The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation between sponsorship and the performance and development of early career athletes transitioning from junior level to professional sports, because this issue has not been fully explored in the Czech Republic. The reason is the almost absolute absence of financial or material support for such early-career athletes, when their transition from junior categories and the entire junior category is almost always exclusively financed and supported by their parents and families. We also emphasise the absolute absence of legislative provisions that would give supporters of such athletes at least a tax or other advantage. The research is based on research of Cardenas (2023), Hong and Fraser (2023) and Moolman and Shuttleworth (2023) and aims to assess how financial and material support provided by sponsors can enhance an athlete’s performance and long-term career trajectory. A mixed method approach was adopted, combining quantitative analysis through surveys and performance data with qualitative interviews. Data from 173 early career athletes from various disciplines were analysed using t-tests and ANOVA statistical methods to assess financial stability, access to better training, and community participation. Results indicate that sponsorship significantly contributes to better performance metrics, with sponsored athletes showing a 20% improvement in competition results compared to nonsponsored athletes. Furthermore, sponsorship financial support improved training opportunities and access to elite facilities, which was shown to increase athletes’ performance by 15%. However, some challenges related to sponsorship obligations, such as marketing commitments, were highlighted by athletes, underscoring the pressures that sponsorship can introduce. The implications of this study suggest that effective sponsorship strategies can play a vital role in an athlete’s career development, offering not only financial stability but also opportunities for personal branding and increased community engagement. Another implication is a possible consideration for legislators in the context of preparing a legislative framework enabling tax or other benefits for companies and organisations sponsoring or supporting these young athletes. More research is recommended to explore the long-term impact of sponsorship on athlete mental health and career sustainability, as well as the differences in sponsorship effects across various sports disciplines.

Ticket revenues are crucial for the financial success of sports teams. To maximize these revenues, teams continuously explore effective ticket promotional strategies. One such strategy includes partial season plans, which mirror bundle offers common across various industries. Another widespread promotional strategy across industries is offering discounted credit (i.e., store credit purchased at a lower price than its face value). However, its application in sports (e.g., providing a $500 credit for tickets at $450) remains limited. Therefore, this study explores critical questions such as: “How effective is offering discounted credit compared to partial season plans?” and “What factors influence ticket promotion preferences?” Consequently, the study employed a 2 × 2 × 2 experimental designs, considering three independent variables: promotion type (discounted credit vs. partial season plans), promotion flexibility (predefined vs. customizable), and the consumer’s distance to the venue (near vs. distant). Results indicated that partial season plans generated significantly higher perceived value and purchase intentions  while presenting lower perceived risks than discounted credit . Promotion flexibility did not significantly influence the three dependent variables , but the distance to the venue did . Both practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Sports competition is one of the important contents and forms of sports activities and physical education. It plays a full range of valuable functions in promoting the all-round development of college students. Specifically, it can better help college students enjoy fun, enhance their physique, and improve their physical fitness during physical exercise. Personality and tempering the will. Countries around the world attach great importance to youth sports competitions, and use national strategies as the top-level design and sports events as activity carriers to create a series of youth sports competitions such as graded competitions, championships, and campus events, providing more opportunities for young people to watch and participate in sports. Opportunities and platforms for competition. College student sports competitions are an important part of youth sports competitions and shoulder multiple missions such as physical health promotion, competitive talent training, and sports industry development. In recent years, the development of college sports competitions around the world has achieved remarkable results, and the scale and quality of Chinese college sports competitions have also been significantly improved. However, compared with developed countries, overall, there is still a weak awareness of participation, poor competition experience, and competitive competition. Prominent problems such as low levels and high activity withdrawal rates have, to a certain extent, restricted the high-quality development of college student sports competitions. In fact, it is not as easy as imagined for college students to participate in sports competitions regularly for a long time. In addition to requiring college students to possess certain basic conditions such as time, energy, and skills, it also requires support and promotion from all walks of life, especially It is inseparable from the material, spiritual and technical support provided by family, friends, coaches and other important groups. Just as the social ecological model believes that individual physical activity behavior is closely related to social support at the interpersonal level, especially social support from important groups such as family and friends has a positive impact on individual physical activity behavior. At the same time, although social support is very important, not all social support received can promote college students to form good sports competition behaviors. Self-determination theory emphasizes that only effective social support can regulate and optimize individual sports motivation by meeting the individual’s basic psychological needs, and ultimately promote the formation of positive, long-term sports behavior. However, most of the current sports academic circles continue the research context of traditional college student sports management, focusing on the contemporary value, practical issues, system construction, etc. of college student sports competitions. They are more subjective qualitative theoretical research and relatively lack the influence of social support. Empirical research on the sports competition behavior of college students, so that the internal mechanism of social support affecting the sports competition behavior of college students is not clear enough and understood. Therefore, from the perspective of social ecology, this study explores the internal mechanism of social support affecting college students’ sports competition behavior, in order to provide certain theoretical reference for improving the level of college students’ sports competition behavior.

The purpose of this research is to present a bibliometric analysis of the literature on the ways in which the motivations of individual sports consumers impact the creation of sports infrastructure and the creation of sports-related policy. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the PRISMA approach and information gleaned from the Scopus database, 2605 publications were found to be pertinent to the subject. We conducted a literature analysis of trends and patterns using VOSviewer-based knowledge mapping. Findings: Recent years have seen a proliferation of scholarly publications on the topic of individual sports consumption motivation and its influence on policy formulation and infrastructure development. This suggests that interest in this field is expanding. The list of eminent journals, decision-makers, and organizations involved in this issue demonstrates its global influence. The interdisciplinary nature of the subject is reflected in the study’s emphasis on the most widely published authors and key research terminology. Originality/value: This study closes significant knowledge gaps regarding the complex interactions between societal, environmental, and individual factors that affect the motivation to consume sports and how these motivations influence decisions about sports infrastructure and policies. It does this by using bibliometric techniques and the most recent data. The project aims to create a more thorough picture of how public health policy, sports governance, and urban planning are impacted by the motivations behind sports consumption. Policy implications: Policymakers, planners, and sports organizations can use the results to generate more targeted and effective strategies for the development of sports infrastructure and policy formulation. The study highlights how important it is to make well-informed policy decisions and participate in customized involvement in order to improve public welfare and the overall sports consumer experience.

In recent years, e-sports, as an emerging form of competition, has been rapidly integrated into the daily life of college students, and with its rich interactivity, instant feedback and teamwork, e-sports provides them with an effective channel for emotional catharsis and psychological regulation. This study takes students from four universities as the survey object and adopts quantitative research method to analyze the relationship between different types of e-sports activities and psychological stress resistance through questionnaire survey method combined with spss. The samples were randomly sampled, and a total of 500 valid questionnaires were collected. The results of the study show that: 1. In terms of participation, the ability of students to withstand academic stress and life stress is significantly improved, and e-sports is an effective way to regulate emotions and relieve stress; 2. the three types of games (First-person Shooter, Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, Real-Time Strategy Game) have different impacts on stress tolerance, of which FPS has the greatest impact on stress tolerance; 3. the frequency of playing e-sports affects your stress tolerance; 4. teamwork and strategy play an important role in e-sports resilience.