Industry Sustainability Under Technological Evolution: A Case Study of the Overshooting Hypothesis in Sports

This research investigates cycles in equipment-based sports in which a sport can experience a rapid rise in popularity when it is new but under technology-driven competition, equipment “overshoots” the capabilities and budget of users, collapsing the equipment market and the sport, with significant adverse consequences for the industry and allied sectors of the economy. We find clear support for the overshooting hypothesis in this case, with adverse consequences not only for the sport's manufacturing, distribution and retail sectors but we also find indications of spillover effects in allied sectors. We suggest that industry self-regulation may be a way of avoiding this phenomenon and its adverse consequences.