February 2025
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4 Reads
Managing Sport and Leisure
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Publications (30)
May 2024
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4 Reads
Qualitative Inquiry
This article theorizes the use of knowledge in interviews, focusing on confronting interview participants with knowledge generated from prior research. This article explains when confronting participants with knowledge is ethically and epistemologically preferable to alternatives such as debriefing or not disseminating. We share examples from studies where minor league baseball players read machine learning predictions of their chances of reaching the major leagues, and esports competitors viewed illustrations of the prize earning distribution in their chosen game. The article elaborates on the ethical considerations of using confrontational knowledge in interviews and identifies three guidelines for using the strategy.
August 2023
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17 Reads
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1 Citation
June 2023
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27 Reads
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1 Citation
Sociology of Sport Journal
This study examines minor league baseball players’ future-oriented labor by interviewing 44 baseball players and collecting data on 8,000 minor league baseball players’ careers. Minor league baseball players’ expectations of reaching Major League Baseball impacted how they evaluated their work in the present, leading them to tolerate unfair pay and working conditions. We show that players’ expectations of reaching Major League Baseball were moderately unrealistic, partly due to managerial practices encouraging unrealistic expectations. This study contributes to labor research by showing that future-oriented labor ideology is based on unrealistic expectations that employers can promote to create opportunities for future status coercion.
March 2023
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345 Reads
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13 Citations
(1) Background: Prior research has found that large-scale sporting events may potentially impose negative consequences on the environment, thus impeding the sustainability goals of the sport industry. Along these lines, the current study extends the literature by examining the impact that National Football League (NFL) games have on local-area air pollution. (2) Methods: Air Quality Index (AQI) data measuring six major forms of air pollution were gathered from air monitors positioned close to NFL stadiums and matched with the number of attendees at games. From this, multiple regression analysis was utilized to estimate whether the number of fans was related to changes in air pollution. (3) Results: The regression models found that Ozone and Nitrogen Dioxide levels increased as more individuals attended NFL games. Additional robustness checks and falsification tests suggest that the average NFL event results in an approximately two-percent increase in Ozone levels. (4) Conclusions: The findings from this study contribute to the literature by providing evidence that highly attended sporting events increase pollution levels in the areas near stadiums. Thus, governments and sport organizations should consider low-emission methods to get fans to travel to games in order to reduce their environmental impact.
December 2022
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4 Reads
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3 Citations
December 2022
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121 Reads
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14 Citations
Sociology of Sport Journal
Women athletes are often asked to participate in unpaid or underpaid community appearances and youth camps to generate fan interest, promote their sport, and inspire the next generation of athletes. The expectation to invest in the future of one’s sport for the benefit of others is a gendered process—requiring athletes to employ different forms of labor in addition to their athletic labor. Drawing from the literature on future-oriented labor and immaterial labor, we show how the sport industry is structured to extract value from what we refer to as women’s “inspirational labor.” Interviews with 29 women athletes and 15 managers in professional softball and soccer in the United States are used to illustrate the ideological and economic structures of inspirational labor.
August 2022
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113 Reads
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4 Citations
Sport organizations increasingly cooperate to invest in elite athlete development, sometimes even across national boundaries and industry sectors. This study attempts to explain why organizations decide to cooperatively invest by extending human capital theory. A multiple case study of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) and Kunlun Red Star Hockey Club (KRS) was conducted, including an analysis of 43 interviews and 305 documents. Organizations decided to invest cooperatively because they believed human capital sharing would allow for levels of investment that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive for individual organizations. Four enabling conditions explain when organizations perceive sharing as more effective than human capital “buying” or “making.” The findings extend human capital theory to explain sharing decisions. The cases and theory provide practical insights for managers investing in athlete development and expanding sports leagues.
