1.04 Governing Bodies in Sports

1. 1.04 Governing Bodies in Sports Sports & Entertainment Marketing II

2. Types of Governing Bodies • There are many types of governing bodies, because each levels of skill within a sport needs to set different regulations. • The main types of Governing Bodies are: • Leagues • Federations • Multi-sport event organizers • Let’s look at each in detail.

3. Leagues • Group of sports teams or individual athletes that compete against each other in a specific sport • Create a common set of rules and organize competitions. • Usually work with the national and/or international federations. • Ex: NBA

4. Federations • Are responsible for one sport or sometimes a group of similar sport disciplines (i.e. aquatics). • Also help with the promotion of the sport • Can be national or international. • National federations are responsible for a country's participation in the Olympics • Ex: FIBA

5. Multi Sport Event Organizers • Are responsible for the organization of a certain event which contains more than one sport. • The best known example is the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the organizer of the modern Olympics.

6. Why have Governing Bodies? • Without governing bodies, the sports industry would be like a country under anarchy… in chaos! • The governing bodies of each sport have several main goals: • Maintain order and unity while allowing healthy competition • Ensure athlete’s safety • Encourage good sportsmanship • Provide fair and consistent enforcement of rules • Maximize financial profits

7. What do they do? In order to fulfill these goals, the governing bodies perform many tasks: • Promote their sport to gain fans and make more profits • Organize game schedules and tournament brackets • Settle disputes & ensure that rules are followed fairly • Constantly eliminate, update and add regulations to the sport.

8. Rules & Regulations There are many types of regulations: • Game play rules: specific rules on how to play the game; how many timeouts, penalties, etc. • Safety rules: rules put in place to protect athletes, fans and all involved; recently NFL has strickened rules on hits to the head • Eligibility rules: determines who is eligible to play; covers use of drugs/steroids • Selection rules: how are new players drafted and how are game schedules made • Equipment rules: what types of equipment must be worn, can there be logos, etc. • And more!

9. Other Info about Rules • Because governing bodies do update and add rules so often, athletes may have a hard time keeping up with it all. • So they must rely on their agents to do so! • While the rules that are set by the governing bodies are not legally enforced by the government, they are enforced by the teams that participate in the league or federation. • Governing bodies make sure their rules comply with laws as well

10. Commissioner • In American leagues, if a rule is broken or a player is in question about a rule, the leagues often turn to the commissioner. • The exact powers of the commissioner depend on the constitution of the league, but the commissioner is usually the highest executive position. • Commissioners are elected by the owners of the league's teams, and handle matters such as discipline, arbitration of disputes between the teams, etc.