Charles Parrish

Fútbol as a source of national identity for many Argentineans has been documented by several scholars. Literature on how it represents the broader scope of Argentine society continues to develop. During the most significant period of modernization, many dwelling within Argentina searched for representation of the cultural and social essence of their respective locales. Social clubs became well organized throughout

and organized by state. These three collections are the source for all of the narratives included in Slave Culture. As a derivative source, Slave Culture succeeds in apply-ing themes to the narratives; how intuitive or useful those themes are, and what such thematic ordering adds to the al-ready extensive literature, is up for debate. Barring a unique curricular need or surplus acquisitions funds, this volume is not recommended with so much other identical primary source material freely available.—Kristin J. Henrich, Reference

Meeting and event planners are constantly searching for unique venues to increase attendees’ satisfaction by providing a one-of-a-kind experience. Many newly constructed or renovated sport facilities strive to position themselves as a unique meeting/event venue. This research investigated the perceptions of meeting/event planners (buyers) and sport facility administrators (sellers) to identify and compare their perceived quality of professional sport stadiums as a meeting and corporate/social event venue. A qualitative research method (mix of interview and open-ended questionnaire) was used to collect data. The findings indicate there are differences and similarities in perceived advantages and disadvantages by each side. The event/meeting planners perceived inferior quality of audio/video (A/V) and food and beverage (F/B) service, a complex planning process, and unknown price structure as disadvantages. Notably, sport stadium administrators perceived their high quality on-site F/B and comparable A/V as their advantages as a unique event venue. This study provides useful information for sports stadium administrators striving to develop effective marketing and branding strategies to enhance the positioning of their facility as an attractive meeting and corporate/social event venue.

The recruitment of international-student athletes (ISAs) to NCAA schools in the United States has been a feature of intercollegiate athletics since the late 1940’s and an influx of foreign-born athletes became evident from the late 1960s and through the 1970s (Stidwell 1984). More recently, the number of ISAs increased drastically from the 1990s to the 2000s and this growth trend has continued. Similar to Chepyator-Thomson et al.’s (2016) research on migration patterns of ISAs in NCAA basketball and Kirk and Weaver’s (2019) work on ISAs in NCAA soccer, the purpose of this study was to explore talent migration in NCAA Division I (DI) tennis. The authors incorporate discussions on globalization and world-system theory to explicate global sport labor migration and analyze descriptive player and coach data to understand: 1) the extent of ISAs competing in NCAA DI tennis in comparison to other sports; 2) distribution of tennis ISAs across three DI categories and thirty-one conferences; 3) migration patterns of DI tennis ISAs with respect to country and city of origin; and, 4) the percentage of international tennis coaches in DI. Findings indicate tennis has the highest percentage of ISAs among all NCAA sports, ISAs make up the majority of all men’s and women’s tennis players at the DI level, Spain is the top donor nation, and the percentage of international coaches for DI teams is approximately 30%. The authors conclude the paper with commentary informed by veteran DI tennis coaches regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the future of college tennis.

The impact of and response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic varied among sport organizations around the world. In the United States, professional and amateur soccer leagues and teams were forced to evaluate their specific context and amend operations accordingly. At the top tier of the American soccer pyramid, Major League Soccer (MLS) played two fixtures before the league office suspended its celebrated twenty-fifth anniversary season and announced an action plan that included teams resuming play later in the year. The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) also delayed the start date for their season and later released plans to become the first professional team sports league in the United States to resume play. The pandemic impacted lower tier soccer leagues and teams differently. Initially, leagues such as the fourth tier men’s United Soccer League Two (USL 2) and the fourth tier Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) publicized plans to delay the start of the 2020 season. However, some teams in these leagues were forced to immediately withdraw from competition due to unique structural conditions. This article examines the case of one of these organizations.

Most scholarship about the diffusion of sport has focused on a directional flow from core to periphery nations. Consequently, many traditional sports originating in non-Western countries have received little attention and thus represent opportunities for inquiry. This paper employs a world history approach in order to examine the diffusion of polo from central Asia to Europe and the Americas to better understand the multidirectional flow of global culture as well as the nature and impact of globalization on the sport's development in multiple geographic regions over time.

