International Sport Management-3rd Edition

Explore sport management on the international level.

International Sport Management, Third Edition, takes a comprehensive look at the organization, governance, business activities, and cross-cultural context of modern sport on an international level. As the sport industry continues its global expansion, the third edition serves as an invaluable guide for students whose careers will require an international understanding of the relationships, influences, and responsibilities in sport management.

With a diverse editorial team and assembly of esteemed contributors from all corners of the globe, this text presents a truly international perspective and multiple viewpoints on the burgeoning subfield of international sport management. Revised and updated to address current issues, each chapter showcases how sport operates in various geopolitical environments and cultures:

• An updated opening chapter introduces readers to emerging sports such as pickleball, bouldering, drone racing, and surfing, reflecting the evolving landscape of international sport and emphasizing the critical competencies—such as personal reflexivity and cultural sensitivity—essential for today’s international sport managers.
• Attention is given to topics affecting sports in North America such as name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation; transgender athletes; labor movements; and mental health.
• A new chapter on the environment addresses the role of sport in promoting sustainability.
• The chapter on Eastern Europe expands its content on Bulgaria, women in sport, and environmental best practices.
• The chapter on the Arab world provides fresh perspectives on Saudi Arabia’s investments in sport and its role in hosting major events.
• The chapter on Oceania focuses on inclusivity, diversity, and sport infrastructure challenges.
• A new chapter on sport for development discusses the use of sport for public health, social inclusion, and economic development.
• A brand-new chapter explores efforts to prevent doping in sport, the ethical and regulatory aspects of international sport, the role of the World Anti-Doping Agency, and integrity and fair play, with an emphasis on the importance of creating frameworks to combat corruption in sport.

International Sport Management, Third Edition, introduces students to the structure of governance in international sport and prepares them to apply management strategies in the business segments of sport marketing, sport media and information technology, sport event management, and sport tourism. Case studies and sidebars apply the concepts to real-world situations and demonstrate the challenges and opportunities that future sport managers will face on a regular basis.

With International Sport Management, both practicing and future sport managers will develop an increased understanding of the range of intercultural competencies necessary for success in the field. Using a framework of strategic and total-quality management, the text allows students to examine global issues from an ethical perspective and uncover solutions to complex challenges that sport managers face. With this approach, readers will learn how to combine business practices with knowledge in international sport to excel in their careers.

Audience

Undergraduate students in sport management.

Part I. International Sport Management: Setting the Scene 
Chapter 1. Development of Globally Competent Sport Managers: Key Concepts and Emerging Trends in International Sport
Eric W. MacIntosh, PhD; Gonzalo A. Bravo, PhD; Carrie W. LeCrom, PhD
Key Concepts
Emerging Sports
Emerging Markets
Development of International Competencies for Sport Managers
Summary

Chapter 2. Tracing the Globalization of Sport: Internationalization, Commercialization, and Emerging Challenges
Euisoo Kim, PhD, MBA; Demetrius W. Pearson, PhD; Tyreal Y. Qian, PhD; James J. Zhang, PhD
Growth of Sport During the Industrial Revolution
Spread of American Sporting Values
International Athletic Arms Race and Militarism
Globalization of Sport in the Late 20th Century
Globalization of the Sporting Goods Industry
International Migration and Sport
Sport Labor Movement
Benefits of International Athletes in Sports Teams and Leagues
Summary

Part II. Field of Play in International Sport
Chapter 3. Sport in North America
Michael Odio, PhD; Shannon Kerwin, PhD; Joseph Herman, II
Geographical Description and Demographics
Background and Role of Sport
Governance of Sport
Management of Sport
Major Sport Events
Emerging Issues
Summary

Chapter 4. Sport in Latin America and the Caribbean
Gonzalo A. Bravo, PhD; E. Su Jara-Pazmino, Simon M. Pack
Geographical Description, Demographics, and Background
Role of Sport
Governance of Sport
Economics of Sport
Management of Sport
Role of Women
Major Sport Events
Summary

Chapter 5. Sport in Western Europe
Brice Lefèvre, PhD; Guillaume Routier, PhD; Guillaume Bodet, PhD
Geographic Description, Demographics, and Background
Role of Sport
Governance of Sport
Economics of Sport
Management of Sport
Major Sport Events
Sport Participation
Summary

Chapter 6. Sport in Eastern Europe
Peter Smolianov, PhD; Ivan Sandanski, PhD
Geographical Description, Demographics, and Background
Role of Sport
Governance of Sport
Sport Schools and Sport Education
Economics of Sport
Management of Sport
Major Sport Events
Women in Sport
The Environment and Sport
Summary

Chapter 7. Sport in Scandinavia
Anna-Maria Strittmater, PhD; Josef Fahlén
Geographical Description, Demographics, and Background
Role of Sport
Governance of Sport
Economics of Sport
Management of Sport
Elite Sport
Children and Youth Sport
Sami Sport
Major Sport Events
Gender Equality in Sweden and Norway
Summary

