ABSTRACT
Media plays a critical role in the sport industry as it is responsible for the communication of information, skills, knowledge and attitudes between stakeholders. Through the presentation of a stakeholder map, four groups of stakeholders are identified and discussed: distribution channels, content providers, consumers and goods and services. Various media channels (e.g. print, television and social media) are examples of stakeholders in the sport business ecosystem. As stakeholders, media has designed and shaped the industry, exemplified in the influence broadcasters have in the design of American sport leagues. However, stakeholders can also leverage media as a resource (e.g. athletes using social media as a branding tool) which further increases the influence of media in the sport business ecosystem. Value co-creation is introduced to capture the more relationship, network approach to stakeholders that must be considered when we account for media as tools stakeholders can leverage, not just as stakeholders themself.
