Sport and Management Group

Hi everyone.

With the outstanding support of the AOM team responsible for this year's conference program, we have secured a very good schedule for our Group Meeting and Social Event, as both are now scheduled immediately after two PDWs related to sport (not the only two sport-associated events on the program). The schedule for both events will look as follows:

• Meeting 13647: AOM Sport and Management Group: The Path Forward – Sunday 12:00-1:30pm at the Sheraton – right after the PDW 11856: Using Sports Data… (also at the Sheraton).
• Social 23654: AOM Sport and Management Social – Sunday 4:15-6:15pm at the Sheraton (roof-top with beautiful view) – right after the PDW 17380: A Historical Perspective on Publishing in Sport Management's Top Journals… (also at the Sheraton).

I wanted to share this information with you as soon as possible so that you can keep it in mind when the full conference program is published. Once again, I would like to thank the wonderful and highly accommodating AOM team, especially Brianna, Marko, and others, who were of great help to us in this process.

I hope to see as many of you as possible at both events (our Group Meeting and Social Event). Kindly invited.

Best, Tomaž

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Tomaz Cater
University of Ljubljana
School of Economics and Business
Slovenia
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Dear colleagues, members of the AOM Sport and Management Group,

The AOM Annual Meeting is approaching, and with it our Group Meeting. It has now been confirmed that the meeting will take place on Sunday, August 2, at 12:00 p.m., at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel, in room Seminar A.

The idea of the Group Meeting in Philadelphia is to build on the positive momentum from the 2025 caucus and hold an inaugural community meeting centered on a practical, forward-looking question: How should we define the group's leadership, goals, and roadmap for the next one to two years? Although the meeting will be open in nature and will provide an opportunity to discuss various issues, I think it would be useful to have at least a broad structure for the discussion. I therefore suggest that we address at least the following issues, while I would also be very grateful for any additions or suggestions you may have:

(1) Leadership structure that visibly represents both constituencies: The community description document on Connect@AOM proposes a two-tier structure after the inaugural event: an Executive Director as the operational lead and one or two Presidents/Co-Presidents to provide credibility and visibility across both constituencies: sport management scholars and management scholars using sport as a research setting. This meeting should refine the role descriptions, terms of office (one to two years, with staggered rotation?), and nominate and select individuals for these roles. In this regard, I kindly ask you to think in the coming days about suitable candidates for both roles: an Executive Director and one or two Presidents/Co-Presidents. Please also check with your potential candidates whether they would be willing to accept the role if nominated.

(2) Future goals, including membership growth toward Interest Group recognition: AOM's governance documents describe Interest Groups as member-led communities formed when an area is not adequately represented by existing divisions, subject to Board approval. In practice, AOM communities often refer to substantial petition support, commonly framed as approximately 500 signatures, when moving toward recognition. We should agree on a realistic membership strategy that explicitly targets sport management scholars, including outreach via sport management associations, doctoral program networks, and sport management journals, alongside management scholars using sport as a setting. If the prevailing view is that such a strategy is not attainable, we should define alternative, achievable goals for the coming years.

(3) A manageable, high-value activity portfolio: We should prioritize a portfolio of activities that is feasible for volunteers yet meaningful for both audiences. The community has already outlined several activities during its establishment process (please have a look at the community description document on Connect@AOM), but most of these have not yet begun to be implemented. Discussions on Connect@AOM are also still relatively modest and limited to only a few individuals. In my opinion, the meeting should decide which activities must be "locked in" for 2026–2027, with clear owners and timelines. This part of the discussion should probably also address the role of the group's ambassadors and how the ambassador network should expand over time.

(4) Other topics relevant to the future development of this group.

In addition to the invitation to the group meeting, I would also like to remind you of and invite you to an informal gathering on the same day. We have reserved Horizon's Rooftop at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel on Sunday, August 2, at 4:15 p.m.

I know that quite a few of you will not be attending this year's conference. Nevertheless, I hope you will continue to support this group, and I look forward to meeting those of you who will be in Philadelphia.

Please forward the information about both events to all those who are not yet members of this group but may be interested in its activities and will be attending this year's conference.

Kind regards,

Tomaž Čater

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Tomaz Cater
University of Ljubljana
School of Economics and Business
Slovenia
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