The sport cluster concept as middle-range theory for the sport value framework

Anna Gerke, Herbert Woratschek and Geoff Dickson

Sport Management Review, 2020, vol. 23, issue 2, 200-214

Abstract: •Middle range theories link empirical findings and general theories.•The Sport Value Framework is a general theory to explain value creation in sport.•The Sport Cluster Concept explains value creation in localised sport industries.•The Sport Clusters Concept is a middle range theory using a network approach.•Sport management research should use more holistic network approaches.The Sport Value Framework provides a new logic for value creation in sport based on the Service-dominant logic. The Sport Value Framework is a general theory with high level of abstraction, and there is no middle-range theory yet to link it to empirical data. The purpose of this research is to provide one middle-range theory connecting empirical findings to the Sport Value Framework. The authors used a case study approach of a geographical localised sport industry. Primary data collection in the Auckland sailing industry included 27 interviews and observations at events. Secondary data include 13 documents of organisational information and archival data. Data were analysed with NVivo. The results suggest that the Sport Value Framework explains value creation within a localised sport industry. The middle-range theory between the authors’ data and the Sport Value Framework is the Sport Cluster Concept. Eight of the ten foundational premises of the Sport Value Framework are relevant to the case. The results confirm the Sport Cluster Concept as a middle-range theory to explain value creation in localised sport industries through the lenses of the Service-dominant logic. This research helps sport management practitioners to better understand value creation in localised sport industries. It suggests that sport management and marketing scholars should focus more on networks of actors and related inclusive empirical research designs rather than focusing on isolated elements and single actors of sport industries.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1016/j.smr.2018.12.004 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:rsmrxx:v:23:y:2020:i:2:p:200-214

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/rsmr20

DOI: 10.1016/j.smr.2018.12.004

Access Statistics for this article

Sport Management Review is currently edited by Sheranne Fairley

More articles in Sport Management Review from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().