Publications

01 Mar 2023
News

Action Plan: Casting Call

in our 90s understand, a few aches and pains are a small price to pay for being with family and friends,” he observes. And no doubt the ongoing challenge of fly-fishing keeps him young: “It’s the best sport of all,” Berkley asserts,... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; hobbies; balance; meaning; longevity; aging; Paper Manufacturing; Manufacturing

01 Jun 2002
News

Start-Up Success

When the HBS student soccer team had to pull out of the National MBA Soccer Tournament two weeks before it was scheduled to begin last February, defending the School's honor fell to a group of HBS alumni booters. Not to worry — the recently formed HBS Alumni Soccer... View Details

June 2019
Teaching Note

Michael Rubin and Fanatics (A) and (B)

By: Robert F. Higgins and John Masko

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 819-077 and 819-082. View Details

Keywords: Fanatics; Licensed Merchandise; Sports; Internet and the Web; Vertical Integration; Expansion; Strategy; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; United States

10 Nov 2018
News

The 71-Year-Old Ultramarathoner

Ultramarathoner Eric Spector (MBA 1972) got a late start on the sport. As detailed in a recent Wall Street Journal article, Spector started running while living in Manhattan, competing in his first New York City Marathon in 1979, but didn’t try his first... View Details

01 Mar 2005
News

In the Blood

Clay with 2004 Kentucky Derby champion Smarty Jones. To leave Lexington’s Bluegrass Airport, exit on Man O’ War Boulevard, named for one of history’s greatest Thoroughbred champions. It’s a little like taking the new Ted Williams Tunnel from Boston’s Logan Airport —... View Details

Keywords: Hanna, Julia; horse racing; Animal Production and Aquaculture; Agriculture; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

March 1987 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc.

By: Kenneth A. Merchant, Krishna G. Palepu and Joseph P. Mulloy

Describes a dispute between the owners of the major league baseball teams and the players' union about the profitability of the baseball teams. The issue is important because of the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations. A consultant is brought in to decide... View Details

Keywords: State Ownership; Compensation and Benefits; Entrepreneurship; For-Profit Firms; Accounting; Activity Based Costing and Management; Resource Allocation; Cost Accounting; Cost Management; Labor and Management Relations; Financial Management; Sports; Sports Industry; Kansas

July 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Ottawa Voyageurs, The

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Scott Baldwin, Chris Strong, Andrew Feng, Eliza Moody and David Ager

Manuel Tertuliano, head coach of a professional soccer club, must make some difficult decisions about the compensation of six of his players. Specifically, he must decide how to allocate $850,000 among these six players in a way that will benefit his team, which has... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Compensation and Benefits; Performance; Motivation and Incentives; Sports; Groups and Teams; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Canada

27 Oct 2014
News

Better Basketball in 20 Minutes

06 Oct 2013
News

HBS Rugby Players Celebrate 50-year Anniversary

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

February 1995 (Revised November 1996)
Case

MasterCard and World Championship Soccer

By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop

The MasterCard vice president for global promotions and other MasterCard executives are appraising the results of MasterCard's worldwide sponsorship of the 1994 World Cup soccer championship. They must decide whether to commit to sponsor the 1998 championship to be... View Details

Keywords: Credit Cards; Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Advertising Campaigns; Globalization; Sports; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; France; United States

June 2013
Case

STATS: Moneyball 2.0

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

Keywords: Sports

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

September 2017 (Revised June 2019)
Case

The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament

By: Anita Elberse and Saskia Van Rheenen

Should the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament gamble most of its player budget on superstar player Rafael Nadal, even after the event’s previous two editions saw Nadal and Roger Federer pull out at the last moment due to injury, leaving the tournament without any... View Details

Keywords: Superstar; Talent; General Management; Marketing; Sports; Media; Entertainment; Talent and Talent Management; Negotiation; Strategy; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Sports Industry

March 2019 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Choosing the Right Esports Business Model

By: David Collis and Alexander MacKay

Two esports entrepreneurs must choose on which business model to focus their time and money. After successfully launching an online esports coaching platform, a number of new opportunities emerge in the rapidly growing esports space that now has close to one billion... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Ecosystems; Business Development; Esports; Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Management; Strategy; Sports; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; North and Central America; Europe; Asia

01 Mar 2011
News

Local Hero

and COO of the 2010 World Series–winning Giants, is on the air at a local sports radio station. He’s announcing plans to take the Series trophy on tour, not only throughout Northern California but also across the country to the site of... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Arts, Entertainment

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

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