Lawrence A. Wenner - Böcker

Sport has come to have an increasingly large impact on daily life and commerce across the globe. From mega-events, such as the World Cup or Super Bowl, to the early socialization of children into sport, the study of sport and society has developed as a distinctly wide-ranging scholarly enterprise, centered in sociology, sport studies, and cultural, media, and gender studies. In The Oxford Handbook of Sport and Society, Lawrence Wenner brings together contributions from the world's leading scholars on sport and society to create the premier comprehensive and interdisciplinary reference for scholars and students looking to understand key areas of inquiry about the role and impacts of sport in contemporary culture. The Handbook offers penetrating analyses of the key ways that today's outsized sport is integrated into the lives of both athletes and fans and increasingly shapes the social fabric and cultural logics across the world. Featuring 85 leading international scholars, the volume is organized into six sections: society and values, enterprise and capital, participation and cultures, lifespan and careers, inclusion and exclusion, and spectator engagement and media. To aid comprehension and comparison, each chapter opens with a brief introduction to the area of research and features a common organizational scheme with three main sections of key issues, approaches, and debates to guide scholars and students to what is currently most important in the study of each area. Written at an accessible level and offering rich resources to further study each topic, this handbook is an essential resource for scholars and students as well as general readers who wish to understand the growing social, cultural, political, and economic influences of sport in society and our everyday lives.

Although the American obsession with mediated sports has grown tremendously in the past few years, there has been little scholarly inquiry focused on the development and response to the mediated sports culture. Communication scholars have seemingly asked about every variant in the modern media, and yet sports programming, which regularly attracts high ratings, eludes inquiry. Media, Sports, and Society is the first comprehensive volume to redress this imbalance and provide a foundation for research on the communication of sport. In this volume Wenner first outlines the parameters of the communication of sport in a seminal essay and points to major issues that need to be addressed in the relationship between media and society. Leading communication researchers then examine theoretical and historical issues, the production of mediated sports (media organizations, sports organizations, and sports journalists), its content, and its audience. Individual chapters range in scope from a discussion of the spectacle of mediated sports, to a comparison of Super Bowl Football and World Cup Soccer, to a consideration of the spectators' enjoyment of sports violence and a fascinating examination of gender harmony and sports interests. The variety of perspectives and thought-provoking issues in this volume make it essential reading for students and researchers in communication, sociology, psychology, and cultural studies. "Written with enthusiasm and insight the book further justifies the prominent place that the analysis of sport takes in the intellectual debates that are the very stuff of (some) academic coffee breaks." --Network "Sport programming is only beginning to receive considerable academic attention, and this is the first comprehensive foray into the field. . . . Advanced undergraduate and above." --Choice "Wenner . . . and his colleagues successfully demonstrate cumulative breadth of their individual research interests in cultural studies and mediated sports." --Journal of Communication "The overall treatment of mediated sport content is refreshing and rich. . . . In total, Media, Sports, and Society stimulates questions about the role of mediated sport in culture, and it offers scholars a framework with which to think about the communication of sport. . . . Although defining a common research agenda is important, this volume's primary legacy to the discipline will be its confirmation of mediated sport as a legitimate area of study." --Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media "The volume provides . . . food for thought since it is full of interesting research ideas and suggestions capable of motivating future projects in the field. That in itself makes the volume worth recommending. All told, the maiden voyage of Media, Sports, and Society is a bon voyage." --Popular Communication Newsletter and Review "Wenner . . . has done an able job of collecting a range of diverse views on sports and communication into one useful volume. Readers' time will be repayed. . . . Useful in graduate clases. Wenner's volume will serve its purpose well; it will introduce a neglected topic to the field and motivate further research." --Journalism Quarterly

Bringing together many of the most influential scholars in sport and media studies, this book examines the diverse ways that media influences our understanding of the world’s most important sport events, dubbed sports mega-events. It sheds new light on how these events have been changed by the media, and have, in turn, adapted to media to further their brand’s cultural influence. Focusing on the central concept of "mediatization" – the permeation of media into all spheres of contemporary life – the book presents original case studies of major events including the Olympics, FIFA, rugby and cricket World Cups, Tour de France, Super Bowl, World Series, Monaco Grand Prix, Wimbledon, and many more. Written from a truly international perspective, this is a seminal work in sport and media studies that reveals the growing political, economic, and cultural influences of sport mega-events in contemporary society. Sport, Media and Mega-Events is an essential text for any course on the sociology of sport, event management, sport marketing, or featuring a cultural, communication or media studies approach to sport.

