Professionalization forms in mixed sport industries: is it time to rethink the stereotypes of non-profit and for-profit sport organizations?

ABSTRACT

Research question: Sport management scholars are used to differentiate between non-profit and for-profit sport organizations (NSOs and FSOs). However, NSOs and FSOs often co-exist in the same market (i.e. mixed sport industries) and may show similar professionalization forms (e.g. strategies, processes, staff). Therefore, the research questions of this study are which professionalization forms can be identified among sport organizations in mixed sport industries and how are NSOs and FSOs distributed among the identified professionalization forms.

Research methods: Exploratory factor and cluster analyses were conducted to identify professionalization forms among 71 Swiss ski schools (i.e. a mixed sport industry). Subsequently, the ski schools’ profit orientation and performance were investigated to describe the identified clusters.

Results and findings: The results show two professionalization forms that conceptual sport management literature would expect of NSOs and FSOs. However, the analysis reveals three additional professionalization forms, each one applied by both NSOs and FSOs.

Implications: This study is the first to identify professionalization forms among NSOs and FSOs in the same sport market. The findings imply that professionalization forms are independent of the profit orientation, which complements existing professionalization literature. The identification of relevant professionalization forms facilitates the understanding of professionalization for sport managers and helps to determine their organization’s position in the market.

KEYWORDS:

• Professionalization
• sports clubs
• profit orientation
• mixed sport industries
• cluster analysis

Acknowledgments

We thank the SSSA for its support in collecting the data used in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.