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The purpose of this study was to identify the supports and barriers women coaches experience at the organizational level and to determine how those factors influence interpersonal- and individual-level factors within their coaching context. Nine women who coach high school basketball were interviewed at two time points and asked to reflect on organizational-level factors relative to their coaching position and how those factors have shaped their coaching experience over time. Based on the results of the interviews, two organizational-level factors were identified as barriers for participants: navigating inconsistent hiring practices and hypermasculine culture within school sport. The participants described organizational-level factors as influencing their experiences at both interpersonal (e.g., support from mentors, barriers related to the athletic directors) and individual (e.g., age, experience, sexual orientation) levels. The findings provide empirical support for specific organizational factors that contribute to interpersonal- and individual-level coach experiences. The power structures embedded in these associations are defined and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In basketball, successful performance relies on the optimal use of top-down strategic guidance by coaches and bottom-up adjustments by players, requiring a preparation plan consistent with match demands. The aim of this study was to analyze the strategic-tactical tendencies between a basketball team's preparation and match performance phases for a U16 men's national team during a continental tournament. The team was composed by 12 players (aged 16 ± 0.4) with at least three years of participation in basketball competitions. Data from team strategy (the playbook), team practices, and match performance were integrated through a common set of variables in a decision support framework, the Team Learning Cycle (TLC). The influence of situational variables with respect to preparation and match performance consistency and efficiency was also investigated. The preparation phase significantly emphasized small-sided games focused on group-tactics-based attacks, combining offense and defense, usually in the set offense. During the matches, the set offense was also significantly prioritized. The frequency of group-tactics-based attacks increased relative to team plays from the group phase to the elimination phase (p < 0.05). Efficiency generally improved during close matches, suggesting successful team strategy learning and tactical autonomy from preparation to matches. Using consistency and efficiency together provided for an effective evaluation of a team's preparation-performance relationship. This evidence underscores the importance of sensitive monitoring methods for establishing accurate associations between preparation and performance. Coaches can use this systematic procedure to critically examine their use of preparation time relative to match performance. Additionally, basketball managers may find that TLC-related evidence supports evaluating coaches' multi-dimensional skills from a broader perspective than simply winning rates, offering a more objective and comprehensive assessment of coaching effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We examine how in men's college basketball coaching, race-related managerial job insecurity trickles down to negatively affect the careers of the subordinates who work for them. Using panel data from a randomly selected group of assistant basketball coaches working under the most prestigious and endowed governing body of collegiate sports in the United States—the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (DI)—we find that, in men's college basketball coaching, subordinate White coaches are less likely to be involuntarily dismissed than their non-White, predominantly Black, counterparts because non-White subordinates disproportionately work for racially minoritized, predominantly Black, head coaches who themselves face greater job insecurity. We also find involuntary dismissal correlates with whether assistant coaches leave the ranks of NCAA DI men's college basketball coaching and explains the significant interaction between race and a teams' performance relative to their respective conferences. These findings illustrate how race-related managerial job insecurity trickles down to negatively affect the job opportunities of their subordinates and, because of homophily, perpetuates racial disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate (a) if a coaching clinic (CC) impacted student-coaches' behavior and academic learning time during a basketball Sport Education season and (b) if 3v3 game performance improved as a function of the coaching clinic. Method: Preservice teachers (n = 85) were randomly assigned to a CC or a comparison group and taught a 16-lesson Sport Education-based basketball season. The CC group received a coaching clinic in which student-coaches were introduced to core instructional skills, including task organization, task presentation, and delivering congruent feedback. Results: For both groups, coaching time significantly increased from 11.5% to 34.1%, p =.02, as well as cognitive learner involvement, p <.01. CC coaches provided significantly more demonstrations, p <.02. Players in the CC group had significantly greater improvement in 3v3 game play, p =.01. Conclusion: The clinic positively impacted student-coaches' demonstrations, which likely contributed to improved 3v3 performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis is the first study to examine an emergent wagering market: the Calcutta auction. Participants