You'll never walk alone again: The governance turn in professional sports

Abstract

This chapter looks into the main dimensions of the governance concept and their relevance for professional sport. Firstly, we discuss the peculiarities of sports governance by using a broader governance angle. Subsequently, we narrow governance as a concept down to three categorisations that emerge from the existing literature: governance as networks, governance as steering and good governance. By applying those three concepts, several governance issues emerge, all rooted in the traditional governance system of the sports world, namely hierarchical self-governance. We then discuss how the European Union (EU) can contribute to solutions to those issues and, finally, we present a case where the EU indeed contributed to better governance in sports: the social dialogue in professional football. On a final note, it must be stressed that the focus of this contribution is on the organisation of professional sports, mostly – but not exclusively-at the international level. Introduction: the hierarchical self-governance of professional sports