Sports Communication Interest Group
* Extended Abstract * “Extended Abstract: [Framing COVID-19 in sport: A content analysis of ESPN’s SportsCenter as a first draft of history]” • Travis Bell, University of South Florida; Lauren Smith, Indiana University • An unexpected intersection between health and sport was cemented on March 11, as the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and NBA player Rudy Gobert tested positive. This moment was dubbed “the day the sports world stopped.” A content analysis was used to examine how the emergence of and identification of COVID-19 as a global pandemic changed how ESPN’s flagship news program SportsCenter covered and discussed sport over a one-month period.
Parasocial grieving in sports: Examining the online response to the death of Kobe Bryant • James Bingaman, University of Delaware • Although there is a bevy of research acknowledging the existence of parasocial relationships with athletes, it stands to reason that if these relationships are possible then, inevitably, the relationship will dissolve. The emotions associated with parasocial dissolution – especially that of grieving – are integral to understanding the totality of relationships between spectators and athletes. After the devastating death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, a longitudinal content analysis was used to explore the response of fans on Reddit using existing parasocial grieving measures. Results from the study suggest that sadness, memorializing, shock, and reminiscing are the most common emotional expressions of grief. Furthermore, this study suggests that like real relationships, emotional expressions dissipate over time and coping mechanisms like religion increase. Therefore, any study that examines parasocial grieving must do so longitudinally as parasocial grief, like real grief, is a process, not a momentary feeling.
Joining the Athletic: Paradigm repair, metajournalistic discourse and the boundaries of sports journalism practice • Patrick Ferrucci, U of Colorado-Boulder • Utilizing textual analysis, this article examines the metajournalistic discourse inherent in The Athletic’s “why I enlisted” columns. Through this type of study, it is possible to begin to understand how actors within the field of sports journalism delineate and navigate the boundaries of the profession. This study found that providing time for stories, valuing experience and conducting focused audience engagement are inside the boundaries, while rushed stories, a subpar user experience and overall market-driven practices should sit outside – though they do not at most organization. These findings are then discussed with an eye toward understanding the future of normative journalism.
* Extended Abstract * I hate that F**king School: A Case Study of Fan Behavior on Twitter Among College Football Rivalries • Cody Friesen, Kansas State University • The study examines multiple college sports rivalries and fan interaction on Twitter. Specifically, this study examines the level of civility towards rivals and the concept of glory out of reflected failure using the Barstool Sports student-run affiliates. Preliminary findings identify a significant number of incivility and glory out of reflected failure instances across all accounts, which can inform future studies of individual fan behavior on social media.
Devising a Historical Political Economic Narrative Method: A Feminist Materialist Critique of WNBA Pay Inequity • Christopher Garcia, Florida State University • By using a critical, feminist political economic approach informed by new materialist methodology, this analysis seeks to enrich previous research conducted on representational aspects of sports media coverage of women’s basketball (Banet-Weiser, 1999; Lisec & McDonald, 2012; McDonald, 2012; Messner, 1988; Messner et al., 1993). In particular, this examination seeks to contribute toward building a feminist epistemology that can perceive the intersectional, material experiences generated by the oppressive working conditions faced by WNBA players. Prioritizing the narrative data provided by those who live through the embodied results of the NBA’s inequal treatment of its women’s league within the historical context of the establishment of what was deemed “market rate” for such a product allows one to further deconstruct the naturalized notion of the secondary status of women’s sports. Influenced by Hemmings’ (2005) historiographic approach to feminist storytelling, narratives can be central to critical political economic analysis through historiography’s concern “with the contested politics of the present over the ‘truth of the past’” (p. 118). By expanding the focus of political economic analysis into realms of subjectivity and material experience, this approach seeks to empower counter-resistance narratives created by professional WNBA players while also acknowledging the structural barriers limiting the meso- and micro-level agency of such athletes.
Assumption of Active Audience Assumptions and New Needs: Comparing Consumption Motivations of Esport and Traditional Sport Spectatorship. • Jue Hou, The University of Alabama; Andrew C. Billings, The University of Alabama • In two short decades, the esport industry grew exponentially from small-scale group competitions to billion-dollar competitive spectator events. The resemblance between esport and traditional sport can be observed in multiple aspects, including tournaments, live streaming, corporate sponsorship and more. Using uses and gratifications approaches for theoretical guidance, the present study examines the field of esport in terms of consumption motivation factors and the degree to which esport is similar to or different from traditional sport. Results indicate that communication between fans, the information-seeking need, and intentions to support the industry positively predict esport consumption while family-bonding and informational superiority were negatively associated with esport consumption. Meanwhile, young male fans generally consume more esport contents than others. Applications of uses and gratification approaches in esport are offered, as well as suggestions for esport media coverage and postulates for further development of general consumption measurements.
“It’s Impossible”: Local Sports Broadcasters and the Prospect of Motherhood • Kevin Hull, University of South Carolina; Miles Romney, Brigham Young University; Kirstin Pellizzaro, University of South Carolina; Denetra Walker • Local sports broadcasters work long hours, make little money, and often perform a host of different tasks in the newsroom and out in the field. Add the prospect of also being a mother, the job can seem impossible. A survey of local female sports broadcasters throughout the United States found that the majority of them have delayed starting a family due to their perceptions of work requirements and worry about their employment if they became pregnant.
