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Drawing upon a push-pull-mooring model and the literature on behavioral loyalty, this research aims to examine the underlying factors and mechanisms that influence switching intention in the context of professional sport in Japan.

Using a two-wave survey design (pregame and postgame surveys), we collected data from 367 fans of a professional soccer team in Japan. Our data included three push factors (quality, satisfaction, and perceived value of the current favorite team), a pull factor (alternative team attractiveness), a mooring factor (team identification), and behavioral loyalty and switching intention to the alternative team. We used structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses.

A mediation analysis revealed that perceived value of an individual’s current favorite team was negatively associated with behavioral loyalty to an alternative team, whereas attractiveness of the alternative team was positively associated with behavioral loyalty, which, in turn, resulted in fans’ switching intention. Latent moderated structural equation modeling further revealed the negative moderating effect of team identification with the current team on the relationship between behavioral loyalty and switching intention.

The findings provide new evidence about the role of behavioral loyalty in understanding sport consumers’ switching intention and highlight the importance of team identification that can foster a sustainable and long-term relationship between fans and their favorite sport teams.

The increased importance of sports and athlete brands highlights the need for athletes to pay attention to branding as it has positive impacts. As athletes, Muslim women have not succeeded in building their brands. This study aims to understand the branding challenges facing Muslim female athletes and how to overcome them.

These branding obstacles and guidelines were explored using qualitative methods – specifically semi-structured interviews with Muslim female athletes and focus groups with experts. Data were analysed using open and axial coding to identify the codes.

The study identifies three major obstacles to branding by Muslim female athletes. Self-related obstacles, such as knowledge of brand building, social media, personal pressure and a lack of role models, impact the brand-building decision. Social-related (family and society) and sport-related obstacles (participation as women and as Muslims) further complicate this task. Experts provide additional insights regarding these obstacles, suggesting strategies to overcome them.

The research focuses on athletes from one geographical area and has limitations associated with using qualitative methods.

The study suggests how self-, social- and sport-related obstacles are faced by athletes. It provides suggestions for federations, sports codes and other stakeholders to support athletes to overcome these barriers.

This study expands the understanding of the struggles Muslim women face in building their brands as part of an under-represented group.

This study examined brand hate within the context of the (German) Bundesliga and (Australian) National Rugby League (NRL). The study pursued two research questions: (1) What types of brand hate were expressed towards the Bundesliga and the NRL? (2) To what extent did hateful comments attract more likes than non-hateful comments?

Brand hate was studied in the context of competition restrictions in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We analysed reader comments posted below online articles published in three German (119 articles and 8,975 comments) and three Australian online newspaper articles (116 articles and 4,858 reader comments). The data were analysed deductively.

Non-parametric tests found that all types of brand hate were expressed. Approximately 85% of the hateful comments were mild, or more specifically, cold (n = 445 or approximately 53%), or cool (n = 250 or approximately 30%), or hot (n = 20 or approximately 2%). Hateful comments attracted more likes than non-hateful comments.

This study advances our understanding of how negative brand perceptions underpin an extreme negative emotional reaction in the form of brand hate. The empirical evidence enables brand managers to better address disgusted, angry, or contemptuous consumers (or stakeholders) and consider whether the feeling is enduring, strong or weak, and linked to either aggressive or passive behaviours.

The aims of this study are to analyse the impact of brand-centric relationships (individual and collective) and negative emotions on brand hate felt towards brands used in extreme sports and to assess whether brand hate is a driver of negative consumer behavioural intentions.

This study takes a quantitative approach, using a sample of 300 Spain-based users of snow-sports brands. After validating the measurement scales, the hypotheses were tested through structural equation modelling. Drawing on the cognitive perspective of emotions and the triangular theory of hate, this study posits that individual and collective consumer-brand relationships evoke inward negative emotions and brand hate, thus influencing brand avoidance, brand switching and negative word-of-mouth.

The results showed that collective and individual consumer-brand relationships (negative brand experience, consumer-based brand equity and symbolic incongruence) impact inward negative emotions towards snow-sports brands. Inward negative emotions directly influence brand hate, which in turn affects consumers’ intention to avoid brands, switch brands and engage in negative word-of-mouth.

This research provides novel insights into how individual and collective brand-centric relationships evoke inward negative emotions towards extreme sports’ brands, which in turn increases brand hate, and expands knowledge of how brand hate might increase the consumer’s intentions to avoid the brand, intention to switch brands and intention to engage in negative word-of-mouth.

The sudden COVID-19 epidemic in 2019 has frustrated China's overall economy, and the implementation and development of the National Fitness Program has encountered huge obstacles. At a new historical starting point, in order to realize the dream of becoming a powerful country in sports, it is necessary to transform the successful experience gained since the reform and opening up into regular understanding and systematic theories, so as to make a theoretical response to the new contradictions and challenges faced in development and give full play to the National Fitness has comprehensive values and multiple functions in improving people's health, promoting people's all-round development, promoting economic and social development and demonstrating the country's cultural soft power.

Taking the topic of national fitness as an example, this paper sets out from the three dimensions of knowledge input, knowledge output and knowledge production, using citation analysis, social network analysis, co-word analysis and cluster analysis, to measure the characteristics and knowledge structure of interdisciplinary knowledge exchange.

