CSR STRATEGIES AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN ITALIAN FOOTBALL CLUBS

The paper aims to provide the groundwork for an investigation on corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies in Italian Football clubs, focusing specifically on the kind of strategies they are implementing to engage with specific stakeholder groups. Accordingly, the purpose of the paper was to identify: 1) CSR implementation and communication strategies in Italian professional sport clubs; 2) the tools and methods used to engage with stakeholders. We used qualitative and quantitative data on the CSR strategies and stakeholder engagement policies of 20 professional Italian football clubs that took part in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons. We first analysed social engagement communication in general and successively investigated the implementation of associated actions. We collected data from the official websites of the clubs and from official reports’ content analysis. The results confirmed previous studies (Picariello and Trendafilova, 2013) where it was argued that CSR policies in Serie A lacked a specific structure. In terms of implementation, we came across few and random social initiatives. CSR communication analysis was essential in identifying distinctive types of stakeholder engagement policies and practices. Although a large part of Italian football clubs continued to show unwillingness in adopting social policies, the few that set out CSR strategies and stakeholder engagement policies acknowledged the strategic and organizational relevance of such action, contributing to improving reputation as well as the trust of fans and other stakeholders. The study represents an initial overview of stakeholder engagement and communication in Italian professional sport.