The Internationalization of Sports Clubs a Qualitative Study of Internationalization in the Sports Industry

The internationalization of sports clubs A qualitative study of internationalization in the sports industry

Kiara Dettmer

Department of Business Administration Master’s Program in Business Development and Internationalization Master´s Thesis in Business Administration III, 30 Credits, Spring 2020 Supervisor: Zsuzsanna Vincze [This page is intentionally left blank]

II Abstract

Globalization has opened up new markets. Companies have now endless opportunities to expand their business reach with sports clubs being no exception. Internationalization in sports has its beginnings with foreign players joining a team and changed in 1995 with the Bosman ruling. After the Bosman ruling, the transfer of international players became easier. Not only can one notice the internationalization of sports teams by the transfer of players but also by the expansion of the sports itself. The NFL plays home games in London, the NBA in Mexico City and FC Bayern Munich has opened subsidiaries in the US and China. Yet, this all seems like the whole sports industry is expanding. However, the influences behind this drive are unclear.

The purpose of this thesis is to gain an understanding of internationalization in the sports industry. As the current literature indicates several gaps regarding the internationalization of sports clubs such as the limited view on one sport at the time or the data usage of clubs in their internationalization process, this thesis focuses on offering a broader picture. Therefore, the research question formulated for this thesis is:

What influences the internationalization in the sports industry?

For answering the research questions and fulfill the purpose of this thesis, an inductive approach was selected with a qualitative exploratory research study. By mixing the purposive and self-selected sampling, six semi-structured interviews were conducted among different sports clubs. The findings indicate that there are several different influences in the internationalization process of sports clubs. Leagues and their ambitions are one direct influence. Here, the leagues statutes seem to be guidelines for the clubs and their perspectives on growing. Another influence are the market conditions, where one can distinguish between the home market and foreign market conditions. There are some markets that do not allow much for further grow, as another sport is dominating the industry. For that reason, expanding internationally becomes necessary. Yet, some clubs see more potential on the home market to expand their scope and are thus, not thinking of internationalizing soon. Also influencing the internationalization are partnerships. Partnerships, either new or existing ones, offer the benefit of having knowledge or a business network the club can potentially benefit from.

This study contributes to the literature of sports teams’ internationalization by adding the underlying concept of influences in the process. Understanding the influences will not only support the eventual internationalization but also offers the opportunity to unite organizations in their efforts.

Keywords: Sports Teams Internationalization, Internationalization, Influential Factors, Sport, Brand Management, Relationship Management, Internationalization Models

III Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Zsu- zsanna Vince for contributing with her time and constructive feedback throughout the whole process of this research. Her guidance, expertise and involvement were vital for this study.

I would also like to thank the clubs for their time, willingness to participate and sharing their experiences with me. Without them this study would not have been possible.

Finally, I wish to thank my family and friends for their constant support and encourage- ment throughout my study. Thank you!

Umeå, 25th of May 2020

Kiara Dettmer

IV Table of Content 1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1 1.1 PROBLEM BACKGROUND ...... 1 1.2 RESEARCH GAP ...... 4 1.3 RESEARCH PURPOSE ...... 4 1.4 EXPECTED CONTRIBUTIONS ...... 5 1.5 DELIMITATIONS ...... 6 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 7 2.1 UNDERSTANDING THE SPORTS INDUSTRY ...... 7 2.2 BRAND MANAGEMENT ...... 8 2.2.1 Brand Equity ...... 9 2.2.2 Brand Awareness ...... 10 2.2.3 Brand Association ...... 12 2.2.4 Brand Personality ...... 13 2.2.5 Brand Loyalty ...... 14 2.3 RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING ...... 16 2.3.1 Relationship Marketing: Fans ...... 17 2.3.2 Relationship Marketing: Sponsors ...... 18 2.4 GLOBALIZATION AND INTERNATIONALIZATION ...... 19 2.5 DRIVERS FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION ...... 20 2.5.1 Market Conditions ...... 21 2.5.2 Technological Advancements ...... 22 2.6 INTERNATIONALIZATION MODELS ...... 23 2.6.1 Uppsala Model and the Network Perspective ...... 24 2.6.2 Born Global ...... 27 2.6.3 Internationalization as a Sports Team Brand ...... 28 2.7 MARKET ENTRY FORMS ...... 30 2.7.1 Foreign Direct Investment ...... 31 2.7.2 Subsidiary ...... 31 2.7.3 Franchising ...... 32 2.8 PRELIMINARY FRAMEWORK ...... 33 3. SCIENTIFIC METHOD ...... 35 3.1 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY ...... 35 3.1.1 Ontology ...... 35 3.1.2 Epistemology ...... 36 3.1.3 Axiology ...... 37 3.2 RESEARCH APPROACH ...... 38 3.2.1 Abductive ...... 38 3.2.2 Deductive ...... 39 3.2.3 Inductive ...... 39 3.3 RESEARCH STRATEGY ...... 39 3.3.1 Quantitative ...... 40 3.3.2 Qualitative ...... 40 3.4 RESEARCH DESIGN ...... 41 3.5 LITERATURE ...... 42 4. PRACTICAL METHODOLOGY ...... 44 4.1 QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION ...... 44

V 4.1.1 Interview Structure ...... 44 4.1.2 Interview Guide ...... 45 4.1.3 Sampling Method ...... 47 4.1.4 Pilot Study ...... 48 4.1.5 Sample Overview ...... 49 4.2 QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS ...... 51 4.2.1 Preparing Qualitative Data ...... 51 4.2.2 Data Analysis ...... 51 4.3 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS ...... 53 4.4 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ...... 54 5. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ...... 57 5.1 BRAND MANAGEMENT ...... 57 5.2 RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING ...... 59 5.2.1 Fans ...... 59 5.2.2 Sponsors ...... 60 5.3 COMMUNICATION AND DATA USAGE ...... 62 5.3.1 Communication Tools ...... 62 5.3.2 Data Collection and Usage ...... 63 5.4 INTERNATIONALIZATION ...... 65 6. DISCUSSION ...... 69 6.1 BRAND MANAGEMENT ...... 69 6.2 RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING ...... 73 6.2.1 Fans ...... 73 6.2.2 Sponsors ...... 74 6.3 COMMUNICATION AND DATA USAGE ...... 75 6.4 INTERNATIONALIZATION ...... 78 6.4.1 International Exposure ...... 78 6.4.2 Team ...... 79 6.4.3 Leagues ...... 80 6.4.4 Partnerships ...... 82 6.4.5 Market Conditions ...... 83 6.5 REVISED THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...... 84 7. CONCLUSION ...... 86 7.1 GENERAL CONCLUSION ...... 86 7.2 STUDY CONTRIBUTIONS ...... 88 7.2.1 Theoretical Contributions ...... 88 7.2.2 Practical Contributions ...... 89 7.2.3 Societal Contributions ...... 89 7.3 LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH ...... 90 7.3.1 Limitations ...... 90 7.3.2 Future Research ...... 90 REFERENCES ...... 92 APPENDIX ...... 113 APPENDIX 1: EMAIL TO PARTICIPATING CLUBS - ENGLISH ...... 113 APPENDIX 2: EMAIL TO PARTICIPATING CLUBS – GERMAN ...... 113

VI APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW GUIDE – ENGLISH ...... 114 APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW GUIDE – GERMAN ...... 115

List of Figures

Figure 1: Adapted- Brand Equity ...... 10 Figure 2: Adapted- Establishment Chain ...... 24 Figure 3: Adapted- The Basic Mechanism of Internationalization: State and Change Aspects ...... 25 Figure 4: Preliminary Framework ...... 34 Figure 5: Relationship Triangle ...... 73 Figure 6: Revised Theoretical Framework ...... 85

List of Tables

Table 1: Adapted- Five-Stage model of internationalization ...... 29 Table 2: Sample Overview ...... 49

VII List of Abbreviations

AFVD American Football Verband Deutschland

BBL Basketball Bundesliga

DEL Deutsche Eishockey Liga

EHC European Hockey Clubs

FDI Foreign Direct Investment

GFL German Football League

HQ Headquarter

INVs International New Ventures

MLB Major League Baseball

MNEs Multinational Enterprises

MSL Major Soccer League

NBA National Basketball Association

NFL National Football League, National Football League

OEM Original Equipment Manufacturing

ÖFB Cup Cup des Österreichischen Fußball-Bundes

SME Small and Medium Sized Enterprise

TMT Top Management Team

VIII

1. Introduction

In this chapter, the problem background that supports the chosen topic will be presented, followed by the identified research gaps. Thereafter, the purpose of this study as well as the research question are introduced. Lastly, the expected theoretical, managerial and societal contributions are stated.

1.1 Problem Background

Globalization- an omnipresent term. Thanks to globalization, our way of thinking and doing things has changed. New opportunities arise due to the opening up of markets and because communicating and interacting with other people has become easier (Araújo & Fraiz, 2014). Communication is not only easier but also faster. From a business perspective those new opportunities evolved through the opening of new markets. For some the opening of new markets only show the positive sides, for others it creates challenges. One obvious challenge is that there is not only the domestic, but also international competition. New competitors mean less market space and thus, a saturation of the market is unavoid- able after some time. A saturated market means less profit and hence, new strategies have to be developed. That is where the internationalization process of a company usually starts as internationalization results from globalization.

One industry that is facing growth opportunities due to globalization is the sports industry. Over the past twenty years this industry has been commercialized and professional- ized (Trachsler et al., 2015). With the professionalization of sports, business opportunities emerged for sponsors. In 2018 the sports sponsoring size in North America was about $17.17 billion which shows the potential of this market (Gough, 2019). The global sponsoring market was valued at $55 billion in 2018 and is expected to increase to about $86.60 billion in 2025. One reason for this increase can be found in the emergence of new sports leagues which means that sports continue to professionalize (MarketWatch, 2020). Besides the sponsoring the broadcasting rights for sporting events additionally nurtured the growth in this industry. The English Premier League can be considered as the pioneer in this area, as it introduced new rules regarding broadcasting rights in 1992. In the period from 2016-2019 the broadcasting rights of the Premier League were sold for about £5.136 billion (Gazapo, n.d). Those numbers show the potential of the sports industry as it indicates that the industry is a big business and highly profitable.

Therefore, sports clubs and leagues are no exception from the internationalization processes as it further supports both the growing and commercialization of sports. The internationalization in sports started with the signing of foreign players (Bühler & Nufer, 2012, p. 180). A breakthrough was the Bosman ruling in 1995 as it banned restrictions on foreign European players inside of Europe. Furthermore, it allowed players to move freely from one club to another (Simmons, 1997). Compared to usual business units, sports leagues and clubs face several challenges related to their expansion. One is that sports clubs have factors influencing their economic well-being such as performance and loyal fans. Regular companies’ expansion usually does not affect local buyers. In the literature, there is the idea of deterritorialization of matches to bring awareness to a club. Examples are the NBA (National Basketball Association) playing matches in Mexico City or the NFL (National Football League) in London. Yet, those locational changes affect the local

1 fans and can affect a fans loyalty (Hill& Vincent, 2006; Wise & Kirby, 2018). Consider- ing the perspective of a “loyal” fan in Asia, trying to follow a favored club in Europe can be challenging. Challenges are all around when it comes to the internationalization of sport.

Compared to other industries, the sports industry has unique characteristics. One of those is the competition within the same industry. Yet most industries face competition, in the sports industry only a limited number of clubs will become a global brand (Richelieu et al., 2008). The competition does not only occur on the field, but it seems to be a race whichever team becomes a global player and which team will fall behind. The unique characteristic is that not only the same “product” competes, but also other sports compete for the national attention. There are sports that have a natural advantage within this field as it is already a global sport such as tennis or golf. Other sports benefitted from the British colonies such as rugby and cricket. One of the sports people are mostly interested in is soccer (Hill & Vincent, 2006).

Over the past years, researchers have tried to analyze, how soccer clubs internationalized. In the research the focus is on the bigger clubs as more actions were taken by those. Here common examples are Manchester United or FC Bayern Munich (Hill & Vincent, 2006; Puck & Wirth, 2009; Szymanski, 1998). In the majority of the existing literature on sports team’s internationalization clubs are considered as brands. The concepts of branding and sports teams are inseparable and therefore, brand management has to be understood in the context of sports clubs.

The existing literature on brand management is vast and considers different directions such as how to build a relationship with your brand customer (Stavros et al., 2008; D. Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000; Abeza et al., 2019). The general understanding of a brand is that it is “a name, a word, a sign, a symbol, a drawing, or a combination of these, which aims for identifying the goods and services of a company and differentiates them from the competitors” (Kotler et al, 2000, p.478). As sports teams get marketed as brands the competition on this market becomes even more imminent (Richelieu et al., 2008). Con- sidering the German Bundesliga alone were 36 clubs are in the first and second league the challenge of brand positioning becomes obvious. There are 36 potential brands that may want to benefit from a market, only considering one sport here. The problem occurring is that most of the clubs will offer a fairly similar product and would need to identify their differentiator as a well-established brand can be key to success (Bauer et al., 2005).

Establishing a differentiator can be done through the creation of brand equity. D. Aaker (1991) was among the first to connect brand equity directly to a consumer. Building brand equity supports a brand in various ways as it can be seen as a summation of benefits and weaknesses a customer relates to. Different concepts such as brand awareness, brand association or brand loyalty all support the building of brand equity. Applying the concepts of brand equity to sports clubs, one might think that only sports fans would be able to identify the different clubs and that the better-known clubs that are exposed in international competitions benefit mostly. Besides having a strong brand, there are considerations within the literature that partners become critical in building brand equity. The exact role of international partners for example in the internationalization process is not well researched yet. An additional challenge for building brand equity in the sports industry is that there are seasonal operating cycles. For instance, the American football season is from April to November. Buying behavior is not only influenced by on-pitch performance

2 but also on the operating cycle which leads to a fluctuation in the demand for sports goods. All those factors influence a sports club’s brand equity immensely and also the internationalization process (Szymosyowskyj et al., 2016).

Since those influences affect a team, fan loyalty becomes a relevant topic in sports. Ac- cording to research, there are several factors that influence brand loyalty. In the field of sports there is only limited research and drivers for loyalty are not clearly identified. Cer- tain factors considered by customers are not necessarily directly connected to the brand name. They rather take prices and promotions in their buying behavior into account (Bris- tow & Sebastian, 2001; Chadhuri & Holbrook, 2001). The underlying questions regarding loyalty are for example what drives loyalty and how exactly is it defined. Within the area of sports those questions would not be clearly identifiable. An example would be whether a fan is more loyal because they attend every match in the stadium in contrast to the person who watches every match at home. There is little research on this matter. One study tried to identify the distinction between die-hard fans and “regular” fans (Bristow & Sebastian, 2001). They use the example of the Chicago Cubs fans, which at the time of the study, were waiting for their team to win the championship in baseball for several decades. Interestingly, the fans stayed loyal even though the team’s performance on the pitch was poorly (Bristow & Sebastian, 2001). Yet, their study is almost twenty years old and since then new trends have emerged within the industry.

One of those trends is the technological innovation. Today communication has become easier thanks to social media. Therefore, it is understandable that the current literature focuses more on relationship strategies with the help of social media. Relationship management has already been a highly discussed topic within the area of marketing and loyalty building even before the rising of social media platforms (D. Aaker & Joachim- sthaler, 2000; Bee &Kahle, 2006; Stavros et al., 2008). Bee and Kahle (2006) found that sports consumers are usually highly involved meaning, that there is an existing relationship between club and fans. They characterized the fan involvement as for example the purchasing of tickets and merchandise. Moreover, they found that an internalized relationship has the deepest level of influence and is more durable and consistent (Bee & Kahle, 2006). Here, the current trend of social media can be associated with building a relationship that is internalized by the customer/fan.

Social media can be used in several ways, not only to build a relationship, even though this is the long-term goal each company should strive for (Abeza et al., 2013). In previous research it was found that new technologies have an encouraging effect on sports organizations to communicate and maintain a relationship with their worldwide audience (Stav- ros et al., 2008, Stavros & Westberg, 2009). As social media are available in most of the countries and additionally, a broad spectrum of different medias is offered, such as Face- book, Twitter and Instagram, maintaining relationships has never been that easy. There are differences between Facebook and Twitter and Instagram as the first two contain more written and the latter more graphical content (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018). Anagnos- topoulos et al. (2018) focused on how professional sports teams can use Instagram as a medium to create a brand image. Crucial for their work was the corresponding brand association customers might have meaning attributes, benefits and attitudes a consumer perceives that are linked to a given team (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018). Using pictures to form a perception seems to be an interesting take to visualize a brand image. Afterall, clubs/organizations use social media as a communication tool and also for customer service purposes (Abeza et al., 2019). Only limited research focuses on the role social media

3 can take in the internationalization process of sports teams. So far, the findings are rather limited as to how exactly social media can be useful. Furthermore, the research conducted only considered Facebook, Twitter and the clubs’ website. One finding was that language availability is an important factor in the international success of a club and that social media marketing is more cost efficient than traditional marketing strategies (Fleischmann & Fleischmann, 2019).

In the internationalization process several aspects should be considered that could influence either positively or negatively a club’s success in this process. Among potential influences are relationship and brand management. However, current trends should not be underestimated such as social media, partners and emergence of new markets. The sport industry is growing. The further professionalization and commercialization of sports indicate the potential within this industry. A development that becomes more visible is the increasing interest in American football in Europe over the past years.

1.2 Research Gap

Based on the broad review of empirical and theoretical works by several authors within the area of internationalization in the sports industry and marketing literature, several knowledge gaps within the literature were identified. The identified knowledge gaps contribute of this study to theory.

Gap 1: There are several articles discussing the internationalization of sports clubs (Hill & Vincent, 2006; Giulianotti et al., 2008; Richelieu et al., 2008). The issue occurring is that those studies for the most part focus on soccer. Other sports such as American football or basketball are not researched yet. In order to have a broader understanding of the industry those sports have to be integrated.

Gap 2: Besides the focus of research being only on one sport, the current literature lacks an explanation of the motivations behind an internationalization of sports teams and potential influences. One influence could be that new technological trends are emerging which can support the internationalization process of a club. Social media platforms are developed due to those changes and can endorse brand reputation and building a relationship with a customer or fan (Bee &Kahle, 2006; Araújo & Fraiz, 2014; Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018; Abeza et al., 2019, Fleischmann & Fleischmann, 2020). Considering the current literature, the general usage of data and social media platforms and its influences on an internationalization process have to be analyzed.

1.3 Research Purpose

The purpose of this thesis is to find out what influences the internationalization in the sports industry. Beyond the common interest of growth of a club, very little is known about the influences leading up to the decision of internationalization. Therefore, this study´s purpose is to deepen the general understanding in this area. Further, this thesis aims to include other sports besides the in Europe dominant soccer. By providing a broader picture, this study will contribute to the existing literature of sports teams’ internationalization.

Most of the literature on internationalization of sports teams try to explain how they internationalize. The problem is that many of the potential influences are still unnoticed by

4 research. While this thesis aims to gain an understanding of the early phase in the internationalization process it considers technological changes and strategic partnerships as potential influences. Emphasizing on partnerships will further, shed light on the influences at a regional level.

In order to answer the set research question:

What influences the internationalization in the sports industry? a theoretical framework will be constructed, with the help of relevant literature of brand management, relationship management, marketing, and internationalization models.

1.4 Expected Contributions

Expected Theoretical Contribution: This work aims to contribute to the understanding of internationalization in the sports industry by highlighting different influences that might be relevant in an international expansion (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018; Abeza et al., 2019; Fleischmann & Fleischmann, 2020). One potential influence being the usage of data, in particular social media channels for the internationalization of organizations. The existing literature on sports internationalization focuses mainly on soccer or to state it differently, the literature focuses on one sport at a time (Hill & Vincent, 2006; Puck & Wirth, 2009; Szymanski, 1998). A cross study of different sports does not exist. There- fore, researching different clubs from different kinds of sports, may broaden the understanding of influences in the decision-making of internationalization. Understanding the role of brand management, relationship management, marketing, and different internationalization models might enlighten influences in the early phase of the internationalization process of a sports team.

Expected Practical Contribution: As there might be different influences involved in the internationalization, the understanding of those might offer an opportunity to practitioners to analyze their own, current strategy regarding international expansion. Yet, it depends on what influences the process as internationalization can be rather circumstantial. Drivers for internationalization can be motivated by for instance entrepreneurial behavior or market saturation. Understanding what drives the internationalization in the sports industry in the first place might further support the strategy building. Moreover, as the leagues and clubs might not be aligned regarding the international ambitions or in the understanding of the need for it, this study could potentially be used as a connection for communication among different organizations.

Expected Societal Contribution: The general sports interest in society is rather high and sports is played all around the world. By understanding the influences of internationalization, sports clubs might consider expanding their scope further and enable people to experience the sport in their home country. As mentioned before, internationalization is rather circumstantial as market conditions can influence the decision. Seeing it from a fan’s perspective, their local market might not offer the same sports product. Therefore, internationalization of sports clubs can be beneficial for the clubs themselves and for society. Moreover, by analyzing different sports, the study will be more inclusive and relatable to more people as not only one sport is covered.

5 1.5 Delimitations

In order to avoid potential misunderstandings certain delimitations have to be outlined. There are three main delimitations in this study. First, the clubs interviewed for this study had to be of considerable size and playing in an established league. Some clubs are not suitable for the purpose of this thesis. Moreover, going in the same line of argumentation individual athletes are not considered in this study as those are not known to have any international ambitions and can hardly be considered as brands. The second delimitation is that many clubs from different sports and countries are contacted and considered. There is no intentional ignorance of clubs or sports meaning that this study is not narrowing down to one specific country or sport. However, due to the COVID-19 crisis the response rate might be limited and rather country specific. Therefore, the need for secondary data will emerge. Lastly, the financial situation of the clubs was not considered for two main reasons. Clubs are dependent on external financial aid and bigger clubs might have an advantage. Nevertheless, financially weaker clubs might still consider internationalization as a form to grow and should therefore not be excluded from this study. Secondly, as mentioned this thesis is written during the COVID-19 crisis which is challenging for clubs as the future is uncertain. Due to the crisis leagues are disrupted which can cause financial disbalance for the clubs.

6 2. Literature Review

This chapter provides the theoretical framework for the thesis. The theories presented will be helpful to construct later on the interview guide. The idea of the structure of the theoretical framework is to firstly understand prerequisites for internationalization before diving deeper into the overall concept of globalization and internationalization. First off, a brief overview of sports marketing is given as it has some differential points than the usual marketing. To deepen the understanding, the theory of brand management with all its underlying concepts will be introduced. Hereinafter, relationship marketing from the perspective of a sponsor and fan will be discussed. Finally, based on the given marketing tools, drivers for internationalization, internationalization theories as well as market entry forms will be examined.

2.1 Understanding the Sports Industry

Understanding the sports industry is necessary in order to understand how and why sports clubs do business the way they are. Sports itself is an intangible good, but it can possess tangible characteristics such as jerseys (Lagae, 2005, p.7). Some differences compared to other industries are for instance the simultaneous competition and cooperation among many organizations. Moreover, the industry is considered as less demanding as people tend to think the job done by an athlete or coach is easily performed. Also, compared to other markets, the sports market has not only a high personal interest by its consumers but at the same time also a high involvement of those (Mullin, Hardy & Sutton, 2000, p.14-15; Lagae, 2005, p.7). Those characteristics make it slightly more challenging to fully understand the industry itself.

In the literature, there are limited articles describing sport marketing as an individual dis- cipline. For the purpose of this thesis the concept becomes crucial as understanding the underlying ideas behind sports clubs’ efforts is important to comprehend their need to internationalize. The history of sport marketing goes far back. There already existed types of promoters in ancient Greece and Rome. However, it is not up until the 1990´s that the area of sport marketing became more important to marketers. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is the increased media coverage in this decade (Mullin et al., 2000). Mullin et al. (2000) define sport marketing as “[…] activities designed to meet the needs and wants of sports consumers through exchange processes. Sport marketing has developed two major thrusts: the marketing of sports products and services directly to consumers of sport, and marketing of other consumer and industrial products or services through the use of sport promotions” (Mullin et al., 2000, p.9). The first related to for instance the selling of merchandise to a fan whereas the latter refers to for example commercials of non-sports industries shown at the Super Bowl. For this thesis, only the first part of the definition is relevant as the aim is to gain a better understanding of sports club’s internationalization processes. The activities a club does to meet their consumers/fans needs and wants is crucial.

The main idea behind sport marketing is to understand the driving forces that generate the need of marketing strategies in the sports industry. Further, sport marketers determine the obstacles faced within this industry and recognizing the components of the sports product. Lastly, the factors that make the sports industry unique are identified (Mullin et al., 2000). Yet, it is important to see that the sports “product” itself does already offer

7 certain characteristics that other products do not have. The core benefits for people of the sports product are for example health, entertainment, sociability and achievement. Due to exactly those characteristics the sports product becomes unique. Furthermore, there are other elements that can describe sports more as a “service” rather than a “product”. Sports can be something intangible (as a consumer who is not directly doing the sports himself but attending a game), short-lived, experiential and it usually has a subjective nature (Mullin et al., 2000, p.13). Especially the subjective nature of sports makes it more challenging for a sport marketer as it becomes difficult to predict customer satisfaction unlike for other kinds of products.

Besides the unique characteristics of the sports industry, the way of sports consumption in general has changed over the past years. The term sports consumption entails a multitude of involvement stages. In the current literature, the term “involvement” is highly discussed. There is no uniform definition, however, the most resent definition of sports involvement states that one has to simply measure the participation of an individual in a given activity. The measurement is based on a self-evaluation by the individual (Beaton, Funk, Ridinger & Jordan, 2010, p.129). Kapferer and Laurent (1985, p.52) argued that involvement should not be measured as a single level but rather considering it as a unidi- mensional construct as involvement differs among customers. Thus, bringing the concept of involvement back to sports, Mullin et al. (2000, p.56-57) divided the involvement of a sports consumer in three categories: the behavioral cognitive and affective involvement. The behavioral involvement includes two main activities; playing sports at practice or the involvement of fans at a game by watching or listening to it and rooting (Crawford, 2004; Mullin et al., 2000). By studying, acquiring information or knowledge, a person is cogni- tively involved. Important media to gather information are magazines, newspapers or the radio (Mullin et al., 2000, p.56). Affective involvement describes the attitudes, feelings and emotions that a consumer has towards an activity (Mullin et al., 2000, p.57). Sports consumption itself is crucial for this work because other consumption patterns than on the home market can be expected when internationalizing.

As important as understanding the introduced concepts are, another relevant concept for the sports product is, how it can be differentiated from the competition. Competition in the sports industry is fierce. Thus, part of the work of a sport marketer is to build a strong brand. The next chapter deals with brand management and the underlying concepts of a brand.

2.2 Brand Management

In changing environments and excess choices, having an outstanding product from that of a competitor is of great importance for a company. Through globalization, markets have become more open and the competition has increased. Hence, a company has to protect its brand and doing so, brand management is a crucial part of the daily work of brand marketers (Kapferer, 2008). One of the most crucial parts of brand management is the branding process. Two things usually can get branded; a product or a service. There- fore, the idea behind branding is to highlight differential characteristics from the competitor’s product (D. Aaker, 1991; Christodoulides, 2009; Kohli, Suri, Kapoor, 2015).

Building a strong brand with brand awareness, positive customer experiences, products, services and channels, needs work. Kapferer states that all those points of contact with a brand need to be managed in an “integrated and focused way” (Kapferer, 2008, p. 2).

8 Leaning on this idea, companies usually establish a brand management organization, which operates as another layer of the management of a company (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p. 669).

Difficulties in managing a brand successfully can be related to the right positioning which has to be continuously communicated to consumers. Such a steady communication is costly and hence, advertisement costs increase (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010, p. 268). More- over, there has to be the right person on the job. In the literature it is stated that brand managers usually only manage a brand for a short time which leads to the failure of establishing a long-term strength of the brand (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p. 670).

Yet, over the past years, another threat for the traditional branding has evolved: the internet and social media platforms (Christodoulides, 2009; Kohli et al., 2015). New technologies change the way of doing things. In the case of brand management, social media is changing the way marketing and branding works. Change aspects in branding are that it will become more transparent and the reliance on physical attributes will decrease. Also, introducing new brands to the market becomes easier and overall, social media can potentially be more cost efficient than the traditional branding model (Kohli et al., 2015).

In sports, managing a club as a brand implies challenges as there are other factors that influence the brand such as performance. Further, in the football environment for example are seasonal operating cycles, buying behavior is influenced by on-pitch performance and demand fluctuates. All those factors influence a sports clubs’ brand immensely and thus, also the internationalization process (Szymosyowskyj et al., 2016).

Building up a brand in the sports industry is necessary for the internationalization of a club. Lacking a strong brand will complicate the overall process. Therefore, in the next chapter of this thesis, the emphasis will be on building brand equity and its underlying concepts. Since the aim is to understand the internationalization patterns of clubs in the sports industry, the brand equity model provides a good understanding of a brand. This understanding will then help to identify the influences in an internationalization process.

