.57). Similarly, Chi-square analysis X2(3, N=37)=7,192, p=0,66 showed that the extent to which strategic planning is used by athletic departments is independent of their athletic directors’ backgrounds. No significant relationship was found between the extent of strategic planning and the background of athletic directors (p = 0.35).

Discussion, Implications, Recommendations

In this study of member institutions in the British Universities Sports Association, more than 75% of responding athletic departments indicated that they were involved in such strategic planning activities as developing a vision statement, developing a mission statement, formulating goals and objectives, establishing short- and long-term strategies, and developing plan and performance evaluation procedures. However, only 59.5% of the sample could be classified as practicing authentic strategic planning, defined here as participation in three specific things: the formalizing of long-range written plans, the assessing of the external and internal environments, and the establishing of strategies based on departmental mission and objectives. With more than 40% of the athletic departments practicing either nonstrategic planning or no planning, the need clearly exists to outline formal strategic-planning committees, processes, and systems for these departments’ better management.

According to Harvey (1982), a strategic plan is developed in order to gain or maintain a position of advantage relative to one’s competitors. Following the development of the strategic plan, its implementation becomes critical. The present study did not rigorously assess such implementation, and it remains to be determined whether athletic departments that can be identified as strategic planners are also actual implementers of their strategic plans. Such knowledge would be useful for decisions about committing athletic department resources to reach desired objectives.

The present study did provide evidence that whether and how much a university athletic department engages in strategic planning is unrelated to the size of the university. David (1989) noted that small firms pursue a less formal kind of strategic planning than large firms do. Despite this study’s first hypothesis, then, it was a surprise to this author that large universities’ and small ones’ athletic departments generally pursue strategic planning and a strategic approach to decision making in rather similar fashion.

Evidence was also provided by the study suggesting that the extent of strategic planning carried out by the athletic departments is unrelated to athletic directors’ backgrounds. Some of the athletic directors who participated in the survey had private-sector work experience. Nevertheless, either knowledge of and experience with strategic planning was not transferred to the university environment, or such knowledge and experience had not been a meaningful part of the private-sector background. Failure to transfer knowledge and experience may, however, be attributable in some cases to athletic department decision makers’ lack of access to financial and human resources. Alternatively, it could be that some university administrations do not encourage formulation and implementation of strategic plans.
The findings presented above have implications for the development and use of the strategic planning process in athletic departments. First, since the most significant constraints on strategic planning, according to the survey, were insufficient financial resources and insufficient time, athletic departments need to recognize, and then to remove, these constraints if they are to enjoy the benefits of an implemented strategic plan. Second, if athletic departments are to respond to the scientific literature by accepting strategic planning as an important administrative responsibility, then departments must address a third significant constraint, insufficient training and experience in strategic planning procedures. They can do so by providing staff with strategic-planning educational opportunities. Programs meant to develop skills like human relations, analytical thinking, time management, and participatory decision making can greatly assist athletic departments in preparing to carry out the strategic planning process. In taking these two steps, athletic departments will encourage the perception of strategic planning as one of the primary responsibilities of management—not an auxiliary task.

The literature about strategic planning in intercollegiate athletics remains limited for now, even though interest in the topic appears to be growing. Further studies are needed, and the present study’s findings indicate that some of these future investigations might take up the following:

Three to five years from now, a follow-up study with the same sample of BUSA member institutions should seek out any changes in the way the university athletic departments are using the strategic planning process.

Also, further investigation with the same population might assess the extent of strategic planning from a qualitative perspective, one concerned with data from interviews, observation, and the study of official documents. Through observation and interview, for example, such issues as the membership of a strategic planning committee, the type of data applied to strategic planning, the methods by which those data were obtained, the leadership behavior involved in strategic planning, and resistance encountered to strategic planning could all be addressed in detail. Through study of official documents, researchers might gauge the extent to which documents reflect strategic issues like the assessment of external and internal environments.

Another useful investigation might be the evaluation of the relationship between how extensive the strategic planning activities of an athletic department are and the financial performance or productivity of the department. Such a study would require establishing appropriate measures of financial performance or productivity. An example would be the percentage of self-generated, not university-provided, revenue (e.g., sponsorships, concessions, ticket sales); or alternatively, the national performance of the total athletic program provided by the department.

Finally, future research should be undertaken to establish a valid, reliable strategic planning survey instrument for use in any United Kingdom university athletic department to evaluate the quantity and quality of its ongoing strategic planning activities, as well as the quality of the implementation of strategic plans it has previously developed.

