Phase 3: Strengthening Research and Education (2020-)

In March 2020, a new phase started for the Center for Sports and Business when COVID-19 came. Since then, we have strengthened our research and education. We are further launching the CSB online community and SSE Sport Initiative.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our sports partners struggled to get by. Being dependent on the physical meetings for both carrying out as well as watching the sports, this has been a challenging time. However, even though we have done fewer events and Executive Education, we have been able to strengthen our research and education in several ways. As a consequence, once COVID-10 is over, we shape to "Bounce Back Better" and continue to develop the Center for Sports and Business in several ways.

Key milestones between 2018 and 2021.

In the first days of March 2020, we were facing a difficult decision. We had sent out an invitation for a physical Paper and Idea Development Workshop in Stockholm in April. Should we cancel it or should we do it virtually? We chose the latter. The organizing committee consisting of Fabio Fonti (Neoma Business School, at that time at Rennes), Jan Ross (Imperial College Business School) and Christofer Laurell and Martin Carlsson-Wall from SSE had an intense March, but on April 17, they managed to do one of the first virtual conferences we have ard of. If you click on the picture below, you can see the movie we created.

Virtual Paper and Idea Development Workshop on April 17, 2020 (click on the picture and see our video).

Another project that occupied us during 2020 was SSE's largest COVID-19 project called "Sweden Through the Crisis". The Center for Sports and Business initiated the project and was one of the Co-Editors of a book that contained over 600 pages written by more than 80 researchers from nearly all departments at SSE. Except for the book, researchers were interviewed on TV, radio, in newspapers and did a number of follow-up digital round tables on their respective chapters. Another outcome of the project was a series of TV episodes produced by the Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company (Utbildningsradion). In the mini-series, they choose a number of chapters in the book which they turned into TV episodes. If you click on the picture, you will come to the project website.

The "Sweden Through The Crisis" book. (click on the picture and come to the project website).

Except for strengthening relationships with other departments and centers at SSE, the "Sweden Through the Crisis" project has also enabled us to develop international relationships. Our Director of Internationalization, Nick Andersson, has done a superb job at developing relationships with countries such as Australia, Switzerland, Israel, Georgia, and India. An important point is to realize the potential of sports as a "door opener". When we come with the "Sweden Through the Crisis" book, the first thing we talk about is often sports (especially since sports has been hit so hard all across the world). When the relationship is established, we can then move on and discuss other disciplines that SSE has such as finance, retail, innovation, and sustainability.

In 2021, we continued to develop our research activities. Except for hosting the Second Paper and Idea Development Workshop, an important milestone was Kai Krauss' defense of his thesis. Conducting an ethnography of the Swedish bid campaign for the 2026 Winter Olympics, Kai developed a Ph.D. thesis that was both theoretically and practically very strong.

First Ph.D. at CSB, Kai Krauss (now Kai DeMott)

In 2021, we have also started our first EU-funded project. Hosted by the Zagreb School of Economics and Management, we have been invited to an international consortium that consists of WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, The European University Sports Association, and the Olympic Committees on Balkan. Focusing on Athletes' Dual Careers, the goal is to do both teaching and research. If you click on the picture, you will come to the project website.

Partners in the EU-funded project "Micro-Learning Entrepreneurship for Athletes". (click on the picture and come to the project website).

Except for research, we have also spent more time on developing our teaching portfolio during 2021. During the fall, we delivered the new MSc course 3313 Investments and Value Creation in Global Sports. The course had 68 students from 19 universities in 16 countries. It was a global experience in many ways. Except for the fantastic guest lectures, students had to conduct a large course project on Premier League across several time zones. If you want to see the first introduction lecture, just click on the picture below.

New MSc course 3313 Investments and Value Creation in Global Sports. (to see the first lecture, click on the picture).

This new, groundbreaking global course on sports and business has been developed as we have witnessed a significant inflow of private money into global sports. Amid this global trend, which we may call the financialization of sports, we increasingly see pushback from supporters of clubs and fans of sports. This new elective MSc course seeks to equip students with tools and frameworks to balance stakeholder interests in an industry that mixes for-profit and non-for-profit goals. During the course, financial investors' value creation strategies in an industry filled with passionate interests are explored. The skills and insights acquired from this course are suitable for future leaders operating in a world that is increasingly shifting from shareholder to stakeholder management.

Sample of guest lecturers in the course Investments and Value Creation in Global Sports.

If the MSc course can be seen as "our international course, we have also developed a new BSc course called Accounting in Hybrid Organizations. In this course. the focus is on comparing sports organizations to other hybrid organizations such as culture, social enterprises, family firms, state-owned enterprises, and municipality-owned enterprises.

New BSc course BE901 Accounting in Hybrid Organizations.

So, what is next for the Center for Sports and Business? In the spring of 2022, we launched the Center for Sports and Business Online Community, which is a learning community that connects sports executives, SSE students, as well as researchers with each other. On the platform on Canvas, you have access to the lectures from the courses in Investments and Value Creation. in Global Sports, and Accounting in Hybrid Organizations, a mini-series on European football, our academic production as well as bonus material. If you are an SSE student and want to join the community, contact us! (You'll find our contact information under "About us" and "People").

View of the start page on the Center for Sports and Business Online Community on Canvas.

In the fall of 2022, the SSE Sport Initiative was launched. This initiative is part of in total three initiatives (the others are the Art and Tech Initiative). The aim of the Sport Initiative is to complement the academic courses at SSE with practical skills related to the field of sports.

The SSE Sport Initiative is composed of four parts:

Activate - weekly and recurring sports activities organized by SASSE's Sports Committee (weekly practices in i.e., football, cheerleading, endurance, tennis, padel, boxing, etc. as well as a surf and ski trip and tournaments in Maastricht and Koblenz).
Field Trips - visits to clubs, associations, and leagues.
Speaker Series - industry experts give inspiration talks at SSE.
Forums - conferences with industry experts as well as researchers at SSE.

SSE Sport Initiative as an integration with other SSE activities. Further, summary of what CSB is doing in relation to Executive Education, Research, Job Market, and Education.