This research investigates the leverage of sports franchises by destination marketing organisations for their tourism potential. Leverage in this instance is manifested by the opportunities afforded DMOs to co-opt the often global recognition of professional sports clubs to enhance the profile of a destination for the benefit of the wider stakeholder environment and not simply as a tool to attract additional sports tourists. It adds to the literature in covering a hitherto under scrutinised field of tourism enquiry focusing on the role of internationally acclaimed professional football teams as catalysts for tourism in the cities that host them. In doing so the study links theory to practice and provides policy makers with options for implementing initiatives in collaboration with sports franchises, resulting in benefits across the wider stakeholder environment.

The study, focusing on the cities of Amsterdam and Manchester, identifies elements of best practice and crucially the factors that hinder optimal leverage strategies when it comes to the use of major commercially oriented sports franchises. A compelling case is made for the leverage of these entities in locations where the circumstances permit, with the research proposing a way forward under the guise of a model for sports franchise leverage. The model adds to the literature on tourism leverage and has significant implications for DMOs in providing a practical template characterised by its flexibility and applicability in wider settings. In providing insights into how stakeholder theory, destination marketing, actor network theory and cooperative marketing enjoy an almost symbiotic relationship in the tourism sphere, the study represents a first of its kind and should elicit the interest of policy makers, sports franchises and researchers.

本研究调查了目的地营销组织利用体育特许经营权来发挥其旅游潜力的作用。在这种情况下，杠杆作用体现在为 DMO 提供的机会来选择经常获得全球认可的职业体育俱乐部，以提高目的地的形象，以造福更广泛的利益相关者环境，而不仅仅是作为吸引更多体育游客的工具。它补充了迄今为止受到严格审查的旅游调查领域的文献，重点关注国际知名的职业足球队作为主办城市旅游业催化剂的作用。在此过程中，该研究将理论与实践联系起来，并为政策制定者提供了与体育特许经营商合作实施举措的选择，从而为更广泛的利益相关者环境带来利益。

该研究重点关注阿姆斯特丹和曼彻斯特城市，确定了最佳实践的要素，以及在使用主要商业导向的体育特许经营权时阻碍最佳杠杆策略的关键因素。该研究在体育特许经营杠杆模型的幌子下提出了一条前进的道路，为这些实体在情况允许的地方发挥杠杆作用提供了令人信服的案例。该模型丰富了有关旅游杠杆的文献，对 DMO 具有重要意义，因为它提供了一个实用模板，其特点是在更广泛的环境中具有灵活性和适用性。这项研究提供了对利益相关者理论、目的地营销、参与者网络理论和合作营销如何在旅游领域几乎共生关系的见解，这是同类研究中的首次，应该引起政策制定者、体育特许经营商和研究人员的兴趣。