References

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Ansoff, H. I., & McDonnell, E. (1990). Implanting strategic management (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bank, B. (1992). Strategic management in nonprofit art organizations: An analysis of current practice. Dissertation Abstracts International, 32(01), 454A. (UMI No. AAC 1353924)

Barry, B. W. (1986). Strategic planning workbook for nonprofit organizations. St. Paul, MN: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.

British Universities Sports Association. (1999). Report of the working party of the National Competition Sport Committee: Review of sporting offer 1998/9. London.

Bryson, J. M. (1988). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bryson, J. M., Freeman, R. E., & Roering, W. D. (1986). Strategic planning in the public sector: Approaches and directions. In B. Checkoway (Ed.), Strategic perspectives on planning practice (pp.157). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.

Bryson, J. M., Van de Ven, A. H., & Roering, W. D. (1987). Strategic planning and revitalization of the public service. In R. Denhardt & E. Jennings (Eds.), Toward a new public service (pp. 163). Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.

Bucher, C. A. (1987). Management of physical education and athletic programs (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Times Mirror/Mosby College.

Busler, B. (1992). The role of strategic planning and its effect on decision making in Wisconsin public schools. Dissertation Abstracts International, 53(07), 514A. (UMI No. AAC 9223867)

Christensen, C., Berg, N., Salter, M., & Stevenson, H. (1985). Policy formulation and administration (8th ed.). Homewood, IL: Irwin.
David, F. (1989). Strategic management. Columbus, OH: Merrill.

Duncan, H. (1990). Strategic planning theory today. Optimum: The Journal of Public Sector Management, 20(4), 63–74.

Dyson, D., Manning, M., Sutton, W., & Migliore, H. (1989, May). The effect and usage of strategic planning in intercollegiate athletic departments in American colleges and universities. Paper presented at the meeting of the North American Society for Sport Management, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Elkin, P. M. (2007). Mastering business planning and strategy (2nd ed.). London: Thorogood.

Ensor, R. (1988, September). Writing a strategic sports marketing plan. Athletic Business, p. 48-50.

Espy, S. N. (1988). Creating a firm foundation. Nonprofit World, 6(5), 23–24.

Gerson, R. (1989). Marketing health/fitness services. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Hall, G. (1994). Strategic planning: A case study of behavioral influences in the administrative decisions of middle managers in small independent colleges.
Dissertation Abstracts International, 55(11), 745A. (UMI No. AAC 9510480)

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Kotler, P. (1988). Marketing management: Analysis, planning, implementation, and control (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Kriemadis, A. (1997). Strategic planning in higher education athletic departments. International Journal of Educational Management, 11(6), 238–247.

Kriemadis, A., Emery, P., & Puronaho, K. (2001). Strategic planning in United Kingdom university athletic departments. Proceedings of the European Association for Sport Management, Spain, September.

Laycock, D. K. (1990). Are you ready for strategic planning? Nonprofit World, 8(5), 25–27.

Lubacz, P. (1999). Counting the cost. Durham First, 9. University of Durham.

Medley, G. I. (1988). Strategic planning for the World Wildlife Fund. Long Range Planning, 21(1), 46–54.

Mintzberg, H., Lampel, J., Quinn, J., & Ghoshal, S. (2003). The strategy process: Concepts, contexts, cases (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Nelson, R. S. (1990). Planning by a nonprofit should be very businesslike. Nonprofit World, 8(6), 24–27.

Newman, W. H., & Wallender, H. W. (1987). Managing not-for-profit enterprises. Academy of Management Review, 3(1), 24–31.

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Robinson, J. (1992). Strategic planning processes used by not-for-profit community social service organizations and a recommended strategic planning approach. Dissertation Abstracts International, 53(11), 454A. (UMI No. AAC 9302958)

Rowe, A. J., Mason, R. O., Dickel, K. E., & Snyder, N. H. (1989). Strategic management: A methodological approach (3rd ed.). New York: Addison-Wesley.