#Gramming gender: The cognizance of equality on Instagram accounts of prominent NCAA athletic departments • Rich Johnson, Creighton University; Miles Romney, Brigham Young University; Benjamin Burroughs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas • Under the federally mandated Title IX, NCAA athletic departments are directed to strike a balance between gendered sports. This study examines how gender is represented on the Instagram accounts of prominent NCAA athletic departments. Findings indicate mixed results: female athletes, when showcased, receive similar promotional efforts as their male peers; their athleticism is highlighted; and fan engagement metrics are as high as male sports. However, female athletic achievements are overwhelmingly underrepresented, suggesting equality is still deficient.
Occupational and job sex segregation in sports information: A 10-year Update • Charli Kerns, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Erin Whiteside, University of Tennessee, Knoxville • Findings from this study, a 10-year update to work done by Whiteside & Hardin (2010), show some improvement in sex segregation at both the occupational and job level in sports information, but reveal a profession that still appears to be highly organized around gender lines in ways that may contribute to women’s comparatively low career longevity and salary compared with men. The authors situate the findings in the context of contemporary gender narratives, and offer suggestions for change in the conclusion.
From #EndtheStigma to #RealMan: Responding to Athlete Mental Health Disclosures • Scott Parrott, The University of Alabama; Andrew C. Billings, The University of Alabama; Samuel Hakim; Patrick Gentile • A number of professional athletes have used social media to disclose personal experience with mental illness, including NBA All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love in 2018. The disclosures could serve to challenge the stigmatization of mental illness, given the positive social standing of professional athletes and the potential power of parasocial relationships in health promotion and behavior. The present study quantitatively examined 3,366 fan responses to the mental health disclosures of both athletes, unpacking the extent to which fan commentary perpetuated or challenged the stigmatization of depression and anxiety. Fans provided overwhelmingly positive response to the athletes’ mental health disclosures, creating a normative environment in which disclosure translated into acceptance rather than rejection. While more frequently offering messages of advice and strength to DeRozan, fans were more likely to offer messages of encouragement and personal experiences with mental illness to Love.
Journalism from a Sports Perspective: Field Theory and the re-defining of digital practices of sports journalists • Gregory Perreault; Travis Bell, University of South Florida • As with many niches of journalism, sports journalism has needed to adjust to changes within the technology of the field. Through the lens of field theory, the present study reports on long-form interviews with 46 sports journalists who self-defined their work as digital journalism. This study argues that the digital turn in the industry, and the resulting adjacent fields represented in team and player media, has caused division on the very definition of the field.
* Extended Abstract * Game Time or Not? Behavioral Predictors of Sports Brand Engagement on Social Media • Matthew Pittman, University of Tennessee; Brandon Boatwright • The following survey (N = 450) takes a modified uses and gratification approach to explore the nexus of sports fandom, social media use, and advertising engagement. We assess how sports fans use social media to follow their favorite teams. Next, we use regression analyses to determine the extent to which these behaviors predict ad preference. Initial results indicate checking scores during the game and reading commentary generally predict a willingness to engage sports ads on a platform.
Conquering Boys’ Clubs Using Issues Management: How Women’s Soccer May Pioneer Paths to Pay Equity • Terry Rentner, Bowling Green State University; David Burns, Salisbury University • The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, 2019 Women’s World Cup champions, recently challenged their management power structure for equal rights by suing their governing body for gender discrimination. This classic labor vs. management dispute created a case study that will be studied for decades. Using Issues Management as its foundation, this paper analyzes the case and then recommends how organizations can apply strategic communication strategies to all stakeholders to address controversial issues like pay inequity.
* Extended Abstract * Celebration or Something More?: Press Coverage of the 1992 Chicago Bulls Riot • Brandon Storlie, University of Wisconsin-Madison • June 14, 1992, brought the Chicago Bulls their second consecutive National Basketball Association championship. It also sparked one of the most infamous episodes of sports-related violence in American history. Yet for all its newsworthiness, the riot presented a problem for journalists, who struggled to find a clear-cut way to frame the event. While reporters failed to construct a single, dominant narrative, the varied approaches to coverage reflected the event’s complexity, intertwining celebration with racial tension.
* Extended Abstract * Players as Public Health Prompts: Celebrity Athlete Influence During the COVID-19 Pandemic • Nathan Towery, The University of Alabama; Andrew C. Billings, The University of Alabama; Scott Parrott, The University of Alabama • Celebrity athletes played an important role in public health promotion as the COVID-19 pandemic struck the U.S. People affiliated with sport shared information with social media followers, interviewed public health officials, solicited donations, and helped amplify the work of medical professionals. Simultaneously, other athletes belittled public health efforts by sharing misinformation and trivializing the gravity of the illness. In this project, we examine how athletes and coaches helped and hindered public health attitudes and behavior.
Framing the Changemakers • Eryn Travis, Indiana University of Pennsylvania • In 2019, the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) won a historic fourth FIFA World Cup Championship and global attention for its players efforts to change soccer’s status quo by fighting for equal treatment of female athletes. Yet, the USWNT was not the only organization calling for or impacted by change. Changes in the amount of global viewership for the Women’s World Cup and the level of international play were also hot topics in popular media during this time. This study employed a thematic analysis to examine how U.S. journalists framed topics related to change during the weekend of July 5, 2019, to July 8, 2019, a time period that included the final FIFA World Cup match on July 7, 2019 between the United States and The Netherlands. The study yielded three distinct coverage themes related to change: 1) winning the “American Way”; 2) the evolution of the team’s personality; and 3) the team’s impact on perceptions of women’s soccer.
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