Continuity Possibilities

Continuity Management

Continuity management requires planning and preparation to consider the possibilities that must be faced and addressed. Standard continuity management plans focus on the following:

• Formulating a framework for project management
• Identifying assumptions and conditions for continuity planning
• Introducing action plans
• Testing, reviewing, and modifying
• Addressing other items.

Within the context of sports, project management often centers on selecting the team that will take the field, but also considers stadium or arena administration, scouting, marketing, and ticket sales. Identifying assumptions and conditions involves identifying critical operations—such as coaching, scouting, and sales—and then contemplating certain scenarios and determining objectives and plans for how to respond to these in real time. This might include developing practical manuals, developing decision-making procedures and communication strategies, ensuring that backup data exist, and thinking seriously about continuity measures. Once action plans have been formed, these must be subjected to testing, reviewing, and modifying so that the organization or team is continually prepared for change. Finally, teams and organizations must address other items, such as selecting third-party vendors to provide certain services, such as data backup and storage, and precluding or mitigating disaster damage.

For sports teams and athletic organizations, continuity possibilities must consider a variety of disaster scenarios, including natural disasters, human actions, economic crises, and personnel matters. Natural disasters refer to such incidents as floods, earthquakes, blizzards, and other conditions that might prevent a team or event from occurring as planned or scheduled. Human actions include terrorist threats, cyberattacks, labor unrest, and industrial espionage. Economic crises consist of economic downturns and recessions, as well as those factors that might affect only an individual team or organization, such as a bank failure or embezzlement. Personnel matters involve recruiting, drafting, or otherwise procuring players to take the field, but also ensuring that adequate management, coaches, scouts, trainers, and other workers are available to perform duties for the team or organization. Although often seen as preparation for disaster, careful consideration of continuity possibilities can have [Page 277]many benefits for a team or organization, and can result in on-field and box office success.

Effects of Continuity Plans

All of the major professional sports leagues in the United States, such as the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), and the National Football League (NFL) face a variety of continuity considerations. In any sport, teams from larger markets have a potential competitive advantage over smaller market teams because they can draw potential fans from a greater geographic area. In a sport such as baseball, with only limited revenue sharing, player recruitment is easier for large-market teams as they typically have more revenue to spend on player salaries. However, this does not necessarily mean that small-market teams cannot win. Several small-market MLB teams have been very successful because of careful planning and implementation of continuity possibilities. Teams such as the Cincinnati Reds, the Minnesota Twins, and the Oakland A's have developed tactics of continuity plans with their organization to help build and continue success on the field. After Billy Beane became the General Manager of the A's in 1998, he revamped the A's minor league teams, or farm system, to assure a steady stream of young talent. Although by 2005 many of the A's best prospects were sought after by other MLB teams and eventually lost to free agency, the A's were able to continue to field a winning ball club. Through strong scouting and procuring new talent through the amateur draft, many smaller-market MLB teams are able to compete with richer teams. Certainly the superior financial resources of a team such as the New York Yankees have allowed them to have continued success on the field, but this is done through paying for free agent talent on the open market. Considering continuity possibilities allows smaller-market teams to compete.

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