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2013-11-25T19:52:16-06:00April 24th, 2009|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Facilities|Comments Off on Strategic Planning in University Athletic Departments in the United Kingdom
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Is That a Real LeBron Ball? RFID and Sports Memorabilia

Submitted by: David C. Wyld – Southeastern Louisiana University

Abstract

The sports memorabilia marketplace today is a multibillion-dollar, global market. However, it is fraught with hazards, due to the large percentage of counterfeit memorabilia, which some estimates peg at 90% of all items on the market. This article overviews the sports memorabilia market and the growing problem of counterfeit items. Then, it examines the prospect for radio frequency identification (RFID) to be used to provide a verifiable chain of custody for articles of sports memorabilia – from the point the item is signed through all subsequent transfers. The article concludes with an analysis of the implications of the introduction of such track and trace authentication technology into this fragmented marketplace and the benefits for all parties involved in sports collectibles.

Keywords: radio frequency identification, chain of custody, authentication, sports memorabilia

Introduction

Autograph seekers. They are a part of every professional – and often amateur – athlete’s life. They are a fixture at sports teams’ training camps, host hotels and stadiums, and anywhere these signature collectors know that athletes will have to pass through on their way to or from an event. They also are a part of the well-known athlete’s every move, as autograph seekers can make it uncomfortable, even impossible, for athletes and their families to enjoy a meal in public or a trip to an amusement park. Many of these autograph hunters are kids, looking to get that one autograph of the professional baseball or football star they admire–the one whose poster they have hanging over their bed. Some of the signature hounds are adults, looking to have literally any athlete they can find sign any team item such as a ball, a bat, a helmet, a jersey, a game program, or so forth, in order to turn an ordinary item into a collectible.

The motivation of many of these autograph seekers is indeed innocent, hoping to have a memento of their favorite athlete or sports team for their wall or mantle. The kid who admires his or her favorite sports star, whether it’s Tiger Woods, Brett Favre, Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez, or David Beckham, can have a lasting memory not just from the signed item but from their brief encounter with a sports legend. All too often however, the motive for the autograph seeker is money. Indeed, the chance is there to cash-in on an athlete’s celebrity, and the players and their teams know it. The worst of the lot are grown-ups who hire children to seek out star’s autographs on a paid basis; they work on the premise that the “cute kid factor” might entice the sports star to stop and sign an item for a 9-year-old child that they wouldn’t for a 40-year-old man. As Baseball Hall of Famer Robin Yount commented, “There is money to be made out there on autographs, (and) you see more people doing it these days for that reason — the business end of it” (Olson, 2006, n.p.).

Yet, the real truth of the matter is that while a signed article can be a point of personal pride, even perhaps a family heirloom, the actual value of the item to knowledgeable sports memorabilia collectors is very limited. That is because of the need to provide verifiable proof of the autographed item’s authenticity. Yes, you may have been at the New Orleans Saints’ training camp in Jackson, Mississippi (as my sons and I were this past summer) and personally witnessed star running back Reggie Bush autograph a football. However, if you were to want to sell the ball, as opposed to displaying it on a shelf in your son’s room, there’s no irrefutable proof that could assure the first buyer, let alone subsequent buyers in the future, as to the validity of Bush’s signature. Not that this stops autograph seekers from trying day after day to get that elusive personalization of basketballs by LeBron James, footballs by Peyton Manning, baseballs by Derek Jeter, and item after item by a myriad of stars. So disruptive to athlete’s lives are some autograph hounds that teams today commonly limit access to their players, not just out of concern for their economic well-being but for their physical safety as well (Maske and Lee, 2007). And, some athletes, such as Michael Jordan, make it publicly known that they will not sign an autograph except through the special events (and often private signing days) for agencies they have contracted with to represent them in what has become an increasingly lucrative market for athletes, supplementing, or even exceeding, what they make on the field by simply signing their names (Johns, n.d.; Fisher, 2000).

The sports memorabilia market today is a global marketplace, estimated to generate revenues in excess of $5 billion annually (Friess, 2007). Items of sports memorabilia are sold in a variety of venues, including physical and online stores, shows and auctions, and in private sales (Smith, n.d.). Small, independent “mom and pop” sports memorabilia stores were once a staple of strip malls across America. According to industry observers, the number of such stores has plummeted from approximately 4,700 a decade ago to just over a thousand today (Keteyian, 2006). Much of this decline can be traced to the shifting of buying and selling sports memorabilia to eBay and other major online auction sites, much as has occurred with other collectibles, such as coins, stamps and antique items (National Auctioneers Association, 2008). However, the ease of access and widening of the marketplace has fostered an explosion of online memorabilia sales. One can see evidence of this by punching in any well-known athlete’s name on eBay, and whether you search for David Beckham, Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods, or even a lesser known star, you will come-up with dozens, even hundreds, of autographed items up for sale at any given time.

