Sports, Media, and Society

Media play a major role in defining sports by representing them widely at the highest level of performance and through the revenue generated via rights agreements. Conversely, sports are a central component of the rapidly changing media landscape because they provide “must see” content for millions of people in a world of multiplying digital communications technologies and fragmenting audiences. The Sports, Media, and Society series will investigate how and why the many different aspects of sports are communicated to consumers and the ways this content both creates a significant cultural impact and reflects the tenor of our society at large. As popular demand for sports media content rises amidst rapid changes in contemporary technologies, the ways, types, and frequency we consume sports-related information is continually evolving. That, along with the ever-ballooning number of media developed to disseminate and capitalize on growing demand, provides a rich area for scholarly inquiry.

Building on the Journal of Sports Media and its committed response to the “undeniable influence of sports media on contemporary culture,” this series, using an interdisciplinary approach, will include books that explore issues such as race, gender, sexuality, history, politics, nationalism, journalism, branding, and celebrity culture. Examining sports at the local, national, and global levels, this series will combine cultural critique with empirical research and historical perspectives to expand our understanding of the ways in which mediated representation of athletic competition impacts social issues and identities. The series will present books that analyze three important aspects of the sports media cultural complex: the institutions, teams, leagues and modes of production; the content of the media texts that represent sports; and the reception of sports media by audiences. With a focus on the increasingly immediate and ever-changing landscape of new media, this series will generate books that analyze sports media for their impact on social issues and identities through their function as ethical models, as entertainment products, and in how they contribute to widespread changes in communication technologies.