Business & Management Studies

Abstract

This paper proposes a dynamic and iterative approach to the identification and classification process of the stakeholders of professional football clubs. To do so a theory used in project management was mobilized. We used a qualitative empirical methodology and focused on a longitudinal case study, a professional French football club. Two data collections were done to capture the stakeholders’ temporal dimension: one before the club’s buyout in 2016 and one after this major event in the club’s life so as to meet the objectives of the study. The first results highlight the role played by each stakeholder but foremost their active and evolutionary nature which should be considered in a managerial point of view. Moreover, and even if it may appear as a cumbersome method as all stakeholders identification and classification processes, the approach we have chosen is fairly easy to implement to assist a professional football club’s manager.