However, the move to greater online sales has only worsened the problem with counterfeit sports memorabilia (Van Riper, 2007). Indeed, it is a market unlike any other, due to the giant presence of counterfeit items. In fact, one law enforcement official described the sports memorabilia market today as being “like the Wild, Wild West” (Keteyian, 2006). Market analyst Havoscope (2008) has concluded that over half of the sports memorabilia market is comprised of counterfeit items. The official estimate from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is that 70% of all signed sports collectibles on the market in the U.S. are counterfeit (Fisher, 2000); forged signatures on items which themselves may or may not be what they are purported to be (after all, even official merchandise from sports leagues and special events, such as Super Bowls, World Cups, or World Series, can be faked). Industry observers believe the true figure to be even higher, ranging to upwards of 90% of all sports collectibles (Prova Group, 2006)! Thus, this is perhaps the ultimate example of a caveat emptor (buyer beware) market.

Anyone can buy a piece of sports memorabilia to hang on the wall or show in a display case, and, if you’re happy with the price you paid for it, all the better. However, unless you personally witnessed the athlete signing the football or the baseball bat, the odds are that the item is not worth any more than what you would have paid for an unsigned version at a local sporting goods store. Thus, there is a great need to have a solution that can assure buyers and sellers of the authenticity of an item, not just presently, but into the future. As we will examine, the certification process today itself is problematic and only contributes to the problem.

For the first time, the advent of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology provides an opportunity for the sports memorabilia marketplace to have the ability for buyers and sellers alike to rely upon a readily accessible and verifiable “chain of custody” for autographed items from the time they are signed by the athlete through all subsequent sales and transfers. In doing so, trust can be built into what has historically been an untrustworthy marketplace, assuring confidence and supporting the genuineness and value of items of sports memorabilia. The author presents both an overview of the sports memorabilia marketplace and RFID technology and follows up with a look at how RFID is being used today to authenticate and to track autographed items of all forms. The article concludes with a look ahead at the implications of the introduction of this new technology and a discussion of what lies ahead.

The Sports Memorabilia Market

A baseball is just a ball until it is signed by a star player. A jersey is just a big shirt until it is worn by an all-star. Then, such items are worth a lot of money, right? Oh, that it were that simple. The terms sports memorabilia and sports collectibles are all too often used interchangeably in the marketplace. According to the recent publication, A Comprehensive Guide to Collecting Sports Memorabilia, the two terms can be differentiated in the following manner: “Photos, cards, jerseys or related sports equipment that have been signed by an athlete are considered memorabilia when that signature has been certified by a reputable distributor. Replica and authentic sports products that are unsigned, or are signed but not authenticated, are considered collectibles” (SportsMemorabilia.com, 2008, n.p., emphasis in the original).

The sports memorabilia market can be segmented into two very distinct segments: trusted sources and other. Trusted sources include both sports memorabilia shows and sports marketing agencies (Fisher, 2000). In the former category, there are a growing number of such events, where athletes are available, generally on a paid basis, to sign a limited number of items, both brought in by fans and bought at the show. At these shows, items are signed, with witnesses present and able to authenticate the athlete’s signature on a certificate of authenticity (COA). This certification is what raises the status and value of an item from being a sports collectible to becoming an item of sports memorabilia (Branton, 2008). The second trusted source is the sports agencies that contract with athletes to be exclusive purveyors of their autographed merchandise. In the United States, the market leaders are companies such as the following:

  • ALL Authentic (http://www.allauthentic.com/)
  • Mounted Memories (http://www.mountedmemories.com/)
  • Steiner Sports (http://www.steinersports.com/)
  • Upper Deck (http://www.upperdeck.com/) (Johns, n.d.).

Take Upper Deck for instance. This sports marketing agency has multi-million dollar contracts with current and former athletes from a whole host of sports, including basketball (NBA players Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Magic Johnson), baseball (Albert Pujols, Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken Jr., Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, and Stan Musial), football (Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Tony Romo, Troy Aikman, John Elway, and Joe Montana), and golf (Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus). Upper Deck is a market leader not just because of its status as the exclusive retailer for these star athletes of today and yesterday, but also for its 5-step certification process that stamps the item with a unique hologram and provides the owner with a certificate of authenticity and registration with the Upper Deck database. The company is even using with what it calls its PenCam™ technology, which the company had the misfortune to launch on September 11, 2001 (Henninger, 2002). The PenCam provides further authentication assurance by providing a video capture from–you guessed it–a pen equipped with a tiny video camera that captures the actual signature of the athlete on the item as it is being rendered, which is then recorded and accessible on the company’s database (The Upper Deck Company, 2008).