Bringing together many of the most influential scholars in sport and media studies, this book examines the diverse ways that media influences our understanding of the world’s most important sport events, dubbed sports mega-events. It sheds new light on how these events have been changed by the media, and have, in turn, adapted to media to further their brand’s cultural influence. Focusing on the central concept of "mediatization" – the permeation of media into all spheres of contemporary life – the book presents original case studies of major events including the Olympics, FIFA, rugby and cricket World Cups, Tour de France, Super Bowl, World Series, Monaco Grand Prix, Wimbledon, and many more. Written from a truly international perspective, this is a seminal work in sport and media studies that reveals the growing political, economic, and cultural influences of sport mega-events in contemporary society. Sport, Media and Mega-Events is an essential text for any course on the sociology of sport, event management, sport marketing, or featuring a cultural, communication or media studies approach to sport.

Sport, Beer, and Gender: Promotional Culture and Contemporary Social Life brings together a group of esteemed international scholars to focus on the important, complex, and mutually reinforcing relationships between sport, beer, and gender in fashioning promotional strategies and shaping global cultures of consumption. Collectively, the book examines a well-known social constellation that has received little specific scholarly attention although it sits at the axis of many lines of expanding inquiry in sport studies, media studies, gender studies, cultural studies, consumer studies, and the study of alcohol and substance abuse. The essays gathered here interrogate and trace beer as a commodity as it circumnavigates the circuit of commodification including: (1) institutions and production, (2) texts and representation, and (3) consumption and reception; they explore how it moves from concept to reality, from the private to the public realm, and ultimately its effects on contemporary gendered identity.

This book has won the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title award 2014. Fallen Sports Heroes, Media, and Celebrity Culture focuses on the increasingly ubiquitous phenomenon whereby notable figures from the sporting world fall from grace in full public view on the main stages of media. While such falls are of remarkably varied character, they fuel questions about the role of the sports hero, the co-mingling of sport and celebrity culture, and the changing nature of moral fault lines in contemporary society. In examining the «hero to villain arc» of sport celebrity, this volume features leading scholars from the fields of media, sport, and cultural studies who bring diverse vantage points to understanding how contemporary sport celebrities become heroes and gain fame and then fall precipitously from grace through a variety of «sporting offenses.» The sagas of star athletes as well as coaches and sportscasters are examined running the gamut from substance abuse (from performance-enhancing and recreational drugs to alcoholism) to sexual «improprieties» (from bad sexual manners to sexual assault to sex addiction to homophobia to questions over verification of sex) to routine thuggery (aimed not only at opponents but seen in extracurricular gun play and dogfighting) to questionable politics (demonstrating loyalties ranging from «good» nationalism to «bad»). The intriguing analyses featured here make us think about our cultural preoccupation with sports, the prospects for finding heroes in celebrity culture, and the moral complexities that are engaged as sport heroes fall and sometimes rise again redeemed.

This book has won the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title award 2014. Fallen Sports Heroes, Media, and Celebrity Culture focuses on the increasingly ubiquitous phenomenon whereby notable figures from the sporting world fall from grace in full public view on the main stages of media. While such falls are of remarkably varied character, they fuel questions about the role of the sports hero, the co-mingling of sport and celebrity culture, and the changing nature of moral fault lines in contemporary society. In examining the «hero to villain arc» of sport celebrity, this volume features leading scholars from the fields of media, sport, and cultural studies who bring diverse vantage points to understanding how contemporary sport celebrities become heroes and gain fame and then fall precipitously from grace through a variety of «sporting offenses.» The sagas of star athletes as well as coaches and sportscasters are examined running the gamut from substance abuse (from performance-enhancing and recreational drugs to alcoholism) to sexual «improprieties» (from bad sexual manners to sexual assault to sex addiction to homophobia to questions over verification of sex) to routine thuggery (aimed not only at opponents but seen in extracurricular gun play and dogfighting) to questionable politics (demonstrating loyalties ranging from «good» nationalism to «bad»). The intriguing analyses featured here make us think about our cultural preoccupation with sports, the prospects for finding heroes in celebrity culture, and the moral complexities that are engaged as sport heroes fall and sometimes rise again redeemed.