Chapter 8. Sport in Africa
Jepkorir Rose Chepyator-Thomson, PhD; Samual M. Adodo, PhD; Emma Ariyo, MS; Abdulsamad Olajide Yusuf
Geographical Description, Demographics, and Background
Role of Sport
Governance of Sport
Economics of Sport
Management of Sport
Major Sport Events
Summary

Chapter 9. Sport in the Arab World
Mahfoud Amara, PhD
Geographical Description, Demographics, and Background
Role of Sport
Governance of Sport
Economics of Sport
Management of Sport
Major Sport Events
Emerging Issues
Summary

Chapter 10. Sport in Oceania
Trish Bradbury, PhD; Popi Sotiriadou, PhD
Geographical Description, Demographics, and Background
Role of Sport
Governance of Sport
Economics of Sport
Management of Sport
Major Sport Events
Emerging Issues
Summary

Chapter 11. Sport in South Asia and Southeast Asia
Nikhil Paramjit Sharma
Geographical Description, Demographics, and Background
Role of Sport
Governance of Sport
Economics of Sport
Management of Sport
Major Sport Events
Summary

Chapter 12. Sport in Northeast Asia
Yong Jae Ko, PhD; Keita Kinoshita, PhD; Yiqi Yang
Geographical Description, Demographics, and Background
Role of Sport
Governance of Sport
Professional Sprot
Major Sport Events
Summary

Part III. Governance in International Sport
Chapter 13. Olympic and Paralympic Sport
David Legg, PhD; Laura Misener, PhD; Ted Fay, PhD
Formation of the IOC and IPC
Olympic and Paralympic Organization Structure and Governance
Relationships With Outside Stakeholders
History and Commercial Development of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Considerations for Staging the Games
Social and Ethical Issues in Olympic and Paralympic Sport
Summary

Chapter 14. International Sport Federations
Li Chen, PhD; Chia-Chen Yu, EdD
What Are International Federations?
International Federations and National Federations
Management and International Federations
Summary

Chapter 15. Ethics in Sport
Cornelia Banks; Andrea Petróczi
Clean Sport and Anti-Doping
Historical Context
Spirit of Sport in Anti-Doping
Framing Doping as a Wicked Problem
Doping as Anti-Doping Rule Violation
Doping as a Behavioral Choice
Motivational Foundations
World Anti-Doping Code
WADC Prohibited List
General Anti-Doping Rules
Prevalence of Doping and its Challenges
Anti-Doping Legitimacy
Athletes’ Role in Anti-Doping
Whistleblowing for Clean Sport
Challenges and Opportunities for Change
Summary

Chapter 16. Corruption in International Sport
Adam Masters, Catherine Ordway, Lisa A. Kihl
Sport Corruption
Historical Context
Organized Criminals and Mafia Infiltration
Fraud in Community Sport Organizations
Protecting CSOs From Fraud
Summary

Part IV. Management Essentials in International Sport
Chapter 17. Intercultural Management in Sport Organizations: The Importance of Human Resource Management
Eric W. MacIntosh, PhD; Gonzalo A. Bravo, PhD; Ali Ahsan
Why Intercultural Management Matters
National Culture
Organizational Culture
Culture Shock and the Role of Human Resources
Employee Socialization
Summary

Chapter 18. Macroeconomics of International Sport
Holger Pruess, PhD; Kevin Heisey, PhD
Role of Sport in a National Economy
Macroeconomic Effects of Sport
Tangible and Intangible Effects
Primary Impact of a Sport Event
Multiplier Effect
Long- and Short-Term Benefits From Sport and the Legacy Effect
Summary

Chapter 19. The Business of International Sport: Trends and Developments
Norm O’Reilly, PhD; Mark Dottori, PhD
Global Sport Industry Today
Communications and Global Sport
Stakeholder-by-Stakeholder Case for International Sport Today
Summary

Chapter 20. International Sport Marketing
Gashaw Abeza, PhD; Benoit Sequin, PhD
Nature and Unique Aspects of Sport Business
Sport Marketing Basics
Nature of the Professional Sport Team Product in a Global Setting
Nature of Sport Consumption
International Sport and Sponsorship
Branding in Sport
Women in Sport and Sport Marketing
Summary

Chapter 21. Digital Frontier of International Sport: Engaging Fans Through Social Media, Fantasy Sport, and Sports Betting
Michael L. Naraine, PhD; Adam J. Karg, PhD
Engagement
Social Media
Fantasy Sport
Sports Betting
Future of the Digital Frontier
Summary

Chapter 22. International Sport Tourism
Kamilla Swart, EdD; Douglas Michele Turco, PhD
Core Principles and Terms
Impact of COVID-19
Economic Impact
Social Costs and Benefits
Legacy Effects
Planning and Evaluation
Rise of Sport Tourism in the Arab World
Summary

Chapter 23. Sport and the Environment
Madeleine Orr
Origin of Sport
Sustainability in Sport
What’s at Stake: Sport in a Changing Environment
Sports Role in the Climate Crisis
Pollution and Biodiversity Loss
Communicating About Environmental Challenges
Summary