Items from trusted agencies do command premium prices, due to the fact that buyers and sellers alike have a very reliable chain of custody for their items of sports memorabilia. However, the vast majority of the sports memorabilia market is a murky, “other” place. In most cases, both offline and online, it is a very untrustworthy market, filled with intentionally counterfeited signed sports paraphernalia and fake items that are being bought and sold by mostly unknowing participants (SportsMemorabilia.com, 2008).

The entire sports memorabilia market in the U.S., and indeed around the world, is still reeling from the 2001 bust of a major fraud ring. In Operation Bullpen, the FBI arrested almost two dozen individuals, most of which served prison time for their involvement in the counterfeit sports memorabilia scheme. The enterprise, which operated across more than a dozen states, had expert forgers who could quickly produce entire lots of phony memorabilia. The 2001 raid yielded thousands of fraudulently signed baseballs, jerseys, helmets, photos, and other articles. The damage however, had already been done, and it continues to this day. In all, the FBI estimates that over $100 million in fake memorabilia was sold through the scheme, much of which is still on the market today, being traded by often-unsuspecting buyers and even sellers. The FBI found that not only could the forgers create knock-offs that could fool even the most knowledgeable sports memorabilia authenticator or collector, they uncovered that the criminals had turned the authentication process to their advantage. This is because the crooks were equally adept at falsifying the COAs and holograms put in place in the industry to assure the genuineness of the items (Nelson, 2006).

While 2001s Operation Bullpen was the largest fraud scheme uncovered in the sports memorabilia market to date, criminal arrests continue to plague the industry, with several cases reported in 2008 (Coen, 2008). The FBI estimates that such fraud makes for over a half a billion dollars in annual losses, impacting thousands of customers, and making it more difficult both for athletes to retain the value of their names and for legitimate firms to compete in a skeptical marketplace (Smith, n.d.; Johns, n.d.).

One of the major problem points for the whole memorabilia sales and trading process is the certificate of authenticity that accompanies an item. Ostensibly in place to provide a potential buyer with the assurance that the item he or she is considering purchasing is a genuine article, but today, the effect is almost the opposite. This is because of rampant fraud in the creation of these COAs. Today, there is no industry standard for certification process or for the paper COA itself. Thus, there are rampant problems with these documents. Some fraudulent memorabilia sellers create their own fake COAs to accompany their fake items (SportsMemorabilia.com, 2008; Smith, n.d.; Johns, n.d.). While there are several reputable third-party certification services, who will analyze an item and its history to determine its authenticity, there are also disreputable ones, known to certify, in the words of one law enforcement official, “almost anything” (Franks, 2006).

What is clearly needed today is a true chain of custody capability to authenticate items of sports memorabilia from the athlete’s signature through all future trades of the article. With the rampant fraud issues, which can only be exacerbated by both the high dollars attached to many athletes’ items and the accelerating technology that can be used to create both forged articles and proofs of authenticity, there is certainly a common interest for memorabilia collectors, athletes, sports marketing agencies, and the stores, shows and auctions (both online and offline) where the items are bought and sold to develop, for lack of a better term, a fool-proof solution. RFID presents the prospect for just such an incontrovertible chain of custody solution for this marketplace.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

Conceptually, RFID is quite similar to the venerable bar code. Both are automatic identification technologies intended to provide rapid and reliable item identification and tracking capabilities. The primary difference between the two technologies is the way in which they read objects. With bar coding, the reading device scans a printed label with optical laser or imaging technology. However, with RFID, the reading device scans, or interrogates, a small electronic tag or label using radio frequency signals. The specific differences between bar code technology and RFID are summarized in Table 1. There are five primary advantages that RFID has over bar codes. These are as follows:

  1. Each RFID tag can have a unique code that ultimately allows every tagged item to be individually accounted for.
  2. RFID allows for information to be read by radio waves from a tag, without requiring line of sight scanning or human intervention.
  3. RFID allows for virtually simultaneous and instantaneous reading of multiple tags.
  4. RFID tags can hold far greater amounts of information, which can be updated.
  5. RFID tags are far more durable. (Wyld, 2005)