2.2.1 Brand Equity

When researching more in depth the different constitutes of a brand, brand equity becomes one of the most crucial concepts. Brand equity combines almost all relevant ideas of brands. One of the first researchers to connect brand equity directly to consumers was D. Aaker (1991). In his work he thinks of brand equity as a summation of benefits and weaknesses a customer relates to either a brand or symbol. The definition he provides in his book is that brand equity is “a set of assets such as name awareness, loyal customers, perceived quality, and associations […] that are linked to the brand (its name and symbol) and add value to the product or service being offered” (Aaker, 1991, p.4). Based on this definition, brand equity can be seen as a driving force for the value creation of a product or service (D. Aaker, 1991).

Keller (1993) continued to work on the concept of brand equity linked to the customer with D. Aaker’s framework as a foundation. Keller defines customer-based brand equity as a “differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of a brand” (Keller, 1993, p.1). The term brand knowledge gets divided into two components, brand awareness and brand image (Keller, 1993, p.2). Furthermore, Keller elaborates that

9 studying brand equity as such can be beneficial for creating a marketing strategy and hence, improve the marketing productivity of a firm (Keller,1993). Yet, one of the most outstanding ideas of his work is the linkage between brand knowledge and customer response to the concept of brand awareness. Crucial for the success of a brand, hence, is having a memorable characteristic, that a customer can easily identify (Keller, 1993).

In sports, some challenges can be related to building brand equity. Bauer, Sauer and Schmitt (2009) examined in their paper the importance of brand equity in the German Bundesliga. They found that having a brand can lead to economic success without a correlation to the athletic success (Bauer, Sauer & Schmitt, 2009). Also, customer-based brand equity has to be used carefully in categories with high consumer knowledge (Bauer et al., 2009, p. 508). Considering the sports environment and fans as the customers, the likelihood of them knowing most of the other teams or brands is quite high. Finding a characteristic that distinguishes one team from another team is quite challenging. To overcome those challenges, building up a strong brand is necessary. In the definition of brand equity one can already identify important elements for the sports industry such as brand loyalty. Therefore, the following sub-chapters will go more into detail of how to build up a strong brand that, in return, will build brand equity, which go in line with the framework by D. Aaker represented in Figure 1. However, as perceived quality is not as fitting for the sports industry it is replaced by the more fitting brand personality in the following.

Figure 1: Adapted- Brand Equity Source: D. Aaker, 1991, p.17

2.2.2 Brand Awareness

Building on the brand equity model, brand awareness is one concept that contributes to a company´s overall brand equity in the end. Brand awareness is the ability of a customer to identify a brand under different conditions, based on brand recognition or brand recall (D. Aaker, 1991, p.61; Kotler & Keller, 2009, p.783). Under brand recognition one understands whether a customer is able to recognize a brand. Doing so requires that the customer already knows the brand. Brand recall explains that a customer recalls a certain brand during a decision-making process without previous consideration. Here, the customer goes through the decision-making process prior to the purchase (Huang & Sarigöllü, 2014, p.127). Brand awareness faces key questions each company has to be aware of in order to construct a fitting strategy. The questions are:

How valuable is brand awareness in the market the company is competing in?

What are differentiators to the competition and how well-known is the brand? (D. Aaker, 1991, p.27)

Those questions become quite relevant as the differentiation from the competition is challenging and being a well-recognized brand helps to increase sales. Also, there certainly are markets where brand awareness is less valuable than in others. Ultimately, there are different factors that influence a consumer to choose one brand over another (D. Aaker, 1991; Huang & Sarigöllü, 2014; Kotler & Keller, 2009; Macdonald & Sharp, 2000). Yet, the driving forces behind why a customer selects one brand over another are not well researched. It is assumed that based on a high brand awareness, customers purchase one product or brand instead of an alternative one (D. Aaker, 1991; Kotler & Keller, 2009). However, Huang and Sarigöllü (2014, p.127) found that it is vice-versa; brand awareness is driven by consumers purchases and usages. This knowledge is important as it helps to create a marketing strategy that fits the consumer in a more targeted way.

Targeting the right consumer and building on a strong marketing campaign are only two aspects of the importance of brand awareness. It is also relevant, how a company can gain brand awareness in the first place. According to D. Aaker (1991, p.62), there are two main tasks to be performed: create a brand name identity and linking the product to a product class. Since the main focus of this work is the sports industry, the brand name and identity are of more importance than the linkage to the product. That is because in the sports industry, everyone is basically selling the exact same product. Hence, for internationalization, the name and identity of a club are more important than the product itself. How- ever, additional services a club may offer are not excluded.

Building on the creation of a brand name identity, names, symbols and slogans are part of generating brand awareness (D. Aaker, 1991). The name of a company is the core indicator of each brand. It is the basis of both brand awareness and communication efforts a company can perform. The name helps to generate associations which serving to describe a brand (D. Aaker, 1991, p.187).

Bringing the concept of brand awareness to the sports industry, names symbols and slogans become eminent. Usually, in the cases of sports clubs each club has a unique name. Often, the name of the city the club resides in, is part of the name. Known examples are for instance FC Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Los Angeles Lakers. The name of a club forms their identity and also their brand.

Moreover, most of the clubs do have unique symbols that distinguishes one club from another. Those symbols can create brand awareness as they make it easy to recognize the brands. In the case of clubs, their logos can be seen as symbols (D. Aaker, 1991, p.198).

Lastly, slogans can contribute in creating brand awareness. Slogans can help in the positioning process of a brand and usually have fewer legal limitations than other things such as songs. Furthermore, slogans create an additional association to a brand (D. Aaker, 1991, p.198). Some examples for slogans can be found in the sports industry´s clubs: Mia San Mia (FC Bayern Munich), Més que un club (FC Barcelona) or You´ll never walk

11 alone (Liverpool). Fans recognize their club by the slogans and those slogans will create more brand awareness once a club decides to internationalize.

Brand awareness is an important component of not only brand equity but also for the internationalization of a club. The better known a club is, the easier it may get to win fans over. Consequently, the more awareness a club has, the easier is the internationalization process. Another way to get brand awareness is through the performance and exposure of a team. Playing in international competition will support the formation of a fan base on a foreign market. Yet, for building a strong brand equity, brand awareness alone is not suf- ficient. Rather, a club has to create associations to stay in their customers minds.

2.2.3 Brand Association

Enabling the creation of brand awareness, a brands aim is to make customers associate certain attributes to the brand. Brand association is defined as “all brand-related thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes […] that become linked to the brand node” (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p.783). For a brand manager, the task of creating the right association for a brand is quite challenging. Associations do not only exist in a customer’s mind; associations have a level of strength to link a brand stronger to a consumer mindset the more experience or exposure to communicate the brand exist (D. Aaker, 1991, p.109).

According to Cheng-Hsui Chen (2001, p.439) brand associations are the core asset for building strong brand equity. Further he states that stronger brands must have a higher awareness level than weaker brands, due to previous exposures of a brand (Cheng-Hsui Chen, 2001). Biel (1992) argued that brand associations have different points of departure, meaning that certain associations can come from a corporate image, the image of a customer of a product and a usage image. Here, Biel distinguishes between two possible perceptions: utilitarian/functional attributes such as speed or simplicity and soft/emotional attributes such as the innovativeness of a product (Biel, 1992, p. 9). Other brand associations are for instance the perceived quality of a product or service (D. Aaker, 1991; Cheng-Hsui Chen, 2001). Thus, relating those attributes to the sports environment, one could argue that the associations of a fan relate to the performance of a team or the exposure in international competitions. There is little research about how to build strong associations linked to a club. Nevertheless, there are different models such as the memory network model by Krishnan (1996) that tries to explain how associations can be build.

Krishnan (1996) uses a memory network model to identify various association characteristics that support consumer-based equity. Focus of the work is the customer perspective in building associations. Interestingly, Krishnan differentiates emerging brands from mature brands. Emerging brands have the advantage of not having any associations yet and thus, the work with such brands is slightly easier. Mature brands have been exposed for many years and hence, customers have already established associations related to the brand. Those associations may be positive or negative. In the latter case, a brand manager would now have to focus on “rebuilding” the associations (Krishnan, 1996, p.390). Krish- nan proposes a memory model which links various perceptions of a brand. The building block usually is a node which represents just a piece of information. This node can represent a brand, attribute or product. Links between those different nodes are the respective brand associations (Krishnan, 1996, p. 391). Connected to the memory model and network of brand associations is the idea of a brand map (John et al., 2006). With this

12 technique brand associations can be identified and also how associations are connected to a brand (John et al., 2006, p.549). This concept is interesting as it can help a brand to find the right positioning. However, not only the maps but the whole concept of brand associations can help a company to identify the right market positioning (D. Aaker, 1991; John et al., 2006; Kotler & Keller, 2009).

For sports clubs the idea of a brand map could potentially help in the internationalization process. Clubs could gain an understanding of how they are perceived and if it is in line with their core values. Moreover, comparing the own map to the one of the competition or other sports could provide an in-depth picture of the targeted market. If a club plays a poor season, positive brand associations from previous seasons might help to keep the fan. An issue arising in brand associations in sports is that there are certain influences a club cannot steer. One could be the association linked to a sponsor. Depending on this sponsor, other fans could easily downsize a club to its sponsor. A sponsor in the internationalization process of a club can also create positive brand associations. An international sponsor might attract new customers to the club by its own network.

Overall, brand associations support the brand building process. Different methods and models describe how associations are shaped in the brand equity model. Furthermore, brand associations can help to form a brands’ personality (J. Aaker,1997)

2.2.4 Brand Personality

Brand associations are meant to help creating a certain image and identity of a brand. A brand can have several different characteristics that are associated with it. However, there are unique brand personality traits that support the brand building process and the long- term goal of creating brand equity.

The literature for brand personality is vast. There are several frameworks that try to explain the concept. One of the most cited theoretical frameworks that deals with building brand personality was established by Jennifer Aaker (1997). J. Aaker defines brand personality as a set of human characteristics that are associated with a brand (Keller, 1993; J. Aaker, 1997, p. 347). Her framework consists of five different dimensions:

(1) Sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome and cheerful) (2) Excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, up to date) (3) Competence (reliable, intelligent, successful) (4) Sophistication (upper class, charming) (5) Ruggedness (outdoorsy, though) (J. Aaker, 1997, p.352)

Those dimensions should help to form the characteristics to determine a brands personality. There is no prove whether those dimensions can actually be applied across different cultures. Therefore, this framework is criticized in the literature.

Azoulay and Kapferer (2003) argue that the current scales of brand personality do not measure the concept itself but rather merges several dimensions of brand identity. They state that the personification of brands is created by celebrities who endorse brands (Azoulay &Kapferer, 2003, p. 143). This argument is interesting as consumers might think of brands as if they were celebrities or well-known historical figures (Rook, 1985). Hence, brand managers can build on this sentiment for the creation of brand equity.

13 Another point Azoulay and Kapferer bring up is the demand of a stricter definition of brand personality as they see the problem that the brand is more defined by its performance (Azoulay & Kapferer, 2003, p.145). The origin of brand personality is from a non- product-based definition of a brand. The definition includes all the characteristics that were formerly not bound to the products use or performance (Azoulay & Kapferer, 2003, p.145). Brand personality as such is a broad concept and needs a well-understanding to be used appropriately.

Bringing brand personality to the area of sports is again a challenging task. Smith et al. (2006) worked with the framework by J. Aaker. They applied it to a membership-based sports organization by adding innovation as a trait. One of their arguments is that branding, and brand personality can lead to an increased sports participation (Smith et al., 2006, p. 252). The difficulty identified in the sports industry is that the brand personality is affected by the pervasiveness of the marketing or other communication strategies of a sports club. For a sports club the difficulty emerges to separate the product from the organization, according to Smith et al. (Smith et al., 2006, p.262-63).

In contrast to Smith et al. work, Schade et al. (2014, p.652) argue that J. Aaker´s framework of brand personality is not applicable for sport clubs. The product category “sports club” is a unique and different form compared to other categories as the core products outcome is unpredictable (Braunstein & Ross, 2010; Schade et al., 2014 Tsiotsou, 2012;). Furthermore, they see brand personality as a complex construct and hence, most of the existing scales lack various traits to measure brand personality of sports clubs. Traits that could potentially be included are terms such as “rebellious”, “sociable”, “faithful” and “tolerant” (Schade et al., 2014, p. 658).

The importance of brand personality is that the more consumers can identify themselves with the personality traits by an organization, the easier it becomes to have a connection point and have more loyal customers.

2.2.5 Brand Loyalty

Brand loyalty is one of the most important components of building brand equity (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993). Over the years many researchers tried to understand this concept. Not only are there several different factors that can potentially influence brand loyalty, but there are also many perspectives on how to define the term. Jacoby and Kyner (1973, p.2) for example, defined brand loyalty as:

“(1) a biased (i.e., nonrandom), (2) behavioral response (i.e. purchase) (3) expressed over time (4) by some decision-making units (5) with respect to one or more alternative brands (6) as a function of psychological (decision making, evaluate) processes”.

Other researchers pointed out that there are mainly two dimensions that are relevant to define brand loyalty; behavioral and attitudinal loyalty (Day, 1969; Jacoby & Chestnut, 1978). Behavioral loyalty is the tendency of a consumer to repurchase the same brand frequently over time (Jacoby & Chestnut, 1978) whereas attitudinal loyalty refers to the attitudes a consumer has towards a brand. If the attitude is more positive towards a brand, consumers tend to stay longer committed to a brand (Gladden & Funk, 2001). Connected to the attitudinal loyalty of a consumer is the spurious loyalty. Day (1969, p.100) defined spurious loyalty as “purchases that are guided not by a concomitant strong attitude but

14 merely by situational exigencies”. This definition points out such consumers who do not have strong positive attitudes towards a brand but repeatedly buy a product or service of that brand anyway (Day, 1969). D. Aaker (1991) defined brand loyalty as a measurement of the attachment that a customer has to a brand. Further, it reflects the likelihood of a customer switching to another brand for example when there are changes in the price or product features (D. Aaker, 1991, p.39). Considering the changes, customer satisfaction might decrease and thus, a customer might change to the competitor’s product (Cheng-Hsiu Chen, 2001, p. 440; Nam et al., 2011, p. 1009).

Bloemer and Kasper (1994) tried to investigate the relationship between customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. According to them, previous research has not taken under consideration the differences between repeated purchasing behavior and brand loyalty and spurious and true brand loyalty (Bloemer & Kasper, 1994, p.312). They see commitment to a brand as a necessary condition for true brand loyalty. This argument is supported by Fournier and Yao (1997, p. 453) who stated that the personal involvement of customers is important for them. Through the commitment by their customers, their brand equity can get stronger. To commit to a brand, a customer also needs a certain degree of trust. Trusting a brand means that customers become more loyal. The importance here is to see the differential factor when talking about brand confidence. Customers trust cannot be compared to the trust in a person but rather in a symbol (Lau &Lee, 1999, p. 344).

In the sports context, brand loyalty or rather fan loyalty is a critical concept as fans usually are the fundamental pillar for a club. Gladden and Funk (2001) found that there are two main reasons why loyalty is important for clubs. First, loyalty ensures a more stable following, even when the core products´ performance is weak such as a losing season (Glad- den & Funk, 2001, p.55). Moreover, brand loyalty helps to set price premiums. Those premiums help a club to leverage and increase revenues or help to equalize areas where expenses are increasing. The second reason is that it creates opportunities for a product extension. In the case of clubs, the product extension would be for example the creation of team merchandise. However, more importantly a high brand loyalty allows a team to sell their brand extensions across geographical borders (Gladden & Funk, 2001, p.56). This aspect is crucial for this thesis as the aim is to understand influences in the internationalization process of sport clubs.

Going back to the concept of brand equity and applying it to clubs. In order to achieve brand equity loyal fans of a club will be crucial. The more sports consumers attach meaning to the names and logos of their favorite teams, the higher is the brand equity (Gladden & Milne, 1998). Therefore, the stronger the brand association and brand personality, the higher is the loyalty which then leads to an increase in the brand equity of a club. An argument supporting this is that the more frequently games are sold out and the more sports consumers are generated, the higher is the level of brand equity (Gladden & Funk, 2001, p.57).

Going back to the dimensions of loyalty, research has found that loyal fans would show hints of both, behavioral and attitudinal loyalty towards a club (Funk & Pastore,2000; Mahony et al., 2000). The behavioral patterns are fans who buy seasonal tickets and/or watch most of the matches of their favorite team on TV (Gladden & Funk, 2001, p.63). Attitudinal loyalty would be that the fans stay loyal even through bad seasons and maintain their positive attitudes towards a team.

15 Lastly, the spurious loyalty is relevant for a sports marketer as playing a good season may create spurious loyalty in the sports setting (Gladden & Funk, 2001, p.63, James & Ross, 2004, p.17; Kim & Trail, 2010, p.205). Understanding spurious loyalty is crucial as it is one of the factors influencing fluctuations in the revenue of a club. Meaning, as long as the club is successful, spurious consumers attend matches. However, when the performance declines, they might not attend matches or limit their commitment (Gladden & Funk, 2001, p.63). Spurious loyalty can therefore also be one of the reasons why loyalty should not be measured in attendance reports (Mahony et al., 2000, p.16).

2.3 Relationship Management and Marketing

Relationship marketing emerged from the traditional marketing tools. Many researchers suggest that the traditional marketing set lacks certain understanding for current trends in marketing (Grönroos, 1990a; Payne et al., 1998; Christopher et al.,2002; Varey, 2002).

Grönroos (1990a, p.5) defines relationship marketing as “The purpose of marketing is to establish, maintain, enhance and commercialise customer relationships (often, but necessarily always, long term relationships) so that the objectives of the parties involved are met. This is done by the mutual exchange and fulfilment of promises”. Grönroos states that the traditional marketing core is the marketing mix and that the sales department is the only department which has direct contact to the customers (Grönroos, 1990a, p.1). Yet, there are three conditions that have to be met in order to establish a long-lasting relationship:

(1) The customer has an ongoing desire for service. (2) The customer of the service controls selection of the service supplier. (3) There are alternative suppliers (Grönroos, 1990b).

The problem occurring is that customers are solely seen as numbers. However, establishing a relationship with the customer is crucial as those are the ones providing the profit in the end. Establishing long-term relationships with the customer is an important task for marketers (Grönroos, 1990a, p.4;6).

Christopher, Payne and Ballantyne (2002) identified some elements that are embodied in relationship marketing. Hence, according to them, relationship marketing has an emphasis on a relationship rather than a transactional approach to marketing. It understands the “economics of customer retention and thus ensures the right amount of money and other resources are appropriately allocated between the two tasks of retaining and attracting new customers” (Christopher et al., 2002, p.4). Moreover, it acknowledges that quality, customer service and the general marketing have to be more integrated than before. Along with other premises, Christopher et al. (2002) understand that relationship marketing includes more aspects of marketing and broadens the perspective on customer relationships itself. One of the goals of relationship marketing is to maximize the lifetime value of a customer, meaning establishing long-term relationships (Christopher et al., 2002, p.5). In accordance to broaden up and establishing a relationship, the management of this relationship is also part of the marketing (Stone et al., 1996, p.675).

To maximize the lifetime value of a customer, marketers have to establish an effective relationship chain. This chain, according to Payne (1998, p.6), could consist of the following:

16 (1) Defining the value proposition (2) Identifying appropriate customer value segments (3) Designing value delivery systems (4) Managing and maintaining delivered satisfaction

The aim of this chain is to create superior customer-value throughout the process. Once the customer-value is created, a long-term relationship can be established (Payne, 1998, p.6). The more a relationship is internalized by the employees of a company, the deeper is the potential influence a brand can have. This, in return, leads to a relationship that is durable and consistent (Payne, 1998; Varey, 2002, p.122-123; Bai et al., 2006; Bee & Kahle, 2006, p.109). Hence, after the acquisition of a customer is done, the managing of this relationship commences.

Relationship marketing in the sports industry can be considered for two different customer groups: the fans and the sponsors. In the following, both will be discussed with respect to what a club can do to establish lasting relationships, how they can be managed and why they are crucial for the internationalization.

2.3.1 Relationship Marketing: Fans

As discussed previously, the sports industry has some unique features no other industry has. One of those is that the customers most of the time are loyal fans. Fans are defined as “someone who admires and supports a person, sport, sports team etc.” (Cambridge Dictionary, 2020). For a club fans are one of the most important assets because not only do they support the team during a match but also buy tickets to attend a match or they purchase the merchandise (Jackson-Edwards, 2009; Shamir, 2018; Stone et al.,1996). Hence, fans are one of the groups that bring revenue to the club. This essential role leads a club to establish a relationship with their fan groups and understanding them is a key task (Han et al., 2015; Kim & Trail, 2010).

In order to establish a relationship, the prior task to undertake is to understand the motivations of a fan. Understanding the motivation can help to trigger the right points for the formation of a long-term relationship (Han et al., 2015). There are several factors influencing the motivation of a person. Taking for example the spectator motivation which can be divided into two categories: social and psychological motivation. Social motivation can take different motives with all of them being related to either an attachment or relationship with another group such as the feeling of community, family members, the team or specific players. On the other hand, psychological motives are entertainment, team effort or aesthetical reasoning (Armstrong, 2002; Bilyeu & Wann, 2002; Funk et al., 2002; James & Ross, 2004; Kim & Trail, 2010).

Another aspect to consider when trying to understand fans is the assumption of similarity. While most of the researchers argue that even though fans follow different teams and sports, the underlying backgrounds and consequences of identification are similar, Norris et al. (2015, p. 157) suggest that individual differences may affect team identification in several different ways. Interestingly, the assumption of similarities seems a given, as the definition of a “fan” suggests those. Building a relationship means understanding the customer and thus, depending on the geographical region or motivations, one should not assume everyone has the same motives (Fisher, 1998; Funk & James, 2001; Jones, 1992).

17 Differentiating between customer groups will allow a club to build a stronger relationship as fans might feel understood in their wants and needs.

As the sports industry has one of the most loyal customer bases, one can see the direct connection between brand loyalty and relationship marketing. Relationship marketing can be thus seen as one of the tools to create customer loyalty. Therefore, there are means a club can take to build a relationship. One of the most important ones is to communicate with the fan. An effective communication will help to establish an understanding on both sides and thus, a relationship is established, and customers will become loyal (Oly Ndu- bisi, 2007, p.100). New technology trends such as social media could potentially foster a smoother communication. Using those technologies for the relationship building can influence the internationalization as communicating with fans abroad becomes easier. Moreover, maintaining those relationships is also simplified due to the technology.

2.3.2 Relationship Marketing: Sponsors

The other relevant relationship a club has to maintain is with its sponsors (Maldonado, 2011). Sponsorship is part of the communication mix of a company and consists of a firm providing some sort of support to an entity. The research on sponsorship as a communication tool begun in the mid-1980s. However, it was not until the early 1990s that more research was conducted (Cornwell & Maigan, 1998). Over the years, different definitions were developed with one of them being “the acquisition of rights to affiliate or directly associate with a product or event for the purpose of deriving benefits related to that af- filiation or association” (Mullin et al., 2000, p.254). The support of a company is directed towards an individual like an athlete, an organization or a group. The aim of the support is to allow the beneficiary to pursue an activity. The company benefits from supporting someone else by the created awareness and associations to its brand (D´Astous & Bitz, 1995; Jalleh et al., 2002). In the current literature, the term sponsoring is highly discussed. There are researcher arguing that two kinds of sponsoring exist: philanthropic and commercial sponsoring.

Philanthropic sponsoring refers to the aim of a company to improve their corporate image and social recognition in the context of the community. Thus, it does not expect direct benefits (Calderon-Martinez et al., 2005). Commercial sponsoring on the other side, businesses engage in a relationship to gain business objectives such as an increase in revenue (D´Astous & Bitz, 1995; Masterman, 2007; Mullin et al., 2000, p.254). In general terms, sponsoring follows the objectives to have financial benefits as well as communicational benefits (Meenaghan, 1991; Mullin et al., 2000).

The relationship emerging in the sports industry is a long-term business-to-business relationship between a club and a company. Evolving from this relationship is the relationship-marketing paradigm (Farrelly & Quester, 2003). The increased interest in sports sponsoring has several explanations. Globalization and professionalization of brands, de- creasing effectiveness of traditional communication channels and changes in the media landscape are just a few (Lagae, 2005, p.43). The “package” of rights a sponsor can purchase in exchange for support ranging from retail opportunities to the purchase of media time to entitlement or hospitality (Mullin et al., 2000, p.255). Entitlement refers to for instance the sponsors name in the event or naming a facility with the company’s name. In the sports industry examples for entitlement are Volkswagen Arena, the arena of the

18 VfL Wolfsburg, a German soccer club, with their name giving main sponsor Volkswagen or the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Further sponsorship agreements may include:

- The right to use a logo, name, trademark etc. - The right to an exclusive association within a product or service category - The right of entitlement to an event or facility - The right to use various designations or phrases in connection with the product, event, or facility such as “official sponsor” etc. (Mullin et al., 2000, p.255) to name just a few of the agreements a sponsoring deal can include. However, those mentioned are the most common ones within the sports industry and are thus, of relevance for building a relationship.

Bringing it back to the relationship perspective, one can consider two distinct views. On the one hand, a club has to maintain a certain level of sponsors in order to survive. On the other side, a club can take a mediating role as clubs usually have more than one sponsor. Therefore, important business opportunities may occur within and between the network of sponsors a club has (Cobbs, 2011, p.591).

For this thesis, the relationship to a sponsor is crucial, as a strategic partnership can help a club to leverage their internationalization approaches. Henceforth, not only local but also international partnerships have to be acquired and maintained.

2.4 Globalization and Internationalization

Today, globalization is a worldwide phenomenon. As Friedman (1999,) stated, it enables people, companies and nation-states to “reach around the world father, faster, deeper and cheaper” (Friedman, 1999, p.26). Yet, over the past years, researchers tried to find a suit- ing definition. In 2006, Al-Rhodan and Stoudmann published a paper to give a comprehensive overview of the existing definitions. One of their findings was that it is rather difficult to find a general definition for the term (Al-Rhodan & Stoudmann, 2006). Thus, they proposed that “Globalization is a process that encompasses the causes and consequences of transnational and transcultural integration of human and non-human activities” (Al-Rhodan & Stoudmann, 2006, p.5). The aim is to define globalization as a broader perspective. Further, it shall simplify the term to be as comprehensive as possible, as they found in their study most of the definitions are likely to be slightly complex. In the end, Al-Rhodan and Stoudmann conclude that globalization is an ongoing process that constantly changes with the progress of society (Al-Rhodan & Stoudmann, 2006, p.7).

Another definition of globalization by Miller et al. (2001) suggests that it is “a process through which space and time are compressed by technology, information flows, and trade and power relations, allowing distance actions to have increased at the local level” (Miller et al., 2001,p.131). Here, most importantly is the last part of the definition as it seems like that international actions become more important on a national level. Thus, the term ‘glocalization’ becomes more pertinent within this context.

“Glocalization” is a neologism and combines the two words “globalization” and “localization”. The origin of the term can be found in the Japanese word “dochakuka”. “Dochakuka” was adapted from farming methods to local terrain. Generally, the main

19 idea behind “glocalization” is that cultural values are deeply seeded in consumers’ minds. Hence, consumers are more likely to prefer businesses that adapt their global strategies to local conditions (Drew, 2007, p.20). In the literature are different approaches towards the concept of “glocalization”. Baumann, for example, describes glocalization as “[…] a human condition suspended between two universes, each of the two subjects to sharply distinct set of norms and rules” (Baumann, 2013, p.3). This definition seems to describe the meeting of two different cultures. Yet, one of the best describing approaches to define the term is by Vignali. He describes “glocal” as a combination of globalization and local and uses McDonald’s as an example. McDonald´s applied the concept ‘think global, act local’ (Vignali, 2001, p.110) successfully by adjusting their business model to different markets.

Overall, cultural differences are crucial within the field of business. Being aware of different cultures and thus, different business practices, can facilitate working abroad. Also, the internationalization process of a company might be easier. In sports, cultures can either facilitate or hinder an internationalization process. Considering the different sport markets, the consumption differs immensely among consumers. Only by comparing the USA and Europe, the differences in sports consumption becomes obvious. In the USA the dominating sports are American football and basketball whereas in Europe soccer is the dominant sport.

Thinking of globalization as an activator of processes, internationalization can hence, be seen as the response to it (Knight, 1999). Welch and Luostarinen (1988, p.37) defined internationalization as “the process of increasing involvement in international operations “. This definition has a strong focus on businesses. A more general definition of internationalization was created by Knight in 1994. Knight defined internationalization as a process that incorporates an international and intercultural dimension of actions, policies and services to teaching, research and services of institutions (Knight, 1994). Additionally, Knight found other factors that take an important role in the internationalization process. One of her findings was that internationalization has different meanings to different groups of people (Knight & de Wit, 1997). Consequently, internationalization is a perspective occurring between or among nations and cultural identities. According to Knight, the relationship between nations is usually formed by the nation’s unique history, culture, resources and priorities. Hence, one of the most important factors of internationalization are the national identity and culture of a nation. The process of internationalization should respect those identities while at the same time trying to strengthen the local, regional and national priorities and culture (Knight & de Wit, 1997).