in Calcutta auctions bid for entrants that compete to earn a pre-determined percentage of an unknown total pot size. Utilizing 13-year data from an in-person Calcutta auction of NCAA men's basketball tournament teams, evidence exists of a traditional favourite-longshot bias, of lower overall returns existing for teams in the middle of the team quality distribution and of auction participants being unable to correctly identify (through higher bids) teams that ultimately win more games after their quality is taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In March 2020, the sports world came to a standstill as COVID-19 spread across the globe. Sport fans were among the industry stakeholders most affected. Fans turn to sports to satisfy a variety of needs [Trail, G.T. (2018). Sport consumer behavior (4th ed.). Printed by the author.] and experience psychosocial benefits by way of their fandom [Wann et al. (2000). The self-presentation of sport fans: Investigating the importance of team identification and self-esteem. Journal of Sport Behavior, 23(2), 198–206.; Wann et al. (2017). Testing the team identification–social psychological health model: Mediational relationships among team identification, sport fandom, sense of belonging, and meaning in life. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 21(2), 94–107.] Without games, however, to what extent were fans able to fulfill these needs? Further, did fans experience detrimental impacts to their self-esteem and sense of belongingness in relation to their team/fan communities? Data were collected via an online survey using select online NBA and MLB team message boards in addition to Amazon MTurk. Fan needs were measured using adapted versions of prior sport fan motivation scales [Trail & James (2001). The motivation scale for sport consumption: Assessment of the scale's psychometric properties. Journal of Sport Behavior, 24, 108–127; Wann (1995). Preliminary validation of the sport fan motivation scale. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 19(4), 377–396.]. Self-esteem was measured using an adapted version of Harris et al.'s [Harris et al. (2018). The Lifespan Self-Esteem scale: Initial validation of a new measure of global self-esteem. Journal of Personality Assessment, 100(1), 84–95]. Lifespan Self-Esteem Scale. Belongingness was measured using four items from Malone et al.'s [Malone et al. (2012). The general Belongingness Scale (GBS): Assessing achieved belongingness. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(3), 311–316]. General Belongingness Scale. Survey results from 417 sports fans revealed many of the needs typically met through sport consumption (i.e. achievement, drama, escape, family togetherness, social connections, group affiliation, and entertainment) went largely unmet during the pandemic. Further, highly passionate fans maintained higher perceived levels of self-esteem and belongingness than less passionate respondents. Results of this study should aid sports organizations in understanding the experience of their fans during the pandemic and better prepare teams and leagues to engage their consumers in future situations where live sports are unavailable. This paper builds on our understanding of fan motivation and psychosocial outcomes of fandom in a time when the sport was suspended due to COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was designed to support the tactical decisions of wheelchair basketball (WB) coaches in identifying the best players to form winning lineups. Data related to a complete regular season of a top-level WB Championship were examined. By analyzing game-related statistics from the first round, two clusters were identified that accounted for approximately 35% of the total variance. Cluster 1 was composed of low-performing athletes, while Cluster 2 was composed of high-performing athletes. Based on data related to the second round of the Championship, we conducted a two-fold evaluation of the clusters identified in the first round with the team's net performance as the outcome variable. The results showed that teams where players belonging to Cluster 2 had played more time during the second round of the championship were also those with the better team performance (R-squared = 0.48, p = 0.035), while increasing the playing time for players from Classes III and IV does not necessarily improve team performance (r2 = -0.14, p = 0.59). These results of the present study suggest that a collaborative approach between coaches and data scientists would significantly advance this Paralympic sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predictive processing provides a framework for explaining how the brain solves problems of perception, decision making, and movement control by forming predictions, or plausible explanations, for what is happening in an approximately optimal manner. The strength or confidence of the prediction subjectively shapes whether something "surprising" has happened and whether a person's perceptions and actions require adjustment. We put forward how predictive processing accounts of skill development emphasise predictive processes of action and perception that allows coaches who identify as "sporting ecology designers," to better understand how to select the right action opportunities (i.e., affordances) to include in their training designs. We describe how motor learning can be incorporated into training designs through the element of "surprise" or the unexpected variations from the already established internal patterns that athletes have learned over time in a range of performance and practice settings. We conclude by presenting an applied example of coaching the backdoor cut manoeuver