ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ownership and governance of professional sport teams in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It provides a detailed analysis of how sport leagues and teams are structured and managed in each region and how ownership and governance can challenge efficient sport outcomes. In the case of New Zealand football, one fully professional team plays in the A-League, the Australian-run league established in 2005. In the case of South Africa, people three profiled sports cover the consensus top three sports and, hence, the professional and developed sports in the region. The structure of football in South Africa is a two-tier Premier Soccer League comprising Premier and National First Divisions. League structures are differentiated in South Africa where there is clear separation between the national league structure and the New Zealand Football. The investigation of professional sport-team ownership design in cricket, football, rugby in the three countries has presented a range of public, private and hybrid ownership models.
