Better Governance and Sport Innovation within Sport Organizations

Abstract

This research aims to examine the impact of better governance on sport innovation. Observational desk research collected publicly available online data on better governance principles and sport innovation in sport federations. The sample included 150 regional sport federations in Belgium. First, a two-step cluster analysis identified two clusters of sport federations according to their governance level. Next, a one-way ANOVA was conducted to compare sport innovation between the two clusters. Finally, a multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify better governance principles impacting sport innovation. Results indicated that better-governed sport federations were significantly more inclined to innovate. Multiple linear regressions showed that transparency significantly and positively impacts sport innovation. These findings are the first empirical evidence of a relationship between better governance and sport innovation. This study empirically highlights the often-assumed but little-tested positive impact of adopting better governance principles on sport organizations.

Keywords:

• Sport federations
• good governance
• innovation
• sport governing bodies
• non-profit sport

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 As suggested by numerous scholars, in this manuscript, the term better governance is preferred to good governance to move away from the good/bad dichotomy (see, for instance, Chappelet & Mrkonjic, 2013a, 2019; Parent et al., 2021; Thompson et al., 2022).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Arthur Lefebvre

Arthur Lefebvre (PhD, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium) is a postdoctoral researcher in the Sport Management UCLouvain research group of the Louvain Research Institute in Management and Organizations (LouRIM) at Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium. His research focuses on inter-organizational relationships in sport, sport governance and strategy, performance and capacity of sport organizations, and women’s participation in sport.

Géraldine Zeimers

Géraldine Zeimers (PhD, Université catholique de Louvain and Ghent University, Belgium) is a professor in the Sport Management UCLouvain research group of the Louvain Research Institute in Management and Organizations (LouRIM) and Faculty of Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences at Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium. Her research mainly focuses on sport CSR and sustainability, sport governance and strategy, and inclusion and diversity in sport.

Kobe Helsen

Kobe Helsen graduated with a master’s degree in physical education and motor science in 2017 (sport policy and sports management). Since 2017, he has been working as a researcher in the Policy in Sports & Physical Activity Research Group at the KU Leuven. He participated in research projects concerning policy and management issues regarding local sports federations, and concerning the multitude of impacts of sports events.

Joris Corthouts

Joris Corthouts graduated in 2017 as Master in Physical Education and Movement Sciences (KU Leuven). After graduation, he obtained his PhD within the Policy in Sports & Physical Activity Research Group at KU Leuven with his research on innovation within the club organised sports sector. He was also involved as co-editor in the publications of Sport Policy & Management Studies. He is currently active as sports coordinator at the city of Genk while he is also affiliated with the KU Leuven as a volunteer scientific researcher.

Jeroen Scheerder

Jeroen Scheerder has an educational background in Sport Sociology (PhD), Social & Cultural Anthropology (MA), Movement & Sport Sciences (MSc), and Marketing (FC). He is Professor of Sport Policy and Sport Sociology in the Department of Movement Sciences at the KU Leuven, Belgium, and is the academic coordinator of the KU Leuven Sport Policy & Sport Management Master Programme. He was the head of the Policy in Sports & Physical Activity Research Group (2012–2023) and the promotor-coordinator of the Interuniversity Policy Research Centre on Sports financed by the Flemish government (2017–2023). From 2014 to 2016 he was president of the European Association for Sociology of Sport (EASS), and from 2005 to 2007 he was visiting Professor of Sport Sociology at the Faculty of Political & Social Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium. Jeroen Scheerder lectures in the fields of sport governance, sport policy/politics, sport sociology and leisure sciences. His research interests lie in management-related, political and sociological aspects of sport and leisure-time physical activity. Jeroen Scheerder is (co-)editor of eight international academic books and three special issues of the European Journal for Sport & Society, (co-)author of +100 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and (co-)author of +40 chapters in international academic books. So far, he has (co-)supervised 18 doctoral theses in the fields of sport governance, sport management, sport policy and/or sport sociology. He is the lead editor of the KU Leuven Sport, Policy & Management Studies.

Thierry Zintz

Thierry Zintz (PhD, Université catholique de Louvain and Ghent University, Belgium) is an emeritus professor in the Sport Management UCLouvain research group of the Louvain Research Institute in Management and Organizations (LouRIM) and Faculty of Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences at Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium. His research mainly focuses on sport governance and sport diplomacy.