Publications

18 Jul 2014
News

Team Players

"We had 100 volunteers who worked almost around the clock," says Lehrer, who also helped host visits from HBS's Business of Sports Club and the annual Tech Trek. "There were lots of people answering questions from the same brand, so we... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

July 2010 (Revised April 2016)
Teaching Note

Major League Baseball Advanced Media: America's Pastime Goes Digital

By: Anita Elberse

Teaching Note for 510092. View Details

Keywords: Sports; Decisions; Marketing Strategy; Revenue; Price; Sports Industry; Sports Industry

August 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots (A)

By: John R. Wells and Travis Haglock

What happens when an MBA buys a football team and hires a bunch of MBAs and a coach with an economics degree to run it? In this case, a historic three Super Bowls in five years. The end run Bob Kraft (HBS '65) used to acquire the New England Patriots. Why Kraft ignored... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Management Style; Motivation and Incentives; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Leadership Style; Sports; Management Teams; Sports Industry; United States

June 2013
Case

STATS: Moneyball 2.0

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Mark Cecchini and Elizabeth Collins

Keywords: Sports

November 2009 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Discovering Hidden Gems: The Story of Daryl Morey, Shane Battier, and the Houston Rockets (A)

By: Frances X. Frei and Matthew Todd Perlberg

As NBA Commissioner David Stern approached the podium, silent anticipation gripped the 4,000 Houston Rockets fans gathered at the Rockets Draft Party. "With the 8th pick in the 2006 NBA draft," Stern began, "the Houston Rockets select Rudy Gay from the University of... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Talent and Talent Management; Competitive Strategy; Operations; Groups and Teams; Sports Industry

February 1999 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Life as a Minor League CEO Frank Burke and The Chattanooga Lookouts

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Kirk A. Goldman

A "slice of life" depiction of the range of issues and activities experienced by Frank Burke (HBS MBA 1987), the president of a minor league baseball team (the Chattanooga Lookouts). Raises questions of the applicability of MBA skills in this role and the "quotient of... View Details

Keywords: Happiness; Managerial Roles; Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Marketing; Cost Management; Cost vs Benefits; Operations; Sports; Business Education; Sports Industry; Tennessee

September 2015 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Futbol Club Barcelona

By: Anita Elberse

In June 2015, FC Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu sees his team lift the UEFA Champions League trophy, completing an impressive trophy haul in the 2014-2015 season. Unique for a club of its caliber, five of the starting eleven are products of FC Barcelona's youth... View Details

Keywords: Superstar; Talent; Talent Development And Retention; Talent Management; Marketing; Strategy; General Management; Nonprofit; Marketing Strategy; Talent and Talent Management; Entertainment; Media; Competitive Advantage; Sports; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Barcelona

22 Feb 2022
News

The Well-Healed Athlete

Illustration by Robert Neubecker Sports injuries are a business concern for Clara Wu Tsai (MBA 1993). She and her husband, Joe Tsai, are owners of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets; the WNBA’s New York Liberty; and the men’s lacrosse team, the San... View Details

Keywords: April White; Health and Personal Care Stores; Retail Trade

01 Jun 2002
News

Up to the Challenge: Ken Baumgartner - Sticking with It

played a pivotal role in the negotiations between his hockey peers and the league's owners during a grueling, 104-day lockout. In 1999, he moved seamlessly from player to assistant coach with the Bruins and began to look for ways to transfer the leadership abilities he... View Details

Keywords: Amy Burton; hockey; education; family; career paths; personal priorities; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment; Mining

June 2021
Teaching Note

Michael Phelps: 'It's Okay to Not Be Okay'

By: Boris Groysberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Michael Norris

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 421-044. In 2020, Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 28 medals in various swimming events, was now retired. As he looked back on his 20+ year athletic career, he considered what had gone into making him the... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Talent and Talent Management; Training; Health; Success; Performance Improvement; Personal Development and Career; Family and Family Relationships; Sports; Competition; Sports Industry; United States; Baltimore; Arizona; Sydney; Athens; Beijing; London

December 2019 (Revised December 2021)
Supplement

Negotiating for Equal Pay: The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (B)

By: Christine Exley, John Beshears, Manuela Collis and Davis Heniford

Supplements the (A) case and describes the events following it View Details

Keywords: Equal Pay; Negotiation; Compensation and Benefits; Equality and Inequality; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Ethics; Negotiation Tactics; Corporate Governance; Lawsuits and Litigation; Sports; Sports Industry; United States

01 Mar 2017
News

A Summit Higher Than Everest

feet above sea level—at twilight and raced nightfall back down. The exhilaration of that climb hooked Moore on mountaineering. At the time the sport was an exclusive one of well-heeled explorers, not endurance athletes, and many untouched... View Details

Keywords: April White; mountain; climb; climbing; adventure

January 2006 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Negotiating Star Compensation at the USAWBL (A-1): Confidential Instructions for Jesse J.

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

In this three-party negotiation exercise, Jesse J, star center in the U.S.A. Women's Basketball League, with her agent, is negotiating a possible compensation package with the Boston Sharks involving a base salary, a possible share of team merchandising profits, and a... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Contracts; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Conflict and Resolution; Sports; Sports Industry; United States

April 2021 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Project Restart: Deciding the Future of English Football

By: Nour Kteily and Deepak Malhotra

In March 2020, the English Premier League football (soccer) season was suspended partway through due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two months later the season remained in limbo, with a looming deadline to decide whether to attempt to complete the season or curtail it—and... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Sports; Health Pandemics; Decision Making; Fairness; Values and Beliefs; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Motivation and Incentives; Outcome or Result; Perception; Negotiation; Sports Industry; United Kingdom

01 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

CEOs and Coaches: How Important is Organizational 'Fit?'

match. Consider the case of Chip Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles. At the start of the 2015 season, team owner Jeffrey Lurie praised Kelly; according to a December 31 article by Philadelphia Daily News sports reporter Les Bowen, Lurie... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg & Abhijit Naik; Sports

April 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Henry Walters (A)

By: Paul W. Marshall

Presents a custom program for NFL players. View Details

Keywords: Sports