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Abstract

The goal of this report is to present MATCH – center.management.sport.entertainment (hereinafter, MATCH), discussing its history, purposes, achievements and future aspirations. MATCH is an instance of FAGEN (Faculty of Management and Business), which in turn is an academic unit of the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU). The center, created on December 10th, 2013, aims to be a builder, systematizer and disseminator of knowledge about sports and entertainment management, both within FAGEN and outside its borders. Its theoretical lines of action, except for the last one to be listed, represent the skills installed in the group of professors who were part of the center's initial composition, with characteristics strongly based on schools originating in the management area (marketing, human resources, finance, project management and sports analytics). The last line of research was constituted as an attempt to expand the horizons of action of the group's components, adapting to realities that were observed in the field of practice. In the area of ​​teaching, MATCH has already had representatives teaching the Sports Marketing discipline as part of the undergraduate Administration course at FAGEN/UFU. The research dimension was considered based heavily on the orientation of undergraduate dissertations (38 orientations completed), both for the courses of Administration and Information Management, in addition to 2 already completed orientation in a master’s degree setting. There was also the completion of a research project financed by Fapemig. In addition to the productions considering student guidance, actions were developed by teachers, both individually and collectively, which resulted in the publication of 8 articles in scientific journals, 34 works at academic events, and 1 book chapter. The research involved the most varied theoretical topics, such as brand love, sponsorship objectives, consumption dimensions of the Consumer Decision Process (CDP) etc., being applied to multiple sports study objects, such as football leagues and teams, basketball, volleyball, American football, motor racing, among others. It should also be noted that members of the groups helped in the organization of the events EGEN 2016 and CBGE 2023. Regarding extension, creativity was explored more strongly in the planning and execution of actions, developing projects involving: (1) the creation of content using podcasts and blogs; (2) the training process together with participants in the action through discussion of content studied together in MOOC (massive online open course), through reading and reflection on relevant works in sports management literature, and by means of the offering of lectures and mini-courses in academic events; (3) the systematization of information on the consumption practices of young adults, creating technical reports that are presented to the community so that those interested in sports management can be guided by the data presented. It is expected that the successful achievements of the past can be repeated and continued. It is believed that technical reports could be a path to invest more heavily. It is hoped that the organization of the center can be oxygenated so that activities that have not yet been explored, such as the establishment of partnerships with other institutions, could become a reality. In any case, it is believed that the center fulfills its purposes of making sport management a lived reality, both by those who are part of FAGEN and by those who are affected by its actions.