Publications

June 2024
Teaching Note

Dirk Nowitzki: Changing the Game

By: Boris Groysberg, Katherine Connolly Baden and Robin Abrahams

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 420-031. NBA Superstar Dirk Nowitzki was unsure whether the 2018-19 season would be his last as an NBA player. He had not faced such uncertainty since 1998, when he had navigated a difficult decision regarding the timing of his move to... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Practice; Retirement; Work-Life Balance; Success; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Growth and Development; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Performance; Sports Industry; United States

August 2017 (Revised August 2018)
Case

The Oakland Athletics: Strategy & Metrics for a Budget

By: Srikant M. Datar and Caitlin N. Bowler

This case considers Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane’s data driven and, in baseball circles unconventional, approach to winning games over the duration of the long Major League Baseball season. Beane’s critical approach to crafting strategy within his... View Details

Keywords: Data Analysis; Metrics; Data Science; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis; Measurement and Metrics; Competitive Strategy; Organizational Culture; Sports Industry

Educators

June 2009 (Revised August 2014)
Teaching Note

Negotiating on Thin Ice: The 2004-2005 NHL Dispute (TN) (A) & (B)

By: Deepak Malhotra

Teaching Note for [906038] and [906039]. View Details

Keywords: Sports Industry

March 2009 (Revised July 2024)
Teaching Note

Tottenham Hotspur plc

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

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 209-059. View Details

Keywords: Sports Industry; London

winter 2007
Article

Unraveling Yields Inefficient Matchings: Evidence from Post-Season College Football Bowls

By: Guillaume R. Frechette, Alvin E. Roth and M. Utku Unver

Keywords: Entertainment; Sports Industry

June 1999 (Revised August 2004)
Case

The American Basketball League: The Last Chapter

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Elizabeth (Lisa) Smyth

Provides information on the demise of the American Basketball League (ABL) in December 1998. Reviews the League's attendance, television activity, and competitive positioning versus the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In conjunction with earlier cases... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Failure; Finance; Sports Industry

August 1978 (Revised June 1988)
Case

University of Michigan Athletic Department

By: Stephen A. Greyser

Keywords: Sports Industry

01 Dec 2007
News

Lighten Up

sporting goods companies. But Kim and Coup weren’t interested in selling the company yet. Meanwhile, Timberland, based in Stratham, New Hampshire, had been assembling a collection of brands under the umbrella of its outdoor group to... View Details

Keywords: Kathryn Jones; Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Book Stores; Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Book Stores

01 Feb 2015
News

Jonathan Kraft is Prepared for Next Step

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

06 May 2013
Research & Ideas

How Local Events Shake Up Corporate Philanthropy

Planning to ask a big company for a charitable donation? You may be wise to time your request around a huge sporting event—specifically, an event that takes place in the firm's home city. A recent research paper shows that enormous events... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

June 2024
Teaching Note

Major League Baseball: Changing the Rules of America's Pastime

By: Stephen A. Greyser, Mac Levin and Brent Schwarz

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 924-307. The Teaching Note offers suggestions for using the case as a “product innovation” for different levels of students and their knowledge of baseball. Discussion plan questions for instructors are provided in the context of MLB’s... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Media; Product; Sports Industry

September 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Teaching Note

Philanthropy and Brand Building: Jeff Vinik and the Tampa Bay Lightning

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Michael Mondello

Teaching Note for HBS No. 919-403, “Philanthropy and Brand-Building: Jeff Vinik and the Tampa Bay Lightning.” Includes objectives, study questions, analysis and discussion points, and teaching plan—covering both traditional brand-building and the role of distinctive... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Community Relations; Sports Industry; Tampa

November 2009
Case

Incentive or Insult? The Case of Joe Torre and the New York Yankees

By: Richard S. Tedlow and David Ruben

Keywords: Sports Industry; New York (city, NY)

Educators

September 2009 (Revised May 2019)
Case

The London 2012 Olympic Games

By: John T. Gourville and Marco Bertini

It's 2009 and Paul Williamson, Head of Ticketing, must finalize ticket prices for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Yet, there are many criteria to consider. First, given the importance of ticketing to the Games' bottom line, he has a strong incentive to maximize... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Customer Satisfaction; Price; Strategy; Profit; Revenue; Sales; Sports Industry; London

Educators