2.5 Drivers for Internationalization

After introducing the terms globalization and internationalization, there is a need to look into potential drivers for internationalization. In the literature different drivers are discussed. Commonly mentioned are for instance market demand, potential cost advantages, government pressures or a response to a competitor´s move (Johnson et al., 2017, p. 277). Yet, one of the more obvious reasons for a company to internationalize are to increase revenue and to grow (Hitt et al., 1997). Besides the strive for growth, there is also the perspective of a company gaining competitive advantages by internationalizing. Firms seeking for success will look out for business opportunities, exploit those and use their resources in a way to create value (Dunning, 2001; Ireland et al., 2003, p. 964). Besides those concepts, the role of an entrepreneur as a driving force behind the

20 internationalization of a company is also discussed. The entrepreneur can be considered as the acting person in the internationalization of a firm, as it will not start developing strategies without a push (Andersson, 2000, p. 69). As the ownership of sports clubs can differ, there might be more people involved in the decision of internationalization than one single entrepreneur. Furthermore, in sports the government pressures, cost advantages and response to competitors moves are not of relevance. Responding to a competitors move might be a strong driver in other industries can however not really be applied in the sports industry. One reason can be that sports clubs of one sport offer the same “product” as their competitor. In that sense the competition in the sports industry can be considered as striving for exposure which they attain by playing in international competitions. Regarding the governmental pressure there only might be a fit if one changes government pressure to pressure from the corresponding leagues. Thus, the entrepreneurial perspective, government pressure, in the common sense, cost advantages and response to competitors move as driving forces in the internationalization of sports clubs will not be considered in this thesis. More relevant are the market conditions and technological advancements as a potential driver for internationalization as those might be more applicable for the sports industry. In the following, those two drivers will be introduced in more depth.

2.5.1 Market Conditions

In 1995 Yip established a framework to determine drivers for internationalization. Among those he considers the market conditions as an influence on the decision whether to go abroad or not. Yip distinguishes between common customer needs, global customers, transferable marketing and lead countries as drivers. Those drivers are dependent on the nature of customer behavior as well as on the structure of the distribution channels (Yip, 1995, p. 27-28). The concept of common customer needs discusses the extent to which the needs of customers in different countries is alike. The more common the needs are the easier it is for a company to enter the market (Yip, 1995, p. 27). The global customers can be considered as other industry partners who buy products on a centralized basis for decentralized usage (Yip, 1995, p. 32). The third market condition is the transferable marketing. It states that buying decisions on foreign markets are similar so that only little adaptation to the existing marketing elements have to be done for the foreign market and thus, simplifies the market entrance (Yip, 1995, p. 36). Lastly, the lead market driver refers to those markets leading in product or process innovation. Acting on such a market can be beneficial for a company as it exposes the company to the latest innovations (Yip, 1995, p. 37). One problem with Yips framework is that it assumes to a great extent similarities between markets.

While Yip (1995) focuses more on what kind of market conditions ease the market entry, other researchers analyzed the actual drivers or influences of a company’s internationalization (Gankema et al. 2000; Kraus et al., 2016; Tatoglu et al. 2003). As potential motivators for internationalization the passive-reactive (push) and the proactive (pull) factor were identified. The understanding of push factors are external influences that lead a company to internationalization. Among those are unfavorable conditions and limited growth opportunities on the home market, an increase in competition or requests from foreign customers (Evans et al., 2008, p. 261: George et al., 2005, p. 213. Pull factors on the other hand are more internally driven which means that companies see opportunities on a foreign market and have generally a more positive attitude towards internationalization (Evans et al., 2008, p. 261; Ireland et al., 2003, p. 964; Tan et al., 2007).

The market conditions are worth considering when internationalizing as they can firstly, make the process smoother and secondly, more successful. Moreover, the conditions cannot only be considered as drivers of internationalization but can also support the decision of a fitting market entry strategy (see Chapter 2.7) (Kos-Labedowicz, 2013; Kraus et al., 2016). Since analyzing a market is one of the first steps in an internationalization process, the rise of technological advancements has alleviated this step. Given the market conditions as potential drivers of internationalization, one other driver has to be discussed. Over the past years, technological advancements eased making the decision to whether take the next step and internationalize or not.

2.5.2 Technological Advancements

In recent years, digitalization has been supported in all industries. It describes that both, internal and external process of businesses are transformed into digital mechanisms. The aim of doing so is to increase efficiency and generate growth (Schluenz, 2018). Due to digitalization and general technological advancements, communication as well as collecting data and information is easier than ever (Johnson et al., 2017, p. 278; Schluenz, 2018). Most companies use modern technologies in their daily business as the implementation is rather low on financial as well as human resources (Loane, Bell & Deans, 2007, p. 285- 286).

Axinn and Matthyssens (2002) discuss the nature of contextual changes in the environment with regard to technological changes. They argue that due to a global economy the benefits of technology are for instance the advances in telecommunication which allows faster and more efficient communication within and between companies. Another example are the advances in transportation and production. Goods can move easier and products can be produced more cost efficient due to the advancements in production (Axinn & Matthyssens, 2002, p. 437-438). Based on those findings, technology can be seen as a driving force of economic progress.

Besides the contextual changes, companies face also the steady developing of the internet. Therefore, the role of the Internet in the internationalization of SMEs was analyzed by Kevin-Tseng and Johnsen (2011). Their main focus was to research how SMEs with different levels of technological advancements use the internet in their internationalization process. In their study, Kevin-Tseng and Johnsen (2011, p.572) state that multi-country studies indicate that SMEs use the internet predominantly for communication and to a lesser extent for marketing and product development purposes. Key finding of their study was that the internet has indeed a greater impact on high-tech SMEs than on lower-technology SMEs. High-tech SMEs use the internet more readily in their internationalization process through intelligence gathering activities, to coordinate customer relationships and to research on potential markets. Moreover, the internet is also used to expand existing connections with business partners in their worldwide business network as well as for the development of relationships with new international suppliers (Kevin-Tseng & Johnsen, 2011, p. 587).

Medium-tech and low-tech companies on the other side, proved to use the internet for the maintenance of existing connections and for the breaking down of cultural barriers with customers or agents in international markets. In comparison to their high-tech

22 counterparts, the intelligence gathering, or strategic use of the internet was less proactive (Kevin-Tseng & Johnsen, 2011, p. 588).

The finding by Kevin-Tseng and Johnsen (2011) support the findings by Loane (2005). Loane investigated the behavior and strategies adopted by rapidly internationalizing In- ternet enabled firms. Internet enabled firms, according to Loane (2005, p.265), are firms that possess an own web address and are using ICT technologies in their day to day activities. Loane (2005, p.274) found that companies are using technologies to underpin their business activities in all areas both, domestically and internationally. Another finding was that small firms benefit of the use of the Internet as it allows them to market globally already at an early stage. Furthermore, the Internet is a tool for gaining knowledge and building resources (Loane, 2005, p. 275). Resulting from those findings one can say that the internationalization process can be simplified through the use of the Internet.

However, the internet as such is only one part of the technological advancements that drive the internationalization of companies. Over the past years, social media platforms emerged and are now widely used. Considering only the USA, about 79% of the population used social media in 2019 (Ortiz-Ospina, 2019). The beginning of social media platforms, as known today, was in the early 2000s. MySpace was among the first social media platforms that reached over a million active monthly users. Thereafter, new networks were developed such as Facebook, YouTube and Reddit, up to one of the more recent, TikTok (Ortiz-Ospina, 2019).

Those new platforms all provide a new potential communication channel for companies. Depending on the social media, the content can be either graphical (Instagram) or in written form (Twitter). Not only the communication becomes easier but also the collection of data. By collecting specific data, the content of a company can be targeted specifically to a customer group. Therefore, using social media channels allows marketers to interact more direct with their customer base (Hollebeek, Glynn & Brodie, 2014, p. 155). This direct communication facilitates the internationalization as companies do not have to open up an office in foreign markets. Moreover, a company using social media platforms can gain a broad exposure. Yet, one barrier of using social media and the data collection are the specific national data security and privacy legislations. Due to those regulations, companies might have difficulties using data efficiently (Derojeda et al., 2015).

In summary, there are various drivers for internationalization. Yet, two are more eminent than others; the market conditions and technological advancements. The conditions on the home market as well as on a foreign market can be driving forces when it comes to the internationalization of companies. The other driver are the technological advancements such as the internet and more recently, social media platforms. Communicating with customers around the globe has become easier. Furthermore, collecting data has also been facilitated by those platforms and therefore, enabled the targeted exposure.

2.6 Internationalization Models

The definitions of internationalization help to gain an understanding of the process as well as understanding the drivers for internationalization. However, the definitions alone do not define how companies can make use of international markets. Moreover, there are some limitations and challenges for a company besides cultural differences. Therefore,

23 researchers developed several models or concepts for companies to internationalize. Yet, most of the models refer more to business entities rather than brands. Also, as globalization is an ongoing process, so is internationalization. Current trends have to be considered, however, most of the better-known conceptualizations such as the Uppsala Model disregard new trends. Nevertheless, such models were created when the digital transfor- mation was not that advanced.

2.6.1 Uppsala Model and the Network Perspective

In 1975, Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul conducted a study of four Swedish companies and their international expansion. In their study they define the term international as:

(1) The attitude of a firm towards foreign activities or (2) The actually caring out of activities abroad (Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975, p.305-306).

The main idea of the paper is that companies internationalize gradually due to three underlying assumptions. The first assumption states that companies first develop domestically, and internationalization is seen as the consequence of several incremental decisions. As obstacles, Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul found the lack of knowledge of a company and the lack of resources. Yet, those obstacles can be reduced through the incremental decision-making and learning about foreign markets. The last assumption is that there is a lack of knowledge and a propensity to avoid uncertainty exists. Therefore, companies first start exporting to neighboring countries or countries that are compara- tively better known and show similarities in business practices (Johanson & Wie- dersheim-Paul, 1975, p. 306). The suggestion of a stepwise extension of operations seems reasonable as they distinguish between four different stages a company follows in their internationalization process. The following Figure 2 is a graphical representation of this stage model, known as the establishment chain.

Production/manufacturing abroad Sales Subsidiary

Export via independent No regular representatives export activities (agents)

Figure 2: Adapted- Establishment Chain Source: Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975, p.306

The representation of the establishment chain in this way was chosen as one can consider those steps or stages as the increased commitment of the companies (Johanson & Wie- dersheim-Paul, 1975).

Besides the establishment chain, the term “psychic distance” (Johanson & Wiedersheim- Paul, 1975, p. 307) forms one of the fundaments in their model. The concept of psychic distance is defined as elements that prevent or disturb the flow of information between

24 companies and markets. Potential elements for disturbance are for example differences in language, culture or political systems (Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975, p. 307). Consequently, companies tend to expand their business operations to countries closer in terms of their psychic distance.

Pursuing their initial idea, Johanson and Vahlne (1977) established the Uppsala model, an integrated model for internationalization. In their model, they suggest a dynamic model with two main pillars with four core concepts: the state and the change aspects. Under state aspects one understands the resource commitment to the foreign market, market commitment and the knowledge about the foreign market and its operations. Change aspects on the other side consider the decisions to make a resource commitment and the performance of the current business activities (Johanson & Vahlne,1977, p.27).

Figure 3: Adapted- The Basic Mechanism of Internationalization: State and Change Aspects Source: Johanson and Vahlne, 1977, p.27

Both, the state and the change aspects, are the driving forces behind the dynamic perspective of the model. Moreover, as the model above indicates, the four concepts are inter- linked and therefore, also affecting each other.

Market knowledge and market commitment are suggested to have a direct relation. The direct relation is due to the idea that the broader the knowledge a company has about a foreign market, the more it commits to this market. Market knowledge, according to Jo- hanson and Vahlne, can mainly be acquired by experience in the respective market and cannot be taught as it is the case for general knowledge (Johanson & Vahlne, 1977:28).

Since the developed model is quite outdated in times of globalization, Johanson and Vahlne revised their original model in 2009. The revised model indicates a shift in their perspective from a firm-centric to the business network perspective. This shift was due to new developments over the past years and an increased necessity to consider networks in the internationalization process (Johanson & Vahlne, 1990; 2009). One of the changes compared to the 1977 model is the replacement of market commitment by a network insider ship and the network perspective. Also, it suggests that network relationships of firms provide an opportunity for learning, building trust, and commitment (Johanson & Vahlne, 2009). The success of a firm thus, is dependent on different network. Therefore, they state that a firm should be well-established in one or more networks as a requirement.

25 If the firm enters a foreign market without a network, it will have a liability of outsidership (Johanson & Vahlne, 2009, p.1415).

Other researchers have also been highlighting the importance of business networks. An example is for instance that changes in the process of internationalization can occur due to relationships or networks a company finds itself in (Johanson & Mattson, 1988, p.296). This means that if a company has reliable partners, the likelihood of skipping one part of the establishment chain becomes imminent. Furthermore, partners provide not only market knowledge but also experiences within a market (Johanson & Mattson, 1988; Loane & Bell, 2006; Yamin & Kurt, 2017).

Hence, one of the main differences between the first model and the revised model is the knowledge perspective. Unlike the original model, the revised model considers that experiential learning is regarded as an interactive process. This process entails the development of mutual commitment within a network (Johanson & Vahlne,1977; 2009). Forsgren (2001, p.261) criticized that the original Uppsala model shows more of a reactive rather than a proactive attitude towards experiential learning. Therefore, he argues that different types of learning are equally important and should not be disregarded.

The Uppsala model does indeed explain certain aspects of the internationalization processes of firms. Yet, the model has also several critiques. One of the main criticisms of the Uppsala model of internationalization is that there are companies that skip a stage in their internationalization process (Oviatt & McDougall, 1994; Forsgren, 2001; Steen & Liesch, 2007, p.198). Welch and Luostarinen (1988, p.48) argued that companies are able to “leapfrog” steps in new markets due to the accumulation of skills and knowledge in another foreign country the company entered before. Thus, the establishment chain in the Uppsala model of internationalization is not necessarily describing the phenomenon accordingly. Bell (1995) argues towards the network perspective. In his paper he found that small software companies’ internationalization is influenced by their domestic and foreign customers, targeting niche markets and industry specific considerations (Bell, 1995, p. 71-72).

Another critique is that the original model was only tested on SMEs. Yet, the model should be applicable to more and different forms of industries (Steen & Liesch, 2007). Taking the sports industry as an example, the Uppsala model can eventually be partly applied. Nevertheless, one has to make certain changes in order for the model to be applicable.

Going back to the term of psychic distance and applying it to the sports industry. Com- panies are assumed to enter markets that are closer in psychic distance. Therefore, one can presume that the sports clubs enter markets which are closer geographically. Trans- ferring the idea directly to sports clubs would mean that they enter markets that have already a market or at least an interest in the sport. Taking soccer as an example for the internationalization, some countries are more prone to this sport than others. For a Ger- man soccer club, according to the original Uppsala model, would mean to enter a market close to the home market for example Austria, France or Italy. Culture wise, those countries differ from the German market. However, France and Italy have both strong soccer leagues. Difficulties in entering a market such the American could be due to a lower interest in soccer (Brown, 2005).

26 Another argument for the Uppsala models´ usage in the sports industry is the required market knowledge and market commitment. Presuming similarities in sports consumption, sports marketers do possess market knowledge (Ratten, 2016). This market knowledge can be based on the spread of the sports and similar league structures. There- fore, it might become easier for a club in the internationalization process to commit to a market.

In order to commit to the market, the revised model shows the importance of business networks. Thinking of business networks in the sports context, one could argue that strategic partnerships are crucial for a clubs’ internationalization. As discussed previously, sponsorship is an important part of every club. In the internationalization process, those sponsors can be of a supporting nature. Global brands sponsoring a club would imply international exposure for the club as well as the brand. An example for this would be a sponsor like Nike. Nike is an American multinational sports clothing corporation and official sponsor of many sports clubs, mainly soccer clubs, such as Tampa Bay Rowdies, Tottenham Hotspurs or Atlético Madrid, to name a few (Nike, 2020). Considering the reach of Nike, a strategic partnership would be beneficial for a club with international ambitions. In the chapter regarding market entry modes, this aspect will be analyzed in more depth.

2.6.2 Born Global

As mentioned before, there are some companies that do not follow the establishment chain as proposed in the Uppsala model of internationalization. In the 1980´s researchers found that some companies internationalize rather early after their foundation (G. Knight, 2015). Often, those companies that internationalize early in their existence are of smaller size (G. Knight, 2015; Rennie, 1993, p. 46; Rialp et al., 2005). G. Knight (2015, p.5) argues that this is due to the companies being more adoptable to market needs and conditions.

While trying to describe the phenomenon of early internationalization, several different terms to do so emerged. One of those terms being “international entrepreneurship”. This term describes companies that from their inception engage in international business (McDougall, 1989). McDougall (1989) also found that those companies engaging in international business early on, apply different strategies in different markets. Moreover, there is an indicator of a looser industry structure in those companies and a higher degree of innovativeness in developing different strategies for entering many different markets at once (McDougall, 1989). Based on this term, the idea of international new ventures (INVs) developed. INVs are defined as “a business organization that, from inception, seeks to derive significant competitive advantage from the use of resources and the sale of outputs in multiple countries” (McDougall et al., 1994; 470; Oviatt & McDougall, 1994, p. 49).

The first one to propose the name “born global” was Rennie in 1993. A “born global” is a company that internationalize at or near their founding (Rennie, 1993). In his study, Rennie (1993) found that SMEs can compete with larger companies due to the technological advancements. Furthermore, consumer preferences and manufacturing have also changed. Due to those changes, niche markets became more attractive for SMEs and the urge of an early internationalization grew (Rennie, 1993, p. 48).

27 There are certain characteristics that describe what makes a company a born global. Ren- nie (1993, p.51) described them as “[…] innovative, flexible enterprises which are forming and reforming more rapidly today than ever before”. The flexibility of those companies is one of the most important characteristics companies have, since there are different factors that potentially could trigger an early internationalization (Rialp et al., 2005, p. 153). Among those factors are the new market conditions worldwide, the technological developments, the increased importance of global networks and associations as well as the capabilities within the organization (Rialp et al., 2005, p. 153-154). Companies with a higher flexibility can react faster to upcoming market trends and conditions.

A perspective that cannot be neglected is the development of networks for rapidly internationalizing firms. Loane and Bell (2006) analyzed the network perspective in born global companies. Rapidly internationalizing companies take leverage of existing business networks at several levels by using the networks to gather information and resources (Loane & Bell, 2006, p. 479). Yet, more importantly, young companies valued networks and were aware of the need for such. Therefore, as resource and knowledge acquisition activities, building a business network in support of internationalization was the primary focus of those companies (Loane & Bell, 2006, p. 479).

The “born global” phenomenon does not seem, at first glance, as fitting for the sports industry as other internationalization models. By definition, a born global engages in international business close to its inception. Considering that most clubs seem to be not flexible and rather bound to its performance, thinking of them as born global seems difficult. Moreover, the “need” to internationalize is not one of the main concerns a sports club has after its inception. Also, most of the sports clubs are already long in the industry. Yet, the idea of a born global in sports worth considering. First, the differences in league systems between the USA and Europe. In Europe, entering a league as a club is not as easy and requires a good performance to get exposure in one of the top leagues. However, a strong partnership could potentially support the international exposure even before the club is in one of the highest leagues. An example could be the energy drink producer Red Bull. Red Bull engages in numerous sports events and has therefore, a high exposure. Hence, if a club has such a strong sponsor that pushes the internationalization or international exposure, one could consider it as a born global strategy. Nevertheless, there is one model that tries to explain the internationalization of a sports team brand.

2.6.3 Internationalization as a Sports Team Brand

Though, some aspects of the Uppsala model can be translated to the sports industry, it does neglect the fact of sports teams being brands. Therefore, the real question arising is how sports team brands do internationalize. In the literature not much is said about brand internationalization of sports teams (Richelieu et al., 2008). However, one can find approaches that explain internationalization stages besides the proposed stage model by Jo- hanson and Vahlne (1977). To relate the stages to the sports industry, Richelieu et al. (2008, p.27) established an internationalization model for a sports team brand with the combination of two distinct stage models.

The first model used by Richelieu et al. (2008) was established by Anderson et al. (1998). In their work they proposed a five-stage internationalization and learning model. Here, the interdependence of learning and internationalization becomes apparent. Depending on the stage the company is in the internationalization process, different learning

28 outcomes can be acquired (Anderson et al., 1998, p. 501). The five stages proposed by Anderson et al. are:

Level of Internationalization Characterization Learning implications Understanding of the decision Aspirational The desire to internationalize process The application/ implementation Procedural Knowing the “rules of the game” of the decision Reacting and functioning in ac- Behavioral Cultural appreciation and empa- cordance with cross-frontier re- thy quirements Creating, building and maintain- Interactional ing effective and meaningful re- Mutual cooperation and develop- lationships with new and existing ment stakeholders Individual and organizational Formation of international mind- changes in perspective: beliefs, Conceptual set from experience, observation feelings, judgement, opinions,

etc. outlooks, views, sentiments, ways of thinking

Table 1: Adapted- Five-Stage model of internationalization Source: Anderson et al., 1998, p.495

Anderson et al. conclude that both, the management development as well as the management learning are vital for a successful and sustainable internationalization (Anderson et al., 1998, p.501).

The other model proven to be of help for the internationalization of brands was the model by Cheng et al. (2005). The model consists of four stages (Cheng et al., 2005, p. 508):

(1) Pre-International-Corporate potential at home market (2) Global lead market carrying capacity (3) International branding and market succession (4) Local climax

Each of the four stages introduces its own missions, problems and strategies or approaches. In the first stage, the main goal is to establish presence and then to become a nationwide brand. Problems occurring are an inefficient and ineffective production. Strat- egies to overcome these problems are joint venture agreements or outsource experienced staff would be strategies or approaches to overcome the problems (Cheng et al., 2005, p. 509). Having presence abroad in the lead markets such as the US and European Union, indicate the second stage of internationalization. As for most international operations, one of the problems in this stage is the lack of knowledge and resources. This can be overcome by the same approaches as in stage one: forming joint ventures and Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) contracts. OEM is an agreement where one company takes parts of another company for manufacturing purposes (Kagan, 2019). Also, the company should attempt to create brand awareness for their own brand. After the first two stages, the emphasis in the third stage is to develop an own brand name in the international mar- ketplaces with the main focus being on the lead markets. An increase in research and development costs, however, is one of the problems emerging in this stage. The increased cost is due to a decrease in support by other companies. For the establishing of a global

29 brand, a company can use several different means such as developing a superior product than the one of the competitors. If the company managed to establish a brand reputation in the lead markets, the next stage is to tackle developing countries. Main issue here is the lack of brand recognition in those markets. A company can overcome those issues by using localization (Johri & Petison, 2008). Localization refers to promoting the brand by for instance local sponsorship or local advertisement in the respective countries (Cheng et al., 2005, p. 509-512).

Combining the two models, Richelieu et al. (2008) created a four-stage internationalization model for sports team brands. The four stages are (Richelieu et al., 2008, p.27):

I.) Local II.) Regional III.) National IV.) International Brand

Similar to the Uppsala model, one can see that those are incremental stages and each stage means more commitment than the previous stage. Hence, if a club accomplishes to follow those four steps, a likelihood of leveraging a well-recognized if not a global brand, is given (Richelieu et al., 2008, p.28). Moreover, based on this mode, a club can evaluate on what stages it resides at the moment.

Another take-away from this work are the strategies a club can apply to evolve through the different stages of the model: the brand reputation, brand affinity, brand challenger and brand conquistador. By building brand reputation, a club uses their local reputation in the foreign market. Hence, clubs that are successful or had international exposure can benefit. Developing a fan base by offering a unique emotional experience is the second strategy, the brand affinity. The brand challenger is the least fitting strategy in the sports club internationalization as it involves heavy advertisement. Lastly, the brand conquistador describes the strategy where a club forms a strategic alliance with a local team in the foreign market (Richelieu et al., 2008, p. 30-31).

Overall, the model introduced by Richelieu et al. (2008) is a first part of departure in understanding the internationalization process of a club. Further, it shows the connection between the concept of brand equity and sports clubs. However, as the model is already twelve years old, certain things have changed. Examples are the usage of data and the role of social media or different market entry strategies.

2.7 Market Entry Forms

After discussing the theoretical part of the internationalization process, looking at the different entry forms a company can chose from becomes eminent. Depending on the level of commitment and degree of control a company wants to maintain, there are different forms a company can choose from. They vary from exporting, foreign direct investments (FDI) to opening up a subsidiary, licensing or building franchises (Blomstermo et al., 2006, p. 212; Pan & Tse, 2000). However, in the sports context not each form is fitting. Therefore, only FDI, subsidiaries and franchising are discussed in this chapter as those are forms found within the literature.

30 2.7.1 Foreign Direct Investment

The term FDI is defined as “cross-border expenditure to acquire or expand corporate control of assets” (Froot, 1993). Each firm involved in an internationalization process is faced with decisions they have to make. Deciding for or against an FDI can be based on different circumstances. Aharoni (1966) introduced five main elements given in such a decision process. First, the choice whether to invest depends on the social system of the host country. Then, decisions should not be rushed as they usually take some time and linked to this element is that decisions are made under uncertainties. By taking a decision every company follows its own goals. Yet, in the process they are faced by several constraints that could potentially hold back the process (Aharoni, 1966, p.1). Based on those elements, Aharoni argues that every first FDI is a trip to the unknown. Thus, there should be strong forces that drives a company to consider FDI´s in the first place (Aharoni, 1966, p.8).

The driving forces, as described by Aharoni, are rather reactive than proactive. For instance, he describes that a company gets an outside proposal that cannot be easily ignored as it offers a market opportunity. Another argument would be the fear of losing a market or the following of the competition. Generally, one can consider competition as one of the most striking driving forces to go abroad (Aharoni, 1966; Elango, 1998).

Besides the driving forces of FDI, there are other characteristics that contribute to the understanding of FDIs. FDIs can for example take different forms such as a merger and acquisition, greenfield investment or as a subsidiary (Froot, 1993; Meyer, 2001). Hence, the next section will go more into detail regarding subsidiaries and franchising as FDIs as those are common forms used by sports clubs to enter a market.

2.7.2 Subsidiary

Another potential entry form for a company is by opening up a subsidiary (Chiao et al., 2008; Wang & Suh, 2009). A subsidiary can be seen as an alternative form of FDI (Help- man et al., 2004, p. 301). The definition of a subsidiary is that it is a company that is owned and controlled by another company. Here, the other company is often referred to as the parent company or holding company (Chen, 2019; Murray, 2019). The subsidiary can be owned by one or several owners. If it is 100% owned by one company, it is called wholly owned subsidiary. Subsidiaries are operated as normal companies and are therefore also liable (Murray, 2019).

One salient perspective is that there exist different degrees of dependence from the parent company. Some researcher argue that the subsidiary is mostly directed by its headquarter (HQ) (Bartlett & Ghoshal, 1986; Ghoshal & Nohria, 1989) whereas others state that subsidiaries are mostly independent from its parent company (Birkinshaw et al.,1998). Therefore, it is not surprising that different streams exist that analyze the relationship between the subsidiary and the headquarter (HQ) (Wang & Suh, 2009, p. 453). In summary, each relationship is different and so is the knowledge transfer among subsidiary and HQ.

Usually, one can distinguish between two knowledge context a subsidiary is embedded in; the internal knowledge by the parent company and the external environment. The latter refers to the host country a subsidiary is located in (Almeida & Phene, 2004; Birkinshaw

31 & Hood, 2000, p. 151). From the knowledge perspective, a subsidiary can benefit in a multitude of ways. Considering the external environment, it is a potential source of value creation for the parent company. The value creation is due to the attained knowledge (Almeida & Phene, 2004, p. 849). Nevertheless, one has to think about the goal of a company to set up a subsidiary that is the value creation (Almeida & Phene, 2004; Birkinshaw et al., 1998, p. 236).

Thinking of the sports industry and the internationalization, one can see that several clubs have decided to set up subsidiaries in other markets. FC Bayern Munich opened their first subsidiary on 1. April 2014 in New York City and three years later one in Shanghai (FC Bayern Munich, 2014; Bundesliga, 2017). Having subsidiaries in foreign markets can be beneficial for a club in several ways. One is that they are closer to the market and can directly channel their advertisement to the fans on-site. Also, understanding the other culture becomes easier while working in the environment. Hence, acquiring some knowledge of the environment and communicate more directly with the local fans is facilitated (Bundesliga, 2017). Furthermore, establishing relationships with potential sponsors or clubs becomes easier. Those relationships in turn will help the club to increase their international scope.

2.7.3 Franchising

Two of the main disadvantages of a subsidiary are the high risk and costs involved. Fran- chising is considered to be a unique collaborative entry mode for a company with a lower overall risk. The lower risk compared to a subsidiary is due to the limited investment needed by a franchisor. Moreover, the franchisor has a high level of control based on the contract. A franchise works the way that the franchisor provides know-how, industrial rights and intellectual property rights. In return, the franchisor gets compensated with royalties and fees (Madanoglu et al., 2017; Mendelsohn, 1996).

