Motorsport volunteerism: a form of social contract?

Abstract

The field of sports volunteerism has received considerable attention over recent years. It is increasingly evident that many national and transnational governing bodies of sport accept that the sustainability of their events remains conditional upon volunteers who are willing to offer their skills and labour free of charge. Fortunately, something of a resurgence within volunteerism, especially around sporting events, appears to be taking hold, albeit largely within the Global North, and so, it is appropriate to consider whether this may be explained with reference to the under-examined field of social contract theory. This therefore is the primary aim of this article, which draws specific attention to this phenomenon within motorsport. It concludes that there is indeed considerable evidence that motorsport volunteers are encouraged to provide their services in a manner consistent with some form of contractual obligation, and thus, in a wider sense, these conclusions offer valuable insights for other sporting bodies regarding their volunteer recruitment and retention strategies in the time ahead.