Each year, millions of youth athletes participate in organized sport under the guidance of a coach, who is entrusted with overseeing their development and performance, as well as providing a safe environment. A communicative approach to coaching recognizes that the skills, lessons, values, and experiences that athletes gain are determined by how coaches interact with athletes and structure their sporting environments. Athletic Coaching: A Communication Perspective provides a foundation for a communicative perspective of coaching in an effort to better understand and promote coach effectiveness. As part of this effort, this book conceptualizes coaching as a communicative endeavor, provides a framework from which to understand coaching effectiveness, and explicates four common perspectives (i.e., instructional, organizational, group, and interpersonal) utilized by communication scholars to examine coaching. Moreover, this book forwards a scholarly agenda for building a holistic framework of coaching and increasing the applied value of coach communication scholarship via methodological and theoretical considerations. Athletic Coaching is of benefit to many audiences, including communication students and scholars who are developing their understanding of coaching literature, interdisciplinary scholars who seek a representation of a communicative perspective of coaching, and coaches who may use this text as a self-reflective tool for pedagogical refinement.

Each year, millions of youth athletes participate in organized sport under the guidance of a coach, who is entrusted with overseeing their development and performance, as well as providing a safe environment. A communicative approach to coaching recognizes that the skills, lessons, values, and experiences that athletes gain are determined by how coaches interact with athletes and structure their sporting environments. Athletic Coaching: A Communication Perspective provides a foundation for a communicative perspective of coaching in an effort to better understand and promote coach effectiveness. As part of this effort, this book conceptualizes coaching as a communicative endeavor, provides a framework from which to understand coaching effectiveness, and explicates four common perspectives (i.e., instructional, organizational, group, and interpersonal) utilized by communication scholars to examine coaching. Moreover, this book forwards a scholarly agenda for building a holistic framework of coaching and increasing the applied value of coach communication scholarship via methodological and theoretical considerations. Athletic Coaching is of benefit to many audiences, including communication students and scholars who are developing their understanding of coaching literature, interdisciplinary scholars who seek a representation of a communicative perspective of coaching, and coaches who may use this text as a self-reflective tool for pedagogical refinement.

Never before have we lived in a time in which sport and gay identity are more visible, discussed, debated—and even celebrated. However, in an era in which the sports closet is heralded as the last remaining stronghold of heterosexuality, the terrain for the gay athlete remains contradictory at best. Gay athletes in American team sports are thus living a paradox: told that sport represents the "final closet" in American culture while at the same time feeling ostracized, labeled a "distraction" for teams, dubbed locker room "problems," and experiencing careers which are halted or cut short altogether.Media and the Coming Out of Gay Male Athletes in American Team Sports is the first of its kind, building upon the narratives of athletes and how their coming out experiences are shaped, transmitted and received through pervasive, powerful, albeit imperfect commercial media. Featuring in-depth interviews with out-athletes such as Jason Collins, Dave Kopay, Billy Bean and John Amaechi; media gatekeepers from outlets like ESPN and USA Today; and league representatives from Major League Baseball and the National Football League, this book explores one of the starkest juxtapositions in athletics: there are no active out players in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL, yet the number of athletes coming out at virtually every other level of sport is unprecedented. Interviews are fused with qualitative media analysis of coming out stories and informed by decades of literature on the unique intersection of sport, media, and sexual identity.

