This dissertation builds on Wenner's (Wenner, L.A. (1989). Media, Sports and Society: The Research Agenda. In L. A. Wenner (Ed.), Media, Sports and Society (pp. 13-48). Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.) claims about how the culture of sport is changed as it is mediated by examining the mediation of sport through four digital sports games produced by Electronic Arts--Fight Night Round 2, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004, MVP Baseball 2005, and John Madden Football 2005. Following the example of digital game scholars, I employ a multi-level method of textual analysis in engaging the representation and gameplay of these respective titles. The dissertation uses three case studies to tease out the ideological implications of these games as they position their users. The fourth case study examines how the digital sports game audience responds to the ideologies and positioning identified in the textual analysis sections. In responding to the broader optimism of new media theorists, I argue for a consideration of the specific context of the digital sports game as a way into measuring the validity of their positions. In looking at the mediation of the body in Fight Night Round 2, golf and its attendant culture in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004, the ubiquitous quantification of MVP Baseball 2005, and audience responses to John Madden Football 2005, I argue that the potential freedom certain strands of new media theory proclaim is constrained by the ideologies resident in the texts examined here and the ways in which these digital sports games position their users. As such, scrutinizing these specific new media contexts reveals we should ultimately be cautious about the degree to which they offer the kinds of progressive freedoms advocated by celebratory new media scholarship.

This research assesses cultural meanings attributed to Asian American sport celebrities, focusing specifically on former professional tennis player Michael Chang and professional golfer Michelle Wie. This work will examine how they are represented in mainstream American media and how their images have been used in various advertising campaigns. A key assumption of this research is that cultural stakeholders are involved in their particular media representations. Given that Asian American athletes have occupied peripheral positions in American sport, media and their invisibility in advertising campaigns, the recent commodification of Asian American athletic bodies is worth examining in greater detail. Drawing on Susan Birrell and Mary McDonald's (1999, 2000) “reading sport” methodology, I critically read their representations in mainstream media and television commercials to explore the complexity and particularity of the articulation of power lines surrounding these Asian American sport celebrities. The “reading sport” methodology emphasizes the particularity of power relations and interdependence of lines of power. Accordingly, I situate his or her representations in the different contexts that each athlete had to encounter. Chang's representation is situated within the conservative climate of post-Reagan America, and Wie's representation is situated within the context neoliberal racism and postfeminism. This study provides a broad understanding of the media representations of Asian American athletes and their different ideological functions in different contexts. Given that there have been a serious lack of studies regarding Asian American athletes, this study seeks to extend the existing body of knowledge about Asian American athletes and their multiple representations.

The aim of this study is to explore how sports journalism can include and/or exclude athletics from a national community. This study put emphasis on finding patterns from articles by Swedish sport media on non-ethnic Swedish athletics. The theories central to this study are ethnicity and nationalism, as these concepts contain reflections on why certain groups of people are excluded and/or included. Norman Faircloghs critical discourse analytical model has been selected for the study method that analyzes texts in three levels: the text level, discursive practice and social practice. Four non-ethnic Swedish athletes have been chosen to explore how they were portrayed in the media. Data were collected from Swedish newspapers, sport websites and blogs that portrayed the selected athletes. Discourses of media, nationalism and ethnicity emerged through a critical analysis of the data collection. The results of the study show that the selected athletes are included in to the Swedish national community through their achievements in their respective sport.