Meeting and event planners are constantly searching for unique venues to increase attendees’ satisfaction by providing a one-of-a-kind experience.  Many newly constructed or renovated sport facilities strive to position themselves as a unique meeting/event venue. This research investigated the perceptions of meeting/event planners (buyers) and sport facility administrators (sellers) to identify and compare their perceived quality of professional sport stadiums as a meeting and corporate/social event venue. A qualitative research method (mix of interview & open-ended questionnaire) was used to collect data. The findings indicate there are differences and similarities in perceived advantages and disadvantages by each side. The event/meeting planners perceived inferior quality of audio/video (A/V) and food and beverage (F/B) service, a complex planning process, and unknown price structure as disadvantages. Notably sport stadium administrators perceived their high quality on-site F/B and comparable A/V as their advantages as a unique event venue. This study provides useful information for sports stadium administrators striving to develop effective marketing and branding strategies to enhance the positioning of their facility as an attractive meeting and corporate/social event venue.

Maximizing and gaining access to stadium related revenue streams, including non-game day social and corporate event rentals, is a critical factor for the financial viability of professional sports teams. Minor League Baseball (MiLB) teams and Independent baseball league (Indy) teams are no exception and franchise owners strive to maximize ancillary business opportunities, including stadium usage year-round. Currently, teams are marketing their venues through various mediums, including their websites. Considering the implications of eMarketing on MiLB and Indy teams’ ability to target and solicit social and corporate event customers it is critical to evaluate current eMarketing efforts. This study employs the Modified Balanced Scorecard (mBSC) approach to website evaluation and aims to a) evaluate the contents and design of minor league (MiLB and Indy) baseball teams’ websites as a marketing tool for their stadiums and b) to identify trends of minor league baseball stadium use as social and corporate event venues. Research findings provide researchers and industry professionals with empirical evidence of the current positioning of minor league baseball stadiums as social and corporate event venues. The authors also discuss how teams can improve their eMarketing strategy to better engage social and corporate event clients.

By 2006, following its first decade, Major League Soccer (MLS) appeared to have proven American skeptics wrong about the potential for success and the likely fate of the league. Success, however, is very much a relative term. One must concede that MLS has helped bring professional soccer attention in the United States, played a role in the growth of the sport among America’s youth and experienced significant progress as a league since its inaugural season of 1996. However, the deficiencies of MLS were its struggle to compete nationally with the Big Four North American sports of baseball, American football, basketball, and ice hockey, and the inability to convince the rest of the world that it offers a comparable, first-class brand of “football,” when measured against the “Big 5” European leagues. Despite its recent strategies, which include luring international premier players to the USA as well as the development of intimate soccer-specific stadiums, MLS continues to be stigmatized as being inferior to the other major professional sport leagues in the United States as well as the high-profile soccer leagues of Europe.

This essay focuses on the role sport and leisure played in the life of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara during childhood and adolescence. Specifically, the essay conceptualises how his sport and leisure experiences contributed to making Guevara the revolutionary and guerilla fighter. To be sure, a number of works on Guevara do recount his participation in sport but few specifically reflect on how these experiences may have influenced his later life. To accomplish this, I provide case examples of Guevara’s engagement with sport and leisure during childhood and adolescence and link those experiences with the theoretical and philosophical foundations that position sport as a useful socializing agent and character-building tool. The goal of this work is to provide a paradigmatic
lens that argues sport and leisure played a significant role in the development of a young Ernesto Guevara. These early experiences influenced and, in some cases, altered the path of the ambiguous adolescent who would later become the iconic twentieth-century Latin American revolutionary known around the world as Che.

Literature focusing on sport spectator behavior is abundant. The North American based literature on sports spectator consumption patterns is situated within the context of the
mainstream sports of gridiron football, basketball, and baseball. Soccer (association football), among other niche sports, is often marginalized in part due to its comparatively
limited appeal to consumers in the region. International scholars have thoroughly explored the topic of soccer spectator attendance however these findings are contextual
and specific to the region or locale under investigation. The following study is a contribution to both the global and domestic literature base on soccer spectators in the
United States. Specifically, it explores the relationship between Major League Soccer (MLS) attendance figures and two conspicuous trends permeating the league: 1) the
finance and construction of soccer specific stadiums and 2) paying market value for “designated players” (DPs). Implications of the findings are discussed.

