Title: Guidance for professional athletes in selecting a sustainably rewarding player contract

Authors: Jaco Moolman; Christina Cornelia Shuttleworth

Addresses: Department of Management Accounting, University of South Africa, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa, 0003, South Africa ' Department of Management Accounting, University of South Africa, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa, 0003, South Africa

Abstract: Sports managers, professional athletes and their advisors must create an environment that is conducive to establishing a mutually beneficial relationship and empowers the athlete with the necessary skills to select a sustainably rewarding player contract. This prompted an investigation into the financial and non-financial considerations an athlete might take into account, before signing a professional player contract. Grounded in actor-network theory (ANT), the researchers conducted interviews with 27 individuals from a potential network of influencers who could sway a professional athlete's contract-related and associated financial decisions. The findings showed that those athletes need to contemplate a wide range of financial and non-financial issues when deciding whether or not to accept a player contract. The findings of this study are relevant to professional athletes, those who advise them, player associations, educators and scholars in the field.

Keywords: actor-network theory; ANT; financial well-being; player contracts; professional athletes; sports.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2023.133785

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2023 Vol.23 No.6, pp.523 - 542

Received: 10 Nov 2021
Received in revised form: 05 Oct 2022
Accepted: 18 Oct 2022
Published online: 03 Oct 2023 *

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