The corporatisation of football and CSR reporting by professional football clubs in Europe

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine differences in corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting on the websites of football clubs based in five European countries with different levels of football corporatisation.

Design/methodology/approach

The study examines CSR reporting on the internet by football clubs based in five European countries. Multiple regression analysis is used to analyse some factors which influence reporting and test a set of hypotheses.

Findings

The findings suggest that clubs from countries in which the level of corporatisation is higher disclose more CSR information. Also, clubs with higher public visibility disclose a higher variety of CSR information.

Originality/value

This study adds to the scarce research on CSR reporting in professional sports leagues by providing new empirical data and by extending prior research comparing such practices within different international frameworks of CSR.

Citation

Ribeiro, J., Branco, M.C. and Ribeiro, J.A. (2019), "The corporatisation of football and CSR reporting by professional football clubs in Europe", International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 242-257. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-05-2017-0039