Publications

February 2025
Case

RedBird Capital Partners

By: Anita Elberse and David Moreno Vicente

In July 2024, Gerry Cardinale, the founder and managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners (‘RedBird’) has helped orchestrate a high-profile deal in the world of entertainment: one in which Skydance Media (‘Skydance’), a content production studio led by David Ellison... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Media; Film; Television; Sports; Superstars; Marketing; Strategy; General Management; Investing; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Asset Management

June 2013
Supplement

Will RacingThePlanet Ltd. Reach the Finish Line? (Spreadsheet Supplement)

This is the spreadsheet supplement for the "Will RacingThePlanet Ltd. Reach the Finish Line?" case #807148. It contains exhibits 4 and 9. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Global Ventures; Global Operations; Marathons; Sports Management; Early Stage; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Operations; Sports Industry; Hong Kong; Mongolia; Egypt; Antarctica; Chile

January 2022
Case

FIFA and The World Cup: The Future of Football

By: Anita Elberse, Oliver Band and Howard Johnson

Should FIFA host its biggest event—the FIFA World Cup—every two years instead of every four, as it has been doing since the event’s inception in the 1930s? In September 2021, Gianni Infantino, the president of the International Federation of Association Football... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Soccer; Football; Entertainment; Media; Talent Development; Globalization; Marketing; Strategy; General Management; Governance; Decision Making; Governing and Advisory Boards; Problems and Challenges; Brands and Branding; Sports Industry; Sports Industry

December 2022
Case

LIV Golf

By: Alexander J. MacKay

On March 17, 2022, Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf, announced the 8-tournament schedule for the inaugural season of the LIV Golf Invitational Series. Norman, a retired professional golfer and former world #1, was helming the league to compete with the PGA Tour, which was... View Details

Keywords: Anti-trust; Golf; ＂Sports Organizations,; Sports Management; Competition; Competition Policy; Strategy; Strategy And Leadership; Competitive Strategy; Sports; Sports Industry

August 2023
Teaching Note

LIV Golf

By: Alexander J. MacKay

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 723-371. On March 17, 2022, Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf, announced the 8-tournament schedule for the inaugural season of the LIV Golf Invitational Series. Norman, a retired professional golfer and former world #1, was helming the league... View Details

Keywords: Anti-trust; Golf; ＂Sports Organizations,; Sports Management; Competition; Competition Policy; Strategy; Strategy And Leadership; Sports; Competitive Strategy; Lawsuits and Litigation; Sports Industry

21 Mar 2019
HBS Case

The Ferrari Way

competitors, including Porsche and Lamborghini, responded by adding cutting-edge technologies, increasing production, and venturing into untraditional models, such as (gasp!) sport utility vehicles. Ferrari so far has remained true to its... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Auto

25 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Being a Team Player: Why College Athletes Succeed in Business

Persistence. Teamwork. Grit and grace in victory and defeat. Intercollegiate varsity sports may build such skills that employers prize—and that later propel former players into management roles faster than their classmates, suggests a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

February 2014 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Strava

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Sid Misra

Strava is a new fast-growing social network for the avid cyclist and runner. The Strava case traces the entrepreneurial journey of two serial entrepreneurs who have been co-founders in a prior venture, and who have co-founded Strava 3 years ago. The protagonists must... View Details

07 Nov 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Sir Alex Ferguson--Managing Manchester United

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 Elberse, who recently authored a business case on... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports; Sports

January 2025 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Thomas Müller: Mr. Bayern Munich

By: Boris Groysberg, Sascha L. Schmidt, Alexander Liebhart and Sarah Abbott

In 2024, FC Bayern Munich superstar Thomas Müller announced his retirement from German national football. His contract with Bayern Munich runs through the end of the 2024-25 season. In 2025, Müller reflects on his long career in football, on the skills that have driven... View Details

Keywords: Soccer; Football; Data Science And Analytics Management; Bundesliga; Sports Data; ＂Sports Organizations,; Career Changes And Transitions; Career Management; Retirement Transition; Skills Development; Analysis; Competency and Skills; Decision Making; Performance; Personal Development and Career; Retirement; Transition; Sports Industry; Germany

23 Jan 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Sports: Lessons for Managers

sports as the ultimate metaphor or analogy. A manager lagging in her work is "behind the eight ball" while another who is changing tactics is "calling an audible." If your staff can't do the basic "blocking and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports

May 2023 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Ferrari: Shifting to Carbon Neutrality

By: Raffaella Sadun, Elena Corsi and Leila Doumi

A sports car manufacturer commits to carbon neutrality and to electrifying a large part of its car fleet. View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Leadership Style; Auto Industry; Italy

August 2001 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Worldzap

By: Rohit Deshpande, Carin-Isabel Knoop, Suma Raju and David Kiron

In February 2001, the CEO of a new technology start-up had to decide how to present his firm's value proposition to future clients, customers, and business partners. The technology allowed distribution of full-motion video clips of sports highlights to "third... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Information Technology; Marketing Strategy; Distribution; Technology Adoption; Forecasting and Prediction; Value Creation; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Europe

September 2020 (Revised May 2021)
Case

The Indian Premier League, 2020

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

Since its founding in 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL), India’s eight-week Twenty20 (T20) cricket competition, had become one of the most popular and lucrative sporting leagues in the world. In 2019, the IPL attracted 462 million TV viewers and 300 million digital... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Organizational Structure; Marketing; Health Pandemics; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Sports Industry; India

29 Oct 2007
HBS Case

Marketing Maria: Managing the Athlete Endorsement

When Serena Williams took Centre Court at Wimbledon on July 3, 2004, few gave her opponent, 17-year-old Russian star Maria Sharapova, much of a chance. But Sharapova took the Ladies' Singles championship in straight sets, catapulting her into superstardom in the worlds... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Sports

November 2001 (Revised September 2002)
Case

International Management Group (IMG)

By: Bharat N. Anand and Kate Attea

In 2001, International Management Group (IMG) is the dominant company in the sports management industry. Its founder and CEO, Mark McCormack, is credited with having created the industry of sports management in the early 1960s. Over the next 40 years, IMG's expansion... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Finance; Organizational Structure; Planning; Relationships; Conflict of Interests; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Sports Industry

21 Mar 2016
Lessons from the Classroom

When Your Classmate is an NBA Superstar (or Fashion Model, or Movie Actress)

Marshall, fashion model Karlie Kloss, and “Magic Mike” star Cody Horn, have attended the program, sharing business challenges and contract strategies in the same room with mid- and senior-level executives who work for studios, networks, music companies, and View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Sports; Sports; Sports; Sports

September 2023
Case

Derek Aguirre

By: Leslie Perlow and Hannah Weisman

Derek Aguirre is the executive director of a nonprofit organization in Detroit, Michigan that uses the sport of squash as a vehicle to support young people in low-income urban areas. The case discusses his path to pursue meaningful work and his reflections on the... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Job Search; Happiness; Well-being; Work-Life Balance; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Enterprise; Business Startups; Sports; Education; Mission and Purpose; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; United States; Boston; Detroit

May 2007 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Maria Sharapova: Marketing a Champion (A)

By: Anita Elberse and Margarita Golod

In July 2004, a then 17-year-old Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon, arguably the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world. Max Eisenbud, Sharapova's agent at International Management Group (IMG), knew the championship would lead to a flood of new opportunities. What... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Advertising; Gender; Product Marketing; Sports Industry