Never before have we lived in a time in which sport and gay identity are more visible, discussed, debated—and even celebrated. However, in an era in which the sports closet is heralded as the last remaining stronghold of heterosexuality, the terrain for the gay athlete remains contradictory at best. Gay athletes in American team sports are thus living a paradox: told that sport represents the "final closet" in American culture while at the same time feeling ostracized, labeled a "distraction" for teams, dubbed locker room "problems," and experiencing careers which are halted or cut short altogether.Media and the Coming Out of Gay Male Athletes in American Team Sports is the first of its kind, building upon the narratives of athletes and how their coming out experiences are shaped, transmitted and received through pervasive, powerful, albeit imperfect commercial media. Featuring in-depth interviews with out-athletes such as Jason Collins, Dave Kopay, Billy Bean and John Amaechi; media gatekeepers from outlets like ESPN and USA Today; and league representatives from Major League Baseball and the National Football League, this book explores one of the starkest juxtapositions in athletics: there are no active out players in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL, yet the number of athletes coming out at virtually every other level of sport is unprecedented. Interviews are fused with qualitative media analysis of coming out stories and informed by decades of literature on the unique intersection of sport, media, and sexual identity.

Tifo refers to the artistic renderings that supporters at football/soccer matches perform. This can involve large banners, coordinated mosaic displays, and pyrotechnics. Originating in Europe, the tradition has spread across the world and to other sports. Tifos vary in size, content, and execution, but all emerge from the desire supporters have for signaling and displaying their collective community, specific identities, and extensive devotion to their clubs. Fans fashion tifos to communicate publicly about identity, sense of place, past success, politics, and heated rivalries. Their assorted content makes tifos a distinctive form of fan-generated communication. Traditionally, supporters display tifos only momentarily before football/soccer matches. Yet they have become increasingly complex, sophisticated, and competitive—requiring dozens of people to create them, financial investments usually from fans to procure the materials needed to finance them, and on-site, in-stadium coordination to display them. These factors contribute to a unique, complex, and globalized form of fan communication that captures not only the obvious and intended messages of tifos, but also demonstrates the effort and devotion needed to execute them. This book examines the history and evolution of tifos, their social significance for clubs, places, and communities, the identities and associated affiliations they discursively perform, and the explicit and implicit symbolism they contain. Given the demanding practices surrounding the development and execution of tifos, and their overall captivating nature, this book should appeal to a broad audience including students and scholars working in sport as well as fans of it.

Tifo refers to the artistic renderings that supporters at football/soccer matches perform. This can involve large banners, coordinated mosaic displays, and pyrotechnics. Originating in Europe, the tradition has spread across the world and to other sports. Tifos vary in size, content, and execution, but all emerge from the desire supporters have for signaling and displaying their collective community, specific identities, and extensive devotion to their clubs. Fans fashion tifos to communicate publicly about identity, sense of place, past success, politics, and heated rivalries. Their assorted content makes tifos a distinctive form of fan-generated communication. Traditionally, supporters display tifos only momentarily before football/soccer matches. Yet they have become increasingly complex, sophisticated, and competitive—requiring dozens of people to create them, financial investments usually from fans to procure the materials needed to finance them, and on-site, in-stadium coordination to display them. These factors contribute to a unique, complex, and globalized form of fan communication that captures not only the obvious and intended messages of tifos, but also demonstrates the effort and devotion needed to execute them. This book examines the history and evolution of tifos, their social significance for clubs, places, and communities, the identities and associated affiliations they discursively perform, and the explicit and implicit symbolism they contain. Given the demanding practices surrounding the development and execution of tifos, and their overall captivating nature, this book should appeal to a broad audience including students and scholars working in sport as well as fans of it.

