The Sport Leader as an Entrepreneur: Intercollegiate Athletics in the USA

Many entrepreneurial characteristics and skills are necessary for the sport leader to enhance the financial well-being of their sport organization. An entrepreneur is one who is committed to accept, manage, and organize risks of an economic activity (Farhangi & Safarzadeh, 2007). According to Brockhaus (1990), an entrepreneur is an individual engaged in the creation and management of business ventures. Primary characteristics of entrepreneurs include innovation (Backman, 1983), and growth (Drucker, 1985). Myriad entrepreneurial ventures by sport leaders can be used to improve their organizations’ financial standing. Quarterman (1994) adapted Mintzberg’s (1990) entrepreneurially based work-related areas and applied them to commissioners in intercollegiate athletic conferences for the purpose of increasing sport conference revenue through innovative marketing concepts. The following Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education National Content Standards (2004) can be used by sport leaders to facilitate the entrepreneurial process and in turn generate revenues in sport organizations: entrepreneurial traits/behaviors, business foundations, communications and interpersonal skills, digital skills, economics, financial literacy, professional development, financial management, human resource management, information management, marketing, management, operations management, risk management, and strategic management. More specifically, entrepreneurial characteristics of sport leaders can be used in athletic organizations to initiate new marketing concepts to generate revenue. Similarly, entrepreneurial activities including but not limited to entrepreneurial sports branding now take place in athletic conferences, in part, through digital and social media (Judson, Neely, & Aurand, 2011).