In this article we propose an integrated conceptual model that provides insight into the attractiveness of professional sport facilities as sites for corporate and social events. Previous studies regarding matching effect of brand and sport sponsorship, image transfer in sporting event sponsorships based on meaning transfer model, sport involvement, team identification with social theory, key determinants of meeting/event venue selection criteria, and franchise value are
utilized to develop a holistic conceptual framework. The framework and propositions are useful tools to understand a relatively unexplored area in the sport facility and event management field and add to the literature focusing on
generating alternative revenue streams in the professional sports industry.

Professional sport organizations and stadium administrators strive to create additional revenue sources beyond sports events to maximize profits due to their limited usage of facilities on game-days. This study evaluated professional sport teams’ website contents and feature/services offered to prospective non-sporting event customers. The results indicated that a majority of the professional sport teams were not efficiently utilizing their websites to market their stadiums as non-sporting event venues.  The findings of this study offer a starting point for both researchers and practitioners in the professional sport stadiums segment of the event/meeting industry to identify specific areas to improve their website marketing efforts.

Professional sport organizations and stadium administrators strive to create additional revenue sources beyond sports events to maximize profits due to their limited usage of facilities on game days. This study evaluated professional sport teams’ website contents and features/services offered to prospective non-sporting event customers. The results indicated that a majority of the professional sport teams were not efficiently utilizing their websites to market their stadiums as non-sporting event venues. The findings of this study offer a starting point for both researchers and practitioners in the professional sport stadiums segment of the event/meeting industry to identify specific areas to improve their website marketing efforts.

Fútbol as a source of national identity for many Argentineans has been documented by several scholars. Literature on how it represents the broader scope of Argentine society continues to develop. During the most significant period of modernization, many dwelling within Argentina searched for representation
of the cultural and social essence of their respective locales. Social clubs became well organized throughout the country and each served as the pillar of identification many sought. Fútbol competitions soon offered an outlet with which to construct and affirm particular identities. Argentinean futbol fans continue this practice today. How football supporters live and enact their fandom have been explored widely in Europe. In particular, recent work has begun to examine the popular cultural forms that emerge from sports fans, particularly
songs, chants and the use of musical instruments. An analytical study of the songs and chants composed and delivered by the militant (barras bravas) and casual fans from the various fútbol clubs provides for a broader social understanding of the pratice of fandom in Argentina as well as the expressing of
‘maleness’ in contemporary Argentina.

This chapter examines how sport is currently organized in Latin America and the Caribbean. Specifically, it looks at the role of government and other nongovernmental organizations in shaping a country’s sport structure and system. Although important differences exist among the sport systems across Latin America and the Caribbean, many similarities are present as well.

Football (soccer) in the United States has been analysed through a variety of socio-political lenses which reveal issues related to gender, class, ethnicity, and national identity. This chapter seeks to extend our understanding beyond social politics by examining part of the broader political structure that shapes the governance and consumption of the sport. The authors begin with a discussion of the development of football in the United States, rivalries among teams, and the nuances of supporter culture to provide necessary context. The chapter then shifts to an exploration of the economic structure of football in the United States and how government politics influences the sport at the highest level of competition. The conclusion considers how these politics have impacted David Beckham's effort to launch a Major League Soccer team in Miami.

With the possible exception of China, North America is the fastest growing region in world football (which the locals in the USA and Canada call soccer). Due to an expansion of media broadcast agreements in countries around the world and positive endorsements from key former European players who are now playing or have previously played in the league, Major League Soccer (MLS) is recognized globally as a quality league, though not yet at the consistent performance levels of the "Big 5" in Europe (Strutner, Parrish, & Nauright, 2014). With its unique corporate single entity structure, MLS is also regarded of one of the most financially stable leagues in the western hemisphere. Beyond MLS, Mexico’s Liga MX has achieved a high level of competitive balance and, due to strategic affiliations with large corporations, many Mexican clubs are able to routinely acquire and retain some of the most talented players in the region.

