Managing complexity by business networks: the case of multi-club ownership in professional football

This paper aims to analyse the management of complexity through the examination of differences between professional football clubs operating in multi-club ownership (MCO) and single-club ownership (SCO). Particularly, this study investigates the management of complexity as the management of risks originating from external factors in professional football clubs providing business model drivers supporting complexity management. Design/methodology/approach– We applied an interpretive-qualitative method through textual analysis to define the main drivers in managing complexity focusing on the comparison among MCO and SCO clubs. We also applied the main indexes of readability to complete evidence in managing complexity. We used the lens of Vatankhah et al. (2023)