Player Transfer as an Outsourcing Activity in Sport: The Opinions of the Coaches and Managers

Year 2020, Volume: 22 Issue: 3, 490 - 499, 31.12.2020

Kadir Çalışkan , Veli Onur Çelik Sabiha Gizem Engin

Abstract

The popularity and
accessibility of sports at global level allow the mobility (transfer) of
athletes worldwide as labor force. This is called ‘sport labor migration’ and
allows clubs to access a global market as an alternative to local market. In
this study, foreign player transfer is accepted as an outsourcing. In this
context, club managers and coaches were asked to evaluate their foreign player
transfers in terms of outsourcing. The data were collected through the
interviews conducted with the coaches and administrators of 9 teams, which were
chosen through purposive sampling method among 16 teams playing in Turkish
Women’s Basketball League. The participants were asked to provide their
opinions regarding the transfer of foreign players and evaluate them in terms
of three basic functions of outsourcing: (1) cost minimization, (2) quality
improvement and (3) resource access. According to the findings, while sports
clubs can increase the quality of their teams through foreign player transfers
that they can use globally, they can also reducing the player costs. Sports
clubs should be able to manage foreign player transfers correctly not only in
terms of sporting success but also in terms of their economic sustainability.
The results of this study may reveal that the transfer of foreign players as
outsourcing is seen as a successful activity of sports clubs.

