ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades, major league professional sports in the United States have been determined to play more games overseas (Koba, 2013). Reasons for this expansion into the international market include the desire to expand the brand awareness of teams and leagues to a broader audience, and ultimately seek out new revenue streams through gate revenues, sponsorships, media rights and merchandising (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2011). However, there are some questions related to the effects on domestic fans and their continued support of teams that move home games overseas: will it alienate fans (Koba, 2013), or could it actually enhance the domestic brand and interest in the sport (McDonald, Karg, & Lock, 2010)? There are also many questions about the unnecessary burdens being put on players as a result of international travel connected with the regular season – ranging from physical and emotional issues that may affect future performance (Longley, 2012) to the financial implications related to travel costs and additional taxation issues from other countries (MacDonald, 2014; Baker, 1990).
