Corporate Social Responsibility: Considerations for Sport Management in the Age of Neoliberalism

For financial reasons, in efforts to maintain legitimacy, and in response to social pressures, sport organizations increasingly engage with corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, with the rise of global neoliberalism, the logic of CSR can be problematic. In this essay, we provide a brief overview, critique, and reconstruction of CSR in the sport industry. Specifically, we call into question three popularized forms of CSR: (1) diversity, inclusion, and diversity management, (2) environmental responsibility, and (3) health and physical activity-based initiatives. In a neoliberal context, CSR in sport provides, at best, a limited response to social issues. At their worst, CSR initiatives may be socially irresponsible programs that further engender inequalities and inequities while a neoliberal logic serves to rationalize and augment sport organizations’ place(s) in society. We discuss these issues and challenge the field of sport management to further consider how we may demonstrate a more legitimate social concern in the 21st century

Weems, Anthony J.; Garner, Justin R.; Oshiro, Kristi; and Singer, John N. (2017) “Corporate Social Responsibility: Considerations for Sport Management in the Age of Neoliberalism,” International Journal of Exercise Science: Vol. 10 : Iss. 6, Pages 900 – 914.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70252/YXQC9679

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