Whether it’s the Roosevelt administration’s impact on the formation of the NCAA, the protest of the Vietnam War by Muhammad Ali, or the rise of rap and hip-hop in the 90s and its penetration of the NBA’s image, American culture and politics have intersected regularly with sports. The impact of American politics and culture on the sports industry, and vice versa, is evident throughout the halls of history and, in particular, the 20th and 21st centuries mark an interesting period of time to explore this relationship. One avenue to be considered during this time is the amplification and growth of mass media and its role in framing these intersections of American pop culture, politics and the sports industry. Many of the values that Americans hold dear to their identity, such as activism and protest, capitalism, freedom of expression, and competition, are permeated through the history of collegiate and professional sports in the United States, and the media has played a role in shaping those opinions and values among Americans through its various outlets. The United States of Sport looks at how media outlets portrayed several of these intersections in politics, culture and sports, with each chapter highlighting a moment or phenomenon in American history and its direct or indirect impact on some aspect of the sports industry through the eyes of newspapers, magazines, television, radio and online news outlets.

Whether it’s the Roosevelt administration’s impact on the formation of the NCAA, the protest of the Vietnam War by Muhammad Ali, or the rise of rap and hip-hop in the 90s and its penetration of the NBA’s image, American culture and politics have intersected regularly with sports. The impact of American politics and culture on the sports industry, and vice versa, is evident throughout the halls of history and, in particular, the 20th and 21st centuries mark an interesting period of time to explore this relationship. One avenue to be considered during this time is the amplification and growth of mass media and its role in framing these intersections of American pop culture, politics and the sports industry. Many of the values that Americans hold dear to their identity, such as activism and protest, capitalism, freedom of expression, and competition, are permeated through the history of collegiate and professional sports in the United States, and the media has played a role in shaping those opinions and values among Americans through its various outlets. The United States of Sport looks at how media outlets portrayed several of these intersections in politics, culture and sports, with each chapter highlighting a moment or phenomenon in American history and its direct or indirect impact on some aspect of the sports industry through the eyes of newspapers, magazines, television, radio and online news outlets.

Warren Buffett once opined that "only when the tide rolls out do you discover who’s been swimming naked." In a similar vein, American Sport in the Shadow of a Pandemic focuses on how communication practices, structures, and principles change when a key locus—sport—has much of its cultural and political-economic power disrupted. How intertwined is the economic viability of an American collegiate institution to the communicative enactment of the regular staging of collegiate sports? What proportion of a sports media contract is for the competition itself, as opposed to the documentation of fans being "fanatic" as they witness contests live and in-person? Who and what is deemed most disposable, and how do such decisions play out for athletes of different genders, races, and abilities? Questions such as these form the core foci of this volume. As many have observed, out of crisis comes opportunity. In this instance, this volume provides an opportunity for leading scholars of communication and sport to consider which principles should be rethought or reconceptualized based on the effects of the pandemic on our culture, politics, and economy.

Taking the global sport of Formula 1 (F1) motor racing as a sustained case study, Streaming the Formula 1 Rivalry examines how the relationship between the sport and the media has evolved in this new digital environment. Starting with a map of the political economy of F1 and its complex commercial relationship with sponsors, investors, and the media, shows how new media owners have aimed to use social and digital media strategies to deepen the global reach of a television sport previously thought of by many as in decline.Drawing on original interviews with key stakeholders across the media and sports industry, including journalists, broadcasters, and those working within F1, this book places the sport within its broader historical context, identifying the central role that the media, particularly television has played in its history, structure, and governance. This book also explores the range of media representations and key narratives that the sport offers and how its relationship with other television genres, such as the Netflix series Drive to Survive is impacting the nature of the sport and its audience.As sport enters a new age of digital engagement, this investigation of the intense relationship between F1 and the creative industries shows us not just how the media are changing, but also that what we understand by the term "sport" is also being altered."This is a penetrating case-study of media-sport relations in the context of major technical, cultural, and economic change. Drawing on a wide range of sources, Boyle and Haynes offer a hugely informative but also enjoyable account of the challenges and the opportunities surrounding Formula 1 as it undergoes inter-related shift s in the terms of its organization and in the scale and character of its media visibility. The authors get ‘inside’ their topic with clarity and depth."— John Corner, Professor of Communications, University of Leeds"Formula 1 has witnessed a huge transformation in recent years. Streaming the Formula 1 Rivalry successfully unpicks the way in which the changing global media landscape has both shaped and communicated the sport’s growth. Whether through the Netflix Effect or social media’s ability to turn any fan into a pundit, influencer or content creator, this book explores the complex factors impacting the way in which the narratives and storylines around Formula 1 are built. Streaming the Formula 1 Rivalry makes essential reading for any student of global sports media or Formula 1. Uniquely, it explains the media revolution which has taken place in one of world most sophisticated sporting competitions."— Mark Gallagher, Formula 1 Executive and Managing Director, Performance Insights

