'The beautiful business': The new managers of Brazilian football organizations

In the globalized world of sport, the growing notion that football clubs should be run as businesses rather than non-profit social entertainment organizations has changed the organizational structure of Brazilian clubs in the last two decades, in what can be best understood as a process of institutional isomorphism. Clubs otherwise run by elected officials who worked in their free time without pay are now hiring experts to take care of the business side of sport. At the same time, we see new “sports marketing” companies working with clubs, getting them ready for new business opportunities. Does this mean a deep change in the organizational culture of Brazilian football? How do these new sport executives balance the business side and the competitive side of sport? The study of a new field of MBA programs aimed at sports executives points to the rise of a new profession with a complex organizational culture that ties together sporting success, governance, marketability and club fan culture.