AbstractsBusiness Management & Administration

This paper explored the Danish Basketball Leagues (BL) professionalism and opportunities for growth moving forward. A micro economic review determined a small but growing basketball subculture in Denmark that has led to consistent growth in attendance for the BL. Interviews with high level employees of the BL exposed problems with access to resources and organizational efficiency. Using resource dependency theory and resource capacity theory we were able to determine that the league is a two tiered league with profound differences in paid workers, revenue, and overall event quality. The overall brand identity of the league as well as its ability to entrench itself within its brand community was determined to be hampered by the inequality of the league. A theoretical model exploring the effects of redistribution, were investigated alongside their use in the National Basketball Association (NBA) to help frame concrete recommendations for the BL to pursue in order to improve professionalism. Our recommendations include luxury taxes on foreign players, hiring a liaison to work with the lower earning clubs as well pursuing league wide sponsorship.