Sports Club Management

What is Sport Management?

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

 Sport Industry- all sport-related products
offered to customers

Sport Industry Segmentation

Sport Performance Sport Production Sport Promotion

Participation Products/Influence Promo Tools

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

A View of the Sport Industry by Setting

Professional
Amateur Sport
Sport

Municipal University
Recreation Athletics

Government
Social/
(Federal and
Charitable
Provincial/
Organizations
Territorial

Private Clubs

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

 Sport
Marketing/
Consulting
Firms
Sporting Sport Law/
Goods Agents

A View of the Sport

Industry by Setting A View of the Sport Industry
Setting
Sport Media Tourism

Health/
Physical
Corporations
Activity-
Related
Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus
What makes the sport product unique?

Intangible

Emotional Subjective

Perishable Inconsistent

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

 Unique Aspects of Sport
Management

Sport
Sport Sport Sport as a
Industry
Marketing Enterprise Social
Career

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

“If you don’t know where
you’re going

any road will do.”

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus
Sport Club / Organizations are:
• Goal oriented
• Deliberately Structured
• Deliberately Coordinated
• Exist as a system of individuals and groups
• Made up of people with special skills

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

 SPORTS CLUB OVERVIEW
• A sports club or sporting club, sometimes Business
an athletics club or sports society or sports Model
association, is a group of people formed for
the purpose of playing sports.
• Sports clubs range from organisations whose
members play together, unpaid, and may play
other similar clubs on occasion, watched mostly
by family and friends, to large commercial
organisations with professional players which
have teams that regularly compete against
those of other clubs and attract sometimes
very large crowds of paying spectators. Clubs
may be dedicated to a single sport or to Structural
several (multi-sport clubs). Model

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

 SPORTS CLUB BUSINESS MODEL
Website, Media
relations,
MedSoc Identify partners
Cost Drivers
• Key
Staf Salaries
• Channels
Partners
Staf
Experties
List you Budget of
main
Facilities activities Maintenance etc
Services Business model
• Key • Key is the canvas
Resources Activities and will covers
of the
Revenue Stream information
• Value
• Customer Propositio Sponsorship
Segments Advantages of
ns members by level
Working
of positions or Funder etc
membership
Professional • Custome
Student r Relation
Type of Customer

Provides
Professional
Training Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus
Structural Model – Organizational Dimension &
Structure
• Complexit • More Levels More
y Complex

• Mechanism by Job
Organizational • Formalizati Description, Rules &
Dimension on Regulation, Policies
and Procedures

• Centralizat • Decision made by the

ion top of organization

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

OBLIGATION & CODE OF CONDUCT
• Codes of conduct are important for all sporting organisations.  They
set out a standard and expectation of behaviour for everyone involved
– administrators, coaches, officials, players, parents and spectators.
• Issues covered in Codes of conduct can be many and varied - from
on-field incidents, sideline abuse and mismanagement, to inappropriate
social media posts, unfair treatment, poor sportsmanship and more.
• Codes of conduct are only useful if you communicate on them often –
don’t let them gather dust on the shelf.

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

OBLIGATION & CODE OF CONDUCT
(Cont)
• Check in with your peak
body
• Most sport clubs are
affiliated to a peak body,
national, state or
association level.   everyone – and at the
• Be familiar with how they
can help. There are likely to
be established policies and
codes of conduct in place
for your sport.
• Your peak body may also
have plans, training and
education, campaigns and
programs you can make
use of.
• Foster club values and
culture
• The foundation of safe and
fair clubs is positive
conduct and behavior by
heart of this is values and
culture.
• Values could include
respect, fair play, fun,
appreciation, inclusion and
safety.
Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus
• Understand relevant
laws
• When it comes to fair and
safe clubs, a wide range of
laws can apply.
• These are generally issue
based.
• Clubs must understand and
comply with their legal
responsibilities.
• This may involve integrating
requirements into policies,
providing education and
communication activities.
• Establish rules and
policies
• Rules and policies are an
important foundation for
creating fair and safe clubs.
• They allow you to set clear
expectations and deal with
inappropriate behvaiour. 
• Every sport and every club
will be different, but some
of the common types of
rules and policies you may
have to support fair and
safe sport include:
• Club constitution, Codes of
Conduct – for players,
administrators, coaches,
officials, spectators and
Policies,
OBLIGATION & CODE OF CONDUCT (Cont)
• Educate and • Be proactive and
• Appoint a ‘champion’ • Review
communicate expertly reactive
• Strong education and • Safe and fair clubs • Sport clubs are busy places. • Play by the Rules –
communication to encompass a wide range of For something to get done,  Governance to support
members is essential to topics and potential issues. it usually needs to be fair and safe clubs 
achieving a safe and fair The busy nature of clubs assigned to someone.  All
club such as : Regular means there is often little the above outlined takes
communication of your time for being proactive - time and effort, and won’t
values and policies  we often wait until an happen without a
• Reoccurring and issues arises, then deal with ‘champion’ to drive it.
concerning issues you may it. • . No one-size fits all clubs.
need to focus on. • Being proactive – get on The ‘champion’ may form
• Different audiences to the front foot with positive part of an existing
tailor information strategies and messages  voluntary role, such as the
• Communication channels • Expertly reactive – when President.
you have available concerns or issues arise,
• Make communication two- deal with matters promptly,
way.   professionally, transparently
and according to your
established rules and
processes. 

