This dissertation explored how sports organizations approach the communication of a defeat on social media from the perspective of organizational image management. Furthermore, this study sought to identify how sports fans react to a defeat on social media and what kind of implications fan reactions have on the organizational image management process. The sports industry has some unique characteristics compared to other commercial industries. The overall success of sports organizations is to a great extent dependent on the on-field performances of the team and the coherence of the fan community. The image of sports organizations is likewise dependent on the combination of on-field performances and how the fan community perceives the organization. Sports fans have a strong psychological connection to their favorite team. The strong attachment to a sports organization results commonly in biased evaluations of their favorite team. This dissertation examines how this dynamic unfolds in an online media environment using a customized theoretical framework that combines organizational image management theory and social identity theory. The research strategy in this dissertation consisted of a case study of six sports organizations in the Swedish Hockey League and their fans. Empirical data was collected through six interviews with communication specialists employed by the teams and by sampling comments written by fans on the teams’ Facebook pages on posts about defeats. The findings show that sports organizations in the SHL have a desire to appear honest in their approach to communicating a defeat on social media. This desire encompasses a straightforward approach to communicating a defeat on social media to their fans, making the organization to resemble a credible disseminator of information to key stakeholders in online environments. Furthermore, through the strong psychological connection to their favorite team, fans were found to have a role in the image maintenance process on social media after a defeat. Fans took mainly two different stances on social media after a defeat and were found to both hinder and aid the image management process after a defeat.

The aim of the study wa s to investigate how referees are portrayed in the media, as participants in refereeing scandals. A study I conducted through examining how hockey referees are portrayed and represented in match texts from both local and national Swedish sports journalism, written in connection to refereeing scandals. I used the method of critical discourse analysis t o examine the question . Through the method I performed an in - depth analysis of how hockey referees are portrayed and represented in eight match texts , written in con nection to different refereeing scandals, from both local and nat ional Swedish sp orts journ alism. The result of the critical discourse analysis showed that the media depicts referees as scapegoats in refereeing scandals. It also showed that referees are portrayed as the ”b ad guys” and abusers of power. Further, my study showed that t hrough melodramatic journalistic descriptions and critical comments from players and coaches, referees are portrayed as unprofessional practicioners in the media match texts written in connection to different refereeing scandals.

Abstrakt Syftet med studien är att undersöka herrelitföreningarnas beroende av yttre partners. Samtidigt lyfta fram elitföreningarnas användning av kommersiell verksamhet och hur det påverkar deras ekonomi. Studien kommer också att diskutera fördelar och nackdelar som de undersökta föreningarna ser med införandet av idrottsaktiebolag, eftersom idrottsföreningens går mot ett mer företagsliknande förhållningssätt. Studien är förankrad i den osäkra miljön som bildas när kommersialisering och det ideella idealet ställs mot varandra inom svensk idrott. Forskning instämmer i att idrotten måste skapa en balans mellan kommersialisering och ideell idealet. Å andra sidan råder en viss oenighet om kommersiella intäkter handlar om vinstmaximering eller nyttomaximering. Resource Dependence Theory används för att förklara hur partners minskar deras beroende och osäkerheter i miljön de arbetar i förhållande till yttre partners. Metoden som används är en blandning av kvantitativ och kvalitativ forskning, genom ett frågeformulär som innehåller frågor i en blandning av enkätfrågor och semistrukturerade intervjufrågor. Sexton respondenter deltog i studien. Studien visar att herrelitföreningar tycker att samarbete med externa partners är något att sträva efter, men att det också skapar ett beroende av dessa externa partners. Det verkar också som om beroendet är oförändrat oavsett sammansättningsform. / Abstract The purpose of the study is to investigate the dependence of associations on external organizations. At the same time highlight the sports associations' use of commercial activities and how it affects their finances. The study will also discuss the advantages and disadvantages that the surveyed associations see with the incorporation of sports associations, as the sports associations world is moving towards a more corporate-like approach. The study is rooted in the uncertain environment that is formed when commercialization and the non-profit ideal are set against each other within Swedish sports. Research agrees that sport needs to strike a balance between commercialization and the non-profit ideal. On the other hand, there is disagreement as to whether commercial revenue is about profit maximization or utility maximization. Resource Dependence Theory is used to explain how organizations reduce their dependence and uncertainties in the environment they operate in relation to external partners. The method applied is a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research, through a questionnaire containing questions in a mixture of survey and semi-structured interview questions. Sixteen respondents participated in the study. The study shows that elite sports associations find that collaboration with external organizations is something to strive for, but that it also creates a dependency on these external organizations. It also appears that the dependency is unchanged regardless of the form of association.