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msamBPE (Alta), MA (New Bruns), PhD (Otago)

Dean of School (Interim)

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

  • SPEX 209 Sport Development and Management
  • SPEX 313 Sport and Health Policy
  • SPEX 461 The Politics of Sports Governance
  • SPEX 516 Practicum (Masters Sport Development and Management
  • SPEX 517 Practicum Report (Masters Sport Development and Management)

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

Lindsey, I., & Sam, M. (2026). An amalgamation of methodological advances and intractable evaluation changes [Introduction, Section 8: Evaluation and evidence in sports development. In I. Lindsey, A.-M. Strittmatter, M. Sam & K. Rich (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sports development. (2nd ed.) (pp. 491-494). London, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003503910 Chapter in Book - Research

Sam, M., & Strittmatter, A.-M. (2026). Understanding context to navigate complexity [Introduction, Section 7: Issues in the practice of sports development]. In I. Lindsey, A.-M. Strittmatter, M. Sam & K. Rich (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sports development. (2nd ed.) (pp. 417-420). London, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003503910 Chapter in Book - Research

Sam, M., & Strittmatter, A.-M. (2026). Elite sports development: Challenges and transformations [Introduction, Section 4: Sports development and elite athletes]. In I. Lindsey, A.-M. Strittmatter, M. Sam & K. Rich (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sports development. (2nd ed.) (pp. 221-224). London, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003503910 Chapter in Book - Research

Sam, M., & Rich, K. (2026). Sports development in context: Historical, institutional, and cultural contingencies [Introduction, Section 1: Contemporary contexts of sports developments]. In I. Lindsey, A.-M. Strittmatter, M. Sam & K. Rich (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sports development. (2nd ed.) (pp. 5-10). London, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003503910 Chapter in Book - Research

Lindsey, I., Strittmatter, A.-M., Sam, M., & Rich, K. (2026). Introduction. In I. Lindsey, A.-M. Strittmatter, M. Sam & K. Rich (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sports development. (2nd ed.) (pp. 1-3). London, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003503910 Chapter in Book - Other

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