Franchising can be seen as a tool to market goods and services or a brand. Furthermore, the term is broadly used to describe commercial activities (Mendelsohn, 1996). As it is not only a market entry form in the internationalization process but also a marketing tool, franchising can be found in the sports industry (Coates & Humphreys, 1999; Mansfield & Killick, 2012; Kelley et al., 1998).

In sports, when one refers to a franchise, the definition slightly changes from the original term. In the North American sports, a franchise is a model of the existing leagues. One league consists of a number of teams that are called franchises. Due to this structure, the leagues run as closed systems (Mansfield & Killick, 2012; Mauws et al., 2003). There- fore, if a new team wants to enter the league, the other teams’ owners will have a vote to decide whether the team can enter the league or not (Conrad, 2011).

Thinking of a franchise as a league system, the question is how a club use it for its internationalization. In 2008, the club FC Barcelona entered a partnership with the American Major Soccer League (MSL). The plan was that the club plays six matches in the United States for having the exposure on this market. Furthermore, it would allow the club to purchase one franchise and thus, set a deeper step into this market. However, the franchise was not established in the end due to the US recession of 2009 (Ginesta et al., 2020, p. 212).

32 The American football team Jacksonville Jaguars established a partnership with the city of London in 2012. This partnership involves the Jaguars to play one home game of the season in London instead of in their home stadium in Jacksonville. Since the Jacksonville Jaguars made the first step of deterritorialization, the NFL is thinking of establishing a franchise in Europe (Wise & Kirby, 2018). Meaning, an expansion of their business environment and therefore, increased exposure and revenue.

The franchising system as a market entry form can prove to be efficient. However, one has to consider the major differences between franchising in the common sense and in the sports industry. Yet, the examples of FC Barcelona and the Jacksonville Jaguars have shown that it can be a tool for internationalization in the sports industry.

2.8 Preliminary Framework

The given theories help to frame a broader, general picture of potential influences in the internationalization process. Therefore, considering the theories and combining them in a preliminary framework makes sense as such a framework will be helpful for answering the given research questions. Yet, the framework will be based on interpretation of the literature and how the theory will be applied. Figure 4 shows the preliminary framework that tries to explain the process of internationalization.

The starting point are the influences a sports club has and can lead up to the consideration of internationalizing. Here, distinguishing between external and internal influences is crucial as one might be more influencing than the other. As external influences, technology and the market conditions can be considered. Today, there is a shift in technology usage and social media platforms are emerging. Communication is simplified as well as building relationships. One the other hand, the framework highlights market conditions as an external influence for internationalization. Given the sports industry, there is a high competition and the market gets easily saturated. Therefore, in order to grow which is an internal influence, internationalization is inevitable. Besides the strive for growth the brand positioning on the home market is another influence. Having a strong brand supports an eventual internationalization process. Lastly, existing relationships can as well ease the expansion as their expertise and knowledge might be beneficial for a club. Nev- ertheless, the presented influences only provide a starting point for further research as most of them are applied on other companies. The influences for sports clubs has yet to be determined.

Once a club decides for internationalization it has to select an according market entry form that fits their purposes. As presented in the literature, subsidiaries and franchising are common forms chosen by sports clubs to enter a new market. The usage of data in deciding for one market over another as well as for the appropriate entry form is not deliberated so far. Data can be a potential influence as well for deciding to enter a market or not.

Figure 4: Preliminary Framework

34 3. Scientific Method

In this chapter there will be a justification for the chosen methodological choices done to conduct research. Those choices shall be considered a guide to answer the research questions stated in Chapter One. First, the general understanding of what research philosophy is will be provided and the underlying concepts of axiology, ontology and epistemology. Hereinafter, the research approach for this work is presented, determining the different tools to conduct research. Then, the research strategy is presented with an introduction to the concepts of quantitative and qualitative as potential research strategies. Before concluding with the literature search, the research design will be determined for the purpose of this thesis.

3.1 Research Philosophy

Researchers worldwide try to find new things out, reaffirm results of previous works, develop new theories or solve new or existing problems (Byrne, 2016; Edmondson &McManus, 2007; Quinlan, 2011, p.99). By doing their research, researchers will make some assumptions along the way. Those assumptions have to be done in order to clarify the researcher´s own perception about how knowledge is created and how the world is viewed. The terms describing those philosophical assumptions are ontology and epistemology and are thus, part of the general research philosophy. Research philosophy refers to a construct of beliefs and assumptions that lead to the development of knowledge within a certain area (Saunders et al., 2009, p.124; Quinlan, 2011, p.95). Broaden up one’s own perspective and be open about new concepts is relevant and those are the leading way to gain new knowledge (Baringa, 1999).

3.1.1 Ontology

In philosophical assumptions, ontology can be considered as one of the cores besides epistemology. Ontology is referring to the assumptions about reality an individual has (Esterby-Smith et al., 2002, p.31; Long et al., 2000; Saunders et al., 2009, p.127). Yet, reality tends to differ among people and one’s own intrinsic physiological assumptions of reality affect how one perceives objects. Thus, the importance to clarify the own standpoint of philosophical standpoint emerges. Therefore, for this thesis, some underlying concepts are needed in order to have a valuable outcome and understand how reality is perceived.

In research, there is the perspective of using the concepts of subjectivism and objectivism in relation with ontology as those represent the two extremes (Esterby-Smith et al., 2002, p.32-33).

Collis and Hussey (2014, p.47) describe objectivism, in the context of ontology, as the reality researched on that has an external nature for both oneself and others. The premise of this external nature is that there is only one view of reality. Hence, departing from ontology, objectivism embraces realism (Saunders et al., 2009, p.128). Generally, the term objectivism suggests that realities should be judged and interpreted always the same way, independently of the people judging (Saunders et al., 2009, p.128). Also, organizations are regarded as a tangible object in which both organization and culture categories are pre-given (Bryman & Bell, 2003, p. 20).

35 Subjectivism on the other side incorporates assumptions of the arts and humanities. It further suggests that there are multiple realities. Multiple realities emerge from the different perspectives people have. People take actions according to their beliefs which also leads to the multiple realities (Long et al., 2000, p.191; Saunders et al., 2009, p.130). From the ontological perspective, subjectivism embraces nominalism (Saunders et al., 2009, p.130). Nominalism suggests that there are no fundamental realities except those contributed by society. Thus, as there is no unique reality, multiple realities emerge and is therefore considered as a rather extreme form of subjectivism. A less extreme form is societal constructionism which refers to a reality created by a societal interaction. It is a continuous process and social phenomenon are in a constant revision (Saunders et al., 2009, p.130).

Considering both sides, one can state that there is no right or wrong. Both, objectivism and subjectivism can be useful in conducting research and understanding the different reality perspectives. For the purpose of this thesis, the subjectivism is preferred over the objectivism. Due to the qualitative nature of this thesis interviews are conducted which reflect the view and reality of the interviewees. Their views and perspectives are rather subjective and different opinions on different topics can be expressed. Moreover, clubs in their internationalization process can be constructed by their social interactions and are thus, biased towards certain outcomes. Meaning that different partnerships with international sponsors for instance can lead to a tendency to enter one market over another.

Furthermore, as internationalization can be considered as a continuous process it leans more towards the theory of societal constructionism. The common understanding of why companies internationalize is that they strive for growth. Other understandings in the internationalization process of companies can differ. For instance, when companies internationalize, they experience different cultures in the foreign markets. Those different cultures are all tied to beliefs and hence, the view on reality differs. Applying the idea of social constructionism to the sports industry interviewing representatives of different sports can show different realities of internationalization. Those different views can be helpful for gaining an understanding of the influences in the internationalization process of sports teams.

3.1.2 Epistemology

In epistemology, there are three different perspectives on knowledge to consider. This approach is crucial for this thesis as it will provide a guidance for gaining new knowledge. Ontology refers to the perception of reality and is therefore one of the main elements in the research philosophy. The other core element to consider in research philosophy is epistemology. Epistemology describes the assumptions about knowledge and how one perceives and accepts acceptable, valid and legitimate knowledge in the research field (Bryman & Bell, 2003, p.27; Long et al., 2000). Commonly, the acceptance of knowledge can be divided into three different branches: positivism, realism and interpretivism (Saun- ders et al., 2016, p.136). In the following, the three concepts will be further discussed with regards to the thesis.

The epistemological view of positivism implies that reality is seen independently of social actors thus, causal explanations are given to explain societal phenomenon (Saunders et al., 2016, p.136). Knowledge is based on observations and theories that can be both measured and validated (Hartman, 1998, p. 104). The link between positivism and knowledge

36 is that positivism promises explicit and precise knowledge (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 135). Furthermore, this view of knowledge indicates that in order to be able to produce credible data under the epistemological standpoint, the phenomena have to be observed and reflected on by the researcher personally. Also, existing theories are used to develop hypotheses, as they provide a source of knowledge, which are then analyzed and confirmed by the utilization of mathematics and statistics (Collin & Hussey, 2014, p. 44). Positivism, hence, relies on scientific proof rather than the interpretation of phenomena based on intuition and subjectivity.

Comparably, to positivism, the second approach of epistemology is realism. Realism shares the opinion, likewise positivism that social reality is independent of social actors. Therefore, the data collection should be performed in a similar approach than for the positivism (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 114). The difference between those two concepts is that unlike the positivistic approach, realism does also consider theories that are not necessarily considered or observed as reliable data. That is because the reality is seen as external and independent and experience driven (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 139).

In contrast to the first two epistemological approaches, interpretivism suggests that the reality is independent of the people. Therefore, interpretivism rather considers reality to differ, as the own subjective perceptions influence reality (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 140). Taking the perspective of interpretivism means that perceiving knowledge can be beneficial for some studies. Included in the benefitting studies are those that aim to gain a deeper understanding of how a context can be interpreted and viewed from different perspectives.

Interpretivism therefore, seems like the best fitting method to answer the research question of this thesis “What influences the internationalization in the sports industry”. More- over, as this thesis will use a more subjective view of reality, interpretivism is the best view on knowledge as it will allow different perspectives. An important standpoint here is that success in the internationalization process can be perceived differently. Therefore, it would be quite difficult to put a measurement on it. For one club it would already be an accomplishment to be well-known on the home market while another club strives for international exposure. Consequently, the knowledge gained from the process of internationalization can hardly be linked with the view of positivism. Internationalization, as mentioned before, is an ongoing process and thus, there is a continuous learning curve. So far, there does not exist unambiguous and precise knowledge of what influences the internationalization in the sports industry. Moreover, one has also to consider that the current environment is constantly changing. New technologies are introduced such as social media platforms and thus, a subjective usage and methods of internationalization arises.

3.1.3 Axiology

The concept of axiology deals with the general role of values (Collis & Hussey, 2014, p. 48). Commonly, values reflect the beliefs, or the feelings of a researcher in the research process (Saunders et al., 2016, p.128). Furthermore, values can either be of importance for the outcome of the research or not (Bryman & Bell, 2003, p. 27). Another important aspect of values in research is regarding the assumptions taken by a researcher. Here, one can assume that prior knowledge, experience, attitudes and perceptions of the researcher will have an influence. This influence is both, the how a researcher reflects upon things,

37 as well as what the outcome of the investigation of the study is (Bryman and Bell, 2003, p. 27). This means that any decision taken by a researcher is guided by personal values (Heron, 1996, cited in Saunders et al. 2009, p.116). Thus, depending on the personal values one has, the philosophical approach as well as the tools for the data collection are all dependent on one’s own values. Mostly, researchers demonstrate their skills in axiology by using their own values to guide the research direction and also how the research is conducted.

Usually, in order to achieve credible results, most of the attention should be given to the values that are important within the research direction (Saunders et al. 2009, p. 116). Therefore, the three different standpoints within axiology are value-free, value laden and value-bound (Saunders et al. 2009, p. 119). Those three stances are important as they help to conduct a more profound and valuable research. Thus, under the value-free axiology one understands that researcher takes an objective viewpoint. The researcher can therefore become independent of the process. An example for a value-free axiology is the conduction of a quantitative designed study. Value laden on the other hand is when the research is biased by the researcher’s own personal experiences. Lastly, value-bound takes a subjective stance in the research where the researcher is not independent of the study. It means that the researchers’ interpretations are key to the contribution of the study (Saunders et al., 2016, p.136).

Considering all three axiological standpoints, the axiological standpoint for this thesis will be the value-bound perspective. That is due to the study being affected by the participants’ values and beliefs. Furthermore, the own values and beliefs as researcher will also influence the outcome of the study. Hence, the interpretations made from the interviews will affect the result of the study and how conclusions will be drawn. Therefore, one can hardly argue for a value-free approach for this thesis.

3.2 Research Approach

Selecting an appropriate research approach in relation to the ontological and epistemological research philosophy mentioned above, one can compare three different approaches: inductive, deductive and abductive (Woo et al., 2017, p. 256). Certainly, all approaches have their unique advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, none can be considered to be better or more beneficial than the other. Therefore, the best suitable choice depends on the research question that is being meant to be answered.

3.2.1 Abductive

The abductive approach adds on to the inductive approach. The understanding of an abductive approach is that assumptions are done by explaining a phenomenon after finding some feasible implications. Those finding can be of a surprising nature or based on the observations made in research (Saunders et al., 2016, p.144). Moreover, in abduction, theories are further developed by inferencing a reason for why they occurred not only how it happened. The abductive approach usually implies using both, quantitative and qualitative methods. Such a mixed method seems not fitting for this thesis, as the aim is to understand what influences the internationalization in the sports industry. Based on that conducting a quantitative research would not be suitable as it would not provide the sports clubs perspective. Therefore, this approach will not be used for this thesis.

38 3.2.2 Deductive

The deductive approach forms a stark contrast to the inductive approach. Here, assumptions of the observations are reinforced by the theory of ontology and epistemology. Moreover, hypotheses were formed and tested based on the given theory (Polsa, 2013, p. 289). Thus, the aim of this kind of study is to find validation in the theory for previously stated assumptions (Thomas, 2006, p. 238). Usually, the deductive approach is more common in quantitative research.

3.2.3 Inductive

In general, the inductive approach is based on observations and exploration of a phenomena (Williams, 2007, p. 67). In the inductive approach, propositions are formulated, and theories are generated based on the observations made by oneself. One of the benefits by using this approach is that it is supposed to facilitate the theory generation by revising existing literature (Thomas, 2006, p. 238). Therefore, a qualitative design study is a fitting tool to generate a theory in the process. Moreover, the inductive approach allows for meaning to emerge in the data collection phase and identifying relationships that allow the establishment of theories (Saunders et al., 2016, p.52).

Having all three definitions in mind the choses approach for this thesis will be the inductive approach. Through the interviews, data will be collected and based on the evaluation of those, a relationship or patterns as of what influences the internationalization will be identified. This step is crucial to have valid results that can be generalized within the field of research of this thesis. Furthermore, the inductive approach seems more suitable with the qualitative nature of this study and the existing literature. The existing theories in internationalization for instance describe observations of how companies enter foreign markets. However, there are some gaps that need to be filled in order to provide a more holistic picture. An example is that by going through the literature, current trends are only partly dealt with in the internationalization process such as the technological development over the past years. The influence those developments have on the decision process for internationalization are not identified. Moreover, besides the general drivers for internationalization, other drivers or influences such as partnerships are not yet theorized.

3.3 Research Strategy

Having the philosophical assumptions stated in the previous sub-chapter, the research design for this study needs to be further assisted in order to enable the answering of the research question. Furthermore, the chosen research design shall also support the fulfill- ment of the stated purpose in Chapter one. Thus, an evaluation of the design choices, quantitative, qualitative, or a mix of both approaches needs to be done to use the best suitable option for this thesis.

Comparing the two design choices of a quantitative and qualitative approach in relation to philosophical assumptions and research approaches, will show some significant differences. Usually, a quantitative designed study is perceived of being the better choice when conducting a research that is more deductive oriented and combining this approach with an objectivist view of reality (Morgan, 2007, p. 73; Williams, 2007, p. 67). On the other hand, a qualitative design is often considered as a more suitable option for inductive

39 studies with a subjective view of reality (Eisenhardt & Graeber, 2007). Also, a combination of both approaches is possible which results in an abductive research design. An abductive research implies a combination of the quantitative and qualitative design.

3.3.1 Quantitative

A quantitative design is usually suited for studies with a relationship between different variables that are examined. The variables are then validated using statistical measures (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 162). Thus, in broad terms, a quantitative design is more associated with a numerical data collection approach. The numerical data collection could be for example to collect data from a survey. Therefore, one of the benefits of collecting data by a survey is that it can facilitate the data generation process in a rather fast way (Kelley et al., 2003, p. 262; Saunders et al., 2016, p. 162). Nevertheless, there are also some disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the collected data is likely to not provide any specific details or depth to the subject that is being studied. A common problem in conducting surveys is the amount of responses obtained. Moreover, some people tend to falsify results as they do not respond honestly (Caporaso, 1995; Rogers & Richarme, 2009). Although the theoretical perspective suggests, the design of the research will not ease the creation of new theories within the research field. However, it will rather be limited to theory testing, and at best, demonstrate theory refinement (Crane et al., 2016, p. 785).

3.3.2 Qualitative

While quantitative approach uses a numeric method, a qualitative designed study will be more fitting when the goal of the research is to gain a deeper understanding and exploration of the underlying reasons for a phenomenon (Crane et al., 2018, p. 4; Hoepfl, 1997; Tracy, 2013, p.5). Furthermore, if the answers one wants to find are too complex to answer by using statistical measures, a qualitative study is preferred.

In qualitative research, the data collection method is often performed by conducting interviews (Eisenhardt & Graeber 2007, p. 26). Interviews are seen as a suitable tool as one of the characteristics of qualitative research is the focus on words rather than the quanti- fication of data (Hughes & Hayhoe, 2007). Furthermore, the emphasis lays on understanding the underlying concepts of a phenomenon and why things are the way they are. Qualitative research has a strong emphasis on the general study of a phenomena, using the insiders’ perspective (Laplan et al., 2012, p.69). Moreover, this approach allows researchers to explore in more detail both the social as well as the organizational characteristics and the behavior of individuals. Not only the behavior can be studied but the meaning of the behavior can also be interpreted. Yet, one disadvantage is that qualitative research is perceived as the more time-consuming data collection methodological approach as for instance the interviews have to be set up. Another disadvantage is that the information obtained are transient and only understood within a given context (Tracy, 2013, p.5; Yin, 2011, p.98). Thinking of internationalization and the social media as an example, one can see that there are constant changes in the development of those platforms.

Within the literature of internationalization, branding and sports, both approaches to conduct research can be found. Some researchers use quantitative methods, and some use a qualitative research design. As the research question is “What influences the internationalization in the sports industry?”, different perspectives are important. That is due to the current situation of the clubs, meaning that some clubs do have an international

40 recognition already whereas others are at a starting point. Therefore, to be able to answer the question in the best way, a qualitative approach with interviews is conducted.

3.4 Research Design

After discussing the potential research strategies that can be applied in this thesis, the need for an adequate research design emerges. This is due to a research design laying out a plan for answering the given research question of this thesis (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 163). By doing so, a research design establishes a framework that is used for the collection and analysis of data (Bryman, 2008, p. 46; David & Sutton, 2011, p. 204). Choosing a suitable research design should be based on both, the ontological and epistemological stances, chosen before. Hence, the implemented views on the philosophical perspectives in research will have an influence on the research design (Bryman & Bell, 2003, p. 21; Saunders et al., 2016, p. 162). Moreover, according to Saunders et al. (2016, p.163), the chosen research design should meet the objectives set by the research question and the research purpose. Furthermore, it should also consider the methods used for data collection as well as ethical subjects. This argumentation aligns with Bryman (2008, p.46) as he argues that the choice of research design reflects numerous decisions for conducting a research. Therefore, the best suitable research design for this thesis will be decided upon the considerations made in the sections before.

Regarding this thesis, there are three different purposes to be used for approaching the determined research purpose. The three purposes are described as exploratory, descriptive and explanatory. During research, there is a chance that the purpose of a thesis changes over time (Saunders et a., 2016, p. 174).

In research, an exploratory study is a valuable means when asking open questions for understanding circumstances in a research topic. A research question that has an exploratory nature often begins with “How” or “What”. The same applies for the questions asked in the data collection process. In general, when the aim is to understand an issue, problem or phenomenon where the nature is unclear to oneself, an exploratory purpose for the thesis proves to be useful (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 174-175). Moreover, an exploratory research can be conducted in numerous ways and shows a flexible and inter- changeable nature. To fulfill the purpose of a thesis, different approaches can be used; one can conduct an in-depth literature search, interviewing “experts” in the subject, conducting in-depth individual interviews or conducting focus group interviews (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 175). Interviews are likely to be quite unstructured based on their exploratory nature and rely to a great extent on the interviewee’s contribution.

A descriptive purpose of a thesis is to gain an accurate idea of events, persons or situations. Therefore, a research question that is descriptive is likely to begin with or includes either “Who”, “What”, “Where”, “When” or “How” which are the same questions asked in the data collection process to gain an accurate description of events, persons or situations (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 175). The descriptive research can either be seen as an extension of an exploratory research or a precursor to an explanatory research. Therefore, a research needs to have a clear picture on which they want to collect data on prior to the actual data collection. A sub-category of the descriptive study is known as descripto- explanatory studies. Descripto-explanatory studies are studies that are quite descriptive in nature and might therefore, be at risk of wanting the highly evaluative analysis of data resulting in explanations rather than descriptions (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 175).

41 Besides the exploratory and descriptive purpose for a thesis, the third purpose is an explanatory research purpose. If studies aim to establish a causal relationship between different variables, the research most likely will have an explanatory nature. Regarding the research question, it might begin with “Why” or “How” and those questions will also guide the data collection process. The importance in explanatory research is to study a situation or a problem to explain a relationship between variables. A commonly used method to collect data in an explanatory research is by using statistical analysis to see a potential relationship between variables (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 176).

The purpose of this master thesis is to understand what influences sports clubs in their internationalization decision. Based on this question, the purpose of this thesis is more of an exploratory nature. An exploratory purpose seems fitting as the chosen data collection method are semi-structured interviews. Furthermore, the phenomenon of firms internationalizing is not new neither is the internationalization of sports clubs. However, there a comparison of different sports is missing in previous research. Gaining an in-depth understanding of the influences was not possible so far. This thesis aims to explore more regarding the influences in the internationalization of sports clubs and therefore, the ex- plorational purpose is fitting.

3.5 Literature

In research, the scientific literature is crucial. A literature review is of importance in several aspects, for instance for supporting the identification of a research topic, question or hypothesis. Also, going through the existing literature will help identifying potential research gaps and building an understanding of theoretical concepts and terminology (Row- ley & Slack, 2004).

For this thesis, an in-depth literature review was performed to establish a theoretical framework with existing theories. The literature used was mainly published in books or articles in well-rated scientific journals. By using the website VHB-JOURQUAL, the rat- ing of the scientific journals was checked in order to be able to judge their credibility. Most of the articles used were either rated A or B with some exceptions being rated with a C. However, all of the journals are peer-reviewed and therefore, valuable and credible.

The literature itself was searched with different search tools such as Google Scholar or the with the Umeå University Library database. The university access allowed one to use several databases like Emerald Insight, Elsevier, Wiley, EBSCO, Sage Journals, Science Direct. Most of the articles were found on one of these databases. Moreover, physical books from the Umeå University Library were used in specific cases for example D. Aaker’s “Managing Brand Equity” book.

In the theoretical framework, most of the literature used was vague. An example would be the article by Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul and Johanson and Vahlne that were published in 1975 and 1977. However, those articles are essential for the understanding of the Uppsala model of internationalization. As a theoretical point of departure those articles were necessary for this thesis. Furthermore, many articles dealing with internationalization refer to those articles.

Generally, the core concepts of the framework used in this thesis such as brand equity are well-established concepts. Therefore, the older articles and books are quite valuable for

42 the understanding of the concepts. Yet, when it comes to sports internationalization, more up to date literature can be found. This might be due to the novelty of the concept of sports club’s internationalization and also due to the nature of internationalization being an ongoing process. Different authors explored for instance the role of social media in sports (Abeza et al., 2019; Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018; Araújo & Fraiz, 2014). Hill and Vincent (2006) analyzed the case of the football club Manchester United and how this club became one of the best-known clubs in the world. Their work is loosely connected to the work by Richelieu et al. (2008) who suggested a model of internationalization for sports clubs. However, most of the literature revised focused on soccer and the European market rather than non-European markets.

In the search of literature for this thesis, particular keywords were used to ensure one would gather relevant and consistent sources for this study. The keywords used were:

Brand management, brand management in sports, internationalization models, internationalization in sports, market entry forms

43 4. Practical Methodology

In this chapter the chosen method for data collection, interview structure and sampling strategy will be described. Also, the analytical procedures that have been undertaken with qualitative data is presented. Thereinafter, the ethical issues and the truth criteria of the research study are discussed as those are critical for each research.

4.1 Qualitative Data Collection

Generally, there are several different data collection methods for both qualitative and quantitative studies. The variation goes from surveys to structured, unstructured and semi- structured interviews or observation (Alshenqeeti, 2014; Harrell & Bradley, 2009). The most common data collection method in qualitative research are interviews and field observations (Chenail, 2011; Kallio et al., 2016). In qualitative research, the researcher tends to construct a study-specific set of questions with an open-ended nature, meaning a semi-structured interview (Chenail, 2011; DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006). This open- ended nature allows the researcher to leave some open room for the interviewee to share some personal insights. Furthermore, due to the openness there are little, or no limitations imposed in contrast to the closed-ended questions, where there is limited room for personal insights (Chenail, 2011).

This thesis uses an interview structure for the primary data collection. One occurring problem is that a small sample size can lead to insufficient data saturation. To avoid any short coming in this regard, some secondary data is used by taking statements and official guidelines from the leagues that support the arguments found in the data. Usually, this kind of data is easily accessible through their websites and has therefore, not to be directly included in the interview.

4.1.1 Interview Structure

As mentioned before there are three types of interviews: the structured, unstructured and semi-structured interview. The structured interview usually uses a questionnaire format with closed questions. Those closed questions can be beneficial when participants have for instance either a speech or language impairment. Yet, structured interviews are mostly used to generate quantitative data rather than qualitative data (Whiting, 2008). The oppo- site of structured interviews are unstructured interviews with the aim of an openly but guided conversation. Data is gathered through the observation of the participants and main informants are selected (DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006, p. 315). The unstructured interview is often a combination of a collection of observational data whereas semi- structured interviews are often the only data source for a qualitative research. Semi-structured interviews are usually scheduled in advance at a specific time. Moreover, the location where the interview takes place is at a location that is outside of the everyday events. One of the key characteristics is the open nature of this interview type as other questions might occur during the interview. Another trait is that such an interview takes 30 minutes to several hours and are only conducted once with a participant or group (DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006, p. 315).

As the aim of this research study is to understand certain phenomena in the field of internationalization, the most valuable data collection is by using semi-structured interviews.

44 Using this method allows to vary the questions during the process, meaning interchanging questions or adding specific questions. This approach allows a certain degree of flexibility which is highly valuable in this study as it allows to gain an in-depth understanding of the subject (Royo-Vela, 2016, p. 151). Moreover, since different people in different sports are interviewed, there is no one-fit all approach as the situations of the different clubs can differ. Also, due to the crisis at the moment, those interviews allow participants as well as the interviewer to cut the interview shorter by leaving less important questions aside. Cutting the questions allows to fit an interview in the interviewees timetable if only a limited amount of time can be provided. As stated above, a semi-structured interview can take 30 minutes up to several hours. Having more or less a timeframe further helps to give the participant an upfront information to plan the interview.

Furthermore, since this research has an exploratory nature, the semi-structured interview is an adequate data collection method and ensures that the collected data focuses on the essential topics that are researched. Usually, in an interview this phase is called the “exploration phase” as the goal is to collect focused data (Whiting, 2008, p. 37).

4.1.2 Interview Guide

In order to collect the needed data, one of the first steps is to develop an interview guide. An interview guide, in general terms, is a list of questions which leads the conversation towards the research topic during the interview (Kallio et al., 2016, p. 2960; Krauss et al., 2009; Whiting, 2008). Each interview guide consists of two sets of questions, the main themes and follow up questions (Kallio et al., 2016, p. 2960). For this thesis, the interview guide (see Appendix 3 and 4) was developed based on the theoretical framework and available in English and German. Based on the given theories, the next step in developing the interview guide was to understand how those theories can be applied to answer the research question:

What influences the internationalization in the sports industry?

The structure of the theoretical framework (see Chapter 2) is connected to the research question. Starting with an overview of the sports industry for having a foundation for the following theories. After the introduction of the sports industry, the concept of brand management is explained with the underlying concepts of brand equity, brand association, brand awareness, brand personality and brand loyalty. Understanding brands is crucial as sports clubs tend to understand themselves as brands. Once, there is an understanding of brands, the next topic is relationship management and marketing. In sports, relationship management and marketing can be two folded. On the one hand, clubs establish a relationship with their fans and on the other hand they need a relationship with their sponsors. The last bigger topic is related to internationalization. Here, drivers, models and entry modes for internationalization are introduced. As one of the drivers of internationalization are technical advancements, the data usage of clubs will be analyzed.