in basketball using predictive processing techniques, outlining how aspects of athlete knowledge, intentionality, memories, decision making, and prior experience cognitively coalesce during a coach-led training design to produce stable, yet flexible, movement couplings in a sport-based setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the issue of unequal protections for workers in employment discrimination cases. The author argues that the current remedies of back pay and front pay fail to deter discrimination equally for all workers. Less specialized workers, who can quickly find new employment, receive smaller damages because they are expected to mitigate their losses. On the other hand, highly specialized workers who struggle to find new jobs receive larger damages. The author proposes the introduction of a mandatory civil penalty in addition to back pay and front pay to ensure that employers face financial consequences for discrimination, regardless of the worker's ability to mitigate. The article also discusses the need to update the punitive damage scale in Title VII to effectively deter employment discrimination. The proposal suggests adjusting the penalty based on the size of the employer and replacing optional punitive damages with mandatory civil penalties. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the concept of "stretch teaching assignments" and the challenges and benefits they present to instructors. The author shares their personal experience of being asked to teach a business course despite having no prior knowledge in the subject. They highlight the importance of embracing these assignments, finding ways to compensate for lack of knowledge, and utilizing guest lecturers to enhance student learning. The article also emphasizes the value of stepping out of one's comfort zone and the potential for personal and professional growth. [Extracted from the article]

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination in all educational institutions which receive federal grants. More than 50 years after passage of the law, the gender and salary composition of athletes and coaches has remained relatively uninvestigated. In this paper, we analyze the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) with a goal to promoting Title IX compliance in the Men's top ten basketball program and the women's top ten basketball program. Our analysis reveals statistically significant differences in both salary and revenue compositions of the two programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Fantasy Sports' - an internet-based game in which participants chose virtual teams of real professional athletes - has recently gained in popularity. Various firms provide projections regarding athletes' future performance to help participants choose their virtual teams. We evaluate such forecasts based on 1658 projections regarding NBA basketball of four selected projection providers that were collected in February 2022. We calculate standard measures of forecast quality and find that the use of professional forecasts reduces the errors made in naïve forecasts, but only to a moderate extent. Applying regression-based tests of forecast efficiency, we find that the predictions are inefficient and, in some cases, even biased. Third, pairwise comparisons of the accuracy of the providers suggest notable differences among such providers in the short run. We use a simple optimization algorithm to choose a virtual team for each match day and feed it with the forecasts of the providers. Subsequently, we rank the providers according to the score obtained by these teams. We find small, although in one case significant, long-run differences between the providers, among whom each provides better accuracy than that of a naïve projection based on these athletes' past performances. Finally, we simulate one-on-one competition among various forecast providers to ascertain the long-term profitability of their services. Given the small magnitude of the detected differences, our results, in brief, raise doubts as to whether the forecasts provided are worth the money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Coaching is not necessarily among the world's most demanding jobs; however, this does not mean that anybody can be suitable to take the position without enjoying special skill, ability, knowledge, insight, qualification, and merit. The aim of this research is to identify the factors influential in the selection of the national basketball team coaches. Methods: This research is qualitative in nature and the method used for its conduction is based on a grounded theory with a systematic approach. The participants (n=28) in this study represented basketball experts, who were selected on purposive sampling with whom to reach saturation of data. The instrument for collection of data was the semi-structured interview The open, axial, and selective coding were used to analyze the data. To ensure that this research is discriminating, the researchers used the indices of credibility, transferability, trustworthiness, and confirmability. Results: This research showed 643 initial concepts, 142 secondary concepts, and 20 sub-categories, classified into the causative, contextual, intervening conditions, strategies and consequences. Conclusion: Reflecting on results of this research, it can be inferred that optimal use of workforce resources in the basketball sports, especially using the coaches, will not be possible in our endeavors to meet the goals without observing the exigencies of their selection. Therefore, the officials in charge of selecting national basketball team coaches are suggested to consider the factors identified in this research