Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Art Of 'Stick To Sports,' Politics, And Sports Media Industry Studies, Shi-Quan Nettingham

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis aims at unpacking the discourse of “stick to sports,” which audiences wield to police social and cultural boundaries and battles involving race, gender, and politics. The melding of sports and politics, primarily through social media platforms, riles up audiences resulting in arguments where larger social issues are deliberated and processed. The stick to sports discourse is used to dictate who can and can’t speak and what kinds of discussions are appropriate in relation to sports. The sports network ESPN is a site for understanding how corporations leverage this discourse and use it to claim political neutrality, while disciplining …