January 2022
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29 Reads
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3 Citations
Journal of Sport Management
Pay fairness and human capital theories make different predictions about trainees’ occupational turnover in situations where trainees perceive unfair pay but receive huge potential returns from training. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how pay fairness and human capital investment combined to explain why trainees are motivated to persist in employment when they perceive unfair pay. Cross-sectional survey data from 144 minor league baseball players showed that athletes perceived unfair pay but had low occupational turnover intentions because they perceived high learning achievement and expected to play in Major League Baseball eventually. Perceptions of unfair pay only increased occupational turnover intentions under certain conditions, such as when athletes had low expectations of playing at least one game in Major League Baseball in the next 3 years. The results support a framework that combines human capital theory and pay fairness theories to explain boundary conditions for trainee motivation.
December 2021
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91 Reads
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6 Citations
Journal of Global Sport Management
Semi-professional leagues are increasingly used to develop athletes. However, what we know of athletes’ employment comes from research on professional athletes and does not translate to semi-professionalism. Thus, the purpose of this research was to explore how athletes and employers co-constructed employment relations in two new semi-professional rugby union leagues. Primary data consisted of 24 interviews with stakeholders and 30 surveys completed by athletes. Secondary data consisted of 36 publicly available interviews. Employers used control strategies to limit athletes’ pay and agency. Athletes and employers co-constructed role identity positions that promoted certain attitudes, expectations, and employee behaviors. Aspiring athletes constructed an athlete identity with employers, which favored symbolic rewards instead of pay. When athletes joined teams, they constructed a professional identity with employers. Role identity position construction has implications for research on semi-professional leagues and the study of athlete labor relations more generally.
Citations (23)
... Large-scale events, such as sports games, national parades, and summits, can substantially deteriorate air quality and increase carbon emissions, due to the influx of visitors and the rise in air and ground traffic volumes [1]. During such events, both the general public and specific groups, such as athletes, may face higher health risks. ...
- Citing Article
- Full-text available
March 2023
... Form refers to how which objects relate to one another; it is not a straightforward relation between two definitive objects, but rather the negative of a thing, 'which is to say, everything that the object is not' (2019:4). For example, McLeod and Hawzen (2020) demonstrate that NFL stadiums are built from various materials -bricks, metal, concrete and plastic -that are differentiated from each other depending on where their qualities (orangeness, hardness, plasticity) begin and end. Concomitantly, these objects cannot exist without the accidents that bring sensual qualities into being, which includes the time of day, the weather, and the seasons. ...
- Citing Chapter
December 2022
... When it comes to sports participation, role modelling is seen to be particularly important for young women and girls as drop-out rates are very high (Women in Sport, 2023). However, while female athletes do discuss the importance of being role models (Pocock & Skey, 2024) recent studies have noted that these forms of 'inspirational labour' can distract from training and competition and may lead to feelings of guilt if athletes feel they are not able to 'give back' (Chahardovali and McLeod, 2022). ...
- Citing Article
December 2022
Sociology of Sport Journal
... Sport inclusion policies have the potential to promote a more inclusive society while exclusionary policies do the opposite (Coakley, 2021;Spade, 2011). Support for trans college athlete participation may lead to stronger developmental outcomes for sport participants such as development of human capital (McLeod et al., 2022). Not supporting trans college athlete participation may limit developmental outcomes and lessen the impact of athletes' human capital development (McLeod et al., 2022). ...
- Citing Article
- Full-text available
August 2022
... Furthermore, the IOC offers tailored advice, workshops, learning tools and resources through its Athlete365 Career+ to help elite and Olympic athletes exploring career opportunities for successfully managing the difficult transition from sport to a new career. 1 In considering that only professional sports and the Military of some Member States could guarantee an economic return to sportspersons for their full-time dedication in sports at national and international levels, the increased duration of sports careers into adulthood urge elite and sub-elite sportspersons to find an employment when their sport salary does not allow them to overcome the financial uncertainty and the economic burden of a prolonged sports career (Allen and Hopkins, 2015;López de Subijana et al., 2020;Barth et al., 2021;McLeod and Nite, 2021;Marshall et al., 2022;Vretaros, 2022). Although sport-and not sport-related companies of the private sector tend to engage elite sportspersons as testimonials for the promotion of their products and for creating meaning and value transfer, they do not consider the European recommendations to offer flexible working conditions and arrangements for enabling sportspersons as employees to train and to compete in athletic events (Seno and Lukas, 2007;Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta, 2010;Ding et al., 2011;European Commission, 2020a;Moreno et al., 2021;Rai et al., 2021;Mittag et al., 2022;Robnik et al., 2022;Mingione et al., 2024). ...
