Special Issue "Sustainability in Sport: When the Future of Sport is Being Decided Now"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 June 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Christopher Hautbois
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Sport Sciences, Université Paris-Saclay, Bâtiment 335, 91405 Orsay, France
Interests: sporting event; social impact; economic impact; destination branding; sport participation; sport federations
Prof. Dr. Michel Desbordes
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Sport Sciences, Université Paris-Saclay, Bâtiment 335, 91405 Orsay, France
Interests: sport industry; professional sport; football marketing; internationalisation of sport; event management; sport sponsorship; stadium conception and management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sport is one of the most popular social activities in the world. It is also one of the most growing industries from an economic standpoint, with a +7% annual growth over the last 5 years (source: PwC, 2019). The sport sector is at the crossroads of economic, political, and social issues. For this reason, sport organizations have to consider sustainability a major concern. The year 2020 has particularly brought this question to light: postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games because of the pandemic, debates on stadium cooling at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, withdrawal of the sponsorship contract with Huawei by the French football player Antoine Griezmann, influence of the Black Lives Mater movement in sport, etc. What stands out from these examples is that, due to their high level of media exposure and their importance in many people’s everyday life, sport organizations have both a clear interest and a compelling duty to engage in sustainable initiatives (Trail and McCullough, 2019). This is why scholars have intensified their focus on sport-related sustainability issues over the last few years, notably within two main areas: (mega)-sporting events and professional sports.

First, the legacy of major sporting events has become a major issue (see Thomson, Cuskelly, Toohey, Kennelly, Burton, and Fredline, 2019). For instance, several authors aim to identify the social impact of such events (civic pride, sense of belonging, host-city image), as well as the influence on sport participation (hosting mega-events could positively influence sport participation and provide an answer to overweight, obesity, diabetes, or heart diseases). Others publications have assessed the environmental impact of these events (Olympic Games are known to emit 3.4 million tons of CO2, the Football World Cup emits 2.75 milion tons of CO2, etc.). Some others have also discussed the strategies of event managers to limit the negative impact, for instance, of encouraging public transportations, or considering sport facilities that can be dismantled after the event.

Professional sport clubs or franchises have followed a similar approach for the last 10 years (Trendafilova, Babiak, and Heinze, 2013). Because they gather, every week, thousands of fans in stadiums, because they travel thousands of kilometers every seasons, because they would like not to be perceived as sport organizations without any positive influence on people’s or fans’ everyday lives, they identify strategies to develop their organization in a sustainable manner.

This Special Issue focuses on sustainability in sport. Its general aim is to provide an up-to-date analysis in this field. Submissions should explicitly speak to one or more of the following themes:

  • Eco-conception and management of sport facilities;
  • Eco-conception of sporting goods;
  • Legacy of sporting events (social, environmental);
  • Sustainable volunteer management;
  • Sustainable sponsorship;
  • Cause-related marketing;
  • Engagement and greenwashing perception;
  • Engagement of governing bodies and sport federations;
  • Sustainable sport leisure and tourism.

References

Thomson, A., Cuskelly, G., Toohey, K., Kennelly, M., Burton, P., & Fredline, L. (2019). Sport event legacy: A systematic quantitative review of literature. Sport management review, 22(3), 295-321.

Trail, G. T., & McCullough, B. P. (2020). Marketing sustainability through sport: testing the sport sustainability campaign evaluation model. European Sport Management Quarterly, 20(2), 109-129.

Trendafilova, S., Babiak, K., & Heinze, K. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability: Why professional sport is greening the playing field. Sport Management Review, 16(3), 298-313.

Dr. Christopher Hautbois
Prof. Dr. Michel Desbordes
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainability
  • event
  • professional sport
  • leisure sport
  • sporting goods
  • sport facilities
  • sport federations

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Motivations of Sports Volunteers at the 2023 European Games in Poland
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6406; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116406 - 04 Jun 2021
Viewed by 524
Abstract
Volunteering is fundamental in the organization of sporting events of any rank, and there is no doubt that without volunteers, the realization of such events would not be possible. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between selected socio-demographic factors (gender, [...] Read more.
Volunteering is fundamental in the organization of sporting events of any rank, and there is no doubt that without volunteers, the realization of such events would not be possible. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between selected socio-demographic factors (gender, age, place of residence, professional activity, and—rarely researched—previous experience in sports volunteering) and the motivation of people who have signed up to be volunteers at the 2023 European Games in Poland. In total, 535 respondents completed the Olympic Volunteer Motivation Scale (OVMS) designed to assess the motivation of volunteers at multi-sport events in the Olympic tradition. A questionnaire survey was conducted among a group of students of the University of Physical Education in Krakow, who had signed up as volunteers via an online form. The respondents were required to provide data on their gender, age, place of residence, professional activities, and sports volunteering experience. The volunteers’ motivations did not differ with regard to gender, place of residence, and professional activity; however, significant differences were found with regard to sports volunteering experiences. The scores by respondents with previous experience in sports volunteering were the highest for the Olympic related, egoistic, and purposive scales of the OVMS. The research findings can be used by sports event organizers to improve the effectiveness of volunteer recruitment and management strategies. Understanding the factors that encourage potential candidates to volunteer may also facilitate collaboration with them during future events. Full article
Article
Willingness-to-Pay for Environmental Measures in Non-Profit Sport Clubs
Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2841; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052841 - 05 Mar 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 521
Abstract
To reduce global warming and climate change, the German government plans to implement a carbon tax, which will also affect sport organizations. This study investigates how much sport club members are willing to pay for environmental measures and how sport-specific, club-specific, environmental, and [...] Read more.
To reduce global warming and climate change, the German government plans to implement a carbon tax, which will also affect sport organizations. This study investigates how much sport club members are willing to pay for environmental measures and how sport-specific, club-specific, environmental, and socio-demographic factors are associated with their willingness-to-pay. In 2019 and 2020, active adult sport club members in five team/racket sports were sampled using an online survey in Germany (n = 3036). The contingent valuation method was applied to estimate sport club members’ willingness-to-pay for environmental measures. Regression analyses were employed to investigate a set of factors that are associated with club members’ decision to pay at all and the amount of willingness-to-pay. The results show that 64.3% of respondents reported a positive willingness-to-pay. The average willingness-to-pay for environmental measures amounts to EUR 14.53 per year and to EUR 22.59 for those reporting a positive willingness-to-pay. The results of t-tests show that club members stating a positive WTP differ significantly from members who are not willing to pay anything in terms of sport-specific, club-specific, environmental, and socio-demographic factors. The logistic regression results indicate that the likelihood of reporting a positive willingness-to-pay increases with increasing environmental consciousness, educational level, weekly practice hours, identification and satisfaction with the club, and subjective well-being, while age has a U-shaped effect. The results of a Tobit model show that the amount of willingness-to-pay is positively determined by environmental consciousness, educational level, and satisfaction with the club. The findings suggest that the majority of club members are willing to pay higher membership fees for the implementation of environmental measures in sport clubs. Increasing members’ level of environmental consciousness through educational initiatives represents a way for sport policy and sport managers to help increase financial support for environmental measures among club members. Full article
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