Do I stay or do I go? The experience of early-career rugby referees Javeed Ali (Auckland University of Technology), Michael Naylor (Auckland University of Technology), Lesley Ferkins (Auckland University of Technology) Officials play a vital role within organised sport (Warner, Tingle, & Kellett, 2013). They ensure organised sport is played fairly, safely and in a timely manner (Kellett & Warner, 2011). However, it is well documented that there is a shortage of officials at the grassroots level (Auger, Fortier, Thibault, Magny, & Gravelle, 2010; Doan & Smith, 2018; Livingston & Forbes, 2017; Ridinger, Kim, Warner, & Tingle, 2017; Warner et al., 2013). This suggests that more needs to be done to retain officials. Officials in their first five years are most likely to quit (Cuskelly & Hoye, 2004; MacMahon et al., 2014). In fact, studies have found that attrition amongst first year officials specifically can be as high as 60% (Bernal, Nix, & Boatwright, 2012; Cuskelly & Hoye, 2004; Forbes & Livingston, 2013). There are many reasons why officials choose to continue officiating. These can include; their experience (e.g. Kellett & Shilbury, 2007), motivations (e.g. Giel & Breuer, 2019; Hancock et al., 2015; Livingston & Forbes, 2017, 2016; Livingston et al., 2017), perceived organisational support (e.g. Choi & Chiu, 2017; Cuskelly & Hoye, 2013; Giel & Breuer, 2019; Kim, 2017; Livingston & Forbes, 2016; Livingston et al., 2017), role commitment (e.g. Barnhill et al., 2018), and organisational commitment (e.g. Gray & Wilson, 2008). These studies reinforce that retention of officials is difficult and complex (Auger et al., 2010). However, many of these studies highlight the reasons why officials discontinue. In contrast, this study explores why early-career rugby referees in New Zealand choose to continue refereeing. It is important to better understand the experience of early-career officials at the point where they decide whether to continue or not. From 2013-2019 New Zealand Rugby (NZR) collected data from 2671 active rugby referees. 593 of these were in their first five years and indicated they intended to continue. Open-ended text responses from these individuals querying their experience are the focus of the current study. This data was analysed thematically in line with the recommendations of Braun and Clarke (2006). Organisational influences, enjoyment of refereeing and the rugby environment were chosen as the themes which best characterised the experience of early career referees who intended to continue. The organisational element includes notions of support, opportunities and coaching. This is exemplified by a 1-2 year Northland referee who noted that “support as a new referee this year was excellent and motivated me... contact [was] made on a regular basi[s] from management administration through to mentors and assessors supporting me as a new ref.” The sense of enjoyment amongst early- career referees was multi-faceted but notions of personal development, camaraderie, social connection, and being challenged seemed to contribute to a positive experience. A Canterbury-based referee noted that “this was my first year as a referee and [I have] been well supported by the other referees, I have really enjoyed the different experience to be[ing] a player.” The rugby environment theme captures the behaviours of players, coaches, spectators and others that positively influence the refereeing experience. Positive sideline behaviour and feeling a sense of appreciation post-game are examples that were articulated by early career referees. A number of referees indicated that being appreciated post-match contributed to their enjoyment of refereeing rugby, and presumably their intention to continue. Keywords: Officiating, Refereeing, Sport Participation, Retention, Organisational Behaviour, Rugby, Industry Pakistan’s sport policy (2010-2020): A critical case study Hafsa Ali (Auckland University of Technology), Richard Wright (Auckland University of Technology), & Geoff Dickson (La Trobe University) Abstract This paper critically examines the dominant characteristics of Pakistan’s national and international sports policy over a ten-year period, from 2010 to 2020. The study provides an independent assessment of the initial design/development phase through to its public delivery. In doing so, we identify and address the emerging trends and associated challenges facing sports organisations in a developing nation that has been unable to host international sports events for over a decade. There are a number of sports policy studies looking at the developed and developing countries in Europe (Fahlén & Stenling, 2016;Fernandes, Tenreiro, Quaresma, & Maçãs, 2011; Koski & Lämsä, 2015; Poppel, Claes, & Scheerder, 2018; Skille & Säfvenbom, 