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

Present-Day Club Structure
• Commitment to serve broad membership and manage elite
sport enterprise
• No longer local, but international
• Clubs organize youth teams and academies, adult recreational
leagues, and social events for members
• Large built-in memberships and loyal fan bases
• Characterized by nonprofit status and exclusive membership
• Augusta and male-only membership
• Change from European club system to U.S. league system

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

American Structures
• European club system did not suit the United States
• Lack of aristocratic tradition and prohibition against
gambling (due to religious restrictions)
• League structure arose out of harness racing, sport of
the common person – about 1830.
• Better spectator sport than thoroughbred racing
• Sprint vs. 4-mile race; horses could compete daily, large field
of competitors
• Managed by track owners and race promoters
• Willing to create spectator interest for sport
• Issues of race fixing, management lacking credibility led
to loss of popularity by Civil War
Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus
 Leagues
• Baseball was first to adopt league system
• Cincinnati Red Stockings: First pro team
• Some teams in the league paid and some did not—created
controversy
• 1871: Creation of National Association of Professional Baseball
Players
• Importance of “breakeven” financial interests of individual clubs

© Jones
Profand Bartlett
Mohd Publishers
Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus
William Hulbert
• Czar of baseball
• 1876: Took over management of National League of
Professional Baseball Players
• Believed stability achieved only if teams were run like
businesses
• Teams should compete against each other and not
collude
• Understood that without strict rules forcing honest
competition, collusion would occur

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

William Hulbert (cont.)
Also believed:
• Owners must take some financial risk:
• Abandoning seasons early to prevent losses in short term
eroded long-term faith of public
• Owners must field competitive teams to be profitable.
• Integrity of baseball was suspect as long as the players’
honesty was questionable:
• Gambling prohibited and ticket prices raised

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

Early Success of National League
• Excitement of pennant race
• Honoring of contracts (reserve system)
• Favorable media attention
• Appealed to fans’ loyalty and pride in their cities
• Early form of revenue sharing
• Rules that distributed talent

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

Leagues Today
• Successful contemporary commercial sport leagues depend on
consolidated league play with strong centralized control and regulation
• Audience has changed
• Public’s perception of locus of honest effort resides more with the players than
with ownership structure
• Single-entity structures: MLS, MLL, AFL

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

Professional Sport Tournaments
Professional Golf
• Early golf professionals were instructors
and caddies.
• Professional leagues failed to capture
public interest or attract golf
professionals.
• Attempts to generate gate revenues at
tournaments failed.
• Stability of tournaments was achieved
when prize money was put up by
companies and corporate sponsors. © LiquidLibrary

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

Tournaments Today
• Golf tournaments have evolved into corporate celebrations of golf and
products
• PGA Tour viewed as private group
• Set rules of eligibility
• Associations not as exclusive as private clubs (Casey Martin)
• Trend moving away from nonprofit private associations and toward
marketing agencies and/or broadcast media – ex: X-Games; Dew Tour

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

 How To Manage Sports Club
Administration - Incorporation
•Incorporating your club gives it legal identity
•Authorized acts of the club - to clubs and
members.
•Protects your club members from being sued,
or being individually liable for the actions of the
club
• Many grants and funding opportunities are
open only for incorporated clubs
• Allows your club to enter into leases, open
bank accounts and borrow money in its own
name
•a club must lodge its constitution with the
Department …….

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus



20 YEARS AGO….

• Chairman of Universiti Putra • Chairman of Universiti

Malaysia Basketball Club Putra Malaysia Softball
(2002 - 2015) Club (2002 - 2015)
• Most of the inter varsity • Most of the inter varsity
games won every year games won every year
• Some of the player also • Some of the player also
represented the Malaysia
Basketball Team represented the Malaysia
Softball Team
Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus
 20 YEARS AGO….

• Chairman of Malaysia University Sports Council • Technical Committee of Malaysia

for Ten Pin Bowling University Sports Council for Ten
• Chairman of Malaysia University Sports Council
for Basketball • Team Manager of Malaysia
• Chairman of Malaysia University Sports Council
University Sports Council for Track
for Softball and Field to ASEAN University
• Chairman of Malaysia University Sports Council
Games and World University
for Track and Field Games

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

 5 YEARS AGO….
• Chairman of Universiti Teknikal
Malaysia Melaka Hockey Club

• Chairman of
Universiti Teknikal
Malaysia Melaka
Athletic Club

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus

 3 YEARS AGO….
• Head of Development Committee for
Malaysia Wheelchair Basketball Federation

• Vice President for

Kuala Lumpur
Wheelchair
Basketball
Association
Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus
 Before we ended our first session….
These five functions of management (planning, organization, personne
management, management and control) are present in areas of activity
of each manager, although to varying degrees at different levels of
management.

Prof Mohd Salleh & Dr Mohd Firdaus