The purpose of this research is to analyse the process of South Korean nationalism and national identity construction through studying Chinese table tennis players that have become naturalised citizens of South Korea. Based on an Eliasian theoretical and methodological prospective, this research employs three different methods of analysis. First, it employs archival analysis in the historical context chapter to determine the origins of table tennis and its spread to Northeast Asia, the political and societal role of table tennis in China and South Korea, and the appearance of the first naturalised player in South Korea. Second, this study employs newspaper text analysis to investigate newspaper reports of the South Korean and Chinese table tennis matches from the 1988 Seoul Olympics Games to the 2012 Games in London. This section first examines the flow of Korean nationalism through the table tennis matches between Korea and China, and then explores how the newspaper reports expressed nationalism in regard to the Korean players and naturalised players. Third, this study employs an interview method to gather data from 17 interviewees who have been associated directly or indirectly associated with the Chinese naturalised table tennis players in order to further examine the process of the formation of South Korean national identity. The first analysis regarding historical findings identifies that table tennis has evolved precisely alongside Elias s sportisation theory. In South Korea and China, table tennis has played the role of a national sport. Especially in South Korea, table tennis was a nationalistic sport that opposed anti-colonialism and anti-communism. It was in table tennis that the first naturalised athlete in the history of South Korean sport was selected for the Olympics. In the second analysis, through examining news reports of the Olympic table tennis matches between China and South Korea, this research identifies that South Korean newspapers continue to generate a strong image of nationalism. Moreover, the newspaper reports do not use the same nationalistic sentiments and personal pronouns for South Korean players and naturalised players. Finally, the interview analysis investigates the formation of South Korean identity through the naturalised table tennis players in South Korea. Three national identities groups have arisen in South Korea in response to the emergence of naturalised athletes. The first group approves of globalisation and naturalisation. The second group opposes globalisation and naturalisation. The third group, which comprises the media, has no specific interest in globalisation and naturalisation, but has an identity that changes based on the interests of the media company. In other words, the evidence from the interviews carried out for this thesis shows that South Korean national identity in regard to naturalised athletes remains diversified and not unified.

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Utveckling inom digitala- och sociala medier håller på att omdefiniera hur åskådarskap kommer se ut i framtiden. I kombination med en pandemi och en global klimatkris ställer det nya krav på hur sportarenor kan generera besökare till sina evenemang. Studiens syfte var därför att skapa förståelse för vilka förväntningar besökaren har på en virtuell arena samt skapa förståelse för vilka faktorer som är avgörande för användarens avsikt att besöka en virtuell arena. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och empiri har samlats in genom tre strukturerade fokusgrupper. Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT 2) användes som baslinje i studien och har utifrån analys och diskussion av studiens empiri utökats med fler element för att vara applicerbar i den befintliga fallet. Resultatet visade att en virtuell arena bör bidra med ett mervärde jämfört med en fysisk arena. Detta genom tillgång till exklusivt material och exklusiva områden. Vidare drogs slutsatserna att förväntad möjlighet till social interaktion, förväntad förbättrad informations- och upplevelsekonsumtion och förväntad möjlighet till personaliserad upplevelse har indirekt inverkan på användarens avsikt att använda den virtuella arenan genom hedonisk motivation och prestationsförväntan. Förväntad ansträngning visade sig vara en avgörande faktor som i sin tur påverkas av tillgänglighet, användarvänlighet och teknisk prestanda. Prisvärde visade sig vara en starkt avgörande faktor. Slutligen konstaterades intresse för sporten vara en ny modererande faktor med direkt inverkan på användarens avsikt att besöka den virtuella arenan. / Development within digital and social media is redefining how spectators will experience sport in the future. In combination with a pandemic and a global climate crisis, it creates new demands on how sports arenas can generate visitors to their events. The aim of this study was therefore to gain an understanding of the visitor’s expectations on a virtual arena as well as to identify key factors that affect the consumer’s intention to visit a virtual arena. The study has a qualitative approach and empirical data has been collected through three structured focus groups. Unified Theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT 2) was used as a theoretical foundation and was extended with more elements through analysis and discussion, to better suit the current situation. The results of the study indicated that a virtual arena should contribute added value compared to a physical arena, through access to exclusive material and exclusive areas. Furthermore, it was concluded that expected opportunity for social interaction, expected improved information- and experience consumption and expected opportunity for personalized experience have an indirect impact on the visitor’s intention to use the virtual arena through hedonic motivation and performance expectancy. Effort expectancy proved to be a crucial factor which in turn is affected by accessibility, ease of use, and technical performance. Price value is shown to be a strong decisive factor. Finally, it is stated that interest in the sport is a new moderating factor with a direct impact on the user’s intention to visit the virtual arena.

Diploma thesis "Media Image of AC Sparta Prague in Deník Sport after Daniel Křetínský's Czech News Center joined the Czech Media Market" deals with comparison of the media content of Deník Sport in selected periods. The selected area was chosen because of the company of Daniel Křetínský, who is currently also the owner of AC Sparta Prague, bought the publishing house of Deník Sport. In this thesis is used the media content analysis, which should confirm or disprove the hypothesis, that the content of Deník Sport was changed in 2014 for Sparta Prague. In the theoretical part of this thesis the development of the Czech media ownership after 1989 is described, also the topics of journalistic values and possible ethics problems like conflict of interests are stated. The results of the media analysis should be added in interviews with the Deník Sport's staffers.

