Sports Communication Commons^™

The Co-Development Of Espn+ And College Sports: A Case Study, Eric Bohannon

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

In 2018 ESPN debuted its national streaming service ESPN+. This profoundly changed the way sports fans watch college sports as well as other professional sporting events. Prior to ESPN+, a limited number of college sports games appeared on linear channels such as ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, and occasionally a few other channels. Since 2018, ESPN+ streamed thousands of events per year ranging from college soccer to college softball and everything in between, including the qualifying and early rounds of professional tennis and golf tournaments from around the country. This case study describes the impact of ESPN+ on a college conference, …

A Content Analysis Of Media Framing Regarding Name, Image, And Likeness And The Transfer Portal In Men’S College Basketball, Ethan Alexander

Honors College Theses

This study investigates media framing as it relates to name, image, and likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal in men’s college basketball. This study serves as an introductory point for future framing research surrounding NIL and the transfer portal, two topics that have not been thoroughly researched up to this point. While the analysis does reveal previously unrecorded frames, the data and study as a whole serve as foundational tools for future research and are not conclusive regarding these specific topics and their usage within framing research. Through the deductive coding of articles published by ESPN throughout the last five …

Netflix And Feel: Cultivating Fandom And Identity Through Sports Docuseries, Jessica L. Payne

Faculty Publications - Communications

This work investigated how parasocial relationships (PSRs), audience behaviors, and sports docuseries consumption jointly shape today’s sports fandom. The research utilized a combination of social identity theory (SIT) with PSR, conducting a survey of 277 participants to test a moderated mediation model (Hayes PROCESS Model 7). This model examined the relationships between PSRs, docuseries consumption, fandom, and behavioral engagement outcomes such as intent to recommend, cross-platform engagement, multi-platform viewing habits and brand engagement, live engagement and event intentions, intent to continue viewing, and fan conversion. This research contributed to SIT by demonstrating how streaming platforms and docuseries offer a different …

Doping And The Discourse Of Crisis: A Communication Case Study Of Paul Pogba, Emmanuel Karikari

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study examines crisis communication in elite sports through the case of Paul Pogba’s doping scandal. The study addressed the existing crisis communication frameworks, which primarily focus on strategic messaging and reputation management while giving limited attention to identity and audience interpretation. As a Black Muslim athlete and global sports celebrity, Pogba’s case provides an opportunity to explore how crisis communication, identity, and audience responses interact in contemporary digital media environments.

A qualitative case study design was employed. Data consisted of public statements, interviews, media reports, and audience responses on X/Twitter collected across different stages of the crisis. Public texts …