Rugby league: a game in crisis

This study examines the issue of crisis and reputation management strategies in Australian sporting clubs and finds that not only are individual clubs unaware of the potential impact of such crises on their organizations, but that they also have no training, contingency plans, or strategies to handle crises of any sort either at this or at the national league level. It uses the Australian Rugby League organization as a case study f()r examining these issues and concludes with several recommendations for improving crisis management and communications policies in Australian sporting organizations and for their stakeholders.

Many public and private organizations prefer to ignore the reality that "bad things" can happen, either through denial of their vulnerabilities or through myopia about their successes and strengths (Elliott, 2002). A crisis can be defined as any problem or disruption that triggers negative stakeholder reaction and extensive public scrutiny (Newman, 2003). Effective crisis management lies in continuous learning processes designed to equip managers with the capabilities, flexibility, and confidence to deal with sudden and unexpected problems or events (Robert & Lajtha, 2002). Good crisis leaders are those who can make fast decisions under pressure and who can keep the big picture consequences of actions and words in mind when making these decisions 030in & Lagadec, 20(0). In 2004, the Rugby league in Australia was both ill-prepared and ill-advised to effectively deal with a sex scandal involving a number of their players on an official club tour. In classic crisis escalation, what should have been a serious but easily dealt with problem became a major reputational and institutional crisis for the league, its sponsors, its players, and its fans.

Into the protecting arms: the League of Nations and the extension of international assistance to unprotected persons in the Middle East and Europe, 1926 - 1928

The refugee dilemma in Europe in the years between the two world wars had a number of aspects: humanitarian, political, and diplomatic. It raised questions of migration, questions of international law, and questions of the fate of hundreds of thousands of individuals. Refugees were visible from the very last days of the war and remained a matter of serious international concern even beyond the outbreak of war again in September 1939. The refugee dilemma in Europe was, firstly, a humanitarian crisis because the size of the refugee population was without precedent. It was also a political problem because national governments had to contend with questions about the refugees' legal status and their legitimacy under national and international law, as well as balance humanitarian concerns with national political interests. The humanitarian and political aspects together created a crisis for the international community newly united in the League of Nations. One of its first great acts-to take these refugees into its protective care-was not even prescribed for it in its Covenant. But the refugee crisis facing Europe was so great that member states were united in the belief that the League had been established precisely to undertake a task of this kind.

Board directors and conflict of interest : a study of a sport league

Conflict of interest is one aspect of governance that has the potential to damage both an organisation and those who govern that organisation. Board directors of sport organisations are faced with a number of influences particular to sport business, which can impact on the process of managing conflict of interest. This research identified processes and attributes that influence directors: selection processes, outside roles, experience, regulation, education, motivation and qualifications. Directors and CEOs drawn from a sample of five Australian Football League (AFL) clubs and members of the AFL commission were interviewed. Data analysis was undertaken using a constructivist grounded theory method, and key processes (selection processes and director education) and attributes (outside roles, experience, regulation, motivation and qualifications) of non-executive directors were identified. By better understanding the influences on board directors in sport organisations, and the impact of these on managing conflict of interest, the potential for damage to the directors and the organisation may be decreased.

The all for Australia league in New South Wales : a study in political entrepreneurship and hegemony

In 1931, the All for Australia League and other 'citizens movements' mounted a major challenge to the established conservative parties. Traditional views of the League saw it as a reflection of economic group interests, whether of the business establishment or dissident capitalists such as manufactures. More recent scholarship has stressed middle-class concerns with 'sound finance' as the inspiration of the League. This paper instead situates the League in the historical context of centre party projects in New South Wales, and of progressivism, in particular industrial psychology. The economic crisis and the rightward shift of the nationalists enabled a group of political entrepreneurs to transform the League from a front group for business into a populist movement. However, the shift of mainstream conservatism back to the political centre fatally undercut the League's support base.

Leveraging fan's global football allegiances to build domestic league support

Purpose – It is not uncommon for sports fans to follow multiple sports teams across different sports and even several teams across different leagues of the same sport. Whereas this might be considered a competitive situation, the purpose of this paper is to examine how interest in overseas football (soccer) leagues played a symbiotic role in the successful development of an Australian national soccer league.

