Publications

13 Jun 2014
Op-Ed

World Cup Soccer: 770 Billion Minutes of Attention

ads, billboards, and sponsorships in a month. In other words, this would make FIFA the seventh largest business in the world, after Britain's BP and before Japan's Toyota, when compared on an annual basis. The business of soccer has a... View Details

Keywords: by Thales Teixeira; Sports

07 Nov 2012
News

HBS Cases: Sir Alex Ferguson—Managing Manchester United

02 May 2012
News

Overcome Your Work Addiction

Clubs

Football/Soccer Club

March 2021
Supplement

Sky Deutschland - Bidding for Sports Rights (B)

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Sascha L. Schmidt and Sebastian Koppers

Carsten Schmidt, CEO of Sky Deutschland, needs to prepare for the auction of German soccer rights. Much was at stake. Not only was soccer the most widely watched sport in Germany, the company had long advertised that only Sky showed “every game, every goal.” In... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Intellectual Property; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Sports Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Germany

January 2008 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Club Atlético Boca Juniors

By: Anita Elberse, Alberto Ballve and Gustavo Herrero

Club Atlético Boca Juniors is the most popular soccer club in Argentina and one of the most decorated clubs in the world. Throughout its storied history, the club has recruited and developed dozens of star players. In his eleven years at Boca Juniors, president... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Talent and Talent Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Sports; Sports Industry; Argentina

November 2008 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Tottenham Hotspur plc

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Joshua D. Coval and Christopher J. Malloy

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is a publicly-owned professional soccer team based in London, England. The club's chairman, Daniel Levy, is contemplating a significant investment in physical assets, including the development of a new stadium as well as the acquisition... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Capital Budgeting; Decision Making; Competency and Skills; Cash Flow; Investment; Buildings and Facilities; Sports; Investment Portfolio; Financial Strategy; Sports Industry; London

March 2021
Case

Sky Deutschland - Bidding for Sports Rights (A)

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Sascha L. Schmidt, Renate Imoberdorf and Sebastian Koppers

Carsten Schmidt, CEO of Sky Deutschland, needs to prepare for the auction of German soccer rights. Much was at stake. Not only was soccer the most widely watched sport in Germany, the company had long advertised that only Sky showed “every game, every goal.” In... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Intellectual Property; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Sports Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Germany

February 2024
Case

ReSpo.Vision: The Kickstart of an AI Sports Revolution

By: Paul A. Gompers, Elena Corsi and Nikolina Jonsson

This case study explores the growth journey of Polish computer vision sports start-up ReSpo.Vision in an emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem. By providing 3D data and analysis to soccer clubs, ReSpo.Vision achieved significant milestones with a €1 million seed round, an... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Plan; Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Decisions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; AI and Machine Learning; Analytics and Data Science; Applications and Software; Business Strategy; Sports Industry; Technology Industry; Poland; Europe

December 2004
Case

Ciclon de Alicante

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez

A Spanish soccer team that received a large influx of cash thanks to a real estate transaction with its stadium faces critical accounting decisions. The team's accountants are confronted with decisions about players' contracts, jersey inventory, season ticket sales,... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Financial Statements; Sports Industry; Spain

05 Jun 2015
News

Soccer-FIFA crisis worse than anything in Olympics scandal

31 Oct 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 31, 2017

paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53422 Harvard Business School Case 918-011 Harvard Men's Soccer In the fall of 2016, the Crimson, Harvard’s undergraduate newspaper, broke a story revealing that the 2012 Harvard Men’s... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2021
Supplement

Sky Deutschland Analysis: Results

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Sascha L. Schmidt, Renate Imoberdorf and Sebastian Koppers

Carsten Schmidt, CEO of Sky Deutschland, needs to prepare for the auction of German soccer rights. Much was at stake. Not only was soccer the most widely watched sport in Germany, the company had long advertised that only Sky showed “every game, every goal.” In... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Intellectual Property; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Sports Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Germany

28 Nov 2012
News

Study reveals secrets to Sir Alex Ferguson's success

07 Jul 2015
News

Misty Copeland: A Role Model For Girls Everywhere Who Want To Find Their Power

November 2018
Case

Sportradar (A): From Data to Storytelling

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Oliver Gassmann

In 2013, the Swiss sports data company Sportradar debated whether to expand from its core business of data provision to bookmakers into sports media products. Sports data was becoming a commodity, and in the future, sports leagues might reduce their dependence on... View Details

July–September 2014
Article

Investing in Superstars: Lessons from the World of Football [¿Cómo Invertir en Superestrellas? Lecciones del Mundo del Fútbol]

By: Anita Elberse

Markets for soccer players are winner-take-all markets in which a select few top players earn extremely high rewards. The search for effective talent strategies in these conditions has led clubs to pursue a superstar-acquisition model, a talent-development model, or a... View Details

Keywords: Sports Management; Talent Management; Talent and Talent Management; Sports; Sports Industry; Europe; Latin America