Extract

The purpose of the handbook is to present the current frontier of research on sport and business in theory and in practice. It would not be complete without opening the field for future research at the end of this endeavour. The handbook is divided into five thematic clusters ‘Governance and performance’, ‘Media and technology’, ‘Place, time and spectators’, ‘Club management and teams’, ‘Sport branding and sponsoring’. We use the cluster structure to summarize the insights gained from the experts in the field and some of our own thoughts to develop an agenda for further research on the nexus between sport and business (see also Figure 29.1 on the next page providing a selection of the proposed topics for further research) in the following. In the beginning we emphasize that it is the research topic and what the researcher wants to achieve by conducting her or his research that leads to the choice of the theoretical approach and a suitable research method. When we designed the handbook we had no fixed preference or predefined evaluation of what is a ‘good’ or ‘appropriate’ and a ‘bad’ or ‘inappropriate’ theory and research method.