International Journal of Sport Communication, 2022
This study offers a unique opportunity to understand audiences’ multiplatform experiences during ... more This study offers a unique opportunity to understand audiences’ multiplatform experiences during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The authors conducted surveys in three countries—China, Germany, and the United States—to determine relationships between and among structural and identity factors that predicted viewership in each country. Results indicate that structural factors significantly predicted World Cup viewing on TV across all three countries, although some variation existed related to access. Furthermore, fandom and identity were significant predictors of viewing on digital platforms across all three countries. By better measuring the experiences and relationships within each country, this study offers a unique opportunity to present a true cross-country assessment to help build understanding of how global mega events are viewed across the world.
As one of the world’s most recognizable athletes, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James is e... more As one of the world’s most recognizable athletes, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James is emblematic of the modern athlete-activist; as such, it is important to understand how the media frame him in the context of a controversial issue. In recent years, he has used it to quietly support the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2014, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed by police on a Cleveland playground, just miles from where the Cavaliers play and just north of James’s hometown of Akron. James declined to comment on the case, and a Twitter campaign—#NoJusticeNoLeBron—attempted to force his hand. This article examines the role of James as an athlete-activist, identifying four frames embedded in content around James and the Black Lives Matter movement: Brand LeBron; Established Voice, Higher Expectations; Attention, Not Aggression; and Community Versus Protest. We found James is cautious and deliberate in his activism, moderating a message of consideration rather than revolution, cont...
International Journal of Sport Communication, 2012
England’s Barclays Premier League is one of the most successful and widereaching sporting organiz... more England’s Barclays Premier League is one of the most successful and widereaching sporting organizations in the world, attracting the best football players and managers from around the world as well as a global audience. Since its formation in 1992, the Premier League has focused on commercial success for both the League and its constituent clubs. This emphasis has brought tremendous change to English football as a whole. This case study analysis seeks to understand the perceptions and experiences of sports reporters tasked with covering these Premier League sides. These football journalists describe limited access brought on by the clubs’ decisions to emphasize global brands and manage their own branded content through club-run websites and material. Respondents also perceive this limited access is exacerbated by increased multiculturalism and a growing culture of suspicion that widens the gulfs between teams and the reporters who cover them.
Abstract When engaging with ethnographic research to understand symbols associated with a club an... more Abstract When engaging with ethnographic research to understand symbols associated with a club and its fan base, researchers need to reflect on the role of the ethnographer and the extent to which we can or should immerse ourselves in the field, and the importance of the insider–outsider balance. This article details how we came to understand our position as American women studying a hypermasculine English sport, including how we “worked the hyphen” (Fine, 1994). For two years, we conducted research with fans and employees of Barclays Premier League side Aston Villa Football Club. While each of these characteristics (being American and being women) might individually have been a disadvantage, we found that being double outsiders helped us open doors and gain access. This experience allowed us to meaningfully understand the symbols that create, maintain, and mediate fandom within the AVFC community.
Featuring 91 contributions from over 115 leading US and international academics, this publication... more Featuring 91 contributions from over 115 leading US and international academics, this publication captures the immediate thoughts, reflections and early research insights on the 2020 U.S. presidential election from the cutting edge of media and politics research. Published within eleven days of the election, these contributions are short and accessible. Authors provide authoritative analysis – including research findings and new theoretical insights – to bring readers original ways of understanding the campaign. Contributions also bring a rich range of disciplinary influences, from political science to cultural studies, journalism studies to geography
Abstract San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to protest the national anth... more Abstract San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to protest the national anthem of the United States by taking a knee sparked widespread attention, much of it negative. This research examines the mainstream media coverage of Kaepernick’s protest. Our analysis identified an overarching theme that permeated all coverage: a focus on the method of protest (kneeling) versus the message of the protest (social justice). More specifically, we uncovered six interrelated frames that can be examined and understood through the theoretical lens of the protest paradigm: Kaepernick himself; individual action; virality; power and influence; professional risk; and deflection and distraction. By understanding these frames, we can begin to develop a better understanding of how individual actors—including athletes—can use their platforms to raise awareness and spark discussions around important issues, using their celebrity to amplify voices that otherwise might go unheard, as well as the possible consequences of those actions.
