The sudden rise of coronavirus in the world had various effects on the sports industry. Nevertheless, sports organizations around the world adopted new and different methods to manage the crisis, which in turn, enriched global knowledge of sports management. Also, some industries changed their products and adapted their structure and performance according to the new situation. The new Experiences gained during the pandemic showed that sports organizations need crisis management programs to deal with crises in the future. So, it's necessary to manage sports organizations with a different perspective and new plans to encounter future needs and problems. To do this, sports managers must learn from the experiences of the pandemic era and be prepared to predict the world in the future, and better manage their organizations.
Purpose
Entrepreneurship in the sport sector has become an important discussion topic amongst public policymakers in Finland, and the interface between entrepreneurial sport companies and the public sector is crucial in the development of sport entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the entrepreneurial growth of two elite team sport companies in Finland by describing the entrepreneurial characteristics and organizational development affecting their growth. This paper aims at giving new insights into the discussion of growth entrepreneurship in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) in the team sport context.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative case study approach was chosen to best describe the phenomenon of entrepreneurial growth in top sport team SME’s.
Findings
The results indicate that the entrepreneurial growth in these two cases comes from entrepreneurial opportunities, growth orientation and growth ability. Industry-specific issues, organizational characteristics, a favorable operating environment, entrepreneurially oriented owner-entrepreneurs and the policymakers’ capability of supporting the growth have affected the success of these team sport enterprises.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to the Finnish sport context and these studied cases.
Practical implications
This paper explains the entrepreneurial growth of two successful Finnish team sport enterprises and offers interesting insights for sport management and similar entrepreneurial sport enterprises in the industry.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the discussion of sport entrepreneurship, and, especially, offers further understanding of growth entrepreneurship in SME.
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