- Citing Article
December 2021
Journal of Global Sport Management
... This also leads to the under-representation of women in esports (Darvin et al., 2021) and their tendency to have a lower perception of career opportunities in this field than men (Pizzo et al., 2023). They are also confronted with economic inequalities in the emerging and competitive esports labor market, in which resources are concentrated in the hands of a few esports players (McLeod et al., 2021). These considerations shed light on the paradoxical situation in which esports evolves, with belief that esports is an inclusive field confronted by the reality of unequal practices (Hayday and Collison, 2020). ...
- Citing Article
November 2021
International Review for the Sociology of Sport
... Recent research has applied stakeholder theory to explain the interactions between stakeholders in athletic foundation departments and financial donors. For instance, Huml and McLeod (2021) found foundation officers employ various strategies or scenarios in trying to align the interests of donors and the values and vision of the colleges and universities receiving donations. The strategies are often focused on the particulars of a given situation. ...
- Citing Article
- Full-text available
January 2021
International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing
... Importantly, AI/ML-based assessment tools offer possibilities that go well beyond improving selection decisions in organizations. For example, scholars have implemented various NLP and ML-based measurement techniques to study work attitudes , emotional reactions to remote work (Min et al., 2021), turnover (Sajjadiani et al., 2019), job analysis (Putka et al., 2023), corporate diversity statements , career development (McLeod et al., 2021) and leadership (Banks et al., 2023;Bhatia et al., 2022;Doldor et al., 2019;Tonidandel et al., 2022). Besides language (text and spoken words) data, researchers have also used video data that contain information about people's facial expressions and non-verbal behavior to study how entrepreneurs' expressions of joy and relate to funding outcomes (Jiang et al., 2019), and to discover five distinct leadership communication styles of firm CEOs and their relations to M&A outcomes . ...
- Citing Article
July 2021
Journal of Vocational Behavior
... Exploring the link between esports and public beliefs in the Metaverse is significant as it can inform the creation of engaging and communitycentric virtual gaming experiences that cater to the social and interactive needs of players and fans alike (Xiao, 2019). Moreover, understanding public beliefs can also be crucial for identifying potential challenges and opportunities in the growth and acceptance of competitive gaming in the Metaverse, as it can guide the development of policies and initiatives that support a healthy, inclusive, and sustainable esports ecosystem (Newman et al., 2020), as well as the development of Metaverse technology tailored to the needs and preferences of esports athletes and fans. This makes the research highly relevant for internet scholars, industry stakeholders, and technology designers, as it highlights both barriers and prospects for Metaverse esports. ...
- Citing Article
September 2020
Communication & Sport
... The decision whether to sign a contract is a fraught one for high school prospects, as players must consider the value and opportunity costs of signing to play in the minor leagues versus playing college baseball. Pifer et al.' (2020) analysis suggests high school players drafted after roughly the fourth round are better off refusing the typically paltry contracts they are offered and instead playing in college (See also, Winfree and Molitor 2007). Further complicating the matter, NCAA rules effectively prohibit current or future college players from hiring an agent or lawyer SN Soc Sci (2024) 4: 14 14 Page 4 of 15 to help them negotiate or evaluate their draft situation without voiding their college eligibility (Karcher 2004). ...
- Citing Article
October 2020
Journal of Sports Economics
