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msam BPE (Alta), MA (New Bruns), PhD (Otago)
Tel +64 3 479 8398
Email mike.sam@otago.ac.nz
ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2625-4426

Background

Michael Sam is a Professor and co-director of the NZ Centre for Sport Policy and Politics. His background is in recreation, having gained much of his teaching/research interests from working at both the municipal and provincial levels of government in Manitoba, Canada. Mike serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, the International Review for the Sociology of Sport, and the International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing. He is also the President for the International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA), a charitable incorporated organisation comprising 300 members across 50 countries (https://www.issa1965.org).

Teaching

Research

Professor Sam's research interests broadly encompass areas of policy, politics and governance as they relate to the public administration/management of sport. His ongoing research projects relate to:

  • dilemmas and 'wicked problems' associated with governing sport,
  • comparative features of sport development systems and their recurrent challenges
  • the politics of policy regimes around stadium financing, sports gambling, and sport integrity

He has published widely in both sport studies and parent discipline journals and has co-edited three books: Sport in the City: Cultural Connections (2011), Sport Policy in Small States (2016) and Case Studies in Sport Diplomacy (2017).

Dr Sam's work has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Swedish Research Council, the University of Otago and the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand.

Publications

Macris, L. I., Sam, M. P., & Jackson, S. J. (2025). Performance management in a collaborative context: The conundrum of hard accountability and sector partnership. Public Management Review. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/14719037.2025.2462983 Journal - Research Article

Sam, M. (2025). New Zealand/Aotearoa. In J. Grix, P. M. Brannagan & B. Houlihan (Eds.), Comparative elite sport development: Systems, structures and public policy. (2nd ed.) (pp. 241-255). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003213529-17 Chapter in Book - Research

Jackson, S. J., Sam, M. P., Dawson, M. C., & Porter, D. (2024). The wellbeing pandemic: Outline of a contested terrain and a proposed research agenda. In W. Rössler (Ed.), Insights in public mental health: 2022. (pp. 24-31). Lausanne, Switzerland: Frontiers Media SA. doi: 10.3389/978-2-8325-4490-7 Chapter in Book - Other

Stenling, C., Fahlén, J., Sam, M., & Tak, M. (2024). (Re)Asserting organization as a lens in sport sociology: The meaning, workings, and consequences of rational design efforts. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/10126902241262620 Journal - Research Article

Skille, E. Å., Sam, M. P., & Jackson, S. J. (2024). The contested terrain of sport, media & indigenous representation: A case study of Sámi sport organisation in Norway. European Journal for Sport & Society. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/16138171.2024.2382951 Journal - Research Article

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