| Large-scale strategic alliances are prolific in professional sports leagues. Most teams or organizations leverage partners to build a brand or create competencies needed to enter new markets. The purpose of this study was to explore alliance portfolio management in the context of Wassmer and Dussague's (2011) value creation theory. This study analyzed two professional sports marketing organizations using a qualitative, multi-case study approach. Leveraging industry literature, the study's three key constructs of trust, conflict management, and long-term commitment to partnerships were applied to two organizations, a large national sports marketing company and a smaller regional organization. Results demonstrated that these constructs were critical to effective alliance portfolio management. The findings suggest pockets of opportunities can be carved out among a portfolio of alliances. When companies are pooled together and work towards common objectives, synergies will become apparent. It is this increased value among the portfolio of alliances that propels firms ahead of their competition. |