2011, Americas (Bravo & Silva, 2014; Chatin, 2016; de D’Amico, 2012), Middle East (Dousti, Goodarzi, Asadi, & Khabiri, 2013; Nassif & Amara, 2015; Reiche, 2015) and Oceania (Hoye & Nicholson, 2009) as well as in East Asia (Tan, Cheng, Lee, & Ko, 2009; Won & Hong, 2014; Zheng, Chen, Tan, & Lau, 2018). But there is scant research literature available on sports policy development, analysis and funding in developing countries of South Asia. Although sport secures an eminent place in Pakistan’s national policy, the literature on Pakistan sport is both scarce and lacking academic rigor. We generated data from 10 semi-structured interviews and an analysis of policy documents such as Constitution of Pakistan Sports Board, National Sports Policy 2001 & 2005, Cabinet reports and Cabinet subcommittee reports on promotion and development of sports, and national sport organisation annual reports. The thematic analysis clustered the important issues of Pakistan sport policy into the following themes: impact of devolution of Pakistan sports board and the 18th constitutional amendment, political involvement in sports, budget allocation, funding sources and distribution, administrative structure, sports development, athlete performance and training, stakeholders involvement and representation in policy reforms. The key conclusion is that the development and delivery of sport at both a domestic and international level in Pakistan was negatively affected by the devolution of Pakistan Sports Board and inefficiencies in organisational structures. Political corruption, a lack of public and private sector investment and an unjust distribution of funds have also hindered the nation’s ability to use sport as a vehicle for socio- economic development. Pakistan’s sports policy and underlying structures fall short of modern international sports requirements and reform is strongly recommended. Looking to the future, the politicians and policymakers desire to end the existing boycott, host major sports fixtures/events and attract international visitors needs to be used as a catalyst for organisational change and the eventual transfer of power from the producers to the consumers. For this to occur, however, those holding senior leadership portfolios will need to engage in consultation with salient stakeholders located within Pakistan and within the international sports community. Key words: Pakistan sport; power; sport policy Release the Kraken: An analysis of a virtual brand launch during a global pandemic Cole Armstrong (San Jose State University), Melissa Davies (Ohio University), Ann Pegoraro (University of Guelph), Matthew Blaszka, (Indiana State University) League expansion, team brand development, and team rebranding has garnered broad interest in sport management scholarship (Daniels, Kunkel, & Karg, 2019; Kunkel, Doyle, Funk, Du, & McDonald, 2016). Of particular interest to sport management scholars has been the actions sport organizations undertake in creating a brand and fostering fan interest in the early phases of the team’s life cycle (Daniels, Kunkel, & Karg, 2019; Lock, Darcy, & Taylor, 2009). In recent team brand launches, sport organizations, such as the Vegas Golden Knights, have built and ultimately unveiled their brand through a series of in-person and virtual events, typically culminating in a large gathering of fans, media members, team officials, and interested parties. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a question arises, how does a sport organization launch a brand when in-person contact and gathering is not feasible? In this study, we develop an exploratory case study of the virtual brand reveal of the National Hockey League’s 32nd franchise, the Seattle Kraken, and the resultant virtual fan engagement following the brand launch. There were several unique elements about the NHL Seattle brand reveal that will be discussed as a part of this presentation. These elements include the timing of the release, which occurred more than a year after the team was awarded to the city of Seattle and during a global pandemic; and the heavy reliance on digital engagement opportunities for fans, including streaming the launch on Twitter and YouTube, an entire day of synchronous digital programming options for fans to learn and engage with the newly released brand, as well as asynchronous digital engagement opportunities. To assess the range of fan engagement during this digital brand release, data around the Seattle Kraken launch were collected from social media and Google. Meltwater, Twitonomy, and NVIVO NCapture were all used to collect data related to the brand launch using search terms such as “NHL Seattle”, “Seattle Kraken” and “Kraken”. Additionally, Google trend data were collected to explore the increase and geographic spread