Generally, the interview guide for this thesis will follow the theoretical framework. The first block deals with brand management, followed by relationship management and marketing. Hereinafter, the data usage will be questioned and ending with questions related to internationalization of the clubs. Having this structure supports the identification of potential influences in the internationalization process.

45 Each interview starts with grasping the contextual background of the interviewee and introduction of oneself. The interviewee gets an explanation of the usage of the provided data by the participant as well as a confidentiality pledge by the interviewer that the data is dealt with confidentially. Another important pre-interview information is that the interviewee does not have to answer any question and can also withdraw from the interview at any given point in time. Finally, the interviewee is asked whether it is alright to record the interview and which language is preferred: English or German.

After all those points are performed, the interview starts. The first topic in the interview is brand management. Here, the goal is to understand the brand positioning of the club. Therefore, the first question asks if the club considers themselves as a brand and how well established the brand is on the local market. This question is helpful for the understanding of sports clubs being brands which is crucial in the internationalization as it might explain the used methods in the process. The follow up questions deal with the positioning and strengthening of the brand. Having a strong brand, as discussed in the theoretical framework above, might supports a successful internationalization.

Once the importance of brands is understood, the interview moves on with discussing relationship marketing and management. Here, the goal is to understand the importance of fans and sponsors for a club. The main questions are about the clubs’ fan and sponsor base and how they communicate with those groups. Also, one of the questions is about attendance reports of international visitors as those numbers could be interesting in a potential internationalization. Knowing how many national and international fans attend matches as well as how many well-known brands are sponsoring a club are possible future influences in the decision making for internationalization.

As the previous section already touched upon, the third topic dives deeper into the usage of data and communication tools used by a club. Data usage and social media platforms are a rather recent topic and not that much discussed in the context of internationalization. Therefore, understanding how clubs use data and what kind of data they are collecting helps to fill one of the research gaps identified from the literature. Moreover, analyzing the availability of languages of the used social media platforms might give a first insight into the internationality of a club.

Lastly, the international presence is questioned. Doing so the first question deals with whether the club had previously been exposed internationally. Asking this question re- veals the degree of international exposure of the club. This international exposure seems an important prerequisite for future expansions as it proves the interest of other markets.

Next on, the interviewee is asked about the international staff members, meaning players, staff and in the office. Knowing the internal internationality of a club can support the entering of new markets as for instance players could become testimonials in their home country for the club. If the club is already involved in internationalization, the person will be asked how the club did internationalize. Examples could be by building subsidiaries, franchising or foreign training facilities. As one of the previous sections dealt with partnerships, one question asks to what degree international partners or sponsors are important in the process.

Finally, the last question relates to the deterritorialization of the sport. The interviewee will be questioned about their opinion about having home games abroad. This concept is

46 relatively new and could be interesting for constructing an internationalization model for sports clubs.

The interview is concluded by thanking the interviewee for their time and asking them whether they have some questions. Further, they will be asked if they want a transcript of the interview and if they want to have the results of the study.

4.1.3 Sampling Method

When conducting research, one wants to collect relevant data of a group of people. As asking each person is impossible, one needs samples. Samples are defined as specific group of people that actually participate in a study (McCombs, 2019). Having a specific sample, in the case of this thesis makes sense as asking small clubs that are not engaging in a league is not productive. Sampling should be consistent with the aims of a thesis to have valuable results in the end (Palinkas et al., 2015, p. 534). Generally, there exists a difference between the selection of a sample in quantitative and selecting a sample in qualitative research (Lapan et al., 2012, p. 84; Palinkas et al., 2015, p. 534). The difference is that in quantitative research the researcher prefers using random or systematic sampling strategies. Using those allows the researcher to generalize the results to a broader population (Lapan et al., 2012, p. 84). In qualitative research however, the research questions are usually less focused on generalizations. Most of the times, the research questions are more concerned with detailed and contextual behaviors. Moreover, meanings in the words spoken and individuals’ interpretations are crucial in qualitative research. Therefore, the sample for qualitative studies should be selected with caution.

Dealing with selecting the right sample, there are two sampling techniques that can be applied: the probability or representative sampling and non-probability sampling (Saun- ders et al., 2016, p. 275). Using probability samples there exists a probability that each sample selected form the targeted sample group is known and mostly equal for all cases. Therefore, answering the research question is possible and also reaching objectives that statistically draw characteristics of the sampled population. Probability sampling is often used in qualitative research as it associated with surveys and experiment research strategies (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 275-276). In non-probability sampling on the other hand, the probability of each sample selected form the targeted sample group is unknown. Moreover, it is impossible to answer the research question or addressing objectives that would require making statistical interferences about the population of the population (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 276). One key characteristics of non-probability sampling is that samples are selected based on subjective judgement which is based on knowledge and experience (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 295).

As the purpose of this thesis is to understand what influences the internationalization in the sports industry, the selected sampling technique is the non-probability sampling, due to the impracticability of statistical measures. The sports industry shows unique characteristics and there are various different sports. Therefore, generalizing would not make any sense as there is no one-fit-all sample and potential finding. The analysis of the data is also rather subjective and thus, not related to the sample itself.

When using the non-probability sampling, there are several sampling techniques to choose from such as quota, purposive, snowball and self-selection and convenience (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 276). Each technique has the ability to compare and contrast

47 within the phenomenon of interest and identifying similarities and differences (Palinkas et al., 2015, p. 534). For this thesis a combination of the purposive and self-selected sampling is used. Purposive sampling refers to the own judgement to select cases that potentially help the best with answering the research question and for meeting one’s own objectives. The participants are meant to be rather knowledgeable and thus, highly valuable (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018). Connected to this technique is the self-selection sampling as it allows each case to decide whether they want to take part in the research or not. Here, the first part consists of asking potential participants to take part in the research through advertising or directly contacting them. Then, the data is collected from those who responded (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 301; 303). Using the self-selection sampling allows a certain degree of flexibility as the sample is not predetermined.

As mentioned before, the aim of this thesis is to understand what influences the internationalization in the sports industry, the main interest of participants are higher leagued sports clubs. The understanding of league in this case are for instance the Premier League in Great Britain, the Bundesliga (Basketball, Soccer, Handball etc.) in Germany or the NBA and NFL in the USA. Asking small clubs situated in each city or even village would not be productive as most of the times they do not follow an internationalization strategy. One problem that might occur is related to the COVID-19 crisis. Smaller clubs are strug- gling at the moment and therefore, are not willing or able to participate even though they might have a take on internationalization. Thus, the sample decided on for this thesis is based on the following characteristics:

(1) Competing in a league (2) No particular sports in the focus (3) Not country specific (4) Person interviewed working in either the area of marketing or business development

4.1.4 Pilot Study

When developing an interview guide, one has already an idea how the flow is supposed to be. However, without testing the questions, one cannot be sure whether there is a flow or not. Therefore, a pilot interview should be done to test the set of questions and to confirm the coverage and relevance of the content formulated. Thus, one can identify the possible need to reformulate questions or change the order of those (Kallio et al., 2016, p. 2960).

The pilot interview was with an NBA club that was founded in 1968 and has been in the league since then. As the NBA structured in a franchising system, there are currently 30 teams competing. In the United States basketball is one of the most popular sports, ranking number three at the moment. The average attendance is about 14,000 people per match (Das, 2020).

As the interview progressed, some flaws in the interview guide were detected. An example was the question regarding international staff which was answered by considering only the office and trainer. However, the intention of this question was to identify international players. The misunderstanding of this question was due to the language and was afterwards changed to a more adequate one so no misunderstanding would happen again. Moreover, by asking some other questions it became eminent that dividing the topics as

48 anticipated is not as easy because they are partly based on each other. Thus, certain questions were already answered before asked. In the end, the decision regarding the pilot study was to use it for the analysis as well. The insights given by the club were interesting and relevant for answering the research question.

4.1.5 Sample Overview

The conduction of the interviews took different forms. Some interviews were conducted by using Skype, one was conducted by the clubs’ conference tool and one was a phone call. The initial data collected, as mentioned above in the interview guide, was by asking for an introduction of the interviewee. Also, notes were taken before such as the respective league, the sports and some historical data. The historical data of each club helped in the interview as at times references were made. Since the native language of all respondents was German, the interviews were conducted in German.

The following Table 2 provides a general overview of the clubs that took part in the interview. Due to anonymization of the clubs only the interviewees position in the club, the sports and the country of origin is written down in the table. Other relevant information represented in the table are the duration of the interview and interview setting.

Position in Interview Interview Participant Sport Country the club Duration Setting Head of Participant Marketing American Germany 61 minutes Skype 1 and Com- Football munication Participant General Clubs’ con- Basketball Germany 38 minutes 2 Manager ference tool Participant Marketing Basketball Germany 39 minutes Skype 3 Head of Participant Marketing Ice Hockey Germany 43 minutes Telephone 4 and Com- munication Communi- Participant cation, American Germany 63 minutes Telephone 5 Ticketing Football and CRM Participant CEO Soccer Austria 35 minutes Skype 6

Table 2: Sample Overview Respondent (1) is an American football club in Germany. The club is currently playing in the German Football League (GFL) North which is the highest league in Germany. American football is a fringe sports in Germany and therefore, not as popular and big as other sports.

49 Respondent (2) is a basketball club in Germany. The club is currently playing in the first basketball Bundesliga (BBL) in Germany which is the highest basketball league in Ger- many. Basketball is ranked third in popularity in Germany.

Respondent (3) is again a basketball club in Germany. The club is currently also playing in the BBL in Germany. This club has a strong emphasis on tradition and locality. The club has won several national championships and national cups. Since 2006/2007 the BBL consists of 18 teams.

Respondent (4) is a German ice hockey team. The club is currently playing in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The DEL consists at the moment of 14 teams and was the first league to be organized as a corporate company in Germany.

Respondent (5) is a German American football team. The club is currently playing in the GFL north. For several years now the club is playing in the highest league and has won several national championship titles. Moreover, the club was also playing in the European Football League where they won some titles as well.

Respondent (6) is an Austrian soccer club. The club is currently playing in the Austrian first Bundesliga. The Austrian Bundesliga consists of 12 teams at the moment. In comparison to the German Bundesliga, the play mode is slightly different. There are 22 regular championship matches. After those 22 games, the points are parted in half and the first six teams in the table play for the national championship as well as for the international competition places. The last six play against going to the second league.

When establishing the research design and starting the process of data collection, the number of respondents was not predetermined. In qualitative research the aim is saturation meaning, obtaining a comprehensive understanding of a phenomenon by continuing to collect samples until no essential new information are acquired (Miles & Huberman, 1994). Yet, since this study has an exploratory nature reaching data saturation is rather difficult. There could always be new insights, describing the phenomenon. However, one main restriction of not having more respondents was due to the ongoing crisis that reduced the response rates immensely. Nevertheless, in certain topics the responses given by the interviewees were quite similar which allowed for identifying patterns and relationships.

Differences arising in answers had several reasons. One reason is the difference of sports and the popularity of the sports on the respective market as well as the size and funds of a club. However, the data collected allows to construct a valuable analysis and answer the research questions in the end.

50 4.2 Qualitative Data Analysis

The following sub-chapter will describe how the collected data was analyzed. There are four different things to consider when analyzing. First, the qualitative data has to be pre- pared in order to be analyzable. After this step, the analytical procedure is described. In each research ethical considerations have to be made. Finally, the truth criteria are discussed.

4.2.1 Preparing Qualitative Data

In the data collection, all interviews were recorded and transcribed right after the interview took place. Preparing the data is a crucial part for each research and also for this study. Recoding the interview and making a transcription helped to ensure that one has understood the given data. Furthermore, by working thoroughly with the data, remember- ing more precisely the setting of the interview and the most important aspects that occurred during the data collection phase, is given. During the interview, notes were taken of relevant information or for further investigation. Also, taking notes helped by evaluating the data later on. Since the interviews were conducted in German, the interviews had to be translated to English to make use of the data.

4.2.2 Data Analysis

Data analysis is the most challenging phase in a qualitative data collection (Basin, 2003; Thorne, 2000). Over the years, researchers have established different methods for analyzing data (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). One method is the content analysis that can be divided into inductive and deductive content analysis and can be applied to both, qualitative and quantitative data (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008, p. 109). Two main issues are arising with the analysis of data. One challenge in the analysis is that there is no uniform framework for the analysis of data (Collis & Hussey, 2014, p. 154). The other issue is that a distinction of what part of data is relevant for the analysis has to be decided on (Chenail, 2012). Related to this issue is that it can be challenging to understand how the researcher has concluded some of their findings. This challenge is due to the ways the study has been structured and how it summarized the given qualitative data (Collis & Hussey, 2014, p. 154). Nevertheless, those challenges can be overcome by working in a structured way and sorting the given data. For this thesis an intuitive approach for the analysis of data was chosen to overcome the challenges. Deciding on relevant data was done by bearing in mind both, the research question and research purpose. If the data could be used to answer the research question and fulfill the purpose, it was considered as relevant.

Besides the challenges of analyzing data there are other crucial aspects to consider. An important step in the analysis of data is that the data collection and analysis should be a simultaneous action. Moreover, the data should be analyzed and interpreted while collecting it thus, during the interview or observation (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 566). By doing so the previously mentioned challenges can further be diminished as relevant data is immediately detected. Generally, there are several techniques one can use for the analysis of data: the thematic and the template analysis. The template analysis is a type of thematic analysis and has a few significant differences. In the template analysis the researcher usually only codes a fraction of the data points before developing a preliminary list of codes and themes (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 587).

51 The method used for this thesis is the thematic analysis. The thematic analysis´ purpose is to identify themes or patterns that occur throughout the data set. Researchers using the thematic analysis code their data for the identification themes or patterns for further investigation. Themes capture something that might be relevant in the data to answer the research question. Furthermore, this method offers a systematic, flexible and accessible approach of data analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, p. 79-82). Also, this thesis has an exploratory nature and hence, the template analysis supports this nature by the development of the initial template. The initial template is a constant process of arranging and rear- ranging of codes up to the point of satisfaction that key ideas and relationships in the data are given (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 588). Among the first determined codes used in this thesis were brand management, relationship management, data usage and internationalization, following the interview guide. During the interview notes were taken and when keywords were mentioned, those were highlighted. Highlighting keywords allowed to identify revise previous codes and evaluate those with respect to the research question and purpose.

Researchers aim is to reach a degree of trustworthiness within their work (Nowell et al., 2017, p. 3). This thesis is no exception and therefore, one can follow six phases in the thematic analysis to reach trustworthiness. Braun and Clarke (2006, p.87) introduced those six phases consisting of the following:

(1) Familiarizing yourself with the data (2) Generating initial codes (3) Searching for themes (4) Reviewing themes (5) Defining and naming themes (6) Producing the report

In the first phase, familiarizing yourself with the data, the collected data should be transcribed. Then, the next step would be reading and re-reading the data and writing down initial ideas. Once, the initial ideas are written down, the second phase consists of coding interesting features systematically. When the codes are established the data should be linked to a code based on relevance for the study. In the third phase, the codes are collated into potential themes by gathering all relevant data to each potential theme. Hereafter, one should check whether the themes work in relation to the coded extracts and also the entire data set. This step can be done by generating a thematic map of the analysis. The fifth step is to refine specifics of each theme in the ongoing analysis and also checking for valuable information. If needed, clear definition should be established at this point and also naming each theme. Lastly, the final analysis of the data takes place. One can select fitting examples and refer back to the analysis, research question and literature (Braun & Clarke, 2006, p. 87). Nowell et al. (2017, p.4) used those six phases to establish the trustworthiness criterium for research. Yet, they argue that this method is “actually an iterative and reflective process that develops over time and involves a constant moving back and forward between phases”. Nevertheless, when following those steps thoroughly, the researcher can reach trustworthiness, since the whole process is a constant evaluation and reevaluation of the given data. No data is solely taken as given but analyzed in greater detail (Nowell et al., 2017, p. 11).

After introducing the chosen methods of collecting and analyzing the data, this thesis started both, the empirical findings and analysis section, with the topic of brand

52 management. Starting with brand management is crucial because it is one of the first steps to understand the internationalization of sports clubs. Therefore, it makes sense to not only start the theoretical part with the concepts of brand management but also later on the analysis and findings in this topic. Generally, the data analysis was initiated with themes that were also presented in the theoretical part and in the preliminary framework. As mentioned before, the collection and analysis of data is a simultaneous process. Hence, the formed template should be subject to constant revision throughout the process of analyzing the interview transcripts (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 566). Moreover, this constant revision also led to a continuous revision of codes, as coding as well an ongoing organic process (Nowell et al., 2017, p. 9). The analysis of the data thus, took place during and immediately after each interview. During the interview, notes were taken that seemed either highly relevant for answering the research question or brought new insights. Also, the themes were coded according to the theoretical framework to have a structure and to work better on the preliminary framework afterwards. In the end, the collected and analyzed data was compared to the existing literature in this research field in the discussion part.

4.3 Ethical Considerations

In research, not only trustworthiness has to be considered but also ethical considerations in the process. Gaining new knowledge and insights in one research area is only one part of the research process. Ethics can be seen in two ways: the first is to define ethics as “norms of conduct” that differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable behavior (Resnik, 2015). The other way of defining ethics is to consider it as a method, procedure or perspective that supports the decision on how to act ethically and also for analyzing complex problems and issues (Resnik, 2015).

Based on those definition, a researcher should also consider the rightness and wrongness of their actions in qualitative research as those actions reflect people’s behavior (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 288). Thus, ethics in research embraces the way how a specific research is conducted and how the findings are reported (Collis & Hussey, 2014, p. 30). In order to be able to conduct research ethically correct, there are several guiding principles that a researcher should follow such as honesty, objectivity, integrity and confidentiality (Resnik, 2015). Bryman (2012) cites Diener and Crandall (1978) in his book who established four main areas in ethical principles (Bryman, 2012, p. 135):

(1) No harm should come to research participants (2) No lack of informed consent (3) Invasion of privacy (4) No deception

When following those four principles, a researcher conducted the research ethically correct or at least to their best ability. In this research, the first principle of “no harm should come to the participants” was followed by ensuring the interviewees wellbeing throughout the whole interview. Therefore, the interview always started with an introduction of both sides as well as some introducing remarks. Furthermore, the interviewee was able to select the form and time the interview should take place. Besides such precautions, avoid- ing immoral, illegal or other reprehensible acts were encouraged from all parties in both, the actual field work phase and when contacting the clubs. The informed consent was established by eliminating any negative consequences that could potentially originate

53 from the study and the data collection was thus, performed under this guiding principle. The main idea is that informed consent has a closer interconnection to a voluntary participation. Moreover, it also covers the access to information that regard the study and the intended procedure (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2016, p. 72-73). The first contact to the clubs was via email, with a brief introduction of the person, the reason for contacting the club as well as the main topics that were supposed to be covered during the interview (see Appendix 1 & 2). Also, attached to the email were the questions that the interviewer was going to ask. Sending the questionnaire felt right as the current situation is difficult and by sending them the questions prior allowed the interviewee to assess whether they will have the time to answer or not. The interviewee was already aware of all the topics in the study which allowed them to prepare beforehand.

Dealing with privacy, anonymity and confidentiality is one of the most important principles. Especially when it comes to firm’s internal strategy. Therefore, the interviewee was assured that the research data provided would be dealt with confidentially. Since internationalization is usually part of a strategy, protecting the integrity, privacy and anonymity of the clubs was crucial. Hence, the clubs were completely anonymized in the study. Only the founding year, sports and country were revealed. Assuring the clubs that no deception has taken place in the settings of both contacting interviewees and in the process of interviews itself, was also a given in collecting the data. From the beginning, the interviewee got very clear, honest and transparent information about the research study. Moreover, there was always an open communication throughout the whole process, assuring that the clubs have trust to the interviewer. Since the response rate was low at the beginning of the data collection, the first interviewees were told that at this point it is not certain to what degree the data will be used. Lastly, the interviewee was granted the freedom to withdraw from the study at any time as well as the freedom of not answering a question.

As a last step of preparing the interview, the interviewee was asked permission to record the interview for the later evaluation of the data. They were informed that the data collected purpose will only be used for this thesis and not for any other further investigations.

4.4 Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research

In quantitative research reliability and validity are two important criteria to establish and assess the quality of research (Bryman, 2012, p. 389). By validating something, the idea is to figure out whether an instrument actually measures what it is supposed to measure or whether the results provide the correct or truthful answer (Kirk & Miller, 1986, p. 19). Reliability on the other hand is the extent to which a measurement procedure gives the same answer or result independently on however and whenever it is carried out (Kirk & Miller, 1986, p. 19). Yet, in qualitative research it is argued that validity cannot be found as it does not meet the required objectivity needed as quality criteria (Kuzmanić, 2009, p. 40). Valid qualitative research would hence be credibly representing different social worlds and/or interpretations of those (Kuzmanić, 2009, p. 43). In Kuzmanićs´ paper (2009, p.43) truth is being considered as establishing it through dialogue thus, the pursuit for absolute and certain knowledge does not represent the final purpose of validation. Since there is a discussion regarding validity and reliability in qualitative research, other researchers argued that different criteria should be applied, compared to quantitative research (Bryman, 2012, p. 390).

54 Guba and Lincoln (1994) aimed to provide alternative terms to reliability and validity as they see the necessity to specify those while at the same time finding ways of ascertaining and judging the quality of qualitative research. Therefore, their proposal consists of two primary criteria that can assess the quality of a qualitative study, the trustworthiness and authenticity (Guba & Lincoln, 1994, p. 114). The concept of trustworthiness consists of four main criteria:

(1) Credibility, parallels internal validity (2) Transferability, parallels external validity (3) Dependability, parallels reliability (4) Confirmability, parallels objectivity (Bryman, 2012, p. 390; Guba & Lincoln, 1994, p. 114).

Credibility describes how believable the findings of a research are (Bryman, 2012, p. 49). In order to reach credibility a researcher should ensure that the research was performed according to the standards of good practice. Moreover, the researcher should submit their research findings to the participants of the study to confirm that the researcher has understood them correctly (Bryman & Bell, 2011, p. 396). Another potential form of assuring credibility is by using triangulation. Triangulation refers to the usage of multiple sources of data and/or the multiple analysis of data (Hastings, 2012). One of the benefits of using triangulation is that it reduces the vulnerability of error in research by the multiple use of data and sources (Patton, 1999, p. 1192). However, the triangulation method was not fully applied in this thesis, it does offer a valuable method for creating credibility. The only “multiple” perspective accrued in this thesis was by interviewing different clubs in different sports which could be considered as the theory or perspective triangulation (Patton, 1999, p. 1193). To follow the credibility in this thesis, a crucial part of the work was to correctly identify and describe the subject of research. Using semi-structured interviews to establish a better discussion of the central topics can be both, beneficial and risky at the same time. The advantage is that it is rather direct and arising questions can directly be answered. One risk is that the given data is misinterpreted by the researcher as there is always some knowledge or meaning with the words said that were not directly communicated (Kuzmanić, 2009, p. 45). One challenge in this study was that the interview was conducted in German and later translated to English. As English is not the native language some translations might express things differently that intended. Therefore, if questions would have occurred in the translation, the respondents would have been contacted and asking their consent whether this was what they wanted to express.

Whether a research is transferable depends on the possibility of applying the research to other contexts, allowing it to draw generalizations from it (Bryman & Bell, 2011, p. 43; Colin & Hussey, 2014, p. 172). However, drawing generalizations is more common in quantitative research and to a lesser extent in qualitative. The main goal of qualitative research is to provide a rich, contextualized understanding in a certain research area by study particular cases intensely, also known as thick description (Geertz, 1973; Polit & Beck, 2010). By collecting data of different sports and their idea of internationalization, the aim was not to generalize the findings in the end. Especially when it comes to internationalization, as demonstrated in the theoretical framework, there is no one-fit-all rule. Therefore, the different findings can be similar but still have to be distinguished based on different criteria such as league, sports and international ambitions.

55 When it comes to dependability, a researcher aims for their study´s findings to be applicable at other times (Bryman & Bell, 2011, p. 44), meaning to aim for consistency in the data (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p. 317). Consistency is created by having a systematic, rig- orous and well documented research study (Collis & Hussey, 2014, p. 172). Applying a “audit approach” makes sense as it requests that the researcher has a full record of all phases in the research that are documented such as the problem formulation in the beginning, sample overview or data analysis decisions (Bryman & Bell, 2011, p. 398). The “audit approach” allows to keep track of information and make those accessible at all times, facilitating the whole research process in the end. Therefore, there was a constant focus on dependability throughout the whole thesis writing process.

The fourth criterion for trustworthiness is confirmability. Confirmability concerns the ensuring and recognizing that objectivity can never be completely performed in business research. It is rather the researcher showing that they have acted in good faith, meaning that they have not obviously included personal values or theoretical inclinations in order to influence the research and the findings derived from it (Bryman & Bell, 2011, p.398). In other words, confirmability is the neutrality and accuracy of the data (Houghton et al., 2013, p.13; Watkins, 2012, p.157). When it comes to the findings of the study, a high emphasis was put on confirmability. Findings were discussed as objectively as possible as well as accurately. While interpretations might differ, staying as objective as possible, was the main aim. The empircial findings reflect the statements given by the interviewee.

The quality of a qualitative study consists not only of trustworthiness but also of authencity. Authencity refers to other criteria, that are needed for the quality ensurance, such as fairness, ontological authenticity, educative authenticity, catalytic authenticity and tactical authenticity (Bryman & Bell, 2011, p.398). In research, fairness refers to whether the different perspectives are impartially represented within the research area. Therefore, this thesis represented and analyzed all given data the same way without any exception. This ensures that all participants are equally treated and signified. Nonetheless, there was no one-fit-all rule and therefore, considering all opinions equally was crucial. Ontological authenticity asks if the research helped the members of a social milieu to better understand this milieu. Regarding this research, there are explanations that contribute to the understanding of a certain social milieu. Coming to the educative authenticity of this thesis, the goal was to ensure the better appreciation of others’ perspectives throughout the whole process of writing this thesis, data collection and analysis of the data, was given at all times. The last term catalytic authenticity concerns the actions taken from people after the research is done. It would mean that the results are applied in the realities of business context. As there were different opinions regarding the state of internationalization, it is hard to tell whether this study will help the implementation of an internationalization strategy in the business world (Bryman & Bell, 2011, p. 398).

56 5. Empirical Findings

In this chapter, the empirical findings of the qualitative data collection process are presented. The main findings are divided into four categories that were also used in the interview guide: brand management, relationship management and marketing, communication and data usage and international presence. However, in the chapter of relationship management and marketing as well as communication and data usage, two sub- categories were formed respectively. In the latter it is divided into communication tools and data collection and usage. In relationship management and marketing the two categories are fans and sponsors.

5.1 Brand Management

Each interview started with questions dealing with brand management. The first question was whether the clubs considers themselves as a brand. As clubs, in the literature, are considered as brands and are thus, also internationalizing as such, this prerequisite had to be proven. All of the respondents considered their clubs as being a brand. In some cases, different elements of Aaker´s brand equity framework were touched such as brand personality and brand awareness. Also, it was mentioned that the name and logo are trade- marks of the club and therefore, also part of the clubs’ brand. Since the aim of those questions was to understand the brand positioning of the clubs, direct related questions to the positioning were discussed. Generally, there exist three types of brands, regional, national and international, which reflects the idea of Richelieu et al. s´ (2008) framework of a sports teams´ internationalization. Though the clubs mostly interact locally, they were all well-established on the regional market and fans do identify them as a brand. The regionality is, in most of the cases, part of their brand identity. Influences in the brand positioning process of a sports brand are for instance the sporting success and also the work that the club puts into the brand positioning. For most clubs, the brand positioning was part of their daily work and thus, always a current and important topic.

Respondent (1) stated that the club is known in the city where it is located and also within the league. They do not see the need to change much about their brand or their product respectively. Yet, they have to broaden their scope and in doing so gain more attraction. Due to problems, the club lost several years for establishing the brand. Using the momentum now would be crucial, as the whole sports is growing, and the interest of viewers in American football also increases. Regarding the need of having a strong brand, Respond- ent (1) stated that “The stronger the brand, the more money you have. Also the higher your recognition factor, the more sponsors are contacting the club”. Hence, to establish a stronger brand, the club is focusing on their fans and having a close relationship with them and filling a niche within the market.

For Respondent (2) it is also important to have a strong brand. Their club has been working on the establishment of a strong brand for years and has set up a second main pillar by not only being a sports team but also by being a sports marketing agency. According to Respondent (2) having a strong brand is crucial because “it makes us independent of sporting success. Having a brand goes beyond the sports itself, you create an identification with the fans”. Having a strong brand in sports is important as one does not have the classical product. Therefore, the brand ensures a constant that helps to be identifiable on the market. Regarding the influences to position a brand on the market, the sporting

57 success is indeed important as this is what the fan primarily sees. Yet, this club also tries to establish partnerships etc. to make the brand more independent from the sporting success.

