ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we illustrate how the push and pull factors of sport migration flux unevenly in conjunction with Wallerstein’s World-Systems theory as well as the cultural order of individual sports in a nation. The athletes produced and medals won by a nation play a significant role in nation branding, while concurrently each sport team and sport federation are responsible for their brand image. Sporting migrants consequently play a role in brand formation at team, sport, and national levels. Using regression analysis and correlations, the effects of sport migration across the four sports of football, ice hockey, basketball, and baseball are compared over 21 years in the Czech Republic. The effects of sport imports and exports are evaluated between sports at the national level and league level, in relation to competitive balance, league attendance, registered players, and international rankings over time. Understanding the effects of migration with regard to the relationship between core/periphery and cultural sport migration can assist federations in creating policy, as well as teams in determining strategy for maintaining competitive balance, each contributing to brand management.
