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.

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.

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 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