FOUL PLAY? THE RISE AND FALL OF THIRD-PARTY OWNERSHIP AS A CONTROVERSIAL PRACTICE IN FOOTBALL

We study the diffusion process for a controversial practice that involves multiple constituents with diverse motivations. In doing so, we uncover how conflicting judgments shape the diffusion process of a controversial practice. Using an inductive study that employs archival and interview data covering over 20 years, we examine the evolution of thirdparty ownership (TPO) in the global industry of footballa practice that transformed the ownership of football players from belonging to football clubs to being shared among investors like pizza slices. We follow the TPO from its origins as an enabler for unfavored actors to join the industry to its enactment as an illegitimate financial instrument for exploitative profits. Our research unpacks the distinct mechanisms used to promote adoption and abandonment of an increasingly controversial practice; describes the mismatch between moral and economic arguments, and the tension that derailed the diffusion process; and identifies how the effectiveness of recalibration efforts depends on how much of practices value relies on its opacity. Our study advances existing knowledge on the diffusion process of controversial practices in multi-constituent contexts, where the diversity of actors interests and judgmentsmakes it complex to predict the outcome.