Managing Sport Events

Running a successful sporting event—whether it’s a local event, state championship, or international competition—requires the knowledge and skills to plan, organize, promote, lead, and communicate effectively. Managing Sport Events, Second Edition With Web Resource, will prepare readers to manage events with ease, guiding them through the entire process, from event conception to postevent evaluation.

Merging research findings with best practices, Managing Sport Events, Second Edition, presents the key principles of event management to prepare students to enter the field with the skills needed to immediately engage in event production and evaluation. With updated references throughout, the second edition emphasizes practical application by offering plenty of contemporary examples and learning opportunities for students:

• New industry profiles at the beginning of each chapter showcase professionals putting theory into practice
• Added sections address emerging trends and topics, such as sustainability and event security
• Examples show how new technologies can be utilized for event management and event presentation
• Scenarios highlighting recreational and community events better represent smaller-scale events such as a local 5K run or a youth basketball tournament
• Case studies and learning activities at the end of each chapter allow students to put theory into practice
• A new web resource offers mini case studies with multiple-choice questions that provide immediate feedback to help students gauge their comprehension

Managing Sport Events, Second Edition, leads students through the reality of what it takes to conduct a successful event. Starting with event conception and development, the text then addresses key planning areas, including staffing, budgeting, marketing, promotion, sponsorship, and legal and risk management. It then moves into key operational areas such as services, logistics, and on-site management, and it concludes the process with postevent duties and considerations.

Managing Sport Events, Second Edition, integrates the traditional business segments of sport management with the unique requirements of event management. This guide is an essential resource for current and future professionals working in parks and recreation, tourism and hospitality, and sports at all levels—youth, high school, college, amateur, minor league, professional, and international competition.

T. Christopher Greenwell, PhD, is a professor in the department of health and sport science at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. He has taught event management since 2002 and has published several articles on unique aspects of the service environment at sporting events and how these can be used as an effective marketing tool.

Greenwell has direct experience as an event manager, having planned and coordinated the event management, promotions, and game operations for all athletic events in an NCAA Division I athletic program. Events under his management set attendance records in men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, and women’s soccer. Greenwell was also an event volunteer for major events such as the Super Bowl, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, NASCAR races, and the World Equestrian Games.

Greenwell and his wife, Donna, reside in Louisville. In his free time, he enjoys watching mixed martial arts and playing fantasy football.

Leigh Ann Danzey-Bussell, PhD, is an associate professor of sport management at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville. She has taught event and facility management courses since 2006. In 2008, she was named Outstanding Professor of the Year by Sigma Phi Epsilon, Gamma Chapter, at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

Danzey-Bussell has over 25 years of experience working in the sport industry in various capacities in NCAA Division I, II, and III programs and NAIA programs as well as in the nonprofit sector. She has served as the executive director of Team Clydesdale International, a nonprofit organization responsible for hosting national and world championships in various events. She also worked as the media relations coordinator for the United States Golf Tour, and she was a sport information director responsible for event management and promotion at the University of Alabama, University of South Alabama, and Northeast Louisiana University. Danzey-Bussell serves as the chair of the North American Society for Sport Management’s Teaching & Learning Fair. A former member of the finance committee for the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, she is currently a member of the Drake Group and the Nashville Sports Council and is a TNPromise mentor.

Danzey-Bussell has volunteered for local, regional, and national sporting events, including American Heart Association walks, Southeastern Conference gymnastics championships, two NCAA Final Fours (Indianapolis and Atlanta), NCAA swimming and diving championships, the 2018 NCAA men’s basketball tournament (rounds 1 and 2) in Nashville, the 2018 Music City Bowl, the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis, the 2019 Super Bowl in Atlanta, the 2019 Southeastern Conference men’s basketball tournament, and the 2019 NFL draft. She also served the University of Alabama as the alumni chapter president for the state of Indiana for 10 years.

Danzey-Bussell enjoys attending and watching sporting events, sharing movies with her family, and cooking. She and her husband, Timothy, and daughter, Sophie Grace, reside in Nolensville, Tennessee.

David J. Shonk, PhD, is an associate professor in the School of Hospitality, Sport, and Recreation Management at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he conducts research in sport event management and has taught a course in sport facility and event management. Shonk has worked as a meeting and event planner in both professional sports and the nonprofit sector since 2003. During that time he was responsible for planning a range of conferences, tours, and events, including concerts, on-field promotions, and special events such as the Carolina League All-Star Game. He also worked as marketing director of the Salem Professional Baseball Club and director of development at DECA, Inc.

In 2011, Shonk founded the all-volunteer organization Harrisonburg-Rockingham Sports Commission, where he serves as the executive director. He also currently serves as associate editor for the Sport Management Education Journal.

Shonk lives in Harrisonburg with his wife, Jennifer, and their children, Ashley and Ryan. He is an active board member with Valley Fellowship of Christian Athletes and enjoys traveling with his family.