Title: The 'dark side' of professionalisation in national sport federations: a case study of the Swiss Floorball Federation

Authors: Kaisa Ruoranen; Siegfried Nagel; Grazia Lang; Christoffer Klenk; Emmanuel Bayle; Josephine Clausen; David Giauque; Torsten Schlesinger

Addresses: Department of Sport Sociology and Management, Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, Bremgartenstrasse 145, 3012 Bern, Switzerland ' Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, Bremgartenstrasse 145, 3012 Bern, Switzerland ' Department of Sport Sociology and Management, Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, Bremgartenstrasse 145, 3012 Bern, Switzerland ' Department of Sport Sociology and Management, Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, Bremgartenstrasse 145, 3012 Bern, Switzerland ' Institute of Sports Sciences (ISSUL), Bâtiment Synathlon, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland ' Institute of Sports Sciences (ISSUL), Bâtiment Synathlon, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland ' Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP), Quartier UNIL-Mouline, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland ' Social Science Perspectives on Sport, Exercise and Health Promotion, Institute of Human Movement Science, Chemnitz University of Technology, Thüringer Weg 11, 09126 Chemnitz, Germany

Abstract: National sport federations (NSF) are undertaking organisational adaptations towards professionalisation. To what extent they benefit from these adaptions is a matter of controversy. Furthermore, the negative effects of an NSF's proactive professionalisation strategies have gained little attention. This paper explores the dark side of professionalisation in a Swiss NSF. The process and negative effects were investigated using a qualitative analysis of interviews, documents, and secondary studies. We found the dark side of professionalisation to be mainly present in the deteriorating inter-organisational relationships. The NSF was distracted from the needs of the sport community; the objectives of the professionalisation strategy did not reflect the member organisations' values and visions. Furthermore, the NSF's offensive marketing activities exceeded clubs' capabilities. The evidence suggests that active involvement of clubs into strategy development and the professionalisation process could help it to avoid the negative effects and instead support an efficient use of resources.

Keywords: professionalisation; professionalisation strategy; sport federations; national sport federations; sport clubs; sport management; sport marketing; floorball; sport Switzerland; case study; negative consequences.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2023.133164

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2023 Vol.23 No.5, pp.442 - 464

Accepted: 14 Jul 2022
Published online: 01 Sep 2023 *

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