The hitchhiker's guide to the sport ecosystem: development of a new theoretical framework and organisational model

Understanding the modern sport landscape has been daunting and vague to date. Analysis of how sport comes together is divided into either the use of analogies and imagery, or incomprehensive models. The problem with either of these two approaches is that they are incomplete in their understanding of sport as a whole. There are certainly situations in which isolated models are most appropriate, however, there also needs to be a mechanism for comprehensive analysis within the industry. The notion of the ecosystem begins to offer such a mechanism. However, historically, the ecosystem in business organisations is predicated on the biological imagery (Morgan, 2006), which was transformed by the works of Moore (1993, 1996) and Iansiti and Levien (2002, 2004a, 2004b) into a framework which could then describe how businesses both function, survive, and thrive (in accordance with the biological imagery foundations). It is the work of Thomas (2013) that provided the most developed version of the notion of business ecosystems, with its own theoretical underpinnings, and modelling system. Direct application and use of the Thomas (2013) model was limited in its use in the sport context, though, due to the uniqueness and nuances of the industry. Therefore, the overarching goal of this thesis was to create a sport-specific theoretical framework and associated Sport Ecosystem Model. This was achieved by narrative examination of the literature, set forth as a chronology which describes the evolution of the ecosystem construct. Ecosystem elements, and theoretical foundations are then examined in their sport contexts, showcasing how use in sport is isolationist in nature. Elements of each, both sport and ecosystem, were then analysed and catalogued into the Theoretical Framework (TF), which underpinned the empirical study of an entire Sport Ecosystem (SE). The study was cross-organisational in its approach, examining the international and continental levels of sport, along with the national and grassroots levels, totalling eight organisations. Twenty-nine participants across these organisations were interviewed, using a semi-structured script, and using a novel sampling method, which directly reflected the nature of the SE. From these interviews, four major themes were identified: participant/stakeholder positioning, governance structures, interrelationship between stakeholders, and value deliverables. These four themes were then interpreted and dissected into three main conceptual questions (CQs), which, when combined, provide the foundational understanding of a SE. Each CQ is formed of a corresponding set of Theoretical Propositions (TPs), which illustrate and explain the nuances of sport and how each aspect is interconnected to co-create value.