Being independent from the sporting success was also highlighted by Respondent (4). In the end, a brand is what “secures the economic success”. A brand is more than just the sport, it communicates an identity. For Respondent (4) having a strong brand is crucial as the focus is on the target group. A brand is supposed to transmit to the customer what they can expect from the brand. Especially in a region where a strong competition exists, one has to be able to differentiate to the competition. For the identification of the club’s values, they performed a brand development process to be able to directly target their main audience. The clubs’ identity is in relation to the region’s identity like “hard working, familial, courageous and passion”. Moreover, the brand positioning is influenced by the direct work of the club in how they communicate the brand to others. Also, even though the brand secures the economic success, the sporting success does influence the brand positioning. When a club is successful, it is easier to attract people to go to the arena. The regions income structure and economic power do as well have an influence on the brand positioning of a club.

Respondent (3) also argues in favor of the club being a brand, stating that “our fans in the region do also recognize us as such. With everything we do, we always have the brand in the back of our minds. This is one of our strengths compared to the competition”. An interesting point mentioned by Respondent (3) is the role of tradition for a club in the brand building process. The club has a strong tradition and is known for their traditional values in the region. From a fans or customer’s perspective, tradition can be seen as an identification attribute. Based on research conducted by the club, they found out that their brand is well-established on the local and regional market. Like the previous respondents contested, brand positioning is part of the daily work for this club as well. In weekly meetings, new measurements are discussed to strengthen the brand. An important point in doing so are the games themselves. The club aims to provide the viewer with the best possible experience when coming to the arena by creating a higher recognition factor. By doing so they also want to create a close relationship to their fans by for instance filming a behind the scenes to bring the team closer to their fans.

Since the club originated from another team, the brand developed from there and is therefore known on the national market, according to Respondent (5). When asked about their home market, the answer was that they “do not see Germany as it but rather the region we are situated in”. Thus, within the region, the brand recognition factor is quite high. Also, a brand is seen as something that polarizes, not everyone can identify themselves with a brand. However, Respondent (5) claims that a polarizing brand is what “stays on top of the minds of a consumer”. Over the past years, the club was quite successful. Hence, the brand positioning is directly influenced by this success. Nevertheless, “the success is nothing we can directly influence. If the others are better, they are better. How- ever, everything not directly related to the sports is something we can influence”.

In the case of Respondent (6) the brand is still in the development phase. Several factors have to be considered as the club is positioned in a rather small league compared to the other respondents. Yet, within their own league and country the club “is very well known due to the size of the league”. Again, the regional factor does play an important role in the brand positioning as the club has a high recognition factor on their regional market.

58 “To strengthen our brand, we aim to have a close relationship with our fans and to increase both, the brand recognition and the viewer interest. Moreover, we use social media, print media and different projects to strengthen our brand”. One interesting consideration mentioned by Respondent (6) was that the brand positioning is influenced by the German soccer league and not only by their own league.

5.2 Relationship Management and Marketing

The second main topic under investigation was the club’s relationship management and marketing. Considering that both fans and sponsors are important for a club, maintaining a relationship makes sense. Also, as the network perspective suggests, partnerships can be beneficial in the internationalization process of a company. Therefore, the goal of the questions in this section was to understand the importance of fans and sponsors. Bearing in mind that most of the clubs interviewed are from Germany and soccer dominates here, the fan bases seemed relatively small. However, compared to other clubs within the same league, the numbers and potential of the clubs are high. The communication with the fans is often via social media platforms, directly at games, via fan clubs or the website. The interviewed clubs often have a newsletter for their fans. Sponsoring, is a common phenomenon in sports and each club interviewed had several sponsors from different industries. Again, the bear upon regionality with respect to sponsors was given. Usually, the clubs had few internationally known brands as sponsors and more regionally or nationally known brands. Clubs communication with their sponsors was also rather in a direct way.

5.2.1 Fans

Fans are crucial for each club. Therefore, the questions asked regarding fans were about the size of the fan base, the communication with the fans and whether the clubs have attendance reports from international visitors.

For Respondent (1) a close relationship with their fans is crucial. As the club has also many traditions, connecting with fans on this level made sense. The way of communication takes place via social media platforms and on game days. However, Respondent (1) also stated that “on game days on the way to the match, our players sometimes record small videos for the fans that are rather individually”. Hence, the club has a direct and close connection to their fans. Having a close connection is important, as it strengthens the relationship with the fans and their loyalty to the club might increase.

Respondent (2) explained that their fan base is more regionally oriented which is a characteristic of the league as “the whole league consists of a compilation of regional clubs”. One of the advantages of this club is that due to their location, they experience a constantly changing audience. Another advantage of the club is that they have established a second main pillar by cooperating with institutions in their area. This helps the club to connect and bring both, the sports itself, and the club closer to a potential audience. A favored communication method is also the direct contact on game days in the arena. Here, the club uses different tools such as video walls or merchandise stores. Moreover, social media channels and their own website are also communication tools used. Regarding the international visitor attendance Respondent (2) claims “it is rather easy to differentiate through the ticketing. However, international visitors are more the exception and if there

59 are international visitors most of the times those people are either scouts, agents or families of a player”.

In contrast to Respondent (2), the tracking of international visitors is not as easy, as explained by Respondent (3). Respondent (3) states “there are some international visitors but mainly due to our imports. I would negate that we have an international fan base, it is also not of relevance for us”. However, regarding local/regional fans, the club does have a rather big fan base. According to the respondent, about 56,000 people in the region would describe themselves as fans of the club, the matches are under the top six viewed on the streaming platform Magenta Sport and the arena is often sold out. The communication with their fans is via the fan clubs with their contact persons as well as via social media platforms. On social media, they try to answer every direct message and comment on their pages.

Concerning the international fan base, just like Respondent (2), the international fan base is “neglectable” for Respondent (4). Yet, Respondent (4) explained that their potential fan base is about 360,000 people in the region, with a core fan base of 3,000-4,000 people. Thus, the club has potential to expand regionally. As part of the strategy, the club has a developed communication mix, to interact with their fans. “We use a mix of above and below communication measurements. We communicate via social media, directly at the point of sale […]. We use all possible communication tools and create a suitable mix for our purposes”.

A new perspective on the relationship management with fans, was introduced by Re- spondent (5). Many of the fans are volunteers on game days and therefore, the club has a direct communication and relationship with them. Having them supporting the club in such a way enables the fans to “create the product alongside”. Also, rather unique is the local brand loyalty the fans have with both, sports teams and other regional brands. Thus, the relationship triangle of club, fans and sponsors is closely interconnected compared to other clubs. Moreover, even though the club is also playing a fringe sport, their fan base can be considered as rather large with about 15,000-20,000 fans.

As the club is still in a growth process, so is their fan base. Respondent (6) explained that their fan base mainly consists of local fans with some exceptions on national level. Inter- estingly, Respondent (6) mentioned that the exact numbers of fans is revealed at the end of each season, as the numbers are changing and growing over the season. Compared to other soccer clubs, the atmosphere in the stadium is quite familiar which is highly unlikely in soccer as also mentioned by Respondent (5). Therefore, the communication with their fans is “direct or through our fan representatives”. Up until now, the club does not have a broad international audience. “If we have international visitors, most of the times those people are international scouts”.

5.2.2 Sponsors

Sponsors are the other side of the relationship management and marketing paradigm. They are elemental partners for every sports club. The questions asked in this part of the interview concerned the number of sponsors, divided into well-known brands on national and international level and the communication with the sponsors.

60 When asked about how easy it is to acquire a new sponsor in a fringe sport, Respondent (1) said that in their region it is quite easy as there are many international and American companies. An example given was that their main sponsor used to play for the club and therefore has a close connection to it. Interestingly, Respondent (1) also explained that “many companies want to become sponsors. In smaller clubs it is easier to become a sponsor and it is also cheaper compared to bigger, better known clubs”. When it comes to the communication with their sponsors, the club chooses a direct communication. They organize special events for the sponsors, where they can meet and network as well.

This finding was supported by Respondent (3) who stated that their club offers rather small sponsoring packages. Offering small packages allows smaller companies to get involved in sponsoring. The club has about 180-200 sponsors, however, makes about 80% of their sponsoring volume with their 15 bigger sponsors. Furthermore, they have nationally known brands and are currently in contact with an international sponsor. Yet, when it comes to sponsoring, the tradition of the club is never neglected as they have a strong emphasis on tradition. When asked about the communication with their sponsors Re- spondent (3) answered that they also prefer a direct communication and also through an own platform where the sponsors can communicate with the club and also each other. They also “offer different networking events throughout the year where […] sponsors can directly meet and exchange thoughts”.

The same pattern regarding the sponsoring packages was also mentioned by Respondent (2). The club also has several sponsors, ranked in according to their support. Again, a regional reference to the club can be found among the sponsors as well. As the club is currently developing an app, sponsors will have a dedicated area to communicate with the club there. At the moment, the club and their sponsors also have a direct communication, mostly at games. Respondent (2) claims that “sponsors want to assure how their advertisement works in the arena” which gives the club the opportunity of direct contact to the sponsors.

Respondent (4) explained that the club currently has about 85 sponsors with five national and one international brand. An interesting point Respondent (4) introduced was that “a sponsor is selected with respect to whether it is helpful or not for the brand”. Since the clubs have a regional bound, this finding was interesting regarding how the brand is perceived with different sponsors. Also, the sponsor has to align or at least identify itself with the club’s brand image. The communication with the sponsors is quite “individual” as each sponsor acts differently according to their goals. Respondent (4) claimed that as a club “you are part of the communication strategy of your sponsor”. Regarding special events for sponsors, Respondent (4), stated that they also have those.

The before mentioned special events are also something Respondent (5) referred to. In their case, they always have pre-game parties two hours before a game. “We offer our sponsors to present their brand at those parties. One of our sponsors also always includes the fans, visiting a game, in some way”. Besides those pre-game parties, the sponsors are invited for other events. Here, the networking perspective for the sponsors is again touched.

Again, the holding of special events for their sponsors was confirmed by Respondent (6). In their case, they have sponsor meetings once a year where the different sponsors can meet up and communicate with each other. Since the club has as well a strong emphasis

61 on regionality, the majority of their sponsors are regional companies. For the sponsors “it is the importance of being close to the club. A couple of them have already supported our club for several years”. The general preferred way of communicating with their sponsors, however, is direct: “We have face-to-face meetings, phone calls and information for the sponsors are sent out via email”.

5.3 Communication and Data Usage

Data takes an important part in today’s business and sports clubs are no exception. As mentioned in Chapter 2.5.22.5.2 the technological advancements can be a driver for internationalization. On average, each club used at least four different communication channels: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and their own website. Print media was also a commonly used tool for communication. Moreover, the clubs do collect different sets of data such as customer related data, market research data and also social media related data. In the internationalization process, the usage of data can become more relevant and simplify the process. Thus, the aim of this section was to understand the communication tools, data collection and usage by the clubs.

When asked in how many languages the platforms are accessible, the main answer was one or two. The content was mostly in German and if a second language was used it was English. Interestingly, when a club plays in an international competition, parts of the content have to be provided in English as well. Compared to sports clubs on the American market, two languages are the average. In the NBA, NFL, MLS and Major League Base- ball (MLB) the two foremost used languages are English and Spanish.

Common data collected by each club was fan related, economic data and content related data. Yet, it was mentioned by some that the usage and analysis of the data could be improved. Since the data collection by each club was more on a national/regional level it is rather difficult to apply the general idea of usage of data in the internationalization process on this level. Some of the clubs where given the scenario of a fan base abroad, identified by data with the question whether they would take any actions to build on the data. For a few, those fan groups would be relevant, but the size would have to be determined. Others stated that they for sure would take actions to involve those fans. There- fore, data would indeed play a crucial role in internationalization for two main reasons. First, the identification of interest abroad and then, for the maintenance of relationships.

5.3.1 Communication Tools

As mentioned before, the commonly used communication tools are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Yet, Respondent (1) stated that YouTube is “a huge platform for us” as they use it to upload highlight videos of the games and had a lot of attention on those videos. The language used for communication by the club is German. However, when filming videos with international players those videos are published in English since they transmit an “emotional message”. Currently, the club is considering switching the language on Instagram to English. However, something to consider is whether “we would exclude a fan by doing so”. Yet, since the team is quite international, the spoken language in the team is English.

62 Respondent (2) as well uses the already introduced communication tools. When communicating, the preferred language for this club is also German. Since the club has cooperation with other institutions, the audience at times is rather young and therefore, unable to comprehend English. Nevertheless, Respondent (2) explained that “when we play internationally, we are obliged to have the website available in English as well as some posts on our social media platforms”. This rule makes it theoretically accessible to an international audience. However, Respondent (2) stresses that the “up-to-datedness” or the club is more important than having the website always available in two languages.

An exception to average used languages is Respondent (3) as their club always uses two languages and is currently also thinking of introducing a third language. Considering the other communication channels, the club is using five channels in total. When they upload content or videos, they do so on every channel. This is due to them wanting “to be as accessible to all our audience as possible. We have an older fan base and thus, we have to make sure everyone can access our content”.

Respondent (4) stated that their main communication channels are Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and that for instance YouTube is only used as a payout channel with no own strategy behind it. “Facebook is our central information hub; a lot of information flow is happening here. On Twitter we have a lot of live communication on game days and use it as a ticker. Instagram on the other hand is also rather game day related”. The main operating language for this club is also German.

Besides the before mentioned communication channels, Respondent (5) also highlighted different methods how they communicate their brand to their fans. Respondent (5) stated that “Besides our social media channels, we also use prints and posters to promote our brand. Moreover, through our sponsors we get additional exposure”. An example given by Respondent (5) for the exposure through a sponsor is for instance that the club is being promoted by a regional radio station. In contrast to the other respondents, the foremost used language for this club is German. However, when they played internationally, certain press releases were also translated to English.

For Respondent (6) the same communication channels as for the others apply. However, compared to the others the club focuses a lot on print media. “We send out press releases on a regular basis. Our distribution list comprises about 1000 companies and persona”. Those press releases are sent out weekly with updates concerning the club. Same as for Respondent (5) the predominantly used language is German with some exceptions in English.

5.3.2 Data Collection and Usage

When it comes to the general data collection and usage, Respondent (1) said that they are constantly tracking their social media numbers. They identified an increase in social media numbers over the past years. Each year their numbers “doubled naturally”. Moreover, they check their data on their website monthly. Respondent (1) stated that “we look at our follower and how big the growth was. Also, when we try something new, we check how it was perceived by the audience”. However, they do not track their data on a grand scale, and they do not use any data base. Also, Google for instance is tracking data auto- matically. Here, the club looks into the numbers also on a monthly basis as well. The

63 usage of the Google data is helping to see which team members were looked up and can hence, target their marketing more directly.

Respondent (4) explained that they are also collecting different types of data such as customer related, market research and social media data. One issue raised by Respondent (4) concerns the data security of their customers. Therefore, the club uses this data more “restrictively and we are trying to ask the customers for their permission to inform them”. Regarding the market research data, the club reviews their values and the target achievement within their target group. Lastly, the social media data collected is revised with respect to how the posts worked and were perceived. When given the scenario of a fan group abroad and corresponding actions, Respondent (4) answered that “if foreign visitors attended a match and contacted us afterwards, we try to enable something special to them. However, those action will not lead us to change our regional strategy”.

In contrast to Respondent (4), Respondent (3) stated that “if we would see a certain interest in an area, we would consider expanding there and start acquiring new sponsors. We would have to analyze the fans and their interests to find a suitable strategy”. Con- cerning the general data collection, the club is using different content management systems, depending on the customer. The collected data is mostly the same as for the other respondents. Yet, Respondent (3) also admitted that the reflected analysis of the data is happening insufficiently at the moment.

The analysis of the data and taking future steps as result of the analysis is something Respondent (2) states the club is at the beginning of doing. Same as the others, data is collected mainly through ticketing and social media. The collected data comprises economic, customer related and general sales data. For their collection of social media data, the club uses the tools provided by those platforms and is differentiating between national and international visitors. When asked about the usage of data in the internationalization, Respondent (2) answered that “data plays a far more important part in the internationalization process as compared to a regional strategy. On a regional scale, we are able to directly communicate with our customers. However, over a long distance it would become challenging to maintain a good relationship”. Moreover, Respondent (2) explained that it is difficult to say which size of fan base elsewhere would be relevant to expand the business to this country, as the internationalization would be a “proactive” strategy by the club.

Respondent (5) explained that “the professional data collection via agencies is too ex- pensive for us”. Therefore, they mainly collect data through their ticketing. Here, they can see who their fans are, how they can contact them and where they are from. Based on the location and linked to their strategy to make a game as accessible as possible for fans, they make special offers to fans that come from further away. Thus, the benefit of their data collection is to know their customers better and target them in a more effective way.

Depending on the data, Respondent (6) elucidated that the available amount depends. An example given was that they have plenty of sponsor related data. Besides that, the club has also access to personal data, attendance related data and economic data. Respondent (6) further explained that data concerning their season ticket holders is the personal data only. However, due to regulations “we can only save their data with their permission”. This means that if the club is not allowed to save any data, targeted marketing would be hindered. Moreover, the club collects more general data and can thus, not say for instance

64 how many times one season ticket holder went to the games. Yet, they know how many season ticket holders went to the games and how many visitors have been to a match, which can be seen as general data without any “personal data”. These data are used for analysis and deviation analysis. When presented the scenario of a fan base abroad and whether they would take any actions to involve those fans in a way, Respondent (6) said that “absolutely. It would also be in our interest to grow this international fan base be it through cooperation”. In the case of this club, they have a small fan group in Germany and through invitations to games, they try to create a stronger relationship with them.

5.4 Internationalization

The internationalization of sports clubs is the main focus of this work. All the other sections are considered supporting actions within the internationalization process of a club. Therefore, the focus in this section is to understand the international ambitions of each club. However, due to the sample consisting of sports clubs that are not the primary sports in the respective country, internationalization was not something most of the clubs con- centrated on.

Yet, most of the clubs did experience some sort of international exposure through, for instance, international competitions or pre-season games abroad. Moreover, there was not one club that did not have any international players. The average number of international staff within a team was 12, consisting of Americans, Canadians and Europeans. There was a correlation between the clubs’ international ambitions and the respective umbrella organizations (DEL, BBL and GFL). One example is the lack of an international competition due to disagreements among different organizations as it is the case in the GFL.

Thinking of the Uppsala model of internationalization, as presented in the sub-chapter 2.6.1,2.6.1 the psychic distance is of relevance for a club when internationalizing. Even though the clubs do not have a focus on internationalization, they were asked which market, in case of a later internationalization, would be interesting for them. A common answer was that markets that were either geographically close or with the same sports culture would be of interest. Moreover, the network perspective was also mentioned by some of the respondents. When having an internationally acting sponsor, it was mentioned that this would indeed help clubs in their internationalization process.

For the clubs that are actually considering expanding internationally, the entry form would be through cooperation with either cities or other local sports clubs. Also, their sponsors network would be beneficial. Having a cooperation with another club would help to overcome cultural differences and deepen the understanding for each other. Here, the term of glocalization as introduced in section 2.4, would be applicable in the case of sports teams as well.

American football is a growing sport, more and more games of the NFL are aired and viewed in other countries besides the USA. In Germany, one TV broadcaster for instance airs matches on a regular data. Thus, according to Respondent (1), the GFL should have used this momentum to promote the sports in Germany and use the opportunity for growth. In 2018, Germany was supposed to host the European championship. However, due to miscommunication it did not happen. Respondent (1) argued that this would have been “the perfect opportunity for international exposure and to attract an area-wide audience”. Moreover, there used to be two distinct international competitions: the European

65 Football League (EFL) and the Big 6. The EFL however, is not comparable to other Eu- ropean competitions in other sports due to the competition having a more monetary orientation. This means that not “the best of the best play against each other but rather the clubs that can afford it. You have to balance whether you have benefits from competing, whether you have the money and also whether you want this liability “. The liability perspective is crucial as American football is rather intense and the recuperation time is longer than for other sports. Although, the Big 6 competition does not exist anymore, the club played a number of games abroad and there was a sort of international exposure. However, the international audience mainly consists of family and friends of international players. For the purpose of more exposure, the club is thinking of playing in the USA. However, not against an NFL club but a college team as the quality of the game is different there. That is also a reason why there are restrictions regarding American and Cana- dian players in the team, as “their understanding of the sport is superior. They are playing way longer than most of our German players”.

Most of the points mentioned by Respondent (1) are correlating with the responses by Respondent (5) regarding the international competitions. Respondent (5) explained that they used to play in the EFL but at one point they had to pay for the other teams travel expenses in order to be able to have this match. Considering the size of an American football team with about 60 people in a team, the travelling costs were high. Moreover, as mentioned before, American football is a fringe sports in other European countries as well. Therefore, the teams at times are rather on amateur level and thus the quality of the game varies immensely. Respondent (5) highlighted that “our focus is that the German market gets penetrated. I don’t think that the full potential is used, especially with regard to the whole NFL hype that is going on at the moment. We are profiting from the fact that the NFL is more present on the German market”. Those statements prove that the organization behind a sport has indeed a direct influence on the internationalization or simply the exposure and growth of a sport. Further, thanks to the NFL, German clubs would have the opportunity to present their sports to a new audience. As stated, “if people would come to our games and bring their friends, our chance to professionalize the sports further would grow”. The problem occurring is that a lot of potential is wasted to penetrate the home market. If the home market would be saturated, expansion to other countries would be a consideration and only in this case it would make sense to talk about a professional international competition.

In comparison to American football, the Basketball league has a functioning European competition, the EuroLeague. In the case of Respondent (2) the aim is to play permanently in the European competition and to win titles. Thus, they want to use the European market as their focus is to become a European top team in the long run. Respondent (2) explained that their international ambitions are in line with those of the EuroLeague: “We had a meeting of the European clubs in New York where the new strategy regarding internationalization was introduced. This meeting provided us with the opportunity of networking with both, European and other international clubs.” As the NBA is already a strong brand, the question emerged how much they would compete with the NBA in their own internationalization process. The club has answered the question internally by thinking more about a cooperation between the organizations. They had serious conversations with the NBA Europe. Respondent (2) claimed that it should not be “fighting against each other but rather cooperate and promote the sport together to use the power of the brand for the joint internationalization.” Further, there are already considerations to establish an NBA center in Europe for talent selection etc. The benefits would be the cooperation

66 itself, as the different clubs would work together, and the foreign clubs could benefit from the local network. Also, playing abroad is something the club has already considered. It was mentioned that the Chinese market would be more attractive as the general interest in basketball is quite high there. Moreover, Respondent (2) was not sure whether there would be an interest on the side of an NBA club to have a friendly match.

Regarding the Chinese market, Respondent (3) also stated that for the sports of basketball this market is quite interesting. The overall interest in the sports there is quite high, and the market is not as saturated as others and does hence, offer growth potential. Further- more, the label “Made in Germany” is a characteristic valued by the Chinese population as it transmits a degree of quality. As the theory suggests one of the reasons for internationalization is growth. Respondent (3) explained: “We have to grow, that is for sure and also given by the regulations of the organization. It gets harder and harder to get the license for playing in the league.” Regarding the organization, their goal is to overtake Spain and Italy in the European ranking. Moreover, the national sponsoring money is already distributed, with the majority allocated to soccer, according to Respondent (3) and therefore, to grow further, a club will need more international partners. Partners are crucial in the internationalization process and also something the club would definitely use in their strategy. The growth perspective is also to improve the sporting situation and be internationally present. For the international exposure, playing abroad was something the club considered and is doing for their pre-season games.

Another line of argumentation can be found when turning to the German ice hockey league. Respondent (4) explained that internationalization at this point does not make sense for them. “It doesn’t make any sense to look at other markets since the German market still offers a lot of potential”. There is an international competition for ice hockey, the Champions Hockey League, where the teams try to be competitive. Currently, Ger- many ranges between fourth or fifth position in ice hockey in Europe behind those countries where ice hockey is the popular sports (Sweden, Norway, Czech Republic) when it comes to the national leagues. Thus, establishing the sport in Germany by “increasing the quality, recognition and sympathy for the product ice hockey” are among the top priorities. Those priorities are also in correspondence with the organization’s ambitions. A cooperation between clubs and organization is important as it would potentially strengthen the sport by having for instance a well-performing national team. Having a strong national team, that is organized and structured by the DEL, is also due to the work of the clubs and can benefit the exposure of the sport in Germany. Overall, internationalization is clearly not in the focus of the ice hockey clubs. However, for a hypothetical internationalization in the future, Respondent (4) considered two decision factors as relevant: “the general interest in the sport in this country and also the economic value of the market”. Nevertheless, for their current situation, Respondent (4) does not think about other markets as there is still a lot of potential to grow within the home market.

Compared to other European soccer leagues, the Austrian one is rather small. Interest- ingly, the league orientate itself a lot by the German Bundesliga. An example is that the times of the games do not overlap with the times in Germany as they would directly compete for audience. Based on that information, Respondent (6) explained that their main goal is to be well-established on their home market prior to considering internationalization. Furthermore, in a few years they would like to compete in an international competition which is due to the league being rather small within reach. Another advantage of the small size of the Austrian soccer league is that through the Cup des Österreichischen

67 Fußball-Bundes (ÖFB Cup, Austrian Soccer Association), a club can qualify for the Eu- ropean championship by winning seven games. For future internationalization potential, interesting markets would be the German market as well as the Italian market. Those markets would support the idea of psychic distance in the Uppsala model as those markets are rather close in culture. When asked about other markets, the response was “markets outside of Europe are rather unrealistic”. However, a strength of the club when internationalizing would be one of their current sponsors as it is an international brand. There- fore, their network could potentially support their internationalization attempts.

68 6. Discussion

In this chapter, the empirical findings are analyzed and discussed with respect to the theories presented in the theoretical chapter 2. Based on the analysis and discussion, a deeper understanding of the influences in the internationalization process will be gained.

6.1 Brand Management

Managing a brand is part of the daily task of a marketer. Different considerations have to be done in order to not harm the brand in any way. D. Aaker’s (1991) framework of brand equity is indeed a helpful tool for establishing a successful brand, when used appropriately. For the purpose of this analysis, the four main concepts of brand equity are put in relation to the collected data.

Brand awareness describes the ability of a customer to identify a brands recognition factor under different conditions. The importance of the brand recognition factor was highlighted by several interviewees. Their aim is to establish this factor to increase their clubs brand awareness. One of the issues in the sports industry is that it depends quite a lot on the customers themselves for establishing brand awareness. To exemplify this statement: Fans in, for instance, the BBL or GFL will easily recognize other clubs within the same league as the clubs are well known. However, the interest can be linked to the general interest in the sport. Thus, if a survey would be conducted to analyze the recognition factor of the German Bundesliga clubs, the probable outcome would be that there is a rather high recognition factor. One possible reason is that soccer is the dominant sport in Germany and has a broad scope and reach due to media rights and coverage. When conducting the same survey for other sports, the outcome would probably be different.

Bringing this scenario to the brand awareness and the question of how valuable brand awareness is in the sports industry, one could say to a high extent. The interviewees referred to their brands as regional brands with the aim of expanding their reach nationally. Also, most of them stated that creating brand recognition is indeed crucial to broaden the reach. Having brand awareness in sports also means attracting more sponsors who in turn will support the growth of a club. However, they were aware that this is a difficult task as the dominant sport is soccer. Furthermore, as sports is not a classical product, one needs differentiators to be identifiable from the competition for having a constant. Usu- ally the name is the core indicator of a brand. Yet, as name changes are common in sports, a constant are the logos of the clubs. Surely, logos can also be changed but normally, there are only slight changes and the main indicator stays the same. Nevertheless, this argument mainly holds true in the case of the BBL and DEL as having a sponsor’s brand in the name is not forbidden, as it is the case in the Bundesliga.

Building brand awareness is closely connected to the creation of brand associations. Brand associations, as discussed in Chapter 2.2.3, have the potential to strengthen a brand by linking it to a customer´s mind. Most clubs have specific values that help to charac- terize it and form a perception they want to reach. However, a model that could be helpful for clubs in the identification of their brand associations would be the brand mapping concept introduced by John et al. (2006) as it suggests two fundamental points. Firstly, brands can, by mapping out their brand, see how they are perceived and whether those perceptions are in line with their own core values. Secondly, positive brand associations

69 help to keep customers. Interviewees mentioned that they performed a research to see how they are perceived by their fans. Based on those findings, a club can work on a fitting strategy. Commonly mentioned characteristics by the interviewees were “familiar, regional, emotional” which is interesting considering the different sports. As mentioned in a previous section, the assumption of similarities can be problematic as individual preferences are neglected (Norris et al., 2015). Norris et al. (2015) link this assumption only to fans and not to other areas. Therefore, discovering that the interviewed clubs share common brand characteristics was surprising. Finding that there are similarities among different sports gives the opportunity for further discussion whether one can assume parallels in sports brands. Based on the findings one can say that there are definitely similarities. Possible reason for the identification of those could be the size and position of the clubs in their leagues. Seemingly, the clubs are all in a rather comparable situation. Be- sides those, another finding was for instance that regionality was mentioned by all the clubs which can be used for the own benefits of brand building for two main reasons.