China's national fitness is still in the primary development stage, and the strong boost of the national top-level policy is the biggest driving force of its development, driven by the policy together with the settlement of many major events, constantly improving and enriching the wings. The main body of knowledge production on the topic of national fitness is mainly colleges and universities, with low participation of government and enterprises, high degree of cooperation among authors, obvious interdisciplinary characteristics and strong application of research themes.

This study provides a strong theoretical basis for the promotion of the Healthy China strategy. Especially under the influence of COVID-19, this paper can contribute to the comprehensive value and multimodal functions of national fitness in improving the health of people, promoting economic and social development and demonstrating the soft power of national culture.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of sports sponsorship on brand equity using two managerially related outcomes: price premium and market share.

This study uses a best–worst discrete choice experiment (BWDCE) and compares the outcome with that of the purchase intention scale, an established probabilistic measure of purchase intention. The total sample consists of 409 fans of three soccer teams sponsored by three different competing brands: Nike, Adidas and Puma.

With sports sponsorship, fans were willing to pay more for the sponsor’s product, with the sponsoring brand obtaining the highest market share. Prominent brands generally performed better than less prominent brands. The best–worst scaling method was also 35% more accurate in predicting brand choice than a purchase intention scale.

Future research could use the same method to study other types of sponsors, such as title sponsors or other product categories.

Sponsorship managers can use this methodology to assess the return on investment in sponsorship engagement.

Prior sponsorship studies on brand equity tend to ignore market share or fans’ willingness to pay a price premium for a sponsor’s goods and services. However, these two measures are crucial in assessing the effectiveness of sponsorship. This study demonstrates how to conduct such an assessment using the BWDCE method. It provides a clearer picture of sponsorship in terms of its economic value, which is more managerially useful.

From the buying club’s perspective, the transfer of a player can be interpreted as an investment from which the club expects uncertain future benefits. This paper aims to develop a decision-oriented approach for the valuation of football players that could theoretically help clubs determine the subjective value of investing in a player to assess its potential economic advantage.

We build on a semi-investment-theoretical risk-value model and elaborate an approach that can be applied in imperfect markets under uncertainty. Furthermore, we illustrate the valuation process with a numerical example based on fictitious data. Due to this explicitly intended decision support, our approach differs fundamentally from a large part of the literature, which is empirically based and attempts to explain observable figures through various influencing factors.

We propose a semi-investment-theoretical valuation approach that is based on a two-step model, namely, a first valuation at the club level and a final calculation to determine the decision value for an individual player. In contrast to the previous literature, we do not rely on an econometric framework that attempts to explain observable past variables but rather present a general, forward-looking decision model that can support managers in their investment decisions.

This approach is the first to show managers how to make an economically rational investment decision by determining the maximum payable price. Nevertheless, there is no normative requirement for the decision-maker. The club will obviously have to supplement the calculus with nonfinancial objectives. Overall, our paper can constitute a first step toward decision-oriented player valuation and for theoretical comparison with practical investment decisions in football clubs, which obviously take into account other specific sports team decisions.

This paper analyses J1 League and J2 League clubs during the period 2011–2020 to anticipate financial distress.

Data were collected for 29 professional football clubs competing in the J1 and J2 League for the financial years ending 2011–2020. Analysis was conducted using Altman’s Z-score methodology and additional statistical tests were conducted to measure differences between groups.

The results show significant cases of financial distress amongst clubs in both divisions and that clubs that have played predominantly in the J1 League are in significantly poorer financial health than clubs that have played predominantly in the J2 League. Overall, the financial situation in Japanese professional football needs to be monitored, a position that could be exacerbated by the economic crisis, caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

While the financial situation for a majority of the clubs in the J-League presents an austere picture, comparison with clubs in other leagues across Asia and Europe and understanding the different policies set by these leagues would enable us to understand whether the phenomenon of financial distress is common to other clubs and leagues across different countries and continents.

The paper recommends that J-League visit the existing club licensing criteria and implement equitable cost-control measures, such as implementing a cap on acceptable losses over a specified period or restricting overall expenditures as a percentage of the club’s revenue.

The paper extends the evidence base of measuring financial distress in professional team sports and is also the first paper of its kind to examine this in relation to Asian professional football.

In this article, the authors analyse a complex social process affecting historic public paths in rural areas in southern Spain. Despite the fact that urban populations are demanding the enhancement of this type of natural heritage for tourism, sports and recreational use, some parts of the network have been abandoned or usurped.

The study is multidisciplinary, comprising three interlinked studies. The cartographic study comprises an inventory of public paths in rural areas based on administrative sources. The legal study analyses local, regional and national regulations governing agricultural, environmental, heritage, sports and tourism uses of the infrastructure. The sociological study analyses social discourses on the uses of public paths, and identifies conflicts between farmers, landowners, environmentalists, sportspeople and tourists.

The preliminary results identified an important public paths network in Andalusia, approximately 160,000 km. The legal study found that there are laws regulating use, although local authorities do not monitor compliance or provide solutions to enhance management. The sociological study determined the attribution of environmental, cultural and economic value to public paths, but also the existence of conflicts between rural and urban populations.

Given that this is ongoing research, only state of the art and some preliminary albeit sufficiently consistent results are presented.

The results could help to guide public policy and governance of public paths.

Public paths promote rural development and a green/sustainable economy.

The research results and conclusions are original.