Sports - Publications - Faculty & Research

March 2021
Case

Astralis Group: Determining a Brand Strategy

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej and Emilie Billaud

After launching a Danish esports company in July 2019, and going public in December 2019 with multiple brands associated with different games, the Astralis leadership team was contemplating a shift to a single, corporate brand. While the original arguments for... View Details

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April 2024
Supplement

Recycle & Re-Match: The Future of Soccer Turfs

By: George Serafeim

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January 2017
Case

SoulCycle

By: David Collis, Eric Van den Steen and Ashley Hartman

Co-founders Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler have grown SoulCycle from a business idea in 2006 to a major presence among urban boutique fitness studios in 2015. In March 2015, fitness company Equinox approaches them with an offer to buy them out. Evaluating the offer... View Details

Keywords: SoulCycle; Flywheel; Spinning; Indoor Cycling; Boutique Fitness; Fitness; Health Clubs; Community Engagement; Strategy; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Segmentation; Sports Industry; Sports Industry

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January 2025
Case

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol

By: Anita Elberse, Juan Pasquín and Íñigo Pasquín

On June 1, 2024, Spanish soccer club Real Madrid captures its fifteenth Champions League title—more than double the tally of the nearest competitor. Under Florentino Pérez’s leadership, the club has now won six of the last eleven UEFA Champions League titles, and has... View Details

Keywords: Soccer; Football; Entertainment; Media; Talent Management; Superstars; General Management; Sports; Marketing; Recruitment; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Sports Industry

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February 2011
Teaching Note

Porsche: The Cayenne Launch (TN)

By: John Deighton and Jill Avery

Teaching Note for 511-068. View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Sports; Product Development; Value; Safety; Internet and the Web; Communication Technology; Auto Industry

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February 2017
Article

How Much Is a Win Worth? An Application to Intercollegiate Athletics

By: Doug J. Chung

Intercollegiate athletics in the United States have become a multibillion-dollar industry over the past several decades. In this study, we investigate the short- and long-term direct monetary effects of operating a winning athletics program for an academic institution... View Details

Keywords: Dynamic Panel Data; Heterogeneity; Instrumental Variables; Intercollegiate Athletics; Educational Finance; Entertainment Marketing; Higher Education; Marketing; Sports; Revenue; Education Industry; United States

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20 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Airplane Design Brings Out the Class Warfare in Us All

The study results also have broader implications, providing important insight into what sparks antisocial behavior that a variety of businesses can consider when they embark on designing everything from stadium seating to office layouts. Norton is trying to obtain data... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Sports; Sports; Sports

05 Jul 2016
First Look

July 5, 2016

More Effective Sports Sponsorship—Combining and Integrating Key Resources and Capabilities of International Sports Events and Their Major Sponsors By: Lund, Ragnar, and Stephen A. Greyser... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1998 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Explo Leisure Products

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Tim Trowac and Dave Rahall, two former investment bankers, skillfully execute the leveraged buyout of a golf ball recycling company after working intensely on their due diligence, writing a business and financial plan, and developing the investment memorandum. Six... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Leveraged Buyouts; Business Plan; Performance; Management Teams; Business Strategy; Financial Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Sports Industry; Sports Industry

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27 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Family CEOs Spend Less Time at Work

manufacturing firms, asking whether they would be willing to take part in a study of how CEOs spend their time. Some 356 CEOs agreed to participate. Some family CEOs spend less time at work than professional CEOs, especially during major View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

2018
Working Paper

After the Carnival: Key Factors to Enhance Olympic Legacy and Prevent Olympic Sites from Becoming White Elephants

By: Isao Okada and Stephen A. Greyser

In recent years, the total spending on hosting the Olympic Games has snowballed. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games spent $40 billion on infrastructure development, and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics reached $50 billion. Even when the glorious but costly Olympic Games come... View Details

Keywords: Olympic Venue; Effective Reuse; White Elephant; Sustainability; Buildings and Facilities; Sports

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08 Sep 2015
First Look

September 8, 2015

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=48334 Harvard Business School Case 815-071 The National Football League and Brain Injuries The National Football League (NFL) was both the most popular spectator sport in the U.S. and a major... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

April 2025
Supplement

Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics (B)

By: Linda A. Hill, James I. Cash and Lydia Begag

This case is a supplement to “Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics” (A) and is set against the backdrop of the 2024 NBA Finals. It describes the impact of Mazzulla’s decision to rally his team with an aggressive “go for the kill” mindset instead of choosing language... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Change Management; Communication; Values and Beliefs; Decision Making; Innovation Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leading Change; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Performance Efficiency; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; United States

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January 2023 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Peloton Interactive (A)

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Lynn S. Paine and David Lane

Early in February 2022, the board of Peloton Interactive faced some knotty challenges. Immense pandemic demand for its stationary exercise bicycles and treadmills had prompted the firm to scale up production rapidly. But as gyms reopened and the virulence of the virus... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Growth Management; Investment Activism; Leadership; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; United States

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October 1984 (Revised March 1999)
Case

NIKE (E)

Provides the background for a discussion of Nike (E1), (E2), and (E3). Outlines Nike's senior management group's early program to deal with the company's increasingly difficult competitive circumstance. View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Competition; Situation or Environment; Management Teams; Sports Industry; Sports Industry

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March 2004 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Salt Lake Organizing Committee, The: 2002 Olympics

By: H. Kent Bowen, Bryce LaPierre and Courtney Purrington

After two and a half years of effort, Fraser Bullock, COO of the 2002 Winter Olympics, faced projected deficits and post-9/11 security requirements only five months before the opening ceremony. Summarizes the organizational structure and processes put in place by... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Knowledge Dissemination; Business or Company Management; Managerial Roles; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Planning; Practice; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Sports; System

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18 Sep 2018
Working Paper Summaries

After the Carnival: Key Factors to Enhance Olympic Legacy and Prevent Olympic Sites from Becoming White Elephants

Keywords: by Isao Okada and Stephen A. Greyser; Sports

14 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

Deflategate and the Sustained Success of the New England Patriots

Deflategate, the pro football controversy that spawned a media frenzy, Twitter war, even a presidential joke, has a new claim to fame as a Harvard Business School case study. At the heart of Deflategate is the question of whether the New England Patriots cheated in... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Sports