As state- and local-government subsidies to professional sport organizations have increased over the past 3 decades, economic arguments have been crafted to justify these subsidies, such as Crompton’s claims of increased community visibility, enhanced community image, stimulation of other development, and psychic income. The purpose of this study was to examine the public relations strategy of a professional sport organization campaigning to secure public funding for a new stadium. Specifically, the authors focused on the use of press releases by the Minnesota Vikings, a National Football League team, over the 3 seasons preceding the completion of their successful sport-stadium campaign. This study was timely in that these press releases were from 2010, 2011, and 2012 and the new Vikings stadium grand opening is set for 2016. Through a qualitative analysis, the authors identified the arguments made by the team to garner support for the stadium plan during the Vikings’ campaign. In all, 71 press releases were collected, examined, and coded by investigators. Findings are discussed to provide insight into these 4 alternative justification arguments.

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The multiphase leisure experience looks at the experience as a five phase process that includes anticipation, travel to, onsite behavior, travel from, and recollection. This continuum depicts a dynamic experience, one that evolves and matures across the five phases. The purpose of this study is to take this model and apply it to sport events. Understanding sport events as a multiphase experience will require a new way of thinking and new research endeavors. This paper serves the purpose of both increasing the awareness of multiphase sport experiences and providing direction for future research. Sport events will continue to grow in number and the multiphase sport experience research will allow sport organizations an opportunity to provide a better, more satisfying service experience for the sport consumer. It will also allow marketers to evolve their event brands through additional ancillary and secondary service elements. Overall, recognizing an event as a multiphase experience will create a competitive advantage for sport event marketers wishing to develop and/or maintain strong brand equity. This will enable sport managers to strategically outperform competitors and differentiate from the others to stay competitive.

The low representation of female leaders is problematic in work organizations. In fact, women historically have had trouble entering the managerial hierarchy of a multitude of industries including the sport industry. Accordingly, the evolution of sport has proffered a diverse array of jobs with growth potential. Despite this, sport remains a male dominated sector where women’s perspectives on work issues have not been fully investigated. The purpose of this study is to examine perceived organizational factors impacting the representation of female leaders in college athletics. To promptly investigate issues and concerns of working women in sport, the research focused on human resource management (HRM). This study utilized survey design, specifically snowball sampling, to generated 60 completed questionnaires from female administrators working in U.S. collegiate athletics. A Qualtrics online survey site was created to gather responses. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Demographics showed the level of work experience, position titles, and educational background varied across the sample. Results showed that structures were important factors in recruiting and advancing female leaders, while the ’ole’ boys’ networks and limited social capital negatively impacted leadership development. In conclusion, leadership opportunities for women in intercollegiate athletics were perceived to be shaped by organizational practices. Keywords: female leaders, U.S. college athletics, social capital, organizational practices, HRM structures. JEL Classification: M14

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