The “dark side” of professionalisation in national sport federations: A case study of the Swiss Floorball Federation

Abstract

National sport federations (NSF) are undertaking organisational adaptations towards professionalisation. To what extent they benefit from these adaptions is a matter of controversy. Furthermore, the negative effects of an NSF’s proactive professionalisation strategies have gained little attention. This paper explores the dark side of professionalisation in a Swiss NSF. The process and negative effects were investigated using a qualitative analysis of interviews, documents, and secondary studies. We found the dark side of professionalisation to be mainly present in the deteriorating inter-organisational relationships. The NSF was distracted from the needs of the sport community; the objectives of the professionalisation strategy did not reflect the member organisations’ values and visions. Furthermore, the NSF’s offensive marketing activities exceeded clubs’ capabilities. The evidence suggests that active involvement of clubs into strategy development and the professionalisation process could help it to avoid the negative effects and instead support an efficient use of resources.