Governance for soccer in the region is in the hands of the Confederation of North, Central American, and Caribbean Association Football, better known by the acronym CONCACAF, one of six regional confederations under the FIFA organizational umbrella. It was established in 1961 as a result of the merger of the Football Confederation of Central America and the Caribbean and the North American Football Confederation. Today, CONCACAF provides governance and oversight for football in 41 countries (3 from North America -- Canada, Mexico and the USA, 7 from Central America and 31 from the Caribbean) and carries out its responsibilities from offices in cities throughout the region, including New York, Miami, the Cayman Islands, and Guatemala City. As the authority for football in the region, the organization is charged with an array of administrative and developmental duties, including organizing and coordinating competitions for the region’s men’s and women’s national teams across four age divisions (Senior teams, U20s, U17s, & U15s) as well as an annual tournament for the top men’s club teams. The confederation also stages men’s futsal and beach soccer tournaments, which serve as the de facto qualifying tournaments for the FIFA World Cup in both sports, and provides technical and administrative training courses to benefit its member national football associations.

In terms of organizational structure, CONCACAF’s leadership includes a General Secretary, an eight member executive committee,  a Congress comprised of representatives of each member national association, and several task specific standing committees. The Congress has a one member-one vote election policy, similar to that of the general FIFA Congress. Consequently, the Caribbean Football Union and its 31 representatives possess an overwhelming majority in the Congress and can, theoretically, easily outvote the Central American and North American federations on matters of interest to the region. For example, St. Lucia has equal voting power with respect the USA or Mexico. Not surprisingly, this governance structure has led to fractures within the organization as well as the emergence of influence from entities outside CONCACAF, including corporations.

Professional sport organizations around the world use a variety of business strategies to generate capital in an effort to offset costs and maximize revenue potential. While emphasis is typically placed on revenue associated with the core sports-based product (i.e. match tickets, broadcasting rights, corporate partnerships, licensing and merchandise sales) these organizations are increasingly seeking supplemental revenue by identifying and capitalizing on opportunities that exist outside their traditional core business ventures. Professional football clubs in Argentina are no exception and many have initiated innovative strategies aimed at generating new revenue. This chapter outlines some of the typical revenue streams associated with football club management and discusses the nature of Argentinean football within this framework. The authors then provide a brief overview of Mark Johnson’s ‘white space’ construct and describe a sample of these types of strategies recently implemented by professional football clubs in Argentina to highlight contemporary sport management practice in the region.

The role and place sport plays in Latin America have been observed by numerous scholars who have used multiple approaches to provide interpretations and meanings of its value. Arbena (1993) noted that, throughout the 20th century, the practice of sport in Latin America –and particularly European sports– ironically contributed to reinforce the colonial past, as modern sport was perceived as a path to modernity. Capretti (2010) noted that social scientists from Latin American who have examined the role of sport, particularly football, have focus their attention to the study of social and national identity. While football was not the only sport form that was adopted from European immigrants, it became –since the early days of the 20th century– one of the most dominant cultural manifestations of what sport is in Latin America (Torres & Campos, 2010). As a result, football has become the prime object of study by which scholars have attempted to answer not only questions regarding the place and role of sport in the region but also has served as a pretext to know more about Latin Americans’ own identity, or, as noted by Capretti (2010), provide an answer of ‘who are we’ (p. 246). Sport’s role in the social and national identity as one of the main foci of Latin American scholars is also shared by Torrres (2010) who noted that sport scholars have “attempt[ed] to discuss, in one way or another and with different degrees of success the complexity of imagining nations, identities and subjectivities through football” (p. 561). It is the perceived role and place sport plays in social life, particularly by shaping social identities, accentuating or mitigating social class and gender differences, and perhaps serving as mechanism to promote development is that many governments across Latin America rationalize and find justification for their institutional involvement with sport

Despite the perception that soccer exists in the margins of the American experience, it has had a long history and many more people have played and watched soccer in the United States than historians have stated to date.  Recent academic focus on soccer in the United States has yielded intriguing interdisciplinary analysis  however studies that provide historical accounts of the game at the regional and local level are rare.  Specifically, the history of the world’s most popular sport in the District of Columbia has not yet been written despite a rich tradition that dates back well over one hundred years.  Without minimizing the historical and cultural significance of the city’s current professional franchise, the history and meaning of soccer in Washington D.C. is much broader than D.C. United’s tenure at RFK Stadium. Soccer has consistently been a part of Washingtonian leisure culture for well over a century. The professional game in the District can be traced back to 1894, when Washington’s ‘Soccer Senators’ was one of six teams to participate in what is regarded as the first organized professional soccer league in the United States,  the American League of Professional Foot Ball.