Volume 1: Creating Sports Culture: Beginnings Section One - Critical Issues 1. America Plays: Spo... more Volume 1: Creating Sports Culture: Beginnings Section One - Critical Issues 1. America Plays: Sports in Colonial Times - Russ Crawford 2. Holy Cow! How the Advent of Early Sports Broadcasting Dramatically Changed How Professional Sports Teams in the United States Are Marketed - Ric Jensen 3. Sports as Spectacle: Early Athletes as Popular Culture Icons - Ray Gamache 4. Professional Sports: Big Money and Sports as an Industry - Brad Schultz 5. Cables, Speakers, and Screens: The Development of Technology in Sports Broadcasting - Alex Kupfer Section Two - The Big Four 6. Four Yards and a Cloud of Dust: The Greatest Running Back in Football History - Kaitlin Krister 7. Baseball: The Nation's First National Pastime - Adam G. Capitanio 8. Jackie Robinson: The Patron Saint of American Sports - Leslie Heaphy 9. The Yankee Dynasty - Donna Waller Harper 10. The Babe: Reconsidering America's First Sports Legend - Gina Anne Conley 11. A Concise History of Early Baseball - Scott Reinardy 12. Cobb's Ghost: An Argument for Baseball's Greatest Hitter - Lori Amber Roessner 13. Organized Chaos: The Early History of Professional Basketball -- Jim Fisher 14. Soccer on the Pond: Hockey's Role in Young America - Melanie Formentin Section Three - Outside the Lines 15. Soccer Means Football Here: Why the World's Game Never Made it to the US - Glen M.E. Duerr 16. Fight Night: Boxing's Popularity in the Early Twentieth Century - Joe Marren 17. Reintroducing the Olympics: Making Track and Field Relevant - Ben Dettmar 18. The Tobacco Spittin', Moonshine Runnin' History of Early NASCAR - William Matthew McCarter 19. Gentlemen, Start Your Engines: Early American Automobile Racing - Norma Jones 20. Mountain Bike: Californians Reinvent Bicycling - Frederic Savre Volume 2: Sports at the Center of Popular Culture: The Television Age Section One - Critical Issues 1. ESPN: Television Transforms Sports Culture - Patrick Sutherland 2. Spectacle: Creating Sports Icons in a Media-Saturated World - Leigh H. Edwards 3. Marvel Comics' Sports Comics in the first half of the 1990s - Rob G. Weiner 4. It's About the Shoe: Nike and the Endless Sneaker Wars - Yuya Kiuchi 5. Defense Wins Championships: Sports Philosophies and Folk Wisdom - Patrick Mayock 6. It's in the Game: The History of Sports Video Games - Andrew Baerg Section Two - The Big Four 7. The Super in the Super Bowl - Michael Mooradian Lupro 8. Bowled Over: The BCS and the Ongoing National Champion Controversy - Chris Sweeney 9. My NFL: The Fantasy Football Craze - Jesse James Draper 10. More Than the Crack of the Bat: "Walk-on Music" and Popular Music in Major League Baseball - Mathew Bartkowiak and Yuya Kiuchi 11. Visualizing the National Pastime: Lew Fonseca and the Birth of the MLB Film Bureau - Andrew G. Harrington 12. Greg Maddux as Genius and the Sublimated Homosexual Desire of American Baseball Fans - Josef Benson 13. Saving the NBA: Bird, Magic, and Jordan Rescue Professional Basketball - Justin D. Garcia 14. The Great One: Wayne Gretzky's Enduring Legacy - Peter Fontana Section Three - Outside the Lines 15. Soccer Moms and Football Dads: Sports and the Daily Life of American Youth - Jana Mathews 16. When Pele was King: The rise and fall of the North American Soccer League - Glen .E. Duerr 17. Professional Wrestling: Creating America's Fight Culture - Eero Laine 18. The Gold: The Olympics in the Modern Age - Stephan Wassong 19. Tiny Dancers: Olympic Gymnastics Captivates the World - Axel Kupfer and Stephan Wassong 20. Rubbing is Racing: The New Nascar - P. Huston Ladner 21. Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, Let's Go Racing...Girls? Female NASCAR Drivers - Norma Jones 22. The Intimidator and Junior: The Legacy of the Earnhardts - P. Huston Ladner Volume 3: Sports in a Digital Age Section One - Critical Issues 1. Wired: Sports and the Digital Age - Steve Fox 2. Social Media: Athletes, Teams, and Fans Collide Online - Randall W. Monty 3. Social Media, Spaghetti Westerns, and Modern Spectator Sports - Nicholas David Bowman 4. Doping: Deviant Behavior and the Consequences of Drugs in Professional Baseball - Salvador Murguia 5. The Demise of Amateur Sports: College Athletes in the Modern Age - Alexandra Dellas 6. Out of Bounds: Professional Athletes, New Media, and Violence Against Women in the Twenty-First Century - Natalie Carter Section Two - The Big Four 7. All Football All the Time: The Role of Media in the Rise of NFL Fanaticism - Gordon Gibb 8. The World's Game?: Baseball and Globalization - Craig Greenham 9. Why I Hate the Yankees - Gary Gershman 10. LeBron James, ESPN, and 'The Decision' - Gordon Gibb 11. The World Catches Up: Basketball as a Global Game - Martin J. Manning 12. Banking on "Sid The Kid" and "Alex The Great"-The National Hockey League Turns to Two Young Stars As Its Saviors - Ric Jensen 13. Do We Still Play on Ice: The NHL's Warm Weather Movement - Stephen P. Andon 14. The Great Outdoor Game: NHL Finally Gets Marketing Right - Melanie Formentin Section Three - Outside the…
International Journal of Sport Communication, 2022
This study offers a unique opportunity to understand audiences’ multiplatform experiences during ... more This study offers a unique opportunity to understand audiences’ multiplatform experiences during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The authors conducted surveys in three countries—China, Germany, and the United States—to determine relationships between and among structural and identity factors that predicted viewership in each country. Results indicate that structural factors significantly predicted World Cup viewing on TV across all three countries, although some variation existed related to access. Furthermore, fandom and identity were significant predictors of viewing on digital platforms across all three countries. By better measuring the experiences and relationships within each country, this study offers a unique opportunity to present a true cross-country assessment to help build understanding of how global mega events are viewed across the world.
As one of the world’s most recognizable athletes, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James is e... more As one of the world’s most recognizable athletes, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James is emblematic of the modern athlete-activist; as such, it is important to understand how the media frame him in the context of a controversial issue. In recent years, he has used it to quietly support the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2014, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed by police on a Cleveland playground, just miles from where the Cavaliers play and just north of James’s hometown of Akron. James declined to comment on the case, and a Twitter campaign—#NoJusticeNoLeBron—attempted to force his hand. This article examines the role of James as an athlete-activist, identifying four frames embedded in content around James and the Black Lives Matter movement: Brand LeBron; Established Voice, Higher Expectations; Attention, Not Aggression; and Community Versus Protest. We found James is cautious and deliberate in his activism, moderating a message of consideration rather than revolution, cont...
International Journal of Sport Communication, 2012
England’s Barclays Premier League is one of the most successful and widereaching sporting organiz... more England’s Barclays Premier League is one of the most successful and widereaching sporting organizations in the world, attracting the best football players and managers from around the world as well as a global audience. Since its formation in 1992, the Premier League has focused on commercial success for both the League and its constituent clubs. This emphasis has brought tremendous change to English football as a whole. This case study analysis seeks to understand the perceptions and experiences of sports reporters tasked with covering these Premier League sides. These football journalists describe limited access brought on by the clubs’ decisions to emphasize global brands and manage their own branded content through club-run websites and material. Respondents also perceive this limited access is exacerbated by increased multiculturalism and a growing culture of suspicion that widens the gulfs between teams and the reporters who cover them.