Chapter 24. Sport for Development
Carrie LeCrom, PhD; Michael Dao, PhD
Connecting Sport and the Concept of Development
Emergence and Growth of SFD
SFD and the Sustainable Development Goals
Outcomes of SFD: Valuing the Work
Challenges of SFD Work
Summary

Part V. The Future of International Sport
Chapter 25. International Sport Management: A Way Forward
Eric W. MacIntosh, PhD; Carrie LeCrom, PhD; Gonzalo Bravo, PhD
Professionalism
Governance
Corruption and Integrity
Globalization
Athlete Migration
Cultural Diplomacy
International of Sport Management Programs
Hope for International Sport
Summary

Eric MacIntosh, PhD, is a professor of sport management at the University of Ottawa in Canada. MacIntosh researches and teaches on various topics, covering concepts such as organizational culture, leadership, and satisfaction. His principal research interests are the functioning of the organization and how a favorable culture can transmit positively, internally and outwardly into the marketplace.

MacIntosh has worked with many prominent national and international sport organizations. Helping sport leaders make their organizations better for employees and the organization itself continues to drive his work. He is a well-published scholar in leading peer-reviewed journals and is a frequent speaker at management conferences. He is a North American Society for Sport Management research fellow as well as coauthor of the second edition of Organizational Behavior in Sport Management.

Gonzalo A. Bravo, PhD, is a professor of sport management in the School of Sport Sciences at West Virginia University, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. Since 2025, he has also served as director of the Global Sport and Performance Center within the same school. Bravo holds a master’s degree in sport administration from Pennsylvania State University and a PhD in sport management from Ohio State University. Before entering academia in 2001, he spent 11 years as sport director at Fundación Club Deportivo Universidad Católica in Santiago, Chile.

His research focuses on sport policy and governance, organizational behavior in sport, and sport in Latin America. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, authored six books, and delivered more than 120 presentations at academic conferences worldwide. From 2015 to 2018, he was a visiting scholar at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Latin American Studies. He completed sabbaticals at the Federal University of Paraná in Brazil (2016) and at the Pan-American and Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile (2023). From 2022 to 2025, he served on the board of directors of the American Kinesiology Association.

Carrie LeCrom, PhD, has served as the executive director of the Center for Sport Leadership (CSL) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) since 2015, holding various roles within the CSL since joining the staff in 2003. In her time at the CSL, the program has been recognized as one of the top 10 sport business programs in the world. LeCrom is passionate about the use of sport for social change and focuses much of her research in this area. She has secured over $2 million in grant funding from sources such as the U.S. Department of State and the NCAA. Since 2007, she has created and coordinated two-way citizen exchanges in sport diplomacy between the United States and Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, and Turkmenistan. These programs have focused on various social issues specific to each country and community, including health promotion, HIV and AIDS education, gender empowerment, reconciliation, and more.

Building on these programs, LeCrom won a prestigious Fulbright fellowship that took her and her family to South Africa, where they lived for all of 2019. As a Fulbright Scholar, LeCrom piloted and launched an all-girls leadership and gender empowerment soccer program in the rural community of Jamestown, South Africa. Her local host institution, Stellenbosch University, provided support for the program’s continuance upon LeCrom’s departure. She additionally worked with several other organizations involved in sport for development while in South Africa, including Grassroot Soccer, Training4Changes, Roxy Davis Foundation, and Laureus.

LeCrom is the editor of Journal of Sport for Development and is a well-published scholar in some of sport management’s top journals, such as Sport Management Review, the Journal of Sport Management, Sport in Society, and Sport Marketing Quarterly. In 2020 she was selected as a North American Society for Sport Management research fellow and in 2025 was named a Sport Management Education Journal (SMEJ) teaching fellow by the same organization. In 2014, LeCrom was awarded the Ruch Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest teaching award given by VCU’s School of Education, and in 2016 she was the Award of Excellence recipient for combined excellence in teaching, research, and service. LeCrom holds degrees from Lynchburg College (BA in business administration and sport management), and VCU (MS in sport leadership; PhD in education).

All ancillaries are free to adopting instructors through HKPropel.   

Instructor guide. Includes a course syllabus, chapter objectives, answers to review questions and learning activities from the text, recommended websites, assignments, a class project, essay topic, and suggested readings. Plus, two bonus case studies are provided to use as classroom assignments to facilitate practical learning.

Test package. Contains 750 questions in true-false, fill-in-the-blank, essay, and multiple-choice formats. The files may be downloaded for integration with a learning management system or printed for use as paper-based tests. Instructors may also create their own customized quizzes or tests from the test bank questions.

Chapter quizzes. Contains ready-made quizzes (10 questions each) to assess student comprehension of the most important concepts in each chapter. 

Presentation package. Features more than 280 PowerPoint slides of text, artwork, and tables from the book that can be used for class discussion and presentation. The slides in the presentation package can be used directly within PowerPoint or printed to make handouts for students. Instructors can easily add, modify, and rearrange the order of the slides.