ABSTRACT
Ownership in sport is neither a case of ‘despotic dominion’ nor a free for all in terms of possession. There are many forms of sport ownership; from the fan who believes that she owns the outcome of particular sport action to owning sport things. This chapter applies and builds upon legal property theory using the bundle of rights metaphor to help sensitise the reader to the nuances and subtleties in the many constituencies of ownership. In suggesting a framework for considering who owns sport, I argue that the Bundle of Rights metaphor provides a sound conceptual basis to examine contested aspects of rights, responsibilities, duties and implications. Too often these critical issues are subsumed by dominant economic business and corporate ideas of who own what. The chapter concludes that the Bundle of Rights metaphor in accounting for sports experiential dimension and its contingent values is a sound basis for developing a research agenda that explores who owns sport.