The diploma thesis focuses on two different sports media ČT sport and Deník Sport. Based on the broadcasting program, respectively the content of individual copies, examines two selected periods of one year. The aim is to find out the content coverage of football, volleyball and floorball sports in individual media. The data is recorded in the coding sheet according to individual sports and media. Results are sorted by content type, content length and other selected criteria. The results bringing a very strong dominance of football topics in the printed media and a high share of content on ČT sport. Volleyball and floorball are considerably limited in the press, while on television they get their space, which, however, could be higher due to the player base of the two sports.

Pendant le 20e siècle, la relation entre médias et organisations sportives ont été symbiotiques. Les ressources obtenues grâce à la vente des droits de diffusion télévisée, la communication et les médias exercent une grande influence sur le succès global du football. C’est une relation de tensions et de coopération entre média et organisations sportives, et aussi les frontières sont floues entre les deux champs. Dans ce travail, nous souhaitons comprendre de quelle sorte les médias influencent les organisations sportives, plus précisément comment les clubs de football deviennent des espaces de production d’informations. Plus récemment, les organisations sportives ont investi dans le secteur de la communication, soit à travers le recrutement des communicants et d’autre professionnels de l’information, soit par la création de canaux de communications propres. Nous avons sélectionné, comme objets d’étude, les médias de trois organisations sportives : la webtélé du Paris Saint-Germain (France), le site web du Botafogo (Brésil) et la chaîne télé du Benfica (Portugal). Le travail empirique est constitué d’entretiens ethnographiques avec des professionnels de l’information et des communicants des clubs de football analysés. Suite à ces entretiens, nous avons l’objectif de répondre à trois questions sur la création des médias de club : quelle est sa motivation ; comment fonctionnent-ils ; et qui sont les responsables pour sa mise en place. Le choix de ces clubs offre l’opportunité d’une étude comparative et l’évaluation de différents marchés avec de degrés inégaux de modernisations, en permettant l’identification des proximités et des divergences, associées aux contextes respectifs, ce qui rend possible une tentative de généralisation sur les médias de club et leurs conséquences pour le journalisme sportif et pour la relation entre sport et médias. / During the 20th century, the relationship between Media and Sport were very fertile. The revenues generated by the sale of broadcast rights, the Communication and the Media have a great influence over the global success of football. Media and sports organizations have a relationship based on tensions and cooperation and also very fluid boundaries between them. In this present work, we want to understand how media influence sports organizations, more precisely, how football clubs become a space of content and information production. Recently, sports organizations have invested on media and communication departments, either by hiring public relations and media professionals or by creating their own corporate means of communication. We have selected as research objects, the media of three sports organizations: the WebTV of Paris Saint-Germain (France), the website of Botafogo (Brazil) and the subscription TV channel of Benfica (Portugal). Our empirical work was based on ethnographic interviews with the media and communication staff at these football clubs. Based on our interviews, we aim to answer three questions about the creation of these club owned media: why they were created; how they are structured; and who is responsible for their implementation. The choice of these three clubs allowed a comparative study and the analysis of different markets and realities with diverse levels of modernization, that together with each local social context made possible an attempt to offer a generalization about club owned media and the consequences for sports journalism and the relationship between sport and media.

The thesis entitled Comparison of the media coverage of the World Floorball Championships in years 2008 and 2018 aims to identify and compare the media coverage devoted to these two championships held in the Czech Republic. The goal of the thesis is to determine and compare the media coverage in the two examined media - Mladá fronta DNES, Deník Sport and online servers iDnes.cz and iSport.cz, based on these findings define which direction is the trend going. The diploma thesis is divided into main three parts, in the first theoretical part, key definitions, terms and topics from the media side such as gatekeeping, agenda-setting and news values are gradually introduced. A similar space is also devoted to the sports, more precisely floorball side of the thesis, where important historical milestones of this sport, both Czech and worldwide, are presented. Last but not least, this section offers an introduction of a closer relationship between the media and sport. In the second part, the research method of quantitative content analysis is methodologically explained, so that could be used for the analytical part. The third final part simultaneously answers the thirteen given hypotheses, the research question and presents an overview of the results of the analysis. In addition to the aforementioned...