Abstract When engaging with ethnographic research to understand symbols associated with a club an... more Abstract When engaging with ethnographic research to understand symbols associated with a club and its fan base, researchers need to reflect on the role of the ethnographer and the extent to which we can or should immerse ourselves in the field, and the importance of the insider–outsider balance. This article details how we came to understand our position as American women studying a hypermasculine English sport, including how we “worked the hyphen” (Fine, 1994). For two years, we conducted research with fans and employees of Barclays Premier League side Aston Villa Football Club. While each of these characteristics (being American and being women) might individually have been a disadvantage, we found that being double outsiders helped us open doors and gain access. This experience allowed us to meaningfully understand the symbols that create, maintain, and mediate fandom within the AVFC community.
Featuring 91 contributions from over 115 leading US and international academics, this publication... more Featuring 91 contributions from over 115 leading US and international academics, this publication captures the immediate thoughts, reflections and early research insights on the 2020 U.S. presidential election from the cutting edge of media and politics research. Published within eleven days of the election, these contributions are short and accessible. Authors provide authoritative analysis – including research findings and new theoretical insights – to bring readers original ways of understanding the campaign. Contributions also bring a rich range of disciplinary influences, from political science to cultural studies, journalism studies to geography
Abstract San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to protest the national anth... more Abstract San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to protest the national anthem of the United States by taking a knee sparked widespread attention, much of it negative. This research examines the mainstream media coverage of Kaepernick’s protest. Our analysis identified an overarching theme that permeated all coverage: a focus on the method of protest (kneeling) versus the message of the protest (social justice). More specifically, we uncovered six interrelated frames that can be examined and understood through the theoretical lens of the protest paradigm: Kaepernick himself; individual action; virality; power and influence; professional risk; and deflection and distraction. By understanding these frames, we can begin to develop a better understanding of how individual actors—including athletes—can use their platforms to raise awareness and spark discussions around important issues, using their celebrity to amplify voices that otherwise might go unheard, as well as the possible consequences of those actions.
Volume 1: Creating Sports Culture: Beginnings Section One - Critical Issues 1. America Plays: Spo... more Volume 1: Creating Sports Culture: Beginnings Section One - Critical Issues 1. America Plays: Sports in Colonial Times - Russ Crawford 2. Holy Cow! How the Advent of Early Sports Broadcasting Dramatically Changed How Professional Sports Teams in the United States Are Marketed - Ric Jensen 3. Sports as Spectacle: Early Athletes as Popular Culture Icons - Ray Gamache 4. Professional Sports: Big Money and Sports as an Industry - Brad Schultz 5. Cables, Speakers, and Screens: The Development of Technology in Sports Broadcasting - Alex Kupfer Section Two - The Big Four 6. Four Yards and a Cloud of Dust: The Greatest Running Back in Football History - Kaitlin Krister 7. Baseball: The Nation's First National Pastime - Adam G. Capitanio 8. Jackie Robinson: The Patron Saint of American Sports - Leslie Heaphy 9. The Yankee Dynasty - Donna Waller Harper 10. The Babe: Reconsidering America's First Sports Legend - Gina Anne Conley 11. A Concise History of Early Baseball - Scott Reinardy 12. Cobb's Ghost: An Argument for Baseball's Greatest Hitter - Lori Amber Roessner 13. Organized Chaos: The Early History of Professional Basketball -- Jim Fisher 14. Soccer on the Pond: Hockey's Role in Young America - Melanie Formentin Section Three - Outside the Lines 15. Soccer Means Football Here: Why the World's Game Never Made it to the US - Glen M.E. Duerr 16. Fight Night: Boxing's Popularity in the Early Twentieth Century - Joe Marren 