| The purpose of this study was to examine the working relationships between the inhouse and outsourced marketing groups of major NCAA Division I athletics programs. Forty-four outsourced general managers (GMs) and 39 senior in-house marketing administrators (SMAs) participated for a response rate of 69.2%. Descriptive analysis indicated the firms were similar in regards to office location, amount of contact, work experience, and pressure. The data also indicated possible inherent differences between the outsourced and in-house realms. Actual outsourced pressure exceeded in-house pressure, and the GMs and SMAs tended to overstate their counterparts' pressure levels. Also, GMs had more experience working in-house than SMAs had working for outsourced firms. Responses from GMs and SMAs indicated a healthy relationship despite the presence of the arms race in college athletics, as each group exhibited tendencies of conceding portions of their own ideals for the benefit of the overall working relationship. |
