The impact of social capital on the operation of non-profit sports clubs

The nonprofit sports clubs fill the gaps in the field of community sports in China. This paper mainly discusses the impacts of the social capital on the operation of non-profit sports clubs and proposes a research model for the impacts according to the formation mechanism of social capital. The research selects eight nonprofit sports clubs in Sichuan province as objects of study, calculates their composite scores in social capital with the vertical linkages, horizontal linkages and social linkages as measurable indicators, and analyzes the influence of social capital on the ability of capital gains and the continued viability of sports clubs by multiple linear regression models. The results show that without considering the market competition, the vertical linkages, the main channel of the sports club social capital formed and accumulated, have the highest contribution to the social capital following the social linkages and then horizontal linkages. Accumulation of social capital will significantly impact the funding sources and the sustainable management of clubs, so nonprofit sports clubs are recommended to strengthen communication with the competent authorities and fight for more financial support and a favorable business environment.