Beyond engagement: how clubs translate institutional values into well-being – evidence from Italian rugby

Purpose – This paper contributes to Management Decision’s “The Practice of Making Decisions” section by examining how sports organisations should balance engagement growth and institutional values. Using Italian rugby clubs as a case, it asks what leaders should prioritise when resources are limited: growing digital audiences or maintaining rituals like the terzo tempo. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed-methods approach includes a survey of 1,301 Italian rugby players and interviews with five club managers. The survey used regression analysis, and the interviews covered belonging and well-being, values and relationships and identities outside of playing. Findings – Interviews with managers show clubs mainly act as value translators, promoting institutional values through practical examples such as the terzo tempo. Survey data align, indicating fanship and fandom relate to subjective well-being, with internalised psychological aspects showing the strongest link. A new finding is offfield identity: both managers and respondents identify a “rugby person” by behaviour outside the game, showing lived values influence daily conduct beyond rugby. Research limitations/implications – This study is based on Italian rugby and uses cross-sectional data, which limits causal inference and direct generalisability. For club managers, coaches and federation leaders, the key takeaway is that good governance is not about how much engagement is generated. It is about accurately conveying and upholding the organisation’s core values, even when faced with limited time, resources and competing demands. Originality/value – While earlier studies distinguish between fanship and fandom, no study has examined how club-defined values are put into practice and absorbed by members, or how this shapes off-field identity as part of governance. This article presents value translation as a key managerial role in organisations where identity matters a lot. This concept works not just in sport but anywhere culture, belonging and shared values are strategic assets.