Table 1

RFID and Bar Codes Compared

Bar Code Technology RFID Technology
Bar Codes require line of sight to be read RFID tags can be read or updated without line of sight
Bar Codes can only be read individually Multiple RFID tags can be read simultaneously
Bar Codes cannot be read if they become dirty or damaged RFID tags are able to cope with harsh and dirty environments
Bar Codes must be visible to be logged RFID tags are ultra thin and can be printed on a label, and they can be read even when concealed within an item
Bar Codes can only identify the type of item RFID tags can identify a specific item
Bar Code information cannot be updated Electronic information can be over-written repeatedly on RFID tags
Bar Codes must be manually tracked for item identification, making human error an issue RFID tags can be automatically tracked, eliminating human error

RFID is being introduced today across a variety of industries to better identify and control individual items, ranging from health care applications (Wyld, 2008 a, b) to the food service and gaming industries (Wyld, 2008c). Major retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Target in the United States and Metro and TESCO in Europe are making major investments in RFID technology, believing that this is the future of retail inventory control, supplanting the venerable bar code method of item identification (Wyld, 2007a, Wessel, 2008). Today, we are seeing exciting in-store applications in bookstores (Collins, 2006), pharmacies (O’Connor, 2008), electronics retailing (Swedberg, 2007a), and grocery stores (Swedberg, 2007b), bringing about new possibilities in customer service, business intelligence, and inventory management.

The RFID Solution for Sports Memorabilia

RFID has seen ongoing development in sports-related applications, being utilized in a variety of manners, from timing marathon runners and race cars to helping golfers find errant golf balls, and even off the field in the important areas of ticketing and event staff tracking (Wyld, 2006). Now, RFID is poised to become the latest weapon for retailers to deploy in this arms race against shoplifting, especially in light of the increasingly aggressive and sophisticated threat coming from the organized retail crime element.

The leading company today attempting to apply an RFID-based solution to authenticating sports memorabilia is the Irving, Texas-based Prova Group (http://www.provagroup.com/). Prova is currently marketing its patented Autograph Certification SystemTM for use at signing events and trade shows (Anonymous, 2008a). The concept, according to Daniel Werner, the firm’s Vice President of Marketing: “Prova decided early on to create a system that works at the moment of the signing that would put authentication in a database and lock that information onto an RFID tag” (quoted in Swedberg, 2007c, n.p.). As such, the tag is applied to the item prior to signing, and then, at the point of signing, the tag is read by and entered into the Prova database, recording who, when, and where the autograph took place. Once an item is registered in Prova’s Online Registry, the registered owner is able to print a certificate of authenticity on demand and to share the tagged item’s complete history, its chain of custody, with interested buyers or other collectors. Further, if a collector wishes to add additional signatures to an item (such as having an entire championship team autograph a football or basketball or adding the autograph of a current star, say Tony Romo, to a ball previously signed by a historic quarterback, such as Bart Starr or Joe Namath), the Prova RFID tag can record each separately and provide proof of authenticity for each autograph (Branton, 2008). The Prova system makes use of two form factors of high-frequency, 13.56 MHz passive tags for different sized collectibles, the smallest of which measures 1 inch by ¼ inch. Both of the tag forms are supplied by X-ident Technology (http://www.x-ident.com/), based in Düren, Germany. The system has been employed at special events where up to 4,000 items of memorabilia have been authenticated by Prova. And now, the firm is shifting from fixed reader stations to hand-held readers from Toronto-based Sirit (http://www.sirit.com/) to enable easier certification, as well as seeking ways to minimize the amount of data that has to be input to certify each individual autograph to speed the process (Swedberg, 2007c).

Analysis

Interjecting RFID into the sports memorabilia market certainly parallels other auto-ID technological applications, most notably pharmaceuticals (Faber, 2008) and government-issued forms of identification, including passports (O’Connor, 2007) and driver’s licenses (Anonymous, 2008b). With these application areas, there is a significant threat of counterfeit items. While there is undoubtedly a far greater threat of personal harm from the use of fake prescription drugs or the use of phony passports or ID cards than a forged signature of Alex Rodgriquez on a photo or baseball card, RFID has proven to be an effective solution in these areas. Furthermore, the high dollars involved means that the return on investment (ROI) potential is significant, as the ratio of the cost of the tag to the value of the item it is affixed to can be quite low indeed. Indeed, with an unauthenticated item basically being worthless, the need to shift to an auto-ID solution is quite clear. While the sports memorabilia industry is highly fragmented, with large agencies and thousands of small sellers, and perhaps millions of collectors, a coordinated strategy is highly unlikely. However, if the major sports marketing agencies choose independently or collectively to implement Prova or another provider’s RFID solution, this would go a long way toward making RFID-based authentication a reality in the sports memorabilia industry. As shown in Figure 1, this would help protect the interests of all legitimate players in the marketplace. In doing so, an industry, best known today for being susceptible to anyone with a box of baseballs and a SharpieTM pen, can restore trust and value to its marketplace.

