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Despite the widespread growth of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in sport, the majority of professional sport teams still manage social engagement in an opportunistic manner. Tactical attempts toward CSR management can provide discrete and short-term benefits, but lack the ability to create lasting social and economic impacts. This study uses an entrepreneurship perspective to study CSR management in sport. More specifically, it builds on the concept of corporate social entrepreneurship (CSE) to study the transition toward more strategic CSR approaches. Through an in-depth study of a single professional soccer case in Belgium, the drivers of CSE and their relation to strategic CSR development and implementation were explored. The findings indicate the importance of having an intrapreneur, an enabling organization, and, to some extent, stakeholder alliances. Challenges, however, arise at the level of organizational culture and aiming for shared value creation.

Although professional sport teams increasingly engage in causerelated marketing (CRM), implementation often remains ad-hoc and superficial. CRM managers fall short of establishing the needed interorganizational collaborations to attain mutually beneficial outcomes for the organization and society at large. Little is known about the structures and underlying mechanisms behind these CRM collaborations. Network theory and the associated social network analysis was utilized to unravel and compare network structures and governance of two Belgian professional soccer teams with different CRM strategies (i.e., altruistic and integrative). Findings showed a smaller, more fragmented, and centralized network in the altruistic compared to the integrative CRM type. The community department dominated the flow in the altruistic network (i.e., lead organization-governed), while coordination was shared amongst stakeholders in the integrative network (i.e., shared participant-governed). Findings also indicated that both networks could be optimized to better resonate with the CRM strategy envisioned. This study goes beyond a dyadic view on partnerships and contributes to the CRM literature by revealing stakeholder structures surrounding the focal organization. Practically, it helps managers to develop, manage, and sustain partnerships that are supportive of their respective CRM strategies, resulting in more effective CRM approaches and lasting economic and societal impact.

Community Sport Development Programs (CSDPs) that use an intersectoral capacity building approach have shown potential in reaching individuals in disadvantaged situations. This study has investigated how the application of capacity building principles in disadvantaged communities results in higher sport participation rates in these communities. A multiple case design was used, including six similar disadvantaged communities in Antwerp, Belgium; four communities implemented the CSDP, two communities served as control communities without CSDP. In total, 52 face-to-face interviews were held with sport, social, health, cultural, and youth organizations in these communities. Four key findings were crucial to explain the success of the CSDP according to the principles of capacity building. First, the CSDP appeared to be the missing link between sport organizations on the one hand and health, social, youth, and cultural organizations on the other hand. Second, shifting from a sport-oriented staff to a mix of sport staff, social workers and representatives of people in disadvantaged situations helped increase trust through a participatory approach. Third, CSDPs assisted sport clubs to deal with financial, organizational, and cultural pressures that arose from the influx of new members in disadvantaged situations. Finally, the CSDPs developed well-planned and integrated strategies focusing on reinforcing the existing local organizations already using sport to reach their goals. These capacity building principles were key in attaining higher sport participation for people living in disadvantaged communities.