Design/methodology/approach – Results of survey data are presented from two clubs in Australia’s newly formed A-League. Three surveys were conducted over a two year period with over 3,700 season ticket holders. Specific attention is paid to fans’ previous interest and exposure to football, which is then related to attitudes and behaviour associated with the new clubs.

Findings – Interest in overseas clubs and leagues is found to be a major antecedent of interest in the Australian league. Those who follow teams in overseas leagues are more likely to be heavy consumers of the new local league than those who follow local leagues or had no prior experience. They also exhibit stronger attitudinal and behavioural loyalty, such as higher attendance and renewal rates of season tickets.

Practical implications – Recognising fan interest in multiple teams/leagues as positive involves a shift in management thinking away from a competitive to a collaborative stance. In this case, rapid adoption of new teams is encouraged by capitalising on strong interest in overseas leagues. This requires careful structuring and branding of the competition that mimicks familiar foreign leagues, while minimising unfavourable comparisons in areas like quality of play.

Originality/value – This study capitalises on the rare opportunity to examine foundation teams in a new national league. The findings highlight the importance and value of taking a ‘‘global’’ perspective to the marketing of sports, and of carefully leveraging the interest in other elite competitions to build interest in new leagues.

'Fencing them in' : the A-league, policing and the dilemma of public order

The establishment of an elite national Australian soccer league has been accompanied by an unprecedented growth in popularity for the world game in several Australian cities. Such growth presents numerous challenges for public order maintenance, particularly in light of the widespread concern over the relationship between soccer, disasters in major closed venues and violence. After outlining the emerging issues, and the extant Australian research into the phenomena of policing and sports crowd disorder, this study offers a knowledge based approach to foster informed, reflective and collaborative policing in elite and sub-elite soccer venues. Rather than advocating a fundamental shift in the current public order policing paradigm, we suggest drawing on elements of best practice that are currently adopted in other Australian sporting and public order settings and appropriate overseas experience to facilitate a better understanding of the dynamics of Australian soccer fandom. The result should be the promotion of safer yet exciting events at which interactive crowd management based on harm minimization principles are key features.

Professional identity in the global sports entertainment industry : regulating the body, mind and soul of Australian Football League footballers

In this article we discuss the ways in which the professional identity of Australian Football League (AFL) footballers — in a physical, high body contact sport — is shaped by concerns to develop different aspects of the body, mind and soul of the young men who want to become AFL footballers. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s later work on the care of the self we argue that narratives of identity necessarily involve a struggle for the body, mind and soul of these young men. Foucault’s work enables us to identify and analyse how relations of power, forms of regulation and arts of governing interact in ongoing attempts to develop the professional footballer. The article explores these issues via an analysis of the rationalities and techniques that inform talent identification and player management practices; and risk management in relation to these practices and processes in the AFL.

'Matching' the club to the sponsor : perceptions of Australian Football League club sponsorship managers

Corporate organisations spend significant amounts of money on sponsorship in an attempt to achieve distinct marketing and overall business objectives. There is strong support within the literature that a corporate organisation will be more attracted to sponsoring a sport organisation when there is a ‘match’ between the characteristics of the organisations. This capacity to ‘match’ characteristics has been investigated predominantly from the corporate sponsors’ perspective. The focus of this research is to identify this organisational ‘match’ from an Australian Football League (AFL) sponsorship manager’s perspective. A series of semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with the sponsorship/marketing managers from seven Melbourne-based AFL clubs. Arising from this, the importance of ‘organisation match’ as a precursor for sponsorship was determined. Results indicate that AFL sponsorship managers believe that presenting their team as an organisational ‘match’ with a potential sponsor is extremely important, providing scope for better synergies and greater strategic partnerships. This is strongly aligned through the off-field culture that the team portrays as well as the on-field success that the team has. Sponsors seeking sport organisations that have clearly defined and communicated images and brands can therefore attain a source of competitive advantage in competitive sponsorship markets.