and put them on their agenda as the criteria for their selection. On the other hand, executive bodies also should observe and set forth several factors to address the goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Launched in 1986, the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Rookie Transition Program (RTP) is the longest running program of its kind in U.S. professional sports. Jointly administered by the NBA and National Basketball Players Association, the RTP is designed to ease the transition of first-year players to the league. Over the course of 4 days, RTP participants engage with current and former NBA players, coaches, administrators, and other league stakeholders on topics that range from personal finance, to mental health, to social justice advocacy. Organizational scholars might describe the NBA RTP as an element of the league's onboarding, or organizational socialization, strategy. In this case, students will reflect on their own socialization experiences as organizational newcomers before analyzing the components of the NBA RTP. Finally, students will apply what they learn through this case to design the agenda of a future NBA RTP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines factors impacting sport attendance at non-conference NCAA Division I men's college basketball games. Non-conference college basketball games are relatively unique because athletic department personnel control many of the scheduling variables related to event popularity, including opponent, game day, and start time. As such, it is valuable for administrators to know which elements might maximize their event revenue. The current study is also distinctive because it examines both reported attendance (tickets disseminated) and actual attendance (tickets scanned at the venue). A total of 48 schools provided ticket scan rate data for their non-conference home basketball games over three seasons (2017-2020), with a total of 964 observations. Results revealed a no-show rate of 37%. Several factors affecting reported attendance were significantly different than those affecting actual attendance, including weekend games, geographic distance between schools, and home team winning percentage. Results were also different between Power Five institutions and non-Power Five institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women from culturally diverse backgrounds are underrepresented in sport leadership, often experiencing increased oppression and discrimination based on intersectionality. The aim of our paper was to scope the literature for facilitators and barriers that exist for women from culturally diverse backgrounds in sport leadership. Four databases with no limits on publication date were searched. A total of 1,838 articles were retrieved and screening revealed 12 eligible peer-reviewed journal articles. The review identified a dominant focus from the USA on experiences of Black or African American women, in basketball coaching or athletic director roles in college athletic departments. Key facilitators and barriers were entwined within four themes including personal characteristics, interpersonal support, organisational support and discrimination. Topics evolved from these themes to create a future research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluating amateur basketball players based on their college performances is challenging due to the impact of teammates on observed output. In this paper, I look at the effect that college teammates have on a player's draft position and develop predictions for NBA player performance that account for these effects. I find that players that score more in college due to their teammates are drafted higher, indicating that college choice can significantly impact a prospect's draft position. I then use the player predictions in a matching model to evaluate how effectively NBA teams account for complementarities between players when evaluating college talent. The results suggest that teams could improve the offensive value added of their draft picks by 20.33% by better taking into account teammate effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the emotional and cognitive dimensions associated with technical fouls (TFs) in basketball coaching. Using in-depth interviews with Israeli first-division basketball coaches, we aimed to uncover the emotional and cognitive intricacies involved in TFs. Through rigorous thematic content analysis, we delved into coaches' ability to perceive and manipulate psychological momentum on the court. We revealed that coaches intentionally use TFs as strategic tools. TFs were employed to elicit specific emotional responses and cognitive shifts in players, affecting their emotional states, arousal levels, motivation, and overall team performance. However, coaches approached TFs with caution due to the associated emotional and cognitive risks. They carefully weighed potential benefits against unforeseen consequences in their decision-making. Furthermore, our research highlighted coaches' belief in the immediate positive impact of TFs on referee decisions, underscoring the interplay between emotional influence and strategic advantage. Nevertheless, this advantage was perceived as short-lived, emphasizing that TFs are a two-edged sword with unpredictable outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on European Sport Economics Association (ESEA) establishing the Peter Sloane Award (PSA) in 2019. Topics include analytical approach in which football teams maximize playing success subject to minimum losses has had continued support in the literature; and evaluating the proposals to provide a recommendation as to who should receive the award.

