Jess C. Dixon

“Frame-changing” the game: examining the media framing of the mixed martial arts discourse in Ontario

This article extends research on media framing and the concept of “frame-changing” by examining the sanctioning of professional mixed martial arts (MMA) events in Ontario, Canada. After initially indicating that sanctioning MMA was unimportant, the Ontario government shifted its policy and announced it would sanction professional MMA events. A content analysis was conducted on newsprint articles published between 2009 and 2010 that were related to the sanctioning of MMA events in Ontario. After removing syndicated reports, 18 newsprint articles derived from six major Canadian dailies served as the focus for this study. Using open and axial coding techniques, these articles identified that the media produced two frames for the discourse related to the sanctioning of MMA (i.e., legal/ethical and economic), which changed throughout the discourse. This study serves to examine how mainstream media frames the sport in jurisdictions yet to develop a MMA policy.

'Making the case' for using the case method in sport management education

The case method has been a staple of management education for more than a century. However, despite its prevalence in business schools around the world, the case method has been relatively underutilised by the members of the sport management academy for the instruction of their classes. This paper is intended to highlight the virtues of case pedagogy and encourage its use within sport management education, as Zeigler did nearly 50 years ago. Drawing upon personal experience, the author discusses how the case method was employed in teaching classes in the area of strategic management in sport.

Rebranding: the effect of team name changes on club revenue

ABSTRACT Research question: The purpose of this study is to explore the financial effect of four types of team name changes, three of which have not been previously studied. We do so in the context of development leagues where rebranding occurs with considerable frequency, thus affecting a great number of sport managers. Research methods: The effect of rebranding on club revenue was derived by combining the results of two analyses. The first used an economic demand equation to examine the attendance variations of 475 Minor League Baseball teams in 244 cities in the United States and Canada between 1980 and 2011 that engaged in one (or more) of four different types of name changes. The second examined changes in merchandise sales after a rebranding effort. Results and Findings: The results indicate that development teams fail to derive financial gains from adopting the names of their major league parent clubs. Instead, teams that abandon unique local names see large attendance decreases suggesting that local names generate greater brand awareness and brand image than their major league counterparts. The largest merchandise gains are generated by teams that adopt new, local names. Implications: These findings further our understanding of the outcomes of brand management and rebranding efforts by acknowledging that former and future names have varying levels of brand equity that have real effects on consumer purchasing behaviors and subsequent financial gains and losses.

Delayed or on-time? Examining the moderating effect of academic timing on the relative age effect among Canadian interuniversity athletes

ABSTRACT Relative age effects (RAE) are developmental advantages experienced by those born in the initial months after a predetermined cut-off date over their younger counterparts. Student-athletes are considered to be “on-time” when their current year of athletic eligibility coincides with their expected year of athletic eligibility, based on their year of birth. Conversely, student-athletes are considered “delayed” when their current athletic eligibility year corresponds with a younger cohort. This study examined the impact of the RAE and academic timing on participation within nine of the 12 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championship sports. A logistic regression was conducted to predict academic timing based on participants’ quartile of birth and sex. The results indicated that males are significantly more likely to be delayed than females, and those student-athletes born in the later months of the year are more frequently delayed compared to their relatively older peers.

Relative age effects and academic timing in Canadian interuniversity football

ABSTRACT Relative age effects (RAEs) explain the (dis)advantages individuals experience as a result of when they are born relative to a pre-determined cut-off date. Within an interuniversity setting, academic timing (AT) may moderate the RAE pattern due to some student-athletes having eligibility years that do not correspond with their birth years. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the RAE and AT on interuniversity football players. A series of chi-square goodness of fit tests (χ2) revealed no RAE when all student-athletes were analyzed together as well as among those who were delayed (i.e. eligibility years that correspond with a younger cohort), and a traditional RAE among those who were on-time (i.e. eligibility years that correspond with their year of birth). Student-athletes ranged between 1 and 12 years delayed, with the majority of these athletes being delayed by one (30.76%) or two years (30.97%). This study suggests that there may be advantages to student-athletes delaying their participation within football, as these delays may help mitigate the overall RAE by equalizing playing opportunities for relatively younger student-athletes. However, delaying eligibility raises concerns about equity, particularly for those progressing to interuniversity football directly out of high school who may have to compete for roster spots against student-athletes who may be up to 12 years delayed.

Taking stock and effecting change: curriculum evaluation through a review of course syllabi

Abstract A multi-disciplinary academic unit at a Canadian university completed an evaluation of course syllabi used in its undergraduate programmes over the previous five years. This paper examines the reasons for the evaluation, the processes employed to collect and analyse the data, and how the results will be incorporated into the next steps of the overall curricula reform planned within the unit. The evaluation focused on the unit’s adherence to departmental and university policies, course reading materials, experiential learning opportunities, forms of assessments (e.g. types and weighting of assignments), learning outcomes and instructor-specific policies (e.g. group work expectations, late assignments). While a summary of the results of the evaluation are provided herein, these are meant to highlight the administrative and curricular benefits and uses of the data, rather than an analysis and discussion of the results themselves.

Investigating the relationship between the relative age effect and leadership behaviors among male ice hockey players

This study examined the role of relative age on leadership behaviors among male house league ice hockey players. Athletes completed an online survey that solicited their birthdate along with their responses to the leadership scale for sport. As expected, the results of our analyses revealed no relative age effects. Captains scored significantly higher on the training and instruction, democratic behavior and social support dimensions of the leadership scale for sport. While there were significant multivariate differences between birth quartile and the dimensions of leadership, a relative weight analysis revealed that quartile of birth did not differ significantly on any of these dimensions. Thus, male house league hockey players are not (dis)advantaged in terms of their leadership behaviors as a consequence of relative age.

Performance Sports Group: To Invest or Not to Invest

In August of 2015, Felix Farmer received notice that he would be inheriting a large sum of money from his great-uncle’s will. Farmer is contemplating investing

Relative Age Effects: Implications for Leadership Development

50,000 CAD (

Relative Age Effects

38,251 USD) of his inheritance in the parent company of his favorite hockey brand, Bauer. Performance Sports Group (PSG) is a leading manufacturer in the global sporting goods industry that is publicly traded on both the Toronto and New York Stock exchanges, and the parent of such highly successful brands as Bauer and Easton. This case study challenges students to calculate financial ratios, apply various other financial analyses to understand the financial performance of PSG, and complete a Porter’s (2008) Five Forces industry analysis as a means of deciding whether Farmer should invest a portion of his inheritance with PSG.