Personal Interview

Q. Why did you decide to pursue the field of Sports Management and particularly study the impact on franchise relocation and the impact it has on fans?

A. "I got into sports management while working in minor league baseball." I applied without any sports management background to a Masters program and got accepted. Wanting to study the sports fan more than the sport itself, being a professor sounded like a good job. Professor Hyatt wanted to study the minority, the fans that others look past, the sports fans who cheered for a team that left them abandoned. "Sports management people don't want to address the fact that they advocate certain policies that screw with people's lives" (interview, September 14, 2007). Professor Hyatt felt moral outrage that we were letting this happen. So therefore he decided to research franchise relocation and the affects it has on fans.

Q. From your research and findings what do you think are the major debates and controversies involved with franchise relocation?

A. Professor Hyatt said the major debate in franchise relocation is, "Whether or not tax payers should fund facilities, pure and simple" (interview, September 14, 2007). In Canada generally at the major league level, franchises have been moving into their own privately funded facilities but in the United States of America it is rare that the majority is paid by the team.

Q. What theorists/ foundational readings did you base your research on?

A. Professor Hyatt based his research on a consumer behaviourist named Susan Fournier. Susan Fournier is at the Harvard business school and she studies consumers in the general business sense. Susan showed that by switching household products and your daily environment, you can break off old ties and give yourself closure. Although her methods are not standard in the field, Professor Hyatt saw great insight in her work.

Q. Even though Susan Fournier's work is not directly related to sports management or franchise relocation,