Assessment of financial, sport, team, and social-psychological factors while managing professional basketball clubs.

Objective of the work is to assess financial, sport, team, and social-psychological factors while managing professional basketball clubs. Tasks of the work: 1. To define the concept of a professional sports club. 2. To identify factors related to management of the professional basketball club. 3. To form a theoretical model involving an interface of financial, sport, team, social-psychological factors and management of the professional basketball club. 4. To assess interfaces of financial, sport, team, and social-psychological factors with management of professional basketball clubs of the Lithuanian Basketball League (lit. LKL) and to draw-up a practical model involving “Factors affecting management of basketball clubs”. Methods of the work: analysis of scientific literature, comparative analysis, and questionnaire survey. Conclusions: 1. In modern society professional basketball club is an organisation, the main goal of which is to sustain economic stability and competitiveness in respect of other sports teams. Essential difference between professional and amateur sport is based on the financial component, thus activity of professional basketball club is based on establishment of competitive team, which takes participation in official competitions and attains sports results expected by its members and fans. 2. Literature analysis revealed that financial, sport, team, and social-psychological factors affect management of the professional club, including management of the professional basketball club. During formation of objectives, strategies, and tasks, when managing the club, it is crucial to take the example and know-how of successful clubs. Successful club management model cannot be measured only by sport results, thus factors affecting professional sports organisations were identified. 3. With reference to literature analysis and the prepared theoretical model for management of the professional basketball club, it may be stated that financial, sport, team, and social-psychological factors affect management of professional basketball clubs and this is a very important indicator, in order to establish a successful or competitive club in the up-to-date sector of sports industry. Unanimous theoretical model was formed from groups of factors that were analysed separately during the literature analysis. The prepared theoretical model was applied in the empirical part of the research for establishment of the practical model involving “Factors affecting management of basketball clubs”. 4. In accordance with the obtained results and the established practical model, it may be concluded that success of club management partially depends on all the factors, though research results show that the greatest influence to management of professional basketball clubs is posed by sport, team, and social-psychological factors. The questioned respondents agreed that these factors feature priority for carrying out activities of LBL clubs. Nevertheless the research revealed that financial factors pose the strongest influence on the leading LBL clubs, like “Žalgiris”, Kaunas, “Lietuvos Rytas“, Vilnius, and “Neptūnas”, Klaipėda, while for smaller scale clubs this factor is of less importance