Taking the global sport of Formula 1 (F1) motor racing as a sustained case study, Streaming the Formula 1 Rivalry examines how the relationship between the sport and the media has evolved in this new digital environment. Starting with a map of the political economy of F1 and its complex commercial relationship with sponsors, investors, and the media, shows how new media owners have aimed to use social and digital media strategies to deepen the global reach of a television sport previously thought of by many as in decline.Drawing on original interviews with key stakeholders across the media and sports industry, including journalists, broadcasters, and those working within F1, this book places the sport within its broader historical context, identifying the central role that the media, particularly television has played in its history, structure, and governance. This book also explores the range of media representations and key narratives that the sport offers and how its relationship with other television genres, such as the Netflix series Drive to Survive is impacting the nature of the sport and its audience.As sport enters a new age of digital engagement, this investigation of the intense relationship between F1 and the creative industries shows us not just how the media are changing, but also that what we understand by the term "sport" is also being altered."This is a penetrating case-study of media-sport relations in the context of major technical, cultural, and economic change. Drawing on a wide range of sources, Boyle and Haynes offer a hugely informative but also enjoyable account of the challenges and the opportunities surrounding Formula 1 as it undergoes inter-related shift s in the terms of its organization and in the scale and character of its media visibility. The authors get ‘inside’ their topic with clarity and depth."— John Corner, Professor of Communications, University of Leeds"Formula 1 has witnessed a huge transformation in recent years. Streaming the Formula 1 Rivalry successfully unpicks the way in which the changing global media landscape has both shaped and communicated the sport’s growth. Whether through the Netflix Effect or social media’s ability to turn any fan into a pundit, influencer or content creator, this book explores the complex factors impacting the way in which the narratives and storylines around Formula 1 are built. Streaming the Formula 1 Rivalry makes essential reading for any student of global sports media or Formula 1. Uniquely, it explains the media revolution which has taken place in one of world most sophisticated sporting competitions."— Mark Gallagher, Formula 1 Executive and Managing Director, Performance Insights

This book rethinks the discussion of sport as a cinematic subject. Arguing for the vitality of the sports film as distinctively ‘modern’ genre, the book looks at its innovative potential to capture twentieth- and twenty-first-century sport in all its complexity. Written in an accessible style and illustrated throughout, the book integrates work and ideas from film studies with thinking from sports psychology, philosophy, data theory and ecocriticism. In its detailed analyses of a wide-ranging group of films, the book shows how film, from fictional works to biopics to experimental documentaries, can illuminate individual sporting experience, as well as sport’s wider place in modern life.

This book rethinks the discussion of sport as a cinematic subject. Arguing for the vitality of the sports film as distinctively ‘modern’ genre, the book looks at its innovative potential to capture twentieth- and twenty-first-century sport in all its complexity. Written in an accessible style and illustrated throughout, the book integrates work and ideas from film studies with thinking from sports psychology, philosophy, data theory and ecocriticism. In its detailed analyses of a wide-ranging group of films, the book shows how film, from fictional works to biopics to experimental documentaries, can illuminate individual sporting experience, as well as sport’s wider place in modern life.

To offer a comprehensive overview of the current and perceived future state of sports journalism competition, this book draws on insight from 100 qualitative interviews with sportswriters working within five unique subsets of written content (daily newspapers, team-run media, The Athletic, Substack newsletters, and SB Nation blogging).Using four main communication concepts (gatekeeping, niche gratification, diffusion of innovations, and journalistic boundary work) as the guiding framework, this book examines how various disseminators of written sports information are able to coexist in the modern sports journalism ecosystem by catering to the niche.