Figure 1
Figure 1: The Value of RFID to the Sports Memorabilia Industry

References

Branton, F. (2008, July). RFID tags enable mobile authentication platform [Electronic version]. Integrated Solutions Magazine. Erie, PA: Jameson Publishing. Retrieved August 20, 2008, from http://www.integratedsolutionsmag.com/index.php?option=com_jambozine&layout=article&view=page&aid=5789

Coen, J. (2008, August 5). Burr Ridge auctioneers subpoenaed in sports memorabilia fraud probe, sources say: Authorities said to be investigating possible ‘shill bidding’ to drive up prices on collectibles [Electronic version]. The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-sports-auction-probeaug05,0,7860148.story

Collins, J. (2006, April 18). Bookstore RFID-enables its operations: One of Holland’s largest booksellers has integrated RFID into the operations of its brand-new store [Electronic version]. RFID Journal. Retrieved November 20, 2006, from http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/2273/

Faber, P. (2008, January 21). RFID strategy–Pharmaceutical e-pedigree – Biggest supply chain topic of 2008: This chain-of-custody record will be used to assure the integrity and safety of the nation’s drug supply. Industry Week. Retrieved March 19, 2008, from http://www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=15664

Fisher, E. (2000, September 18). Bona fides: Insight on the News. BNET Business Net. Retrieved May 17, 2006, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_/ai_65493875

Franks, T. (2006, June 21). Certificates of authenticity: Are they worth the paper they are printed on? Fine Art Registry. Retrieved July 28, 2008, from http://www.fineartregistry.com/articles/franks_teri/certificate_authenticity_worth_06-21-2006.php

Friess, S. (2007, October 1). For troubled stars, a fickle memorabilia market [Electronic version]. The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2008, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/01/us/01oj.html

Havoscope (2008).Havoscope Black Market Counterfeit Goods Index. Retrieved July 28, 2008, from http://www.havocscope.com/Counterfeit/sportsent.htm

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Johns, K. (n.d.). Sports memorabilia fraud on the rise again. ArticleDashboard.com. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Sports-Memorabilia-Fraud-On-The-Rise-Again/9425

Keteyian, A. (2006, July). Searching for a piece of sports history?: Our online advice is… The Hall of Fame Network. Retrieved September 18, 2008, from http://www.hofmag.com/content/view/320/30/

Maske, M., & Lee, M. (2007, December 6). Pro leagues reassess security: In wake of Taylor’s death, athletes warned to be wary [Electronic version]. The Washington Post, E09. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/05/AR2007120502453.html

National Auctioneers Association (2008). 2007 Auction industry growth $270.7 billion: Auction industry grows 5.3% in 2007. NAA Auctioneer. Retrieved August 10, 2008, from http://www.auctioneers.org/core/contentmanager/uploads/pdfs/auctionindustryresults/2007industryresearchresults.pdf

Nelson, K. (2006). Operation bullpen: The inside story of the biggest forgery scam in American history. Benicia, CA: Southampton Books.

O’Connor, M. C. (2008). Wegmans eyeing RFID for prescription management: The supermarket operator is planning to test whether placing RFID tags on customers’ prescription orders will make locating and ringing up the orders faster and more accurate. RFID Journal, January 10, 2008. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/3844/

O’Connor, M. C. (2007, August 16).One year later, U.S. e-passport’s architect says system is a success. RFID Journal. Retrieved April 25, 2008, from http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/3567/1/1/.