While a comprehensive in depth historical survey of soccer in the District of Columbia is desirable, space limitations do not permit a complete account here.  Our goal is to provide an historical overview of the development of soccer in the District, with a particular emphasis on Washington’s contributions to the thriving national professional soccer scene of the 1960s and into the early 1980s.

How popular is soccer worldwide? Here's one indicator: 3.2 billion people—nearly half of the planet's population—tuned in to watch the 2010 World Cup on television. Soccer matches attract a gargantuan number of fans from around the globe due to the popularity of the sport itself but also because of the nationalism it inspires and the entertainment spectacle of the big games. Distinguished authors and sports authorities, Charles Parrish and John Nauright, examine how soccer impacts societies worldwide by shaping national identities, providing common ground for diplomatic issues, and forging economic and social development.

This one-volume geographic guide studies the places in which soccer has a major impact, examining each region's teams, major tournaments, key players, and international performance. The authors organize the book geographically by region and country, with entries reviewing the history of the sport and cultural impact on the area. Each profile concludes with fascinating game-based statistics, such as winners of major tournaments and top goal scorers. The book covers 20 countries including England, Brazil, Egypt, the United States, Cameroon, and Korea.

Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice provides a unique, global overview of sports and sports cultures. Unlike most works of this type, this book provides both essays that examine general topics, such as globalization and sport, international relations and sport, and tourism and sport, as well as essays on sports history, culture, and practice in world regions—for example, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and Oceania—in order to provide a more global perspective. These essays are followed by entries on specific sports, world athletes, stadiums and arenas, famous games and matches, and major controversies.

Readers will gain invaluable insights into how sports have been enjoyed throughout all of human culture, and more fully comprehend their cultural contexts. The entries provide suggestions for further reading on each topic—helpful to general readers, students with school projects, university students and academics alike. Additionally, the four-volume Sports Around the World spotlights key charismatic athletes who have changed a sport or become more than just an outstanding player.

The Convention Industry Council (2014) identifies sports stadiums as one of three types of meeting venues. Specifically, these facilities are considered non-traditional venues and it is unclear if their features and services meet the expectations of corporate and social meeting/event planners. This is a critical gap in both the sport management and meetings/events literature. If stadiums are to effectively generate ancillary revenue by attracting and hosting corporate and social events on non-game days, it is important for sports teams and stadium authorities to understand if their features and services satisfy the wants and needs of prospective customers (meeting and event planners). Currently, there are a limited number of empirical studies that explore the use of professional stadiums for corporate and social events. These studies focus either on marketing efforts (Lee, Kim, & Parrish, 2012; Parrish, Lee, & Kim, 2014) or planner perceptions (Lee, Parrish, & Kim, 2015) and do not investigate if stadiums satisfy customer expectations of key features and services.

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate event/meeting planner satisfaction with outdoor professional sports stadium features and services. Participants (n = 266) included in the study were professional event and meeting planners with the capacity to make site selection decisions on behalf of their organization or clients. Also, all participants had prior experience with either attending or planning a corporate or social event at an outdoor professional sports stadium.

Event and meeting planners strive to provide a one-of-a-kind experience for their clients and attendees. An important element for providing memorable experiences is the selection of a host site or venue. According to a recent report from Eventbrite (2017), the use of nontraditional and unique event venues for corporate and social events is on the rise. Venues such as museums, art galleries, rooftops, parking garages, theaters, yachts and vineyards provide for an immersive and engaging experience for clients and attendees. 

Outdoor professional sports stadiums are marketed as unique event venues that possess the necessary infrastructure to support a variety of corporate and social events (Lee, Kim, & Parrish, 2012; Parrish, Lee, & Kim, 2014). However, as with other unique venues, stadiums may not be perceived as an ideal host site for all types of corporate and social events. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine which types of corporate and social events are a good fit for outdoor sports stadiums from the perspective of event planners.