Sports - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Sep 2003
News

Jonathan Mariner

Mariner Photo courtesy Jonathan Mariner “There aren’t many activities that bring a community together so quickly — without respect to age, race, and gender lines — as a winning ball club,” observes Jonathan D. Mariner, the veteran sports... View Details

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

Profile

Fola Folowosele

Latin America. HBS played an integral role in securing both internships. Firstly, it was while organizing a sports panel for the Africa Business Conference in my RC (required curriculum) year that I met my future boss, who I invited to... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Consumer Products

June 2019
Teaching Note

The National Hockey League

By: Robert F. Higgins and John Masko

Teaching Note for HBS No. 819-036. View Details

Keywords: Sports; Media; Multinational Firms and Management; Expansion; Strategy; Sports Industry; United States; Canada

Citation

Purchase

October 2013
Article

Ferguson's Formula

By: Anita Elberse and Sir Alex Ferguson

When Alex Ferguson took over as manager of the English football team Manchester United, the club was in dire straits: It hadn't won a league title in nearly 20 years and faced a very real threat of being relegated to a lower division. In 26 seasons under Ferguson,... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business or Company Management; Management Style; Success; Sports; Sports Industry; England

Citation

Find at Harvard

Purchase

August 2005 (Revised September 2006)
Case

The NFL

By: John R. Wells and Travis Haglock

From 10-cent tickets to $17 billion television contracts, examines how a game became a multibillion dollar industry. Looks at the birth and growth of the NFL, how the NFL responded to competitive challenges, how the NFL maximized revenues, revenue sharing, the salary... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Groups and Teams; Sports; Corporate Finance; Sports Industry; United States

Citation

Educators

Purchase

26 Jul 2018
News

Running the Numbers

sport where women’s teams were still a novelty, was in keeping with an attitude that has since served Gelman well as a game-changing executive in the male-dominated sports industry. “I’ve always been drawn... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

12 Jan 2009
Research & Ideas

The Value of a ‘Portable’ Career

Lagace: Your work highlights the pros and cons of hiring high-performing or "star" employees. How and why did studying the career trajectories of star football players give you a window on better management of organizations and careers? Boris Groysberg, Lex Sant, and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Sports

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

September 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Formula One Motor Racing

By: Tarun Khanna, Kartik Varma and David Lane

Documents the entrepreneurial efforts of a single individual to bring together car and engine manufacturers, local circuit owners and promoters, advertisers, drivers, and fans in the creation of one of the biggest markets for world sports. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Sports; Globalized Markets and Industries; Sports Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

09 Sep 2016
News

MaiTai Global and Kiteboarding

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on SoundCloud More Skydeck episodes Bill Tai (MBA 1987) has built a whole professional community—that notably includes the likes of Richard Branson and Elon Musk—around the sport of kiteboarding. His... View Details

04 Sep 2019
News

Advanced Statistics Are the New Foam Fingers

The Quantified Athlete “Athletes will always look to improve their performance and stay injury-free with technology. But the sports media industry is also starting to explore how to incorporate athlete data into their broadcasts. And as... View Details

December 2009 (Revised March 2010)
Teaching Note

LeBron James

By: Anita Elberse

Teaching Note for [509050]. View Details

Keywords: Sports; Talent and Talent Management; Sports Industry

Citation

Purchase

June 1996
Case

Black Magic and the America's Cup: The Victory

Chronicles New Zealand's participation in successive America's Cup regattas, culminating in its decisive 1995 victory. Allows for discussion of how an organization from a small nation can beat the world's best in a technologically, organizationally, and managerially... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Sports; Business and Government Relations; Sports Industry; New Zealand

Citation

Find at Harvard

01 Dec 2009
News

Scrum-Thing Special

A long-standing ritual was upheld on a crisp October afternoon when the HBS Rugby Football Club took to the pitch against the “Old Boys” alumni team. Jim Johnstone and Morris McInnes (both MBA ’65) first organized the sport on campus;... View Details

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

01 Jun 2017
News

3-Minute Briefing: Bruce Levy (MBA 1977)

basketball camp for girls, ever, in the Pocono Mountains. They wanted to build the sport by approaching sponsors to support women’s basketball in the few forums it had at the time. I was a big sports fan,... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photo by Chris Sorensen

January 2014 (Revised April 2025)
Teaching Note

The PGA Tour

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Cole Magrath

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 714-442, 714-443, 714-444, 714-445, 714-446, 714-447. View Details

Keywords: PGA Tour; Tim Finchem; Deane Beman; Golf; Professional Golf; Business Model; Value Creation; Adaptation; Sports; Business Strategy; Sports Industry; United States

Citation

Purchase

January 2014 (Revised April 2025)
Supplement

The PGA Tour (C)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Cole Magrath

In 1994, the PGA Tour (the "Tour"), the dominant incumbent professional golf circuit, had created tremendous value for its players. In the 1974 season, players competed for $8 million in prize money; by the 1994 season, the total prize purse had increased to $56... View Details

Keywords: PGA Tour; Tim Finchem; Deane Beman; Golf; Professional Golf; Business Model; Value Creation; Adaptation; Sports; Business Strategy; Sports Industry; United States

Citation

Purchase

July 2014
Article

Project Complexity and Systems Integration: Constructing the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Games

By: Andrew Davies and Ian Mackenzie

Our study of the London Olympics 2012 construction programme showed that systems integration is one of the major challenges involved in delivery of a complex "system of systems"—or array—project. Organizations cope with complexity by decomposing a project into... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Construction; Complexity; Sports; Projects; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; London

Citation

Find at Harvard