Finally, it is important to acknowledge limitations
within the current study. First, since this study explic
-
itly examined teams that had charitable foundations,
it may be that these teams, regardless of the level of
charitable giving, were generally regarded as socially
responsible teams when compared with those without
charitable foundation. It is therefore possible to see that
this study investigated the CSR-CFP relationship among
socially responsible teams, rather than investigating if
socially responsive teams could outperform socially
unresponsive teams. Second, this study may have a
measurement issue in that operating margin and other
financial variables were measured using “estimates” of
financial data. As discussed earlier, since U.S. pro teams
do not provide their financial information to the public,
we collected this information from Forbes Magazine.
Although this source is commonly used in the sport
finance literature, there may be a discrepancy between
the actual financial data and the financial estimates used
in this study. In addition, it would be desirable if future
research identifies additional financial performance
measures, such as sponsorship and merchandise sales,
and examines the effect of CSR on these measures.
Third, although the study included several significant
control variables, it may still be subject to model mis
-
specification due to the exclusion of some independent
variables. For example, McWilliams and Siegel (2000,
2001) indicated that organizational activities, such as
adverting regarding firms’ CSR involvement, could
greatly affect the CSR-CFP relationship. Thus, the
inclusion of information on these activities of pro teams
may result in a more robust model specification. Fourth,
given that philanthropic activities by pro teams mainly
aim at youth health and education, the teams may incur
financial returns from these investments by creating a
future fan base in a longer term than examined in this
study. Consequently, future research may find a positive
CSR-CFP relationship by conducting time lag analyses
for a longer span. Lastly, as discussed earlier, the use of
charitable giving data as CSR measure may reflect only
one aspect of corporate social involvement by U.S. pro
teams. To take into account the multidimensionality of
CSR, recent research has measured this construct using
comprehensive databases, such as the Kinder, Lyden
-
berg, Domini & Co. (KLD) database (e.g., Kacperczyk,
2009; Turban & Greening, 1996, Waddock & Graves,
1997). However, these databases are not available in
the context of U.S. major leagues. Therefore, although
charitable giving data can be considered to be a legiti
-
mate proxy for CSR of pro teams, future research should
consider the development of an instrument that better reflects the multidimensionality of CSR. As such, until
more evidence is collected and analyzed within sport,
we should be hesitant to abandon completely the idea
that CSR may be linked to financial performance.