Editors' note: a fond farewell.

Simmons, Robert ; Frick, Bernd ; Humphreys, Brad R. 等

This issue of the International Journal of Sport Finance (IJSF) is the final one under the stewardship of myself, Bernd Frick, and Brad Humphreys. It has been a pleasure and a privilege for us to manage the editorial process of IJSF for the last six years, succeeding inaugural editor Dennis Howard.

In that time, we have dealt with a growing number of submissions. The journal is now published quarterly as opposed to three times a year in its early phase. Since the online Editorial Express system went live in October 2008, we have made decisions on 306 manuscripts, and out of these 142 were rejected, either directly as desk rejections by editors or via referee reports. The split of rejection type is about equal. That represents an overall rejection rate of 46% and this rate has been growing over the period of our tenure. Thus, the papers that have been published in IJSF have been subject to serious scrutiny and in the editors' views represent substantial contributions to scholarship in sport finance and sport economics.

Moreover, we have continued the initial mission of the journal as set by Dennis Howard and the journal's publisher, FiT Publishing, of publishing high quality manuscripts that are not just technically proficient but that can also illuminate problems of sport finance and sports policy. To this end, we have encouraged the appearance of special issues, such as the May 2012 issue on sports policy issues. We have also, with the support and encouragement of FiT, been able to secure a formal agreement with the recently formed European Sport Economics Association (ESEA) to publish a set of papers each year from its annual conference. The ESEA has also embraced IJSF as the official journal of its association.

After six fast-moving years, it is now time for this editorial team to hand over the journal to new leadership and we are delighted that FiT has secured the services of Arne Feddersen of the University of Southern Denmark as editor. Arne will be ably supported by Babatunde Buraimo (University of Liverpool), Joachim Prinz (University of Duisburg), and Jane Ruseski (West Virginia University) as associate editors.

The current editors have benefited from huge support in two key respects. First, our referees have performed outstanding service on a voluntary basis. Their reports and constructive suggestions have enabled the editors to make clear selection decisions and have also helped papers improve. Also, FiT Publishing director Matt Brann has made a vital contribution behind the scenes to make sure that issues appear without delay and that the entire production process moves smoothly. We thank Matt for his massive support.

It remains for us to welcome Arne, Babatunde, Joachin, and Jane as the new editorial team and we hope they find their periods of tenure with IJSF as stimulating and rewarding as we have.

--Robert Simmons (editor), Bernd Frick (associate editor), and Brad R. Humphreys (associate editor)