Money not the key performance driver amongst elite sports stars – Leeds Beckett research reveals

The study, which is a joint collaboration by: Dr Bastian Popp, Senior Research Fellow in Sports Business and Marketing at Leeds Beckett University; Dr. Christopher Maier and Professor Herbert Woratschek, both from the Department of Services Management at the University of Bayreuth, Germany; and Dr. Tim Ströbel from the Institute of Sport Science at the University of Bern, Switzerland, is the first in sports management to calculate the relative effects of both non-monetary and monetary incentives on individual performance through overall job satisfaction (OJS).

Published in the journal, European Sport Management Quarterly, the research showed that, whilst performance bonuses (not salary) for parameters such as wins, points and/or goals has a moderate positive effect on OJS, organisational support (integration of family, second career support, and private problem support) has a strong positive effect on OJS and thereby also increases individual performance. Salary incentives are used to attract good players but do not act as a stimulant for performance.

German-born Dr Popp said: “A key task for sports managers of elite sports clubs is to create an ideal environment that enables athletes to perform at their best.

“Where prior studies focus largely on domains such as kinesiology, physiology, biomechanics, coaching and monetary incentives to maximise player performance, our study reveals that sports managers need to recognise the relevance of organisational support and integrate them into their management repertoire to improve OJS, and consequently, facilitate top performance of their players.  This knowledge can be a critical factor for sporting, and consequently, economic success in elite team sports.”

The research focused on three German elite leagues: football (league two and three), ice hockey (league one to three) and handball (league one and two).  In total, 315 athletes and 34 coaches, rating the individual performance of their players, participated in the study.

“Both the integration of family and private problem support is of paramount importance to players,” said Dr Popp. “Our study suggests that clubs which offer a welcoming, well-integrated environment for players’ families help players better focus on their job. These results offer further credibility to the relationship between OJS and performance because satisfied athletes perform better than those who are dissatisfied.

“Future research should continue to identify and investigate relevant non-monetary incentives for job satisfaction rather than focusing only on the effects of budgets and pay checks, because money alone cannot buy performance.”