Publications

27 Aug 2019
News

A Shot at Success

shooter. Her skills—and her resourcefulness—earned Feickert more than 40 offers. She attended the University of Kansas, where she spent three years as a Jayhawk and graduated with a degree in accounting, becoming a first-generation college graduate. View Details

Keywords: April White

01 Feb 1998
News

Kicking Off a Startup: Jennifer Rottenberg (MBA '96)

Women's sports is one of the hottest growth sectors in the business of sports. A case in point is the National Soccer Alliance (NSA), a new women's professional soccer league currently in the startup phase. With exhibition games, special... View Details

Keywords: Nancy O. Perry

01 Mar 2025
News

Step By Step

I started running at HBS, in the month between the end of classes and Commencement. I was born with asthma, so sports in general were never my forte, but the overwhelming nature of prepping cases and recruiting meant my physical condition had worsened. Once I’d made it... View Details

Keywords: Nikos Bartzoulianos; Illustration by Caroline Tomlinson

January 2006 (Revised October 2009)
Supplement

Negotiating Star Compensation at the USAWBL (A-2): Confidential Instructions for the Boston Sharks General Manager

By: Ian Larkin, James K. Sebenius and Guhan Subramanian

Keywords: Negotiation; Compensation and Benefits; Sports; Sports Industry; Boston

01 Mar 2012
News

Under the Hood

business school was to transition out of the finance world and into the sports niche,” Frood told SPEED.com (November 14, 2011). “NASCAR to me was on the periphery, but I knew what was going on.” For his part, Stewart said, “Brett is the... View Details

Keywords: NASCAR; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment; Transportation

02 Jun 2021
News

The NBA's African Expansion

basketball being a top sport throughout Africa in 10 years,” according to coverage on CNBC. The effort is led by NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams (MBA 1998), who described the organization’s strategy to accelerate the development of the... View Details

Keywords: Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

01 Mar 2013
News

A United Front

is no active coach in the highest echelons of the world of soccer—or, to my knowledge, in sports as a whole—who comes even close to such a lengthy tenure, let alone the number of titles and trophies he has accumulated," says HBS professor... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

30 Nov 2019
News

Land of the Rising Scrum

told him I’d never played any organized sports in my life, he asked me if I liked to drink beer,” O’Donnell said. It was the only qualification for a spot on the roster. Forty-four years later, O’Donnell is still playing rugby (and... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers

07 Jan 2020
News

Models of Success

education and support they needed to use sports as a lever to change their lives,” Feickert says. That revelation led her to cofound Trey Athletes, a social enterprise that creates cohorts of high-potential high school athletes and... View Details

01 Mar 2019
News

A Wider Net

Illustration by Neil Webb When the United States men’s National Soccer Team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup—for the first time in 32 years—the critiques were scathing. Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl deemed it “the most... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

December 2019
Case

Small-Market Teams and Big Stars: The Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo

By: Anita Elberse and Melcolm Ruffin

In October 2019, National Basketball Association (NBA) team the Milwaukee Bucks are about to tip off their first home game in the 2019–2020 NBA season. Peter Feigin, president of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Jon Horst, the league’s youngest general manager, could look back... View Details

Keywords: Superstars; Talent and Talent Management; Sports; Strategy; Sports Industry

November 2016
Case

Bayern Munich in China

By: Karim Lakhani, Sascha L. Schmidt, Michael Norris and Kerry Herman

In 2015, German football club Bayern Munich is considering how to enter the Chinese market. Should it build its own infrastructure or rely on third-party partnerships to reach this massive football fan base? View Details

Keywords: Football; Soccer; Bundesliga; Digital Technology; Market Entry; Sports; Global Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Online Technology; Sports Industry; Germany; China

01 Jun 2014
News

Net Gains

Having established a strong market in the world's most populous country, the NBA is making a hard push for number two. "We've really been focused on teaching the game of basketball in India," says Tatum. "The sport is not necessarily... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

01 Dec 2022
News

In My Humble Opinion: Natural Fit

the age of 14. Now an incoming freshman at Dartmouth College, she saw no reason to choose between academics and competing in the sport she loved. At the time, however, few supports were in place to help athletes navigate the dual... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; skiing; leadership; organizational culture; leadership; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

31 Oct 2018
News

Pitching In for Female Leaders

her path through international sports and investment banking to becoming a leading advocate for women in sports and business. “I ran and led a leading football club in Turkey for over a decade. Then I joined... View Details

January 2016
Case

Die Mannschaft: How Germany Won the 2014 FIFA World Cup

By: Boris Groysberg, Sascha L. Schmidt, Arjun Thomke, Kerry Herman and Michael Norris

After years of ups and downs, Germany won its fourth World Cup Championship in 2014. This case examines the national team's recent history and the changes they made to set themselves up for success. View Details

Keywords: Football; Soccer; ＂World Cup,＂ Germany; Germany; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Success; Sports; Sports Industry; Germany; Brazil

21 May 2016
News

Homegrown Heroes

a recent article. Five years later, with events in 11 countries, including Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, and China, Sityodtong oversees a sports media company with 90 percent regional market share and triple-digit percentage... View Details

2010
Article

Hiring for Strength, Hiring for Weakness: Evidence of Internal Strategic Fit from the NFL

By: Andrew Hill

Firms may hire senior managers to shore up a weakness or to build on a strength. Using evidence on the hiring of NFL head coaches, this paper finds that teams that hire for strength outperform teams that hire for weakness. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Selection and Staffing; Performance; Sports; Sports Industry

Find at Harvard

June 2005
Case

Billy Beane: Changing the Game

Describes how Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A's baseball team, employs statistical methodologies to select who is undervalued in the marketplace. Examines why few teams have imitated his organization's successful strategy. Explores threats to Oakland's... View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Competitive Advantage; Sports; Sports Industry; California