Keywords

Foreign Player, Player Mobility, Labor Migration, Immigration, Productivity

References

• 1. Akşar, T. & Merih, K. (2008). Futbol yönetimi [Football management]. İstanbul: Literatür Publishing House.
• 2. Aktaş, H. & Mutlu, S. (2016). ‘Break-even calculations rule ın financial fair play’ within the scope of financial sustainability in football industry and implementation of Beşiktaş football club. CBÜ Social Sciences Studies, 14(2), 223-256.
• 3. Ben-Porat, A. (2002). The political economy of soccer: The importation of foreign soccer players to the Israeli League. Soccer & Society, 3(1), 54-68.
• 4. Binder, JJ. & Findlay, M. (2012). The effects of the Bosman Ruling on national club teams in Europe. Journal of Sports Economic, 13(2), 107-129.
• 5. Bradbury, T. (2015, June). Managing the delivery of sport events: Outsourcing and/ or multiple delivery partner mode. North American Society for Sport Management Conference – NASSM.
• 6. Brandes, L., Franck, E., & Theiler, P. (2009). The Effect from National Diversity on Team Production. Schmalenbach Business Review, 61(2), 225-246.
• 7. Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2012). Bilimsel Araştırma Yöntemleri (11th ed.) [Scientific Research Methodologies]. Ankara: Pegem Akademi.
• 8. Creswell, JW. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• 9. Creswell, JW. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• 10. Crow, CM. (2011). The outsourcing of football stadium foodservice operations by National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Athletic Programs (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 3486686)
• 11. Darby, P., Akindes, G. & Kirwin, M. (2007). Football academies and the migration of African football labor to Europe. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 31(2), 143-161.
• 12. Devecioğlu, S., Ekenci, G. ve Yıldız, M. (2016). Global goals: Youth and sport. Sport & Society, Special Issue, 102-111.
• 13. Dietl, HM., Özdemir, A. & Schweizer, N. (2017). Outsourcing sports sponsorship activities: A multi-theoretical approach. Sport Business and Management: An International Journal, 7(1), 77-96.
• 14. Doğan, M., Doğan, A. ve Serbest, M. (2004). Profesyonel Türk futbolcuların Türkiye 1. Süper Liginde oynayan yabancı uyruklu futbolcularla ilgili düşünceleri üzerine bir çalışma [A research on the opinions of the Professional Turkish football players of foreign players in super league]. Journal of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, 6(1), 30-39.
• 15. Ecerkale, K. & Kovancı, A. (2005). İnsan kaynaklarında dış kaynak kullanımı [Outsourcing in Human Resource]. Journal of Aeronautics and Space Technologies, 2(2), 69-75.
• 16. Egilsson, B. & Dolles, H. (2017). ‘From heroes to zeroes’ – self-initiated expatriation of talented young footballers. Journal of Global Mobility, 5(2), 174-193.
• 17. Ekmekçi, R. (2009). Spor yönetimine giriş ve temel konular [Introductions to Sport Management and Basic Issues]. In Basım, H. N. & Argan, M. (Eds.), Spor yönetimi [Sport Management]. (pp. 2-31). Ankara: Detay Publishing.
• 18. CIES Sports Observatory (2018). International Basketball Migration Report 2018. Retrieved from FIBA website: http://www.fiba.basketball/documents/ibmr2018.pdf
• 19. FIFA (2018). Global transfer market report. Retrieved from FIFA website: https://www.fifatms.com/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2019/01/fifa_tms_gtm_men_A4_online_f01.pdf
• 20. Forbes Lists. (2018). https://www.forbes.com/lists
• 21. Giri, BC. & Sarker, BR. (2017). Improving performance by coordinating a supply chain with third party logistics outsourcing under production disruption. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 103, 168-177.
• 22. Hoecht, A. & Trott, P. (2006). Innovation risks of strategic outsourcing. Technovation, 26(5-6), 672,681.
• 23. Hurley, KS. (2016). Outsourcing expertise in health and physical education: Friend or foe?. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. 87(6), 53-54.
• 24. Kara, FM. (2011). Spor örgütlerinde kadın yöneticilerin kariyer engelleri [Carrier barriers of women managers in sports organizations] (Unpublished master’s thesis). Gazi University, Ankara.
• 25. Khirallah, D. (2002). The politics of outsourcing. Information Week, 2, 74-78. Retrieved from https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=6438583
• 26. Lang, M., Rathke, A. & Runkel, M. (2009). The economic consequences of foreigner rules in national sports leagues. University of Zurich – Institute for Strategy and Business Economics – Working Paper Series, 103, 47-64.
• 27. Lawrence, M. (2017). Curry will get record $200M-Plus deal from warriors for making all-NBA team; two stars fall short. Retrieved January 31, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/mitchlawrence/2017/05/18/stephen-curry-will-get-record-200-plus-million-deal-from-warriors-while-two-nba-stars-fall-short/#67ac049672b7
• 28. Lee, S. (2010). Global outsourcing: A different approach to an understanding of sport labour migration. Global Business Review, 11(2), 153-165.
• 29. Lee, S., Oh, N. & Juravich, M. (2016). Examination of formal and informal relationships between service provide and client for ticket sales outsourcing in the United States. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 15(1-2), 62-80.
• 30. Li, M. & Burden, W. (2002). Outsourcing sport marketing operations by NCAA Division 1 athletic programs: an exploratory study. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 11(4), 226-232.
• 31. Littlewood, M., Mullen, C. & Richardson, D. (2011). Football labour migration: An examination of the player recruitment strategies of the ‘big five’ European football leagues 2004-5 to 2008-9. Soccer & Society, 12(6), 788-805.
• 32. Magee, J. & Sugden, J. (2002). ‘The world at their feet’ Professional football and international labor migration. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 26(4), 421-437.
• 33. Manoli, A. E. & Hodgkinson, IR. (2017). Marketing outsourcing in the English Premier League: the rights holder/agency interface. European Sport Management Quarterly, 17(4), 436-456.
• 34. McGovern, G. & Quelch, J. (2005). Outsourcing marketing. Harvard Business Review, 83(3), 22-26.
• 35. Morrow, HE. (2004). The wide world of sports is getting wider: A look at drafting foreign players into U.S. professional sports. Houston Journal of International Law, 26(3), 649-706.
• 36. Mukherji, S. & Ramachandran, J. (2007). Outsourcing: Practice and searching of a theory. IIMB Management Review, 19(2), 103-110.
• 37. Özbay, T. (2004). Sorularla Dış Kaynak Kullanımı (Outsourcing) [Questions with the outsourcing]. Istanbul: Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Publishing.
• 38. Poli, R. (2010a). African migrants in Asian and European football: Hopes and Realities. Sport in Society, 13(6), 1001-1011.
• 39. Poli, R. (2010b). Understanding globalization through football: The new international division of labour, migratory channels and transnational trade circuits. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 45(4), 491-506.
• 40. Poli, R., Ravenel, L. & Besson, R. (2017). World expatriate footballers. (Report No. 25). Retrieved from CIES Football Observatory: http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/mr/mr25/en/
• 41. Rosas, L. & Gerrard, B. (2014). Young players impact on team performance in professional football teams. G. Hendriks, K. Gilbert, D. Oyon & C. Stricker (Ed.). Collected insights from the field of sport. Volume 1: Football and Society. Switzerland: International Academy of Sports Science and Technology.
• 42. Rosner, SR. & Conroy, WT. (2009). The impact of the flat world on player transfers in major league baseball. University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law, 12(1), 79-130.
• 43. Simmons, R. (1997). Implications of the Bosman ruling for football transfer markets. Economic Affairs, 17(3), 13-18.
• 44. Stead, D. & Maguire, J. (2000). Rite de passage or passage to riches? The motivation and objectives of Nordic/Scandinavian players in English league soccer. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 24(1), 36-60.
• 45. Somjai, S. (2017). Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing. The Business and Management Review, 9(1), 157-160.
• 46. Tınaz, C., Hacısoftaoğlu, İ. & Yılmaz, S. (2017). Ulusal Basketbol Hamlesi [Official Research Report of the National Basketball Movement]. (Report No: 1). İstanbul: Anka Printing House.
• 47. Tiwana, A. & Bush, A. A. (2007). A comparison of transaction cost, agency and knowledge-based predictors of IT outsourcing decisions: A U.S-Japan cross-cultural field study. Journal of Management Information Systems, 24(1), 259-300.
• 48. Transfermarkt (2018a). https://www.transfermarkt.com.tr/neymar/profil/spieler/68290
• 49. Transfermarkt (2018b).https://www.transfermarkt.com.tr/kylian-mbappe/profil/spieler/342229
• 50. Weidenbaum, M. (2005). Outsourcing: Pros and cons. Business Horizon, 48, 311-315.
• 51. Williams, BJ. & Macdonald, D. (2015). Explaining outsourcing in health, sport and physical education. Sport, Education and Society, 20(1), 57-72.
• 52. Yancı, H. B. A. (2003). Spor kulüplerinin seyahat organizasyonlarında dış kaynaklardan (outsourcing) yararlanma uygulamaları [The outsourcing applications for the travel organizations of the sport clubs]. Istanbul University Journal of Sport Sciences, 11(3), 84-88.
• 53. Yüce, A. (2015). Türk Spor Kamuoyu ve Yabancı Futbolcular: Türk Spor Kamuoyunun Yabancı Futbolcu Sayısına İlişkin Görüşleri [Turkish Sports Public and Foreign Players: Turkish Sports Public Opinion on the Number of Foreign Players]. Germany: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.
• 54. Yüce, A., Katırcı, H. & Kuzu, C. (2017). Türk futbolunda yabancı futbolcu sınırlaması ve Türk futbolcuların görüşleri [Limitation of foreign players in Turkish football and the views of Turkish footballers]. CBU Journal of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, 12(2), 24-39.