Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Publication Date

9-12-2014

Abstract

In 2001 the National Basketball Association (NBA) formed its own minor league: The National Basketball Development League (D-League). The D-League was originally designed as a vertical extension of the NBA and to act as a farm-system for the NBA. There has been instability in the make-up of the teams within in the D-League since the inception of the League. Instability is a shared characteristic among all minor league basketball operations. However, unlike its minor league counterparts, the D-League has promise to endure long-term. In this study, external environmental factors that are linked to competition, demographics and structure are analyzed. Organizational theory takes into account the role of the external environment in regards to the survival of a new firm. Factors analyzed were: market size, per-capita income, market education, presence of other professional sports teams, presence of NCAA Division I mens collegiate basketball teams, stadium location, stadium age, stadium ownership, the number of large businesses within the market place, and business ownership model were all considered.'

Keywords

D-League

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Physical Education, Sports and Exercise Science

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences

First Committee Member (Chair)

Seidler, Dr. Todd

Second Committee Member

Kassicieh, Dr. Sul

Third Committee Member

Selig, Dr. James

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