Establishing a professional Rugby Union Football League in the USA: Managing institutional pluralism in sport entrepreneurship

Calvin Nite, Christopher M. McLeod, Zachary Beldon and John Nauright

Sport Management Review, 2020, vol. 23, issue 5, 883-897

Abstract: •Sport entrepreneurship is characterized by institutional pluralism.•Strategic institutional infrastructure work resulted in support from stakeholders.•Institutional infrastructure work is important for developing participants and fans.•Lack of institutional infrastructure work alienated important stakeholders.•Institutional infrastructure work necessary for sport entrepreneurship.Given the growth of sport leagues globally, we sought to understand how sport entrepreneurs addressed institutional plurality as they worked to establish a new professional sport league in the USA. Drawing on institutional pluralism, we critically examine two efforts to establish professional rugby union football leagues in the USA. Pluralism resulted in tensions among rugby stakeholders. While both leagues sought to reconcile tensions through institutional infrastructure work, one of the leagues garnered more stakeholder support as it was attentive to more institutional contexts. The other league’s infrastructure work was limited and resulted in the alienation of many important rugby stakeholders. Our research demonstrates the theoretical and practical importance of institutional infrastructure work within sport entrepreneurship, especially when navigating institutional pluralism.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1016/j.smr.2020.02.004

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