FiT Publishing

Love or hate them, the Dallas Cowboys are “America’s Team.” For more than 30 years, the prominent National Football League team has referred to itself as “America’s Team,” a reference to their national appeal and popularity, but also a term that infuriates opposing teams and fans. However, according to a Texas federal district court, the Dallas Cowboys indeed are America’s team for trademark purposes (Dallas Cowboys Football Clubs, Ltd. v. Am.’s Team Props., 2009). This article analyzes the Dallas Cowboys and National Football League’s 2009 lawsuit against America’s Team Properties and...Read more

This study examines the underlying motives within the ritual of football tailgating and the influence of these motives on ritual commitment. Employing an ethnographic approach, methods include participant observation, informal conversations, and formal interviews. Findings indicate that four basic motivations and the dual nature of these motives perpetuate the tailgating ritual: involvement (preparation and participation), social interaction (camaraderie and competition), inter-temporal sentiment (retrospection and prospection), and identity (collectivism and individualism). The data...Read more

The fantasy sports industry continues to present interesting legal issues for sport managers. Last year, this column featured a discussion of C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (2006, 2007) which held that an operator of a fantasy sports league was not infringing on the players’ state law publicity rights and that the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution preempted the players’ state law publicity rights (Grady, 2007). The case that is the subject of this column identifies yet another issue surrounding fantasy sports. In Humphrey...Read more

Evaluating sponsorship activities at elite intercollegiate sporting events has become critical to determining sponsorship effectiveness and maximizing the relationships between athletic departments and their corporate partners. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sponsorship of an elite intercollegiate football program by analyzing the effects of the constructs of attitude toward the sponsor, goodwill, and fan involvement on consumer purchase intentions. In this study (N=394), there were 52% males, 77% Caucasians, and 71% percent of the participants ranging from 18-24 years of...Read more

The purpose of this case study is to examine the impact of Tyrone Willingham¡¯s tenure as head football coach on the brand equity of the University of Notre Dame. Brand equity is traditionally viewed as a cyclical phenomenon (Gladden, Milne, & Sutton, 1998) with longitudinal examinations being the preferred method of evaluation. This case study focuses on a three-year time period for reasons grounded in the literature and, as in this particular case, the practical consideration that Tyrone Willingham¡¯s tenure at the University of Notre Dame lasted three years. Notre Dame University¡¯s...Read more

The emphasis on licensing as a source of revenue for sport organizations, coupled with the creativity of sport marketers and their fans, serves to highlight the importance of securing trademark protection for unique slogans and nicknames that emerge in connection with a particular sport organization. Perhaps one of the most well-known of these team-related fan groups is the Cleveland Browns’ “Dawg Pound,” a phrase used since the early 1980s to describe the enthusiastic Browns fans who dressed up (and woofed) like dogs. Members of the “Dawg Pound” sat together in the bleachers of the old...Read more

During the 2001 college football season more than 40 million individuals attended intercollegiate football games across the four divisions sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Although it would be easy to classify all of these individuals as either being spectators or fans, that would be inaccurate. Trail, Robinson, Gillentine, and Dick (2003) developed a model based on the relationship between motives and points of attachment that classified attendees as either spectators or fans. The purpose of this study was to use the model to determine how individuals who...Read more