2016 – Page 4 – The Sport Journal

How Major League Baseball Teams Are Demonstrating Corporate Social Responsibility on Instagram

Authors: Kevin Hull & Joon Kyoung Kim

Corresponding Author:
Kevin Hull, Ph.D.
University of South Carolina
800 Sumter Street
Columbia, SC 29208
khull@sc.edu
803-777-4746

Kevin Hull (Ph.D., University of Florida) is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of South Carolina. Joon Kyoung Kim (M.A., Syracuse University) is a doctoral student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina.

How Major League Baseball Teams Are Demonstrating Corporate Social Responsibility on Instagram

ABSTRACT
For decades, professional sports teams have worked with local and national charitable groups. These efforts are frequently reported on by the media, but teams now have a chance to showcase their charity work themselves. Through Instagram, teams can post photos and videos about their charity directly to their timeline. This exploratory research study examined how Major League Baseball teams were using Instagram to demonstrate their charitable efforts. A content analysis of 50 posts from every team (N = 1,500) was conducted, with the post content, hashtags used, and fan response analyzed. Findings demonstrated that teams were posting few photos and videos that showcase their charitable work. Additional examination revealed that fans were less apt to like and comment on charitable posts when compared to other types of posts. Implications regarding how professional sports teams should be using Instagram to showcase their charity work are discussed.

Keywords: charity, corporate social responsibility, Instagram, Major League Baseball

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-09-27T15:30:59-05:00September 22nd, 2016|Sports Management|Comments Off

General Managers and the Importance of Using Analytics

Authors: Dr. Rocco P. Porreca

Corresponding Author:
Rocco P. Porreca, Ed. D.
380 SE Mizner Blvd. Apt. 1718
Boca Raton, FL 33432
porreca.rocco@gmail.com
518-821-8070

Dr. Porreca is an adjunct professor in the College of Business and Management at Lynn University.

General Managers and the Importance of Using Analytics

ABSTRACT
Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Sport is changing. Athletes are becoming faster and stronger. The rate and pace of play is steadily increasing. Therefore sport, as a result, adapts and evolves. Recently, the way in which franchises draft players and build rosters is beginning to change. In order to remain competitive, sport franchises are beginning to shy away from the conventional norm and are thinking outside of the box. Specifically, franchises are exploring analytics and how this type of statistical analysis can be beneficial.

Keywords: analytics, moneyball, moneypuck, statistics

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-08-17T15:48:40-05:00September 15th, 2016|Sports Coaching, Sports Management|Comments Off

Transformational Leadership Behaviors of Winning College Athletic Program Directors: A Qualitative Exploratory Study

Authors: Michael Northington, Ph.D.

Corresponding Author:
Michael Northington, Ph.D.
101 Montreal Drive
Hurst, TX 76054
mnorthington@udallas.edu
817-485-4424

Dr. Michael Northington is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Dallas in the Graduate School College of Business. Also, he is the Distribution Manager for Dart Container Corporation in Dallas, TX.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS OF WINNING COLLEGE ATHLETIC PROGRAM DIRECTORS: A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATORY STUDY

ABSTRACT
This research study examined the transformational leadership behaviors of college athletic directors. There have been many research studies on transformational leadership and influence on followers. Though there has been considerable research on transformational leadership behaviors, the studies primarily focused on leadership in a business environment. Very few studies have focused on the transformational leadership behaviors of college athletic directors. Most of the research studies on the transformational leadership behaviors of college athletic directors are quantitative studies. The purpose of this study was to use a qualitative exploratory methodology approach to explore the transformational leadership behaviors of college athletic directors of top-rated college athletic programs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 college athletic directors from the NACDA 2013/2014 top-rated athletic programs to identify the transformational leadership behaviors demonstrated by the college athletic directors. The results of the study revealed the transformational leadership behaviors of the college athletic directors. All 20 college athletic directors of the NACDA 2013/2014 top-rated athletic programs actually demonstrate transformational leadership behaviors. Among all 20 college athletic directors, three main themes were revealed from the analysis of the data: taking care of the student athletes, supporting the coaches, and adhering to the NCAA and NAIA rules.

Keywords: idealized influence, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-10-03T08:01:19-05:00September 8th, 2016|Sports Management|Comments Off

On the Relationship Between Attacking Third Passes and Success in the English Premier League

Authors: Bret R. Myers; Brian Q. Coughlin

Corresponding Author:
Bret R. Myers
204 Eagle Glen Drive
Coatesville, PA 19320
bret.myers@villanova.edu
804-357-5876

Bret Myers is an assistant professor of management and operations at Villanova University. He also works as an analytics consultant for Toronto FC of Major League Soccer. Bret’s research and consulting is at the intersection of core sporting knowledge and the leveraging of data analysis to improve decision making for competitive advantage.

Brian Coughlin is a senior data analyst at Decision Resources Group in Exton, PA. He also serves as director of lacrosse operations at Villanova University. His passion lies in the field of analytics with a specific interest in mining data, analyzing statistics, and offering strategic recommendations that help organizations make better decisions.

On the relationship between attacking third passes and success in the English Premier League

ABSTRACT
This research examined how changes in attacking third pass behavior can impact a team’s ability to maintain leads and secure wins based on data collected from the 2011-2012 English Premier League Season. A team’s attacking third behavior is measured by the number of attacking third passes completed per minute. The results of this paper suggest that while teams tend to complete less passes in the final third when they are ahead in a match vs. being behind, there is evidence to suggest that a drop in attacking third pass behavior when ahead in a match will reduce the likelihood of maintaining a lead and securing three points.

Keywords: Soccer Strategy, Coaching Strategy, Sports Analytics, Soccer Analytics, Protecting a Lead, Staying Aggressive throughout a Match

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U.S. Sports Academy2017-11-02T13:56:33-05:00September 1st, 2016|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Coaching|Comments Off

Goal-based Metrics Better Than Shot-based Metrics at Predicting Hockey Success

Author: Rob Found
9432-152 Street
Edmonton, AB, Canada
T5R 1N2
(780) 479-7919

Corresponding author: found@ualberta.ca

ABSTRACT
The growing business of professional sports has lead to an increasing demand for effective metrics quantifying factors leading to team success, and evaluating individual player contributions to that success. In the sport of hockey the advancement of analytics has lead to a decline in the use of goal-based metrics, and an increased reliance on shot-based metrics. I tested assumptions behind this trend by using statistical modeling of 10 years of NHL data to directly compare the effectiveness of goal versus shot-based metrics at predicting team success, and comparative hypothesis testing to determine how well goals and shots quantify player contributions to team success. Goal-based models consistently outperformed their shot-based analogs. Models of team goal differential successfully predicted winning % during the 2015-16 season, while shot differential did not. Goal-based metrics (i.e. relative plus-minus/minute of ice time) were also better than shot-based metrics (i.e. relative Corsi/minute of ice time) for evaluating individual player contributions to team winning %. These results show that team and individual performance is not correlated with all shots, but only those shots effective enough to result in goals. These results will lead to more effective evaluation of individual players, and better understanding and prediction of those factors leading to team success.

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-08-10T14:04:22-05:00August 30th, 2016|Sports Coaching|Comments Off