Sport and Mediatization
Contemporary society is highly media-saturated, and no sector more so than sport. Drawing on case studies from the Tour de France to fitness apps, this book introduces the concept of ‘mediatization’ and examines how media - historically and currently – are significant drivers for social and cultural change in sport.
Utilizing different analytical approaches, case studies illustrate how so-called legacy media have historically been involved in the establishment of the institution of sport and have persistently been heavily involved in structural changes in the same domain. However, digital media currently add significantly to the development of a more complex picture of globalized interdependencies and still growing media presence in all aspects of the everyday lives of both sporting organizations, athletes and audiences/fans. The book seeks to eschew media centrism, acknowledging that changes are not only ’driven’ by media but also related to other macro-social forces of change, such as globalization, commercialization, and individualization.
Offering a new analytical framework, Sport and Mediatization enables students and scholars in the transdisciplinary field of media and sports studies to analyze and understand the influence of media in a much more complex environment.
Kirsten Frandsen is Professor in Media Studies at Department of Media and Journalism Studies, School of Culture and Communication, Aarhus University, Denmark. Her research has focused on varying aspects of sports in the media including theoretical contributions, empirical studies of production of televised sports, globalization, historical developments of sports broadcasting and sports journalism in general, audience studies and sports broadcasters’ use of digital platforms. Recently she has participated in the collective research project "Mediatization of Culture: The Challenge of New Media" (2011-2015), where she