Olson, D. (2009, March 27). Sign of the times: A story about athletes, autographs and industry. OnMilwaukee.com. Milwaukee’s Daily Magazine. Retrieved July 27, 2008, from http://www.onmilwaukee.com/sports/articles/autographs.html

Prova Group (2006). White Paper: Buyer’s guide to autographed collectibles: How to be protect yourself from fraud and counterfeit Items. Retrieved August 30, 2008, from http://www.provagroup.com/Portals/15/BuyersGuide.pdf

RFID News: Radio Frequency Identification Technology for Logistics, Tagging and EPC (2008a, August 18). RFID solution prevents counterfeit collectibles. Retrieved September 17, 2008, from http://www.rfidnews.org/2008/08/18/rfid-solution-prevents-counterfeit-collectibles%20

RFID Update: The RFID Industry Daily (2008b, September 18). RFID driver’s licenses gain traction in the US. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://www.rfidupdate.com/articles/index.php?id=1676&from=rss

Smith, D. D. (n.d.). Investigating sports memorabilia fraud. SportsMemorabilia.com. Retrieved July 18, 2008, from http://www.sportsmemorabilia.com/articles/investigating-fraud

SportsMemorabilia.com (2008).A Comprehensive Guide To Collecting Sports Memorabilia. SportsMemorabilia.com. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.sportsmemorabilia.com/resources/sports-memorabilia-101.html

Swedberg, C. (2007a, June 20). Best Buy eager to use RFID to eliminate checkout lines: The greatest obstacle to deployment, according to Best Buy CIO Bob Willett, is the current cost of tags and readers. RFID Journal. Retrieved July 28, 2007, from http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/3422/1/1/

Swedberg, C. (2007b, June 20). Canadian grocery pilot finds ROI in RFID: By implementing RFID, retailers and suppliers should markedly reduce out-of-stocks and improve promotional execution, according to a seven-month project involving Loblaw and four of its suppliers. RFID Journal. Retrieved May 25, 2008, from http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/3428/1/1/

Swedberg, C. (2007c, December 21). RFID gives sports memorabilia stamp of authenticity: Prova Group offered its RFID-enabled authentication service to thousands of collectors at a recent sports collectibles convention, providing electronic guarantees that autographs were genuine. RFID Journal. Retrieved January 30, 2008, from http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/3828/

The Upper Deck Company (2008). White Paper: Customer service, frequently asked questions—PenCam visual authentication. Retrieved October 2, 2008, from http://www.upperdeck.com/marketing/faq_pencam.aspx

Van Riper, T. (2007, August 8). Sports business: Why 756 will not equal millions [Electronic version]. Forbes. Retrieved August 3, 2008, from http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/25/sports-baseball-collecting-biz-cx_tvr_0725collectibles.html

Wessel, R. (2008, September 26). To future-proof its Future Store, Metro Group opted for EPCglobal standards: The retailer claims that its Future Store’s butcher shop uses one of the world’s first full-blown EPCIS software stacks. RFID Journal. 2008. Retrieved October 5, 2008, from http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleprint/4346/-1/1/

Wyld, D. C. (2008a, June). The implant solution: Why RFID is the answer in the highly unique orthopedic supply chain, providing ROI for suppliers and assurance for patients and their surgeons. ID World, 12-15.

Wyld, D. C. (2008b, March). Playing a deadly game of match: How new efforts to use RFIDin blood banking and transfusion can save patient lives and safeguard the blood supply chain. Global Identification, 24-26.

Wyld, D. C. (2008c). Radio frequency identification: Advanced intelligence for tablegames in casinos.Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 49(2), 134-144.

Wyld, D. C. (2007). RFID 101: The next big thing for management. The Engineering Management Review, 35(2), 3-19.

Wyld, D. C. (2006, October). Sports 2.0: A look at the future of sports in the context of RFID’s “weird new media revolution.” The Sport Journal, 9(4). Retrieved November 2, 2006, from http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/sports-20-look-future-sports-context-rfid-s-weird-new-media-revolution

Wyld, D. C. (2005). RFID: The Right Frequency for Government – A research report from The IBM center for the business of government. Retrieved October 3, 2005, from http://www.businessofgovernment.org/main/publications/grant_reports/details/index.asp?gid=232

And in the end, the value of sports memorabilia can be protected. But also, the intrinsic value of the autograph experience can be as well. After all, as Olson (2006) commented: “For the true fan, the value of an autograph isn’t the signature itself. It’s the shared moment between a fan and his hero” (n.p.).

Author’s Note

David C. Wyld, the Robert Maurin Professor of Management and director of the e-Commerce and e-Government Initiative Department of Management, Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to David C. Wyld, Department of Management, SLU – Box 10350, Hammond, LA 70402-0350. Email: dwyld@selu.edu

2016-10-20T13:53:27-05:00April 16th, 2009|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Management|Comments Off on Is That a Real LeBron Ball? RFID and Sports Memorabilia
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