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Despite the enormous value public relations can yield to the eSport ecosystem in communicating and building sustainable relationships with various stakeholders, scant research emphasises the necessity for the adoption of a public relations approach in eSport. This commentary argues that the lack of a unified governance structure or an international governing body is the foremost hurdle of eSport, while a critical omission in the eSport governance discussion is how to build and sustain relationships among partners. By combining these two and viewing issues through the lens of public relations, we suggest that principles of good governance such as transparency, public communication and democratic processes, can be achieved in eSport by employing appropriate public relations strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driven by an increasing digitalised consumption of leisure, and consumer preferences evolving to favour speed and immediate gratification during consumption, new shorter formats of sport competitions are being introduced. Since 2021 Formula One have been discussing complementing their traditional race format, with alternative shorter formats to re-ignite the excitement of their fans. In this study, we explore the proclaimed excitement of fans towards the three different proposed formats of F1 races through a large-scale survey (N = 2,107), showing in fact negative effects that proposed format changes have on F1 fans’ anticipated excitement. What emerges instead is the importance of the length of fandom in influencing fans’ receptivity to format changes, rather than the generation in which they belong, stressing thus the significance of intra rather than inter-generational exploration of fandom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how bribery is defined, negotiated, and practiced in the everyday lives of ordinary North Koreans. Reflecting on interviews spanning over two decades with North Korean migrants in South Korea and China, a team of North Korea experts has identified the patterns of micro-level bribery in everyday life in North Korea that differ, to some extent, from those of other post-communist states in Eastern Europe and Asia. By carefully examining the accounts of ten former North Korean residents, the researchers find that the traditional socialist economy, once prevalent in workplaces, schools, and hospitals, has now been supplanted by individual-to-individual private market interactions. Moreover, bribery serves not only as an informal practice but also as a "moral economy," which differs from the more organized forms of corruption seen at the elite and enterprise levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided by the increase in social and political challenges faced by local governments in their efforts to host mega-sport events, this study attempts to shed light on the under-researched relationship quality between a local government and its residents. Enhancing the relationship quality and mutual understanding through two-way communication between the government and its residents has become more important than ever, with the host community considered a key stakeholder in the policy decision-making process, due to the development of online communication technologies. This research aims to identify the major determinants of residents' support, using government public relationships and social exchange theory. Data collected through a survey of Tokyo residents (N = 406), where the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games were hosted, are analysed using structural equation modelling. Results show that satisfaction with the government can considerably influence the perceived impacts of a mega-sport event and trust, while trust in the government is shown to be a robust predictor of residents' support and a mediator to social exchange theory. Also, the importance of a mega-sport event's perceived impacts on residents' support is shown, further supporting social exchange theory. Through the findings and the integration of the two theories, this study illustrates the need for the government to focus on producing policies aiming to increase its public satisfaction and thus their trust in government using balanced symmetric communication, which in turn can raise residents' support for a mega-sport event and help establish a mutually beneficial relationship between the government and its public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While involvement in CSR activities is common practice in today's sporting world, there is a need to go beyond the activities themselves to explore how fans' perceptions of CSR can affect customer-based brand equity and what role online community and team identification can play in this relationship, which this study aims to explore. Data collected through an online survey of South Korean Samsung Lions baseball club fans (N = 331), analysed through structural equation modelling, support the positive influence of perceived CSR on dual identification (team and online community), and the impact of team identification on brand equity. Interestingly, CSR perception is shown to be an insignificant predictor of brand equity, influenced fully by team identification. This study suggests that promoting a sport team's socially responsible image is important in terms of building both team and online community identification while developing team identification can be vital in increasing the value of the sport brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]