Large-scale data has become pervasive and is used in different formats, for different purposes, and in different sectors. However, the adoption and utilization of big data is both complex and context sensitive. This study aims to empirically inform our understanding of the driving and constraining factors that are unique to professional team sports in the adoption and utilization of big data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with practitioners in professional sports teams, who work directly with big data, from the four major leagues in North America. The findings outline five drivers and six constraints that impact the adoption and utilization of big data. The five capabilities are strategic, informational, transactional, transformational, and infrastructural capabilities, and the six constraining factors are top-management support, talent management, organizational learning culture, data integrity, data security, and window dressing. Conceptually, the work extends the Technology-Organization-Environment framework specific to professional sport. Practical implications as well as suggestions for future research are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article titled "The Power of Antitrust Personhood" by Herbert Hovenkamp explores the concept of personhood in antitrust law. The author discusses how only "persons" can violate antitrust laws or sue for private injuries, and how this definition includes corporations and associations. The article examines the implications of this definition on various aspects of antitrust law, such as holding companies, intracorporate conspiracies, trade associations, and vertical integration. The author also highlights the importance of distinguishing between unilateral and multilateral conduct in antitrust cases. Overall, the article provides insights into the role of personhood in antitrust law and its impact on business decisions. [Extracted from the article]

This study investigates the roles and responsibilities of eSports stakeholders in ensuring eSports players' health and wellbeing through the following research questions: (1) What are the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders in helping ensure eSports players' mental and physical health?; and (2) What are stakeholders' perspectives on criticisms which may affect players' health and wellbeing as well as the quality of their careers? Semi-structured interviews are conducted with 51 individuals from 18 nationalities including professional, semi-professional, amateur and retired players, a coach, game publishers, national eSports associations, a sponsor, a tournament organiser, and federations. Deductive analysis is applied to the data. The responsibility for ensuring eSports players' health and wellbeing should be shared by all stakeholders. Stakeholders are aware of criticisms of eSports and understand this; such criticisms may be deflected with a growing appreciation of eSports' value. The need for young players to balance training and commitment to eSports with broader educational requirements is highlighted. The paper provides evidence on the need for a holistic developmental model for eSports players which provides better understanding of players' careers and developmental needs. The study highlights a need for collective engagement and effort by various stakeholders in developing player-centred support schemes. Drawing on evidence from key stakeholders, the study proposes a modified categorisation of the eSports ecosystem model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The psychological environment where sporting activity is undertaken has been suggested to influence performance. The coach orchestrates practice activities and their perception of the psychological environment has been regularly evaluated in competition research but not in practice. The aim of this study was to explore coach perceptions of the psychological influencing factors present in the practice environment. Participants were six U.K. academy basketball coaches (mean age = 35 years). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Five superordinate themes were constructed from data analysis, which were player characteristics, team-first orientation, current performance perceptions, coach characteristics, and coaching structure. Results suggest that the coach has a unique insight into the psychological influencing factors of the practice environment. Combined with the practice environment framework offered by Smith, Cotterill, and Brown, a model is offered to aid practitioners in understanding the interrelatedness of psychological influencing factors in the practice environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ESPN Vice President of Communications Josh Krulewitz started his ESPN career immediately after graduating from the University of Connecticut in 1992. Krulewitz was a 2008 Katha Quinn Award recipient for the service he provided to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association media members. He is also a member of the V Foundation Committee. The V Foundation is a foundation dedicated to the fight against cancer, and it honors the life of former