Sport entrepreneurship and value co-creation in times of crisis: the COVID-19 pandemic. (Special Section: Innovation in sport business management.)

ABSTRACT

Drawing on sport entrepreneurship and service-dominated logic theory, this paper explores the association between networks, value co-creation and crises in the articulation of sport entrepreneurial ecosystems. Recently the sport industry has had to rapidly innovate due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so the aim of this study is to understand how it affects the dynamism of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. This means focusing on the opportunities for value co-creation necessitated in times of crisis through the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews of sport managers within the sport entrepreneurial ecosystem during the COVID-19 crisis. This enabled detailed data to be obtained on how sport entrepreneurs were responding to change based on altering contextual conditions. The paper offers a way to understand the unique nature of the sport industry and the intricate nature of sport entrepreneurial ecosystems in times of crisis. Thereby the findings provide important insights into how the sport industry has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic through the existence of entrepreneurial ecosystems. This highlights that in times of crisis, the sport industry can utilise their unique entrepreneurial ecosystem in order to encourage proactive collaboration leading to value co-creation.