Having a strong emphasis on locality, connects people within one region and gives them a reason for loyalty. Moreover, in the internationalization, the regional factor could be both a good promotion tool as national pride is something quite many countries have and live or an obstacle. The latter refers to the problem of a fan living abroad that cannot fully “experience” the regional club as the distance might be too far. The positive affect on the other hand goes in line with the idea of “glocalization” where the companies go global but think local. However, understanding the other culture might be a challenging task, making use of it could be promising which was also highlighted by Knight and de Wit (1997). As the clubs mentioned, their main focus will primarily stay on the regional market and later on, an expansion could be possible.

The second main reason is that regionality can transmit the feeling of approachability as the emphasis is on connecting with people living in that region. This argument can be supported by the given sample as there were two types of rejections in the data collection phase. On the one hand, clubs denied their support due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the corresponding changes in staff. The other side consists of almost all German Bun- desliga clubs who denied because of too many requests. Having too many requests might be the actual case however, the rejection was an automated response and quite general- izable. Henceforth, the associations those clubs transmitted were a feeling of unapproach- able and to a certain degree of arrogance which can be seen as negative associations. The clubs with a stronger emphasis on regionality, however, showed their accessibility and willingness to cooperate. Considering those brand associations in a potential internationalization process, the clubs would have quite high chances of gaining a fan base due to the transmission of the feeling of approachability and understanding. This statement can be supported by one response given by an interviewee that says that they try to reply to each fan´ message. Showing the willingness to communicate can transmit approachability.

This finding coincides with the findings by Cheng-Hsui Chen (2001) who found that strong brands have to put more effort in creating brand associations than weaker brands. The Bundesliga is a strong brand and has a rather high recognition factor globally whereas other leagues are still in the development phase. Being in the development phase can be an opportunity as establishing brand associations might be easier. Bringing this opportunity to the current situation where it is discussed whether the leagues should continue or be cancelled, failing would mean negative brand associations. Ten of the BBL clubs

70 want to finish up the season and the Bundesliga is currently still discussing and waiting for approval of the government. If the leagues are continued, even with the current pan- demic of COVID-19, failing would be an immense image damage, as the leagues would gain a lot of attention due to the disruption of other leagues. However, if everything runs smoothly, the gained attention would be beneficial for leagues such as the BBL. Finding the right balance is indeed a challenging task for the clubs. The sports industry and its unique characteristics are a huge business and in the case of the clubs, those decisions are financially relevant. Nevertheless, the question one could ask what would affect the club more: a disrupted season or a harm in the brand? Answering this question is quite difficult as the clubs have contracts, they need to fulfill and disrupting a season could mean severe financial difficulties. Harming the brand on the other hand could jeopardize previous work on establishing it. Yet again, the regional values of a club can influence those decisions.

Nevertheless, such as decision by the leagues can form the character and future of a club and could therefore become part of their brand personality (see Chapter 2.2.4). As a sports club, possible traits could be successful, sportive, hard working or traditional. Those different personality traits make each club unique and people might be able to identify with it. Brand personalities can, as highlighted by Smith et al. (2006) lead to an increased sports participation. Yet, brand personalities in the sports industry are influenced by the product being unpredictable. Hence, communication is crucial to show the clubs personality and also to separate the product from the organization. The separation of the sports product from the organization was done by at least two clubs, as they mentioned different projects, they are involved in. Due to those projects, the brands form their unique personality traits. Moreover, the regional personality trait the clubs showed creates a bound between club and fans. One issue with brand personality as presented in the theoretical chapter is that it is rather difficult to distinguish between personality and association. From the interviews the characteristics mentioned were more relatable to the associations and less to the clubs’ personality. Only a few respondents mentioned traits such as “hard working” or “social” that could fit the theory of brand personality. From another angle, a sponsor would potentially also have to share those values or personality traits by a club to not harm the brand. Hence, sports outfitters are usually always involved in sponsoring. Nike for example has the personality traits of active lifestyle, inspirational, excit- ing and cool and is hence, for people that are into fitness and a healthy lifestyle (Nike, 2020). A sports club can have rather similar traits, one common trait is the healthy lifestyle.

The sharing of those personality traits on both sides, the sponsor and the customer side, are fundamental for creating loyalty. Brand loyalty is one of the most important concepts in the brand equity model of a sports club as fans and sponsors are two essential groups. Each interviewee was able to identify the core fan base of the club and sponsors. On average, each club had at least 80 sponsors; the numbers of the fans varied among clubs. Also, a common statement was “we want to provide our customers with the best experience possible”. Providing the fan with a positive experience might lead them to return and “buy” the product again. Therefore, customer satisfaction is crucial as it ensures a more stable following even when a season does not turn out successfully as was also identified by Gladden and Funk (2001). An interesting thought here is to think of the differences in fan base among sports. All interviewed clubs, besides one, were fringe sports in Germany and low in popularity. Therefore, one could make the assumption that the core fan base of the clubs has a higher degree of loyalty compared to other sports.

71 Soccer for instance is omnipresent and the clubs within the league are well known and so are the locations. In American football, basketball or ice hockey one could not immediately state which city has a club. The argument is that people attending matches in those sports are either really into the sport, team or both which can indicate loyalty. However, there is no research done in this area which leaves this argument to be purely speculative.

Thinking of brand loyalty in the internationalization process of a club there are three potential perspectives: the fans, the sponsors and the clubs. Clubs usually have a fan base in their city or region, which was also mentioned by the interviewees. It is rather difficult to expand the sports brand nationally for certain reasons. One reason being that the competition in the sports industry is fierce and interests differ. Furthermore, some sports have the advantage of already being well established which was also found within the data and aligns with Hill and Vincent (2006). Another reason is that the sponsoring money is already distributed and without this money the growth of a club is complicated. When establishing the brand internationally, new opportunities emerge such as a growing fan base and new potential sponsors. Nevertheless, loyalty, to a certain degree, ensures the financial success of a club.

Fans on the other hand are important on a local level as those are the ones visiting a match, buying the merchandise and also create an atmosphere at the games. As an internationalization attempt, the NFL started to have one club playing one of their home games of each season in London. What it means is that local fans in the USA might not be able to attend one of their teams’ home games. For the club, the gained exposure however, could potentially bring new followers to the club. The interviewees where asked about their opinion regarding this idea and almost all stated that the idea is not bad but not really viable as it would harm the local fan base and hence, their loyalty and brand. However, friendly matches in the pre-season are quite common among the clubs. Those pre-season games are common in the Bundesliga where some clubs are having summer tours either in China or the USA to promote their brand/club and increase their scope.

Lastly, the sponsor perspective in the internationalization process of a club is to be ad- dressed. As mentioned before, the national sponsoring money is mostly distributed to sports teams and athletes, at least in Germany, according to one of the interviewees. Therefore, international sponsors become a point of interest of each club. One consideration to be made here is that international sponsors can be seen two folded. There are sponsors that are global brands such as Adidas and there are local sponsors in other countries, that could be targeted by a club for their growth strategy. A global brand could help promoting the brand internationally. Local sponsors abroad could support a club for building up a network. Nevertheless, the important part is that a sponsor being loyal and committed would be beneficial for a club as only then long-term plans can be established.

In summary, brand equity for a club is a crucial concept as clubs are brands and have to be promoted as such. Each club interviewed described themselves as a brand and named different characteristics for each of the underlying concepts of brand equity. Most important is the recognition factor each club aims for and the perception they transmit to their customers. In a potential internationalization, having an established brand will be helpful as it promotes the cause and is thus, a direct influence in the internationalization process. Moreover, a brand can ensure stability due to loyal customers. Loyalty is a major concept in sports with the two groups consisting of fans and sponsors. As those are

72 important parts of each club, the following section will analyze how the interviewed clubs manage their relationship with them.

6.2 Relationship Management and Marketing

Fans and sponsors are fundamental for each club. Therefore, it is not surprising that the clubs were taking care of both by trying to establish a lasting relationship. The regional factor was again, a commonly commented trait in the relationship building of each club. Based on the interviews, it was found that relationships in sports are usually part of the communication mix of a club and could be considered as a triangle:

Club

Sponsor Fan

Figure 5: Relationship Triangle The triangle represents the relationship among the club, sponsors and fans. The club is the connecting part between sponsor and fans. Sponsors support a club and by their advertisement they want to communicate with the fans of a club. The fans are the recipients of the advertisement and the supporters of the club. In the following, the relationships will be further discussed separately.

6.2.1 Fans

Knowing and understanding what matters for a fan is crucial in order to be able to target those fans more directly. This goes in line with Han et al. (2015) who stated that for establishing a long-term relationship it is helpful to understand a fans motivation.

In sports, there can be different motivations to attend a game such as the love for the sport, meeting friends, amusement. Yet, there are other, more negative, motivations for instance people searching for a fight. For the interviewees, their fans were more positively motivated as they attend either because of the sport or because of the friendly atmosphere in the stadium. The friendly atmosphere is connected to the club’s identities as they all communicate a feeling of familiarity and regionality. Hence, their fans most likely feel a connection and relatedness. Most of them stated that their fans attend their games with their families. Since the clubs seem to understand their fans motivation, the clubs can take direct actions to keep those fans coming and create an effective communication strategy. This finding can be seen in relation to the findings by James and Ross (2004) and Kim and Trail (2010) as the fans of the interviewed clubs were socially motivated.

Communicating with the fans can reveal helpful information for the clubs, also in an eventual internationalization. The interviewed clubs all had a direct communication or

73 via social media channels with their fans. Moreover, another common communication point mentioned was on game days. As communication is crucial one can draw a relation between relationship management and brand management. The relation between those two concepts is that a closer relationship with fans can highlight flaws in the brand. An example is that if a club wants to be perceived in a certain way, it has to communicate it to their fans. The fans can either support the perception or express a discrepancy and the club can work on a strategy to change or further communicate those perceptions. How- ever, a problem is that this can be dependent on the level of recognition. The better a club is established, the harder it can get to change certain perceptions. Generally, having a direct communication can prove helpful as flaws can be detected early on and changed immediately.

An interesting perspective on relationship management with fans was mentioned by Re- spondent (5) as their fans are directly involved on game days since they support the club as volunteers. Here, the connection between club and fans is especially close. The benefit for a club of those relationships is a constant and direct feedback. Other clubs use their fan clubs or fan representatives for that purpose. Respondent (1) explained that they send out individual messages of the players to their fans. In an internationalization process, the closeness to a club could be diminished due to different factors such as distance or language. However, this is where clubs can communicate via social media platform with their fans abroad and establish a relationship. One could consider the relationship management in sports as a balancing act as the interviewees mentioned that they always aim for not excluding any fan. When going abroad, the local relationship has to be maintained while at the same time establishing a new one on the foreign market.

When establishing new relationships abroad the risk of a club assuming similarities based on the interest in the sports occurs, as also mentioned before, according to Norris et al. (2015). By understanding the fans and having a relationship, differences among different groups can be identified. This is connected to the motivations of a fan attending a match. The interviewees stated that they have different groups that attend a match. One potential factor distinguishing one group from another could be age. In the internationalization, clubs should not assume similarities of fans since the overall sports consumption differs. For some visitors, visiting an arena, should be more like an event and the sports becomes secondary, just thinking of the Super Bowl and the different groups watching it. Gener- ally, there are about three different groups watching this event: the group actually interested in the sport, the group who wants to spend time with their friends and lastly, the group who only watches for the commercials (MIQ, 2020). This example shows that for establishing a relationship, differences have to be considered and targeted individually.

6.2.2 Sponsors

Coming from the fan perspective of the relationship, to the club’s relationship with their sponsors. In a potential internationalization, sponsors might be more influential than the fans. Clubs have to maintain a certain level of sponsors in order to stay economically viable. The average number of sponsors each club interviewed had, was about 80. Not only sports brands are common sponsors, but also companies of almost all industries such as law firms, restaurants or technical firms, as explained by an interviewee. The list of sponsors of the interviewees shows a large variety. Thinking of this variety in the internationalization process, it can prove helpful as different experiences and knowledges can be provided by a sponsor. Therefore, maintaining a closer relationship is crucial.

74 Moreover, sponsoring usually is a relationship that can be mutually beneficial, for the sponsor and the club. This can also be seen in Figure 5, where the relationships are represented in a triangular form. However, there has to be a right fit in order for the relationship to be long lasting. The clubs have their identity, but so has the sponsor. Surely, even if the same values are not shared to a full extent, a sponsor can still be helpful. Since most of the clubs had a regional identity, their sponsors are mostly regional companies. The number of international sponsors was rather small. Furthermore, it was mentioned by a respondent that even though the sponsor has an international scope, in their case the sponsors intention was more location-based. For the club this means that the sponsor does not communicate their support internationally. One could argue that this behavior is a missed opportunity for further exposure for the club. Nevertheless, it depends on the club’s ambitions and communication strategy. For a club aiming to go internationally this would be a missed occasion whereas for a club that wants to be established on the home market the sponsor is a valuable partner.

The relationship from the perspective of the sponsor is beneficial, as their brand gets exposure. Therefore, some businesses use the relationship as part of their communication mix, as was also verified by the interviewees. Here, the intentions of sponsoring have to be understood. One interviewee explained for instance that one of their sponsors had a personal connection to the club and is therefore, supporting the club. However, there is also the other side where it is purely business related. Sponsoring a club means additional brand representation which can lead to an increase in revenue for the company.

Cobbs (2011) suggested that clubs can take a mediating role among all of their sponsors. New business opportunities for a company can result from this network of sponsors. Each of the interviewed clubs had specific events for their sponsors where they have the chance of meeting and exchanging contacts. Moreover, other touchpoints mentioned were the game days, where the sponsors can meet as well. Usually, sponsors attend games to either socialize or to assure that their advertisement is working.

Going back to the introduced triangle in Figure 5, there is also a relationship between sponsor and fan represented. Cobbs (2011) idea could also be implemented here. One interviewee mentioned that one of their sponsors attends the pre-game party and directly interacts with the fans. Therefore, they are also directly in touch with their potential new customers. Yet, such a connection might prove more difficult when internationalizing, depending on the sponsor. If the club cooperates with local sponsors, a natural relationship with local fans could be established.

Overall, relationships are crucial for a club. On the one hand, a club needs its fans as their loyalty ensures the economic success of a club. For the establishing and maintaining of the relationship, the interviewed clubs were in contact with their fans either direct or via social media and put some effort into their actions. Then, on the other hand the relationship with the sponsors is critical as growing and improving the club’s situation is only possible with sponsoring money and support. Hosting special events, where the sponsors meet and have the opportunity for exchange, are commonly used in the sports industry

6.3 Communication and Data Usage

The importance of communication was briefly introduced in Chapter 6.2, as effective communication can be helpful in establishing and maintaining relationships. Yet, a more

75 in-depth analysis of the communication channels used by the clubs is missing and also how those channels could potentially influence an internationalization. Moreover, the data usage was not discussed previously which can, however, be a driver for internationalization.

Mutual communication channels used by the clubs were social media platforms, their website and a direct communication via representatives. The used social media platforms were Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Using those platforms allows the clubs an easier communication among all groups. The direct communication, stated by the respondents, coincides with the findings by Hollebeek, Glynn and Brodie (2014) who claimed that social media channels enable a direct communication. However, it was said that it depends on the fan which media channel is applied, as more recent social media platforms such as TikTok are not used by older fans. Therefore, the right communication mix, according to the respondents, has to be established to not exclude one fan. This finding is connected to the relationship management, as a fan that has difficulties finding information and feels excluded would perceive the relationship as something negative. However, by always keeping in mind the customer, a company might miss opportunities that could be beneficial for them. The flow of information is an advantage of today’s communication channels as it is faster and easier. Therefore, a club that only focuses on certain platforms may neglect other fans that would prefer those. Based on that, knowing the channels and having a strategy is beneficial in an eventual internationalization as it ascertains a degree of flexibility for a club.

The social media channels were not only used to communicate with fans but also for promotional purposes which is in contrast to Kevin-Tseng and Johnsen (2011) who stated that the internet is mainly used for communication and to a lesser extent for marketing. Yet, the part about the communication still holds true, the marketing perspective has changed over the past nine years. Firstly, the term internet comprises more than only the World Wide Web, social media platforms are part of the internet. Thus, social media platforms are commonly used for promotional purposes. They enable a club to promote either their team or their merchandise on those platforms, while at the same time posting relevant information for their fans. Furthermore, it also allows sponsors to communicate their brand, product or service on those platforms. Nevertheless, the commercial side of the sports industry has to be considered, especially in the case of the interviewed clubs. Due to the current crisis, the clubs face new challenges. Most of them stated that, unlike in soccer, they would not be able to play without an audience, as the audience is one important source of income. Yet, over social media, the clubs can still keep in touch with their fans and update them as well with their sponsors. This could be used as an example for the differences in sports. Depending of the popularity of the sports opportunities and challenges for clubs differ.

Since communication became easier over the past years, technological advancements can definitely be seen as a driver for internationalization. However, there are limitations to the usage of technology in internationalizing such as language. For all clubs the predominant language was German. English, on the other hand, was used only by a few of the clubs. Language, however, can be seen as a crucial part in the internationalization process as it is part of the culture of another country. Moreover, as Fleischmann and Fleischmann (2019) found that using the language of the other market can be a success factor in internationalizing. Thus, social media platforms or generally technological advancements can facilitate the internationalization when adapted to the needs of the respective country.

76 When looking at clubs that are already in the internationalization process one can observe that those clubs’ websites are available in many different languages. Therefore, adapting by changing the language of websites, social media etc. would be a first step to win people over, as they feel respected and understood and establish relationships. Interestingly, one club was actually considering launching a Chinese version of their communication channels, as China is perceived as a promising market.

The decision as of why to enter a new market and what influences the decision besides growth was something under analysis in this thesis. The main idea was to see to what extent clubs use data in their internationalization process. However, as most of the clubs are not in the state of internationalizing yet, it was rather challenging to find a connection between the usage of data and internationalization.

All clubs were collecting several kinds of data such as attendance related data, economic data or social media data. Important to mention is that data was partly collected automat- ically which means that the clubs had data available they were not concentrating on and process it. It was also stated that the analysis of the data needs improvement. Interestingly, the clubs tracked for instance how well their promotions were perceived which definitely negates the argument by Kevin-Tseng and Johnsen (2011) that the internet is used more for communication. This, however, exemplifies that clubs not only use their platforms for marketing purposes but also evaluate the received data.

One issue that was also highlighted by two of the respondents is the lacking efficiency of usage of the data. Due to regulations, the data collection is at times not as easy. Moreover, not only the collection is an issue but also the evaluation and usage for own purposes is complicated. This finding goes in line with the argument by Derojeda et al. (2015) who stated that the efficiency of data usage is not always given due to regulations. However, in the case of the clubs, the main issue was the personal data which was solved by asking the individuals for permission to further inform them. Yet, if data should be used for internationalization, the efficiency should be warranted in order to avoid unnecessary costs.

To understand how the clubs would potentially make use of data, some of them were presented with the scenario of a fan group abroad and asked what they would do. The idea was to test whether they would take any options to make it worth or if they would neglect this group. The answers differed from taking actions, maybe taking actions to no actions. The underlying problem mentioned by all respondents was that they did not know which number of fans abroad would be beneficial to take any actions. This makes sense as the clubs are regional brands and not as financially strong as for instance the Bun- desliga clubs.

Nevertheless, it was confirmed that data indeed would become critical in the internationalization process of a club. Respondent (3) stressed that the data would be analyzed to understand the fan on site to plan accordingly. Moreover, local sponsors would be acquired to strengthen the brand and to take advantage of the sponsors local knowledge. Taking such actions would actually help a club to grow. This is, however, not commonly used. Therefore, the direct data usage in the internationalization process can be neglected. Yet, it does not make the data less valuable for a club. At least they would gain a first impression, where their brand gets awareness and could consider taking actions.

77 To sum this chapter up, one can say that communication channels and data are indeed important for clubs. Furthermore, clubs are following technological trends and make use of those to target their customers directly. However, by neglecting other social media platforms, clubs’ risk to miss opportunities. By using those media clubs gain an understanding of both their customers and their own marketing efforts. Although, different data sets are collected, the analysis of those could be improved and taken more advantage of. Moreover, even though data can influence the internationalization of a club, bigger clubs and leagues have more means to do so. Data helps a club to understand an initial interest. However, the evaluation of taking any actions has to be performed carefully. Therefore, in the case of the analyzed clubs, one can say that data is used but not fully in their internationalization approaches.

6.4 Internationalization

As the purpose of this thesis is to understand what potential influential factors are in the internationalization of sports clubs, this section connects the previously mentioned sections to a holistic picture. The aim of this interview section was to understand the clubs overall international ambitions. During the interviews, factors influencing internationalization became salient, even by considering the size of the clubs and their position on the local market. A few clubs indicated international ambitions. The majority, however, is focusing more on the home market for now. Nevertheless, there are several factors that potentially influence the internationalization such as international exposure, team members, league, partnerships or the choice of market. In the following, each influence will be discussed.

6.4.1 International Exposure

Each club was asked whether they recently experienced any international exposure. Un- der international exposure it was understood any type of international competition. The reasoning behind it was to understand if the club is purely nationally involved or if they played internationally. Playing internationally brings exposure which in return leads to an increased recognition factor for a club. Regarding the international competitions, a few clubs used to play internationally. More commonly are pre-season games abroad for prep- aration. However, those games usually do not attract a broad audience. Nevertheless, international competitions have several advantages to a club that could influence the internationalization.

One of the advantages is the potential to improve the own brand. The interviewees confirmed that their clubs are all brands. Going with the stage model by Richelieu et al. (2008) the clubs are currently either local or regional brands. The next stage would be the national brand. Thinking of the sports interest, fans of ice hockey would know the clubs playing in the league and thus the brands do experience national exposure to a certain degree. Yet, as it was highlighted by a few respondents it is quite difficult to establish a brand on a national level. Therefore, there might be a chance that clubs leapfrog this stage as other, international markets seem more attractive. Skipping a stage is nothing uncom- mon in the internationalization process and hence, supports the findings by Welch and Luostarine (1988). Having international exposure could improve their overall situation and bring more attention to the club. Moreover, playing internationally usually means

78 that the team had played a strong season and thus, the brand recognition theoretically increases.

Playing internationally furthermore has the advantage of attracting new sponsors. The better a club performs the more sponsors are attracted. International competitions usually require a qualification in the league. In the BBL, for example, the national championship winner plays in the EuroLeague, the second placed plays in the qualification for this international competition. The positions three to eight can qualify for the Eurocup. In Amer- ican football there is no well-functioning international competition at all. Moreover, as stated by the respondents, the standard in the other European American football leagues compared to the own league, is pretty low. Therefore, a direct competition is rather complicated, and the potential international exposure diminishes. Compared to other sports, those leagues are challenged to attract more sponsors in order to be able to grow and improve the team. An international competition would mean additional exposure and thus, attraction of international brands.

In other leagues, the international exposure is reached with the deterritorialization of the sport. Here, one has to consider the difference in leagues compared to any European league, the international exposure is not given through international competitions except for team members playing in national teams. The NBA for instance has played games in Mexico City and the NFL in London. Playing home games outside of the country does, however, affect the local fan base. Because of that the interviewed clubs were not considering having home games abroad. Nevertheless, they agreed that it might be a good opportunity when internationalizing. The decision to play a home game abroad has to be balanced out carefully. On the first glance, the idea of deterritorialization of sports seems tempting as it can expose a club to another market. Here, one could argue that the Amer- ican clubs care less about their local fans than the European ones. However, the problem is not only the willingness of the clubs to play a home match abroad but also the permission by the leagues. Further, other challenges emerge such as contracts and costs. Playing abroad could mean that a club would not be able to fulfill a contact while having high travelling costs. Each club would have to evaluate the benefits and costs of such actions before deciding.

One of the advantages of playing internationally is the attraction of new talent. The chances of hiring talents increases with the offers a club can make. There are players that are fine with just playing in a national league mainly for gaining experience. However, there are also players that want the success and want to play internationally. The motivations might be to qualify for the national team or for another club. International players could be an influence for the internationalization of a club. Thus, the following section will discuss this topic in more depth.

6.4.2 Team

In sports it is not unlikely that the members of a team have different nationalities. There- fore, it was not surprising that each team had several international team members from different countries. However, in each sport interviewed, there are restrictions regarding the number of international players. There were two different ways of restrictions either it was squad related or match related. If it was squad related, they were only able to have a certain number of international players in their squad. This was mostly in American football the case, regarding players coming from the US or Canada. The explanation is

79 that they have a better understanding of the sport as others and are therefore, a competitive advantage. The other type was common in both basketball and ice hockey, where they can have international players but only a certain number is allowed in the game day squad. Additionally, they have restrictions regarding the overall number of international players in the team.

Since all teams have international players in their team, an obvious assumption was that those players bring international attention to the teams. This assumption however, proved to be false as it was stated that most of the times, only friends and family of the international team members watch the matches. There are possible explanations why this is the case. One explanation is the origin of those players. Considering for example an Ameri- can playing basketball or American football in Germany where the sport is more secondary compared to the USA. The problem is that both American leagues, the NBA and NFL, are way bigger and have a different status in America compared to the BBL and GFL in Germany. Therefore, those leagues can be considered as direct competition. Moreover, the respondents also said that it is unlikely to gain attention by the international players. A reason for this can be the different time zones as they can hinder a person from watching a match. Surely, it once again depends on the personal motivation as of why someone watches a match in the first place.

Yet, there is actually potential using international players for internationalization. Riche- lieu et al. (2008) established a framework trying to explain a sports team’s internationalization. There, the term brand conquistador was introduced that expresses a club’s alliance with a local team in a foreign market. Forming an alliance with a foreign club is actually quite common in sports as shown by, for instance, Manchester United. Based on this, respondent (3) explained that they are considering forming an alliance with a Chi- nese club. This alliance would facilitate the possibility of importing a Chinese player in the future. Given this scenario and the current trends in technology, having a local player that is well-known in a Chinese region, could bring attention to the club. The player could be used as a testimonial on social media.

Interestingly, the regional character could still hold true when promoted appropriately, which coincides with the findings by Cheng et al. (2005) and Johri and Petison (2008) that localization can be beneficial in the internationalization process. Even though, localization refers to promoting a brand by local sponsorships or local advertisement, the term could be expanded and applied to the sports industry. Adding the local player perspective could prove helpful for the brand as well.

Bearing in mind the before mentioned arguments, team members could potentially be an influence in the internationalization of a club or at least for promotional purposes. How- ever, none of the interviewed clubs experienced any more international attention through their players, except for friends and family. Nonetheless, there is a huge potential to make use of the international members.

6.4.3 Leagues

In previous works dealing with the internationalization of sports clubs, there was no discussion to what extent the different leagues interfere with the ambitions of a club. While interviewing the clubs however, it became apparent that the leagues do have a direct influence in the internationalization process and ambitions of a club in different ways.

80 Looking at the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) for instance, one notices that internationalization is an important topic. Christian Seifert, general manager of the DFL, recently explained that the German clubs have to pursue internationalization more intensely (DFL, 2019). From the perspective of a German Bundesliga club, internationalizing seems slightly easier than for any other club of any other league. Soccer is, as mentioned several times, the predominant sport in Germany. The media exposure is immense, soccer has the most media time of all sports in Germany (Cassalette, 2017). The respondents under- lined those findings. Only considering their “media exposure”, the clubs used Magenta Sport, Sport 1 or other streaming services and not the more common ones such as Sky. The respondents explained that those are rather small opportunities to expose the brand nationally.

The BBL seems to come closest, from all represented leagues in this study, to having any international ambitions. Respondent (3) clarified that the leagues statutes are changing a lot. Therefore, clubs that want to play in the highest league have to grow and gain more sponsoring money in order to get the license. Moreover, there were meetings regarding the topic of internationalization in the USA. Both clubs interviewed expressed their willingness and considerations for internationalization. Also, both clubs stated that the aim is to establish the team permanently in the international competitions. Playing internationally, as stated above, ensures more exposure for a club and thus growth. Based on those findings, the assumption that the league takes part in international considerations seemed reasonable.

To support this finding, one can take the example of the GFL as an argument. Surely, one still has to consider that American football is even smaller than basketball in Germany. However, the GFL is one of the strongest leagues in Europe and suffers under the mis- management among the leagues. According to the two interviewed clubs, there were and are actual chances to promote the sport at least nationally. One chance was the holding of the European championship in Germany in 2018, which Finland was holding in the end without the participation of Germany. At the moment, Germany does not even have a national team and can thus not be represented in any international competition of such kind. The interviewees explained that there are disagreements between the different organizations. To exemplify this, there were actually two organizations claiming to be the international association (Jahns, 2018). The other chance of promoting the sport, at least nationally, was with the increased coverage of NFL games on German television. The respondents claimed that this would have been a great opportunity to show their sport. However, the president of the American Football Verband Deutschland (AFVD) stated in an interview that they cannot share the so-called NFL hype since they experienced a growth in their membership size over the past ten years. Moreover, he stated that if there is a relation between the growth in Germany and the NFL hype than that the NFL profits from the positive trend in Germany (Hamburger Abendblatt, 2019). Yet, both interviewed clubs explained that they perceive the situation to be vice-versa; the GFL is profiting from the increased interest in the NFL.