National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship men's basketball coach and ESPN commentator Jim Valvano, who lost his life to cancer. Krulewitz has held his current position since 2006. He is ESPN's point person when it comes to communication issues related to studio programming and personnel. Krulewitz's work with studio programming communications includes media inquiries tied to everything from news programs, like SportsCenter, to special events, like the National Football League (NFL) draft. His work touches a tremendous number of the ESPN and ABC sport properties, including hundreds of annual college sport events, ESPNU broadcasts, sport news programs, and issues related to ESPN News. Krulewitz's communications work with personnel keeps him busy handling media inquiries tied to ESPN administrators, like President Jimmy Pitaro, as well as on-air talents, like Scott Van Pelt and John Anderson. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Each team discipline presents a specific physiological and anthropometric profile because of some particular needs and functions. The primary aim of the study was to analyze the vertical jump power (squat jump, countermovement jump, and countermovement jump with arm swing), Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability test (CKCUES test), throwing ball velocity, and handgrip strength among volleyball, basketball, and handball players, and the secondary aim was to find out the correlation of handgrip strength with all these parameters. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study where 75 university male volleyball (Group A, n = 25), basketball (Group B, n = 25), and handball (Group C, n = 25) players participated. Throwing ball velocity was measured with SRA3000 Radar Gun, vertical jump power was assessed by force platform (Kinematic Measurement System), and handgrip strength was measured by using a digital handheld dynamometer (CAMRY EH101). Results: By using SPSS version 21, one-way analysis of variance and Pearson correlation were found. Group A showed significantly higher scores in handgrip strength, vertical jump power, and CKCUES test as compared to Group B and Group C. Handgrip strength showed a positive correlation with throwing ball velocity, vertical jump power, and CKCUES test (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Significant differences in fitness and strength parameters were found among all the groups, and there was a positive correlation of handgrip with upper- and lower-limb strength. These findings will empower the coaches for objective selection of players on the basis of strength and fitness baselines as well as better understanding of injury risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collegiate sports have a profound impact on a university beyond athletics. Successful athletics have been shown to have a positive impact on the institution. Likewise, athletic malfeasance has been shown to negatively impact the university. We analyse tournament bans in Division I college basketball as a signal for university quality in rankings (U.S. News and World Report's peer rankings), student quality, and other university measures. We find evidence that following a postseason tournament ban, applications from students in the top ten percent of their high school class decrease, some evidence that academic test scores decrease, and some evidence that the amount of alumni donations decrease. These results suggest that an athletic department's malfeasance leads to a decline in university quality. We do, however, find that peer rankings from faculty administrators fall the year of the ban, only to increase slightly two years after sanctions for athletic malfeasance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Scholars note there are limited studies analyzing ticket price determinants. Using the common seat approach, the authors sought to advance this line of research by analyzing determinants of National Basketball Association (NBA) ticket prices in the secondary ticket market. The authors' research seeks to ask two questions. The first is how ticket prices in the secondary market are associated with common determinants of consumer demand. The second question is what impact the COVID-19 pandemic has on ticket prices in the secondary market. Design/methodology/approach: Ticket prices of NBA regular season games in the 2021–2022 season were collected a week before the game day from Ticketmaster.com. A regression model was estimated with a group of independent variables: income, population, consumer preference, quality of viewing, quality of contest and pandemic (the number of COVID-19 cases). Findings: Results indicate income, population, consumer preferences (e.g. team quality and star players) and quality of viewing (e.g. arena age and weekend) impact prices. Further, the number of COVID-19 cases did reduce the ticket price. Originality/value: The present study illuminates the theoretical significance of analyzing ticket prices as a proxy of demand in professional sport, while providing practical implications regarding the potential opportunity to increase revenue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]