Sport Management, Innovation and the Covid-19 Crisis

This book looks at how sport and sports organisations have had to innovate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Against a backdrop of lockdowns, empty stadia and a fast-moving public health crisis, the book presents fascinating case studies of innovation and crisis management in sport, with valuable lessons to be learned for preparedness and resilience in future crises. The book explores how managerial processes have evolved during the pandemic in areas as diverse as sports communication, youth sport, sports events, esports, sports tourism, and physical activity, in both professional and community settings. It considers the fundamental importance of technology as a tool of innovation, and considers how different stakeholder groups, from governing bodies to athletes to fans, have developed new pathways of engagement and what that might mean for the future development of the sport industry.

This book is fascinating reading for any student, researcher, practitioner or policy maker looking to better understand this profound moment in the history of sport and society, and to anybody with an interest in key themes in sport business and management, such as innovation, crisis management or consumer behaviour.

Gözde Ersöz is Associate Professor at the Department of Sport Management at Fenerbahçe University who specializes in sport management, behaviour science, sport, and exercise behaviour. Dr. Ersöz has published 30 research articles and 6 book chapters, and also presented more than 100 papers in scientific congress. Dr. Ersöz is the co-editor of the Journal of Sport and Social Sciences and The Journal of Eurasia Sport Sciences Medicine. She also serves on the editorial board of many journals published in the fields of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Sport Sciences and Recreation. Dr. Ersöz has served on the committees and boards of institutions and organizations such as the Basketball Federation, the Triathlon Federation, the Exercise and Sports Psychology Association, the Sports Sciences Association, and the Sports and Physical Activity Association for Women.

Meltem Ince Yenilmez is Professor in the Department of Economics at Izmir Democracy University, Turkey, specializing in economics of gender and labour economics. She was a Visiting Researcher at the University of California, Berkeley between 2014 and 2015 and was at Georg-Universität-Gottingen during the summer school of 2015-2016. She is currently a visiting researcher at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Visiting Faculty at IIM Rohtak, India and a Visiting Professor at University of Tohoku, Japan. She is an economist focused on gender, feminist theory, discrimination and care work. She has four books published by Routledge and Palgrave, and her next book projects income equality, cyberfeminism and women’s participation in sports market.