"If you don’t know me by now": The importance of sustainability initiative awareness for stakeholders of professional sports organizations

Abstract

This study explores the importance of sustainable initiatives (SI) in sport for the stakeholders of a professional sports organization (PSO) after three months of absence of the public at the stadiums due to the pandemic situation. Two topics—diversity and inclusion (DIVIN) and the attraction and retention of human capital (ARHC)—were considered and analyzed. A third factor—the distance of residence of the members and the PSO—was considered as an element of the possible relationship between the awareness of the SI and the assessment of the topics in question. A total of 5694 PSO members took an online survey. Through the description of the data, the results show that being aware of the SI performed is a crucial factor for the success of the SI. Distance positively influences SI awareness. The topics considered are rated most positively by members with awareness of the SI, with a higher rating for the topic with the highest external visibility.