The Impact of Global Economic Downturn on Sport Management

Abstract

This special issue was inspired by the challenges faced by sport managers in our global community in the face of the economic downturn. During the calls for the special issue, society faced one of its most unprecedented challenges, COVID-19. This provide significant shock waves to the daily rituals in sport and society. The manuscripts in this special issue provide an insight into sport management during this period. The research presented is both rich and diverse and we believe provides readers and the global sport management community with important contributions for reflection and learning from a policy, management and practical level.

Keywords:

• Economic downturn
• austerity
• COVID-19
• sport
• management

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest has to be reported.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daniel Parnell

Daniel Parnell, PhD, Liverpool Johns Moores University, is an Associate Professor at the University of Liverpool. His research interests lie in business management, policy, and social and economic networks in sport. He serves as co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Managing Sport and Leisure, alongside a number of other editorial positions. He has published research articles on subjects ranging from policy and politics, to corporate social responsibility in sport, through to the impact of the economic downturn on sport. He has also edited a number of books and special issues. On top of this, he is a co-editor of the Routledge Book series ‘Critical Research in Football’, and co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Football Business and Management. He maintains extensive links within industry as Head of Football Research at Dundee United Football Club, CEO of the Association of Sporting Directors and a Trustee of SLQ Sport Leaders UK.

Paul Widdop

Paul Widdop, PhD, University of Manchester, UK, is a Senior Lecturer in Sport, Society & Economy at Leeds Beckett University with a particular interest in social network analysis, globalization, geopolitics, and consumption. He has published numerous articles in leading journals including the Journal of Consumer Culture, Cultural Sociology, Cultural Trends, Political Behavior, Electoral Studies, European Sport Management Quarterly, and Leisure Sciences. He has written and edited numerous books, including ‘Collective Action and Football Fandom’; ‘Routledge Handbook of Football Business’; and ‘Football and Popular Culture’. In addition, he sits on the editorial boards of ‘Journal of Consumer Culture’, ‘Managing Sport and Leisure’, and ‘Cultural Trends’. He is a core member of Edinburgh University Academy of Sport, co-founder of the Football Collective, and co-founder and co-editor of GeoSport.

Anthony May

Anthony May, PhD, Kingston University, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Marketing and Management at Coventry University. He has a wide range of research interests, which include sport policy and politics, nationalism, and the culture of sport. His work has appeared in journals including European Sport Management Quarterly, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, and Managing Sport and Leisure.

Danny Fitzpatrick

Danny Fitzpatrick, PhD, The University of Sheffield, is a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Aston University. His research interests include the political economy of sport, the relationship between sport and nationalism, activism within sport, and sport policy and diplomacy. His work has been published in journals such as British Politics, The Journal of War and Culture Studies and Soccer & Society. His monograph ‘The Politics of UK Regulation: Between Tradition, Contingency and Crisis’ was published by Palgrave in 2016.