In the case of the DEL, the league has no clear position regarding internationalization per se. However, it was mentioned that the DEL at least tries to have a strong national team. Having a strong national team can also increase a club’s recognition factor as those are the ones training the individual players. Yet, one could say that the ambitions in this league are to establish the sport firstly on the national market and use the potential there before internationalizing. All DEL clubs are part of the alliance of European Hockey

81 Clubs (EHC). The task of the alliance is to represent the clubs in other sports institutions and represent their interests. Goal is to strengthen the clubs organizational and financial tier (DEL, 2020). This example shows that the clubs and the organization work together. It would be interesting to see how the decision regarding internationalization would shift when it shifts in the organization.

All this exemplifies that the leagues are a fundamental part in the international ambitions of a club. The leagues can be either supportive and ambitious (BBL), hinder the development of the sport (GFL) or try to establish the sport on the home market before internationalizing (DEL).

6.4.4 Partnerships

In the literature, the importance of partnerships in the internationalization process is highlighted by several authors such as Johanson and Vahlne (2009), Loane and Bell (2006) and Yamin and Kurt (2017). Partners are supposed to support with market knowledge, experience in the foreign market and a business network. Unsurprisingly, the influence by partners in the internationalization was also found in the data for this study. Partners in this sense are the club’s sponsors. Therefore, the previously mentioned relationship management can be seen as an opportunity in the internationalization process.

However, a distinction has to be made because not each partner or sponsor can be helpful in the process. The assumption made was that international partners are more beneficial than local or regional partners. An international partner would be a brand that has a broad business network. The decision of whether to enter a new market could also depend on the partner a club has. Here, two possible partnerships could be considered: an already existing partnership or a new partnership.

Having a partner that is a well-known brand would be less “work” for a club as they would not have to find a partner that fits their needs. A prerequisite would be that the partner is represented in the targeted market and has an established business network in order to be of help. Another possibility would be that the partner has the own financial means to push the club. A good example for a strong partner is Red Bull. Red Bull is an Austrian energy drink producer, selling its products in more than 171 countries and highly involved in sport sponsoring (Red Bull, 2020). Not only do they have their own sport subsidiaries such as RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg or New York Red Bulls but they also sponsor individuals and adrenaline sports (Die Presse, 2019). For further exemplification of the impact of a strong partner, the example of RB Leipzig is worth considering. In 2009 Red Bull founded RB Leipzig and used the license of another club to be allowed to start in the fifth league. The team managed to march through the other leagues to the first league in 2016. Since then, the club is not only playing in the Bundesliga but also internationally (Buse, 2017; RB Leipzig, 2020). Thus, this example shows that a financially strong partner can bring success for a team and international exposure. Moreover, one could argue that those clubs are born globals. As there is no clear time frame for a born global, seven years from foundation to international exposure could actually be seen as such. Yet, Rennie (1993) stated that a born global is a company that internationalize at or near their foundation. Nonetheless, the argument holds that seven years is rather quick for a club to have international exposure. From another perspective, the partner is an international brand. Therefore, depending on whether the club is communicated right from the beginning by the partner, it might have been internationally exposed. This argument

82 aligns with Loane and Bell (2006) who stated that a business network can help a company to internationalize early on.

On the other hand, a sponsor that has an international scope can be supportive in the internationalization process. A few of the interviewed clubs had internationally acting sponsors. However, it was mentioned that those partners, at the moment, are rather regionally oriented. This meant that the clubs, for now, did not consider using their network for internationalization. Instead, the two clubs who actually consider internationalizing in the future were more about acquiring new local partners in the foreign market and use their on-site network. Something that proves helpful here are municipal partnerships. One club mentioned that the city they are located in has a partnership with another city in China. Using this connection would be an advantage, also for the regional character transmitted, as certain partnerships might already exist.

Partnerships have a direct influence on the internationalization of a club, as supported by the literature on internationalization. Partners can bring a certain degree of security to a club that is considering internationalization. For smaller, less financially strong clubs, partners are crucial in the internationalization for several reasons. One reason is that the partner can guide a club with their expertise in the foreign market hence, the knowledge perspective introduced by Johanson and Vahlne (2009) is applicable. Another reason is that the partners might be able to offer an existing network from which the club can benefit and find potential new partners. Besides the partnerships, the market itself can be an influential factor in the decision making on whether or not to go abroad. Therefore, the next section discusses the market conditions influencing the decision.

6.4.5 Market Conditions

There are two distinct views one can consider when analyzing the conditions on different markets. One way is the home market and the other the conditions on the new market. As conditions on the markets one can consider potential and general interest in the sports as driving forces. As the four out of the six interviewees stated that they are not considering internationalization, the question was why, and which markets would potentially be interesting for them. Two of the clubs both stated that there are plans for future internationalization and named China as a targeted market.

Firstly, the home market conditions as an influence for internationalization should be considered. The main argument why the clubs stated that they are not considering internationalizing was the potential of growth they see within the home market. Moreover, another argument was that the club firstly has to be well-established on the home market before considering going elsewhere. This finding coincides with the framework by Rich- elieu et al. (2008) as clubs follow the different stages proposed there. Furthermore, establishing not only the club but also the sport itself was a main objective of the interviewed clubs. However, as a counterargument to the establishment on the home market is that the sponsoring contingent is to a huge part already distributed. Additionally, the question arises how to manage the dominance of soccer and get more attention to the own sport. Changing a consumer’s mind is rather challenging. Also, as mentioned above, the leagues play an important part. The GFL missed the opportunity several times to use the hype of the NFL to draw the attention to the own league. Hence, the potential of growth perceived by the clubs is an influential factor in the decision making of whether to internationalize or not.

83 Beyond the potential on the home market, one can turn the focus to international markets. Two of the respondents highlighted China as their targeted market. The argument for China was on the one side the interest of the Chinese population in the sport. Thinking of psychic distance, as introduced by Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul (1975), one could consider a market with the same or similar sports interest as a potential market. The other clubs were asked which markets would potentially be interesting for them in case of internationalization. Against possible expectations, all mentioned countries where their sport is either more popular compared to Germany or equally dominant. So, in the case of the ice hockey club, for example, countries such as Scandinavian countries, Czech Republic or the USA would be interesting. However, besides the sports interest, economic factors are as well of relevance for a club to consider internationalizing, as stated by respondent (4). Basically, clubs might face the same challenge as in Germany to acquire new sponsors on the new market as companies might be already involved in sponsoring the local teams. Yet, since one of the reasons for internationalizing is to acquire new sponsors, the two clubs considered China as an interesting market. China is not only an emerging market but there is also a high interest in sports. Soccer clubs, such as Man- chester United or VfL Wolfsburg already entered the market with the same reasoning.

Generally, the market has an influence in the internationalization of sports clubs. Either for taking the decision to stay on the home market as there is still potential or for the internationalization as a foreign market offers more opportunities for growth.

6.5 Revised Theoretical Framework

After considering all influences highlighted by the collected data, certain adjustments in the preliminary theoretical framework (see Chapter 2.8) have to be done. In the preliminary framework only market conditions and technology were considered as market drivers or influences in the internationalization process of sports clubs. Regarding the market conditions, not much has changed compared to the preliminary framework. Technology, on the other hand, can be seen as external influence as it allows clubs to communicate more directly with both, fans and sponsors. However, for data being a direct influence in the internationalization decision of the clubs, not enough proof was found. Nevertheless, when thinking about future plans technology will become more relevant for the clubs since modern technologies allow the tracking of data. Clubs will be able to identify an increased interest in a foreign market and can then again take proactive actions. As compared to the preliminary framework (see Chapter 2.8) two new external influences were added: language and leagues. Most of the interviewed clubs were only engaging in one language or two. However, when entering a new market language becomes crucial for success as its part of the country´s culture. When looking on websites of clubs that are already engaging in internationalization one can see that they use several different languages. Eventually, languages can support the building of relationships with fans and sponsors alike and should hence not be neglected as an influence in the internationalization. The other new external influence, compared to the preliminary framework, are the leagues. As the data showed, the leagues influence the internationalization either positively or negatively. Leagues with international ambitions create opportunities for the clubs competing whereas leagues without a clear structure can hinder the potential. Also, some leagues aim for establishing the sport first on the home market and using the potential here before internationalizing.

84 The internal influences were also extended compared to Chapter 2.8 by adding the influence of foreign players to the framework. The growth perspective still holds true. Some of the interviewed clubs considered expanding internationally as one of the only chances for growth. Also, having a strong brand is an influence in the internationalization of clubs as it ensures stability. Having a well-recognized brand attracts new sponsors who are another influence in the internationalization of sports clubs. Having strong partners proved clubs with opportunities such as entering new markets or buying new, national or international players. International players compared to Chapter 2.8 are newly introduced in the revised framework. So far, none of the clubs take advantage of their international team members. However, connected to the social media presence of the clubs, international players could become crucial influences in an eventual internationalization.

Figure 6: Revised Theoretical Framework

85 7. Conclusion

In this chapter, the study will be concluded, and the research question will be answered. To follow the order of the theoretical background, the factors influencing the internationalization will be highlighted. Furthermore, a reflection of the theoretical, managerial and societal contributions will be done. As there were some limitations of this study, those limitations will be presented. To finish up the chapter, recommendations for future research will be provided.

7.1 General Conclusion

In this study the aim was to gain an understanding of internationalization in the sports industry. The research gaps identified in the current literature should thereby be bridged. The first identified gap was that the literature mainly focuses on soccer while neglecting other sports. The second gap was the lack of explanation regarding the motives and influences in internationalization. The main goal was to create a broader picture of internationalization in the sports industry. In order to be able to achieve this purpose, an exploratory study has been conducted. Therefore, six different representatives of different sports were interviewed. In the beginning, the following research question was formulated:

What influences the internationalization in the sports industry?

Following the framework presented in 6.5 the external influences will be discussed followed by the internal influences. Regarding technology, one of the aims of this study was to find out to what extent data is used in the internationalization process of sports clubs. However, since the interviewed clubs are not engaged in internationalization yet, the importance of data was not identifiable. Nevertheless, all clubs used several social media channels and were also collecting different types of data. Yet, the club’s usage of the data was quite limited as it was stated that they are at the beginning of evaluating the data and adjusting the strategy accordingly. When presented with the scenario of data showing interest from a foreign market, only a few of the clubs stated that they would take actions. Respondent (2) highlighted that international actions would always be a proactive action rather than a reactive one. Nonetheless, data will become more relevant and even crucial for an internationalization as an external influence (see 6.5). Regarding the importance of language on internationalization one can say that for all clubs the main language of interaction is German. Only a few exceptions were using English as well as a second language. When internationalizing language becomes an external influential element for success as it allows for establishing relationships.

From the respondents, only two clubs were actually considering internationalization. The other clubs wanted to establish themselves first on the home market and use the potential there which follows the framework by Richelieu et al. (2008). A finding was that the leagues ambitions and the club’s ambitions are quite connected. The BBL for instance wants to promote the sport more internationally. The two clubs both mentioned that they want to play internationally and are also targeting the Chinese market to expand. In the GFL, on the other hand, the league missed several opportunities to promote the sport in Germany, to the discontent of the clubs. Based on those two leagues, the leagues influence in the internationalization became evident. In basketball, ice hockey and soccer, there are respected international competitions. Thus, the aim of the clubs was to play in one of

86 those to get additional international exposure. In American football however, there is no well-functioning international competition due to disagreements between the different leagues.

After discussing the external influences, the internal influences, identified in the data, have to be stressed out as well. The striving for growth can be considered as a prerequisite for internationalization and will thus, not be further highlighted here. In the sports industry, having a strong brand is helpful as it creates not only a recognition factor but ensures long-term financial success. As sports teams are primarily measured by their performance, creating a brand around it, gives the club more independence from sporting success. An aggravating factor in brand building is, in the case of most of the interviewed clubs, that soccer is the dominant sport on their home market. Thus, all clubs described themselves more as regional brands. The regional factor was reflected in several different ways such as having local or regional sponsors. Due to those brand characteristics, customers are able to identify with the club and become more loyal in the end. The framework in chapter 6.5 indicates that brands are indeed an internal influence in the internationalization process as it ensures stability.

Having loyal fans is essential for any sports club for two main reasons. Firstly, the fans are the ones going to matches and buying merchandise and do thus, contribute to a club’s financial well-being. However, the second reason is that fans are supporting the club emotionally and not just in monetary terms. Considering the current COVID-19 crisis, clubs mentioned that they would not be able to play a season without an audience. There- fore, relationship management is part of each clubs’ work. All of the interviewed clubs were maintaining close relationships with their fans. Usually, the form of communication was in a direct form or via social media. The way of communication was chosen according to the targeted group, always keeping in mind to not exclude one fan.

In sports, the other important side of relationships are the sponsors or partners of each club. On average the clubs had about 80 sponsors, most of them being regional or national brands. However, a few had international brands. With the sponsors, the clubs maintained a close relationship as well. The communication channels used were also either through social media or direct. By introducing the relationship triangle in Chapter 6.2, the interconnection of fans, clubs and sponsors was highlighted. One club managed this triangle well by having the sponsors directly interact with the fans. Also, having special events for the sponsors of a club seems to be common practice in the sports industry. All clubs were holding events for their sponsors where they can meet up and communicate among each other.

The partnership with a sponsor is an important influence in the internationalization process or decision making of a club and is thus, also represented in the revised theoretical framework (see 6.5.). Having partners as support can be beneficial for several reasons. First, the partners can provide their knowledge they have of the foreign market. Knowledge and experiences can help the club to minimize the risks of internationalization. Moreover, an international partner that is already present in several countries might be able to offer an existing business network. The network perspective in the internationalization process was introduced before by several authors such as Johanson and Mattson (1988) Loane and Bell (2006) and Yamin and Kurt (2017) and is applicable on the sports industry as well. Lastly, a club can form a new partnership with a local club or

87 organization and use their local knowledge. Therefore, the term “glocalization” can be linked to sports clubs, also with respect to the regional values the clubs have.

A new internal influences in the decision making of whether or not to internationalize, was the influence of foreign players in a team. The teams were all mixed with national and international team members. Depending on the sports there were different restrictions regarding the number of international players in a team. Interestingly, in American football, players from the US and Canada were considered as a competitive advantage. How- ever, even though the teams are quite international, the clubs did not take any advantages of them to promote the club in the players’ home country. Yet, the same argument holds that for future internationalization integrating foreign players in the promotion of the clubs can be beneficial. Therefore, foreign players are regarded as an internal influence for internationalization.

To conclude and answer the research question, there are both internal and external influences in the internationalization process in the sports industry, divided into external and internal influences. The external influences are technology, market conditions and the corresponding leagues. Given market conditions are an influence as some see the potential to grow on the home market whereas others consider foreign markets as a chance of growth. Data and social media planforms, as external influences, can potentially be an influence in the internationalization. However, while using several different social media platforms, the interviewed clubs were not in the state to make use of international data. Lastly, the leagues themselves are one of the biggest influences when it comes to internationalization. As the data showed, unity and same ambitions lead to the consideration of internationalization.

As internal influences growth, branding and partnerships can be considered. The growth perspective is closely related to the external influence of the market conditions, as for growing the own market is analyzed. In order to grow, sometimes the only possibility seen by a few of the respondents was through internationalization. Besides the strive for growth, partnerships are one essential influence in internationalization. Having a partner with knowledge, experience or a business network influences the decision-making whether to internationalize or not. Furthermore, as the national sponsoring money is mostly distributed, new, international partners are necessary for further growth. Finally, having a strong brand influences the internationalization as it allows the club to build a connection with fans and makes them more independent from the sport itself.

7.2 Study Contributions

In the following, the theoretical, managerial and societal contributions are presented.

7.2.1 Theoretical Contributions

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the understanding of influences in the internationalization process in the sports industry. Through the qualitative study, this purpose has been fulfilled. Moreover, the existing gap of researcher focusing on one sport has been bridged by interviewing different sports and their perception of internationalization and by doing so providing a broader perspective on the influences in the internationalization process in the sports industry.

Furthermore, the importance of having a brand in the sports industry was analyzed to deepen the understanding in both areas, brand management and the sports industry. In- fluences in the branding and building brand equity have been emphasized. Previous studies have only stated that clubs are brands without stating why this is the case and what it entails in the internationalization process (Hill & Vincent, 2006; Richelieu et al., 2008). Moreover, a connection between strong brands and sponsoring has been drawn as having a brand brings more recognition and thus, new sponsors are attracted.

The network perspective in sports has been connected to the network perspective in other industries. The general contribution here is that partners are essential in the internationalization in the sports industry for two main reasons. First, international partners can facilitate the internationalization of clubs and help by providing knowledge, experience and a business network. The other reason is linked to the growth perspective in internationalization. Compared to other industries, one reason to internationalize in the sports industry is that national sponsoring money is distributed. Therefore, only international partnerships can ensure a further growth.

7.2.2 Practical Contributions

In the expected practical contributions, it was stated that understanding the different influences involved in the internationalization might offer an opportunity to practitioners to reconsider their own, current strategy regarding internationalization. Since in most leagues there seems to be a unified strategy regarding growth, this study might only contribute for those leagues with more challenges. It was found that the leagues do have an influence and also whether there exists an international competition or not. For practitioners this means that international exposure is indeed crucial for their clubs to grow. However, the own market potential should be exhausted first.

Moreover, as language is an influence in the internationalization, this study could be a motivation to change the perspective here. Eventually, an international audience, besides scouts, will be attracted. There was an indication in the interviews that due to the location or industry, a changing audience exists. Thus, this opportunity could be used since an additional exposure might help to promote the club further.

7.2.3 Societal Contributions

Among the expected societal contributions were that sports clubs might consider expanding their scope further and enable people to experience the sport in their home country and an inclusive approach of sports by considering more than just one sport. As this study shows, the interviewed clubs were endeavored to build a relationship with their fans. Also, the respondents mentioned that they try to engage to their best abilities with their fans and also foreign fans. Though the number of international fans was neglectable, a few clubs mentioned that they attempt to enable something special to those coming from abroad or further away. Overall, providing the visitor with a good experience was among the top priorities of the interviewed clubs which contributes to the societal well-being.

This study thus, proves the importance of fans for a club. The indicated actions undertaken by the clubs to strengthen the relationship with their fans can support the further

89 cooperation. Understanding the motivations of a fan can prove helpful to target them more directly. The hope is that due to this study, clubs keep working on their relationship with their fans and show appreciation.

7.3 Limitations and Future Research

The last section of this thesis will highlight the limitations of this study and potential future research directions.

7.3.1 Limitations

There are several limitations to this study that are important to mention here. The first limitation is related to the sample size. For this thesis more than 100 clubs were contacted from different leagues competing in Sweden, Germany, USA, Austria and Great Britain. Also, recommended organizations such as the EuroLeague in basketball were contacted as well as other clubs competing in international competitions. Even though, four different sports were represented, other sports such as Handball were not included. The exclu- sion of any sport was not intentionally but rather due to either the current crisis or their unwillingness to participate. Yet, for this study, the more sports would have been included the better the outcome would have been as the goal was to represent as many sports as possible in this study.

A second limitation is that the interviewed clubs were either in the stage of considering internationalization or in the establishment stage on the home market. Therefore, it was difficult to draw any conclusion as of why and how sports clubs internationalize in the first place. Nevertheless, the growth perspective was mentioned as one of the reasons. Based on the situation of the clubs, the influences were more interpreted than actually given as reasons by the interviewees.

Another limitation, related to the second one, is that the second research gap could not be fully bridged. Data is indeed relevant in the internationalization process and influences the process by easing it. All clubs were collecting data, and some were taking measurements based on the evaluation of it. However, it was mentioned that the analysis and taking actions should be improved. Furthermore, all clubs used social media channels. Most of them used social media as communication channels with their fans and sponsors and to promote the brand. Yet, those media were not used in any sense for internationalization purposes. Lastly, it was only expressed carefully that data does indeed play a role in the internationalization. Yet, the extent to which data becomes relevant could not be fully proven.

7.3.2 Future Research

The gained insights obtained from this study allow several recommendations for future research within the area of internationalization in the sports industry. One future direction is to broaden up even further and involve more sports in the study. As mentioned before, other sports such as handball were not included in the study. Having more sports participate in such a study could be beneficial for two reasons. Firstly, it would allow for an even more holistic picture of influences in the internationalization process of sports clubs. Secondly, one could gain an understanding how sports clubs actually internationalize and

90 compare it to the existing literature on internationalization of sports teams. Based on this study one can say that there are similarities among sports and that the predominant sport of a country does actually have an influence on other sports.

Therefore, another future research topic could be to analyze the actual influence of dominant sports on other sports in the same country. An example could be to see why it seems like American football is growing rather fast in Germany whereas soccer is still a fringe sport in the USA. Here, the sports consumption could be a hint. However, it was also touched in this study that locational factors could have an influence or history. Neverthe- less, American football grew in Germany due to the occupation after the World War II.

Furthermore, there seems to be a gap between why internationalization is necessary in the first place. One argument mentioned throughout the interview was that the national sponsoring money is distributed and therefore, if a club wants to grow it has to attract international partners. As a counterargument was mentioned that there is still a lot of potential on the home market and that thus, the club should firstly be established there before considering internationalizing. Interesting would be to first see what clubs understand under internationalization. Is it internationalization the entering of new markets or is it to have foreign players? Is it having a cooperation with international clubs or is it having international partners but staying in the home market? Is it measurable, besides the brand itself, how international a club actually is? There are quite a few questions open with respect to the internationalization in the sports industry. Therefore, future research could try to go back to the root and start from scratch in understanding internationalization from a club’s perspective.

Another interesting point for further research is to investigate whether there is a relationship between the internal and external influences highlighted by this study. It would be interesting to see if they also influence one another. One potential starting point would be to consider international players (internal influence) and language (external influence) in an internationalization process and to investigate whether there is a relationship between those two. Aligning with this research stream is also the potential to dive deeper into the analysis of the importance of international players in expanding internationally. What role can they take? How can they transmit between the club and a foreign country? To what degree can social media be used to promote international players abroad?

Lastly, while doing the research, a fitting internationalization model could not clearly be identified. The Uppsala model, as shown by the data collected, has some interesting points such as the psychic distance that can be applicable to the sports industry. Moreover, the network perspective from the revised model is applicable as well, as shown by the importance of a club’s sponsor. A good starting point for understanding the internationalization in this particular industry was provided by Richelieu et al. (2008). However, their framework is quite outdated as the role of new technologies is not regarded. Yet, other researchers highlighted the role of social media in the internationalization process of a sports club. Thus, another research stream could be to provide either an internationalization model for sports clubs or integrate social media in the process in some way. Never- theless, the problem by doing so could be the same as mentioned before, the dominance of certain sports on certain markets and the resulting neglection of other sports.

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112 Appendix

Appendix 1: Email to Participating Clubs - English

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Kiara, I am 27 years old and am currently studying my Masters in “Business Development and Internationalization” in Sweden. For my master thesis I am looking for interview partners. The topic of my thesis is “The internationalization in the Sports industry”. During the interview I would like to talk about the following topics:

Brand Management of the club Relationship Marketing and Management Communication and Data usage Internationalization.

I do understand that we are facing hard times. However, I would be very grateful if you could take the time to help me out with my master thesis.

Thank you very much!

Kiara Dettmer

Appendix 2: Email to Participating Clubs – German

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, ich würde mich gerne bei Ihnen vorstellen. Ich heiße Kiara, bin 27 Jahre alt und studiere momentan in Schweden den Master „Business Development and Internationalization“. Im Zuge meiner Masterarbeit suche ich Interviewpartner die ich zum Thema „Internatio- nalization in the Sports Industry“ interviewen kann. Unter anderem sollen die folgenden Themen behandelt werden:

Brand Management des Vereins Relationship Marketing und Management Kommunikation und Datennutzung Internationalisierung.

Ich verstehe, dass der Zeitpunkt recht ungünstig ist, jedoch würde ich Sie bitten sich die Zeit zu nehmen, um mich bei meiner Arbeit zu unterstützen.

Vielen Dank.

Kiara Dettmer

113 Appendix 3: Interview Guide – English

Prior to Interview:

- Introduce myself and explain what the data is being used for. Also, explanation in broad terms what the research is about - Reassure the participants confidentiality and that no sensitive information related to the club will be covered - Explain that the study is voluntary, and the participant can withdraw from the interview at any given point - Ask if the interview can be recorded.

1. General information

Type of Interview: Date and Time: Place of Interviewer: Place of Interviewee:

Name of Interviewee: Position in the club: Club: Sport: League:

Topic: Brand Management Goal: Understand the brand positioning

1.) Would you consider the club being a brand? If yes, how well established is the brand in the local market? If no, why do you not consider your club as a brand? 2.) Why from your point of view is it important to have a strong brand? 3.) What influences the brand positioning in your working environment? 4.) How do you strengthen the brand?

Topic: Relationship Marketing & Management Goal: Understand the importance of fan and sponsors

5.) How big is your fan base? Locally? Internationally? 6.) How do you communicate with your fans? Directly, Social Media? 7.) Do you have attendance reports of international visitors for your games? 8.) How many sponsors do you have? 9.) How many of those sponsors are well-recognized brands? à national sponsors? à international sponsors? 10.) What communication channels do you use with your sponsors?

Topic: Communication and Data Usage Goal: Understand the usage of data by a club

114 11.) How many communication channels do you use? 12.) In how many languages are you interacting? 13.) What kind of data are you collecting? a. Personal data? b. Sponsor related data? i. Sponsor exposure? c. Attendance related data? i. How many foreign visitors attended? d. Engagement of fans and sponsors? 14.) How do you collect data? a. Only via Social Media? b. Game attendance? c. Through your own website? d. Promotions? 15.) How do you use data?

Topic: International Presence Goal: Understand international ambitions

16.) Have you competed internationally recently? Or did you have any international exposure? 17.) How many international staff members do you have? 18.) What are your international ambitions? And to what extent are those ambitions linked to the league’s ambitions? 19.) How does your club internationalize? 20.) In your internationalization process, how important are international partnerships/sponsors? 21.) What is your position in regard of home games in another country? Meaning the deterritorialization of the sport.

That was my last question for you. I think I got a broad picture of the processes of your club. Thank you very much for answering my questions. Do you have anything you would like to add? If more questions arise, would it be ok for you if I would contact you again?

Thank you again for your valuable time and participation. If you are interested in my research, I can send you the finished thesis in the end.

Appendix 4: Interview Guide – German

Vor dem Interview

- Ich stelle mich vor und erkläre wofür die Daten verwendet werden. Ich recher- chiere für meine Masterarbeit an der Umeå Universität in Schweden. Meine Masterarbeit hat das Thema Internationalisierung im Sport. - Die von Ihnen angegeben Daten werden selbstverständlich vertraulich behandelt. Wenn Sie eine Frage nicht beantworten wollen oder das Interview frühzeitig beenden wollen, ist dies natürlich jeder Zeit möglich.

115 Thema: Brand Management

1.) Würden Sie den Club/Verein als eine Marke beschreiben? a. Wenn ja, wie gut ist die Marke auf dem heimischen Markt etabliert? b. Wenn nein, warum würden Sie den Verein nicht als Marke bezeichnen? 2.) Warum ist es wichtig eine starke Marke zu haben (Ihrer Meinung nach) 3.) Was beeinflusst die Marken Positionierung in Ihrem Arbeitsumfeld? 4.) Wie stärken Sie eine/Ihre Marke?

Thema: Relationship Marketing/Management

5.) Wie groß ist Ihre Fan Basis? Lokal? International? 6.) Wie kommunizieren Sie mit Ihren Fans? Direkt, über Social Media, über Fan- clubs? 7.) Haben Sie Anwesenheitsreports von ausländischen Besuchern für Ihre Heim- spiele? 8.) Wie viele Sponsoren haben Sie? 9.) Wie viele von diesen Sponsoren sind bekannte Marken? a. Nationale Sponsoren? b. Internationale Sponsoren? 10.) Welche Art der Kommunikation haben Sie mit Ihren Sponsoren?

Thema: Kommunikation und Datennutzung

11.) Wie viele Kommunikationswege nutzen Sie? 12.) In wie vielen Sprachen agieren Sie? 13.) Welche Art von Daten sammeln Sie? a. Personenbezogene Daten? b. Sponsorenbezogene Daten? i. Sponsoren Exposure? c. Anwesenheitsbezogene Daten? d. Beziehung zwischen Fans und Sponsoren? 14.) Wie sammeln Sie Daten? a. Über Social Media? b. Spieltag? c. Eigene Website? d. Promotionen? 15.) Wie verwenden Sie die Daten?

Thema: Internationale Präsens

16.) Haben Sie kürzlich an einem Internationalen Wettbewerb teilgenommen? Oder hatten Sie irgendeine Form der internationalen Präsentation? 17.) Wie viele internationale Mitarbeiter haben Sie? Spieler, Coach etc. 18.) Was sind Ihre internationalen Ambitionen? Und in welchem Maße sind diese Ambitionen an die der Liga/verband verknüpft? 19.) Wie internationalisiert Ihr Verein? 20.) In Ihrem Internationalisierungsprozess, wie wichtig sind internationale Bezie- hungen/Sponsoren? 21.) Wie stehen Sie zu der Idee, Heimspiele im Ausland auzuführen?

116

Business Administration SE-901 87 Umeå www.usbe.umu.se 117