SPORT, MEDIA AND MEGA-EVENTS
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 worlds 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 brands 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.
Lawrence A. Wenner is Von der Ahe Professor of Communication and Ethics in the College of Communication and Fine Arts and the School of Film and Tele vision at Loyola Marymount University, USA. His critical research on mediated sport focuses on gender, race, and commodification. He is editor of the research journal Communication and Sport, author of over 130 scholarly articles and chapters, and has published nine books, including Fallen Sports Heroes, Media and Celebrity Culture.
Andrew C. Billings is the Ronald Reagan Chair of Broadcasting and Director of the Alabama Program in Sports Communication at the University of Alabama, USA. His research frequently focuses on media renderings of sports mega-events, particularly as they relate to issues of gender, ethnicity, and nationality. He is the author and/or editor of 13 books, including Olympic Media: Inside the Biggest Show on Television and over 130 journal articles and book chapters.
SPORT, MEDIA AND MEGA-EVENTS
Edited by Lawrence A. Wenner and Andrew C. Billings
First published 2017
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor and Francis Group, an informa business
2017 selection and editorial matter, Lawrence A. Wenner and Andrew C. Billings; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Lawrence A. Wenner and Andrew C. Billings to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utili ed in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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ISBN: 978-1-138-93038-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-93039-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-68052-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Fish Books Ltd.
CONTENTS
PART I
Framing sport, media and mega-events
Andrew C. Billings and Lawrence A. Wenner
John Horne
Richard Gruneau and James Compton
PART II
Megamediasport event studies
Alan Tomlinson
Pirkko Markula
Richard Haynes and Raymond Boyle
Toni Bruce
Dominic Malcolm and Thomas Fletcher
Eileen Kennedy, Laura Hills and Alistair John
Brad Millington and Brian Wilson
Kirsten Frandsen
Damion Sturm
David Rowe
Michael R. Real and Lawrence A. Wenner
Michael L. Butterworth
Bryan E. Denham
Holly Thorpe and Belinda Wheaton
Andrew C. Billings is the Ronald Reagan Chair of Broadcasting and Director of the Alabama Program in Sports Communication at the University of Alabama, USA. His research frequently focuses on media renderings of sports mega-events, particularly as they relate to issues of gender, ethnicity, and nationality.
Raymond Boyle is Professor of Communications at the Centre for Cultural Policy Research at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. He has written widely on media sport and media issues more generally. His most recent book was The Rise and Fall of the UK Film Council (with Doyle et al.; Edinburgh University Press, 2015).
Toni Bruce is Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her research interrogates mainstream and online media representations of sport, with particular emphasis on gender, national identity, race/ethnicity and disability. Her latest work is Terra Ludus, a novel about media, gender and sport (Sense Publishers).
Michael L. Butterworth is Director and Associate Professor in the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University, USA. His research investigates the relationships between rhetoric, democracy, and sport, with particular interests in national identity, militarism, and public memory.
James Compton is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. His research interests lie in the areas of the political economy of communications, journalism, spectacle, and popular cultures.
Bryan E. Denham is Department Chair and Campbell Professor of Sports Communication at Clemson University, USA. His research examines the agenda-setting and agenda-building functions of mass media, with recent work focusing on intermedia agenda-setting processes.
Thomas Fletcher is a Senior Lecturer at Leeds Beckett University, UK. His research focuses on the politics of race/ethnicity and whiteness in sport and leisure. He is editor of Cricket, Migration and Diasporic Communities and co-editor of Sport, Leisure and Social Justice, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Sport and Leisure and Sports Events, Society and Culture (all with Routledge).
Kirsten Frandsen is Associate Professor of Media Studies in the School of Communication and Culture at Aarhus University, Denmark. Her research examines the relationship between sport and media, with a focus on historical developments in sports journalism, television, digital media and audiences.
Richard Gruneau is Professor of Communication at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His research interests include social theory, the political economy of communication, media studies, sport, and popular cultures.
