Mapping the Stakeholder Network and Value Creation in Grassroots Football: Evidence from Italy

This study is a work in progress that aims to analyse the value creation process and map the stakeholder network of a grassroots football context in the Italian region of Lombardy. This study is conceptually and empirically grounded in stakeholder theory with a two-fold research aim. The first objective is to theoretically identify the main grassroots football stakeholders. The second objective is to examine the integrated value that they collectively generate through grassroots football and within the respective stakeholder ecosystem. Collectively, the value-based analysis in this study will help guide the development of a generic preliminary framework of stakeholder value co-creation and inter-relationship dynamics in the grassroots football context. Additionally, the study identifies and maps the relationship types of the different stakeholders involved by distinguishing between the primary stakeholders (e.g., federation, league, players, coaches, fans, sponsors, etc.) and the secondary stakeholders (e.g., local institutions, educational entities, mass media outlets, community members, non-profits, professional football clubs, etc.). The analysis also highlights how the integrated value of grassroots football emerges from the dynamic interaction between various types of stakeholders and materialises through three main value creation processes: (1) social inclusion and community integration, (2) economic sustainability, and (3) sport and educational training. Furthermore, this study advances stakeholder theory by providing a pragmatic framework, useful for guiding the strategic management of grassroots clubs, and with other policymaking implications that may further explicate the socio-economic significance derived from grassroots football. This study also contributes to the sport management literature by contributing more insights into the value co-creation process through grassroots football and within its stakeholder network, whilst also providing a replicable value-based model for future research on similar or different stakeholder networks in the broader sport sector.