Phase 2: Building a research center (2015-2019)
Building on the experience from the Management Diploma for Athletes (MDA), the growing network within Swedish football and hockey, and several emerging research ideas, the Center for Sports and Business (CSB) was officially established in June 2015 at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE).
The center’s first director was Kalle Kraus, who at the time was an associate professor (now full professor). SSE regulations required research centers to be led by tenured faculty, and Kraus’s leadership ensured that the center had a strong academic foundation from the outset.
From the beginning, the center embraced an ambition to become an internationally recognized research hub that combines academic rigor with practical relevance. Contrary to the common belief that rigor and relevance are opposites, the center’s philosophy was that the two can - and should - reinforce each other. Strong theoretical development should be informed by real-world challenges, while interaction with practice can sharpen research questions and insights.
Laying the foundations: milestones and expansion
During these formative years, the main focus was on developing research capabilities and building relationships with the sports industry. Many early research ideas originated from insights gained through Executive Education programs. Often, a concept was first explored through a BSc or MSc thesis and later developed into a full academic research project that could lead to publication in international journals.
In addition to cultivating a faculty base at SSE, the center also attracted interest from international academics, strengthening the intellectual foundation of its work.
An important factor in the center’s development, both practically and intellectually, was the formation of an advisory board in 2015-2016. This group enabled strategic partnerships with several key stakeholders in Swedish sport, including the Swedish Olympic Committee and federations in football, ice hockey, golf, equestrian sports, trotting, and skiing, as well as the mass participation event series A Swedish Classic.
These collaborations provided access to high-quality data as well as strong networks with practitioners.
The strategic map: aligning research with real-world challenges
To ensure that research topics remained relevant to the needs of the sports ecosystem, the center, together with its advisory board, developed the Strategic Map for Swedish Sports and Business Research. This framework identified 12 concrete challenges facing Swedish sports that also held strong academic interest. In this way, it aimed to support both academic rigor and practical relevance.
The map served a dual purpose. For researchers, it guided project design within areas of practical importance. For executives, it clarified how academic work connects to real-world decisions. It also enabled the center to document and communicate its impact in a systematic and transparent way.
Driving innovation: key projects and collaborations
One initiative aligned with the innovation theme of the Strategic Map was Innovationstrappan (The Innovation Staircase), carried out between 2017 and 2019. The project was led by SSE students Mathilda Hammarström and Louise Hiort af Ornäs and funded by the Swedish Innovation Agency (Vinnova). Its aim was to encourage young athletes in equestrian and trotting sports to engage with entrepreneurship and innovation.
The project created a tailored version of the high school entrepreneurship program Ung Företagsamhet in collaboration with three national sports schools: Flyinge, Strömsholm, and Wången. The pilot program reached more than 200 students and laid the foundation for a sports-tech entrepreneurship curriculum.
Innovationstrappan
Another innovation initiative was the launch of the Swedish Olympic Academy (SOA) in 2017. Established in partnership with the Swedish Olympic Committee, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Karolinska Institute, the initiative aimed to facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration in Swedish sport development. One of its major initiatives was SPIN Accelerator Sweden, launched in 2019. Led by Stefan Lindeberg (SOA), Stina Lundgren Högbom (SSE), and Gustav Notander (KTH Innovation), the accelerator supported 10 sport tech startups from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Germany in scaling their businesses.
Executive education and leadership development
Parallel to its research initiatives, the center expanded its executive education offering. Building on the success of the initial Club Presidents’ program in 2014, the center launched multi-year development programs in partnership with Swedish Football, Swedish Ice Hockey, and Swedish Trotting.
A key figure behind this expansion was Robert Larsson, former COO of the Swedish Sports Confederation and an MDA alumnus. As program director, he brought extensive knowledge of the sports sector and helped strengthen the quality and scope of the programs. He was later appointed COO of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) in 2021.
Maintaining research excellence
Despite a strong focus on relevance and collaboration with practice, the center maintained high academic productivity. Between 2015 and 2019, members of the center published 22 articles in internationally recognized journals (see the academic output overview for details).
A major academic milestone during this phase was hosting the first in-person workshop of the Strategic Management Group in Stockholm in April 2019. The event brought together researchers to share ideas, strengthen networks, and discuss future research directions.