17. Reintroducing the Olympics: Making Track and Field Relevant - Ben Dettmar 18. The Tobacco Spittin', Moonshine Runnin' History of Early NASCAR - William Matthew McCarter 19. Gentlemen, Start Your Engines: Early American Automobile Racing - Norma Jones 20. Mountain Bike: Californians Reinvent Bicycling - Frederic Savre Volume 2: Sports at the Center of Popular Culture: The Television Age Section One - Critical Issues 1. ESPN: Television Transforms Sports Culture - Patrick Sutherland 2. Spectacle: Creating Sports Icons in a Media-Saturated World - Leigh H. Edwards 3. Marvel Comics' Sports Comics in the first half of the 1990s - Rob G. Weiner 4. It's About the Shoe: Nike and the Endless Sneaker Wars - Yuya Kiuchi 5. Defense Wins Championships: Sports Philosophies and Folk Wisdom - Patrick Mayock 6. It's in the Game: The History of Sports Video Games - Andrew Baerg Section Two - The Big Four 7. The Super in the Super Bowl - Michael Mooradian Lupro 8. Bowled Over: The BCS and the Ongoing National Champion Controversy - Chris Sweeney 9. My NFL: The Fantasy Football Craze - Jesse James Draper 10. More Than the Crack of the Bat: "Walk-on Music" and Popular Music in Major League Baseball - Mathew Bartkowiak and Yuya Kiuchi 11. Visualizing the National Pastime: Lew Fonseca and the Birth of the MLB Film Bureau - Andrew G. Harrington 12. Greg Maddux as Genius and the Sublimated Homosexual Desire of American Baseball Fans - Josef Benson 13. Saving the NBA: Bird, Magic, and Jordan Rescue Professional Basketball - Justin D. Garcia 14. The Great One: Wayne Gretzky's Enduring Legacy - Peter Fontana Section Three - Outside the Lines 15. Soccer Moms and Football Dads: Sports and the Daily Life of American Youth - Jana Mathews 16. When Pele was King: The rise and fall of the North American Soccer League - Glen .E. Duerr 17. Professional Wrestling: Creating America's Fight Culture - Eero Laine 18. The Gold: The Olympics in the Modern Age - Stephan Wassong 19. Tiny Dancers: Olympic Gymnastics Captivates the World - Axel Kupfer and Stephan Wassong 20. Rubbing is Racing: The New Nascar - P. Huston Ladner 21. Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, Let's Go Racing...Girls? Female NASCAR Drivers - Norma Jones 22. The Intimidator and Junior: The Legacy of the Earnhardts - P. Huston Ladner Volume 3: Sports in a Digital Age Section One - Critical Issues 1. Wired: Sports and the Digital Age - Steve Fox 2. Social Media: Athletes, Teams, and Fans Collide Online - Randall W. Monty 3. Social Media, Spaghetti Westerns, and Modern Spectator Sports - Nicholas David Bowman 4. Doping: Deviant Behavior and the Consequences of Drugs in Professional Baseball - Salvador Murguia 5. The Demise of Amateur Sports: College Athletes in the Modern Age - Alexandra Dellas 6. Out of Bounds: Professional Athletes, New Media, and Violence Against Women in the Twenty-First Century - Natalie Carter Section Two - The Big Four 7. All Football All the Time: The Role of Media in the Rise of NFL Fanaticism - Gordon Gibb 8. The World's Game?: Baseball and Globalization - Craig Greenham 9. Why I Hate the Yankees - Gary Gershman 10. LeBron James, ESPN, and 'The Decision' - Gordon Gibb 11. The World Catches Up: Basketball as a Global Game - Martin J. Manning 12. Banking on "Sid The Kid" and "Alex The Great"-The National Hockey League Turns to Two Young Stars As Its Saviors - Ric Jensen 13. Do We Still Play on Ice: The NHL's Warm Weather Movement - Stephen P. Andon 14. The Great Outdoor Game: NHL Finally Gets Marketing Right - Melanie Formentin Section Three - Outside the…
U.S. Election Analysis 2020: Media, Voters and the Campaign, 2020
Featuring 91 contributions from over 115 leading US and international academics, this publication... more Featuring 91 contributions from over 115 leading US and international academics, this publication captures the immediate thoughts, reflections and early research insights on the 2020 U.S. presidential election from the cutting edge of media and politics research. Published within eleven days of the election, these contributions are short and accessible. Authors provide authoritative analysis – including research findings and new theoretical insights – to bring readers original ways of understanding the campaign. Contributions also bring a rich range of disciplinary influences, from political science to cultural studies, journalism studies to geography.
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