The business environment of sport organisations: A review

The purpose of this review was to critically discuss an environmental analysis that considers the needs of sports organisations. The main objectives were to discuss the determinants in the micro environment, the market environment and the macro environment that will influence the strategic management and the development of a business strategy. Sport has progressed from a pursuit of leisure to a multi-million industry and due to this shift, the need for sound commercial business principles in managing, developing and promoting sports organisations has increased. Studies have found that the characteristics and historical culture of sport make the sports organisation unique in the sense that it requires adapted commercial business principles when conducting strategic management. Sport is increasingly becoming more commercialised and the need for sound management principles is apparent. Due to the unique nature of sports organisations, it is clear that business-management principles, such as strategic management and environmental analyses, have to be adapted to suit the needs of the sports organisation. Previous literature was collected and synthesised to form an analytical framework of the sports’ organisations environmental analysis.   Key words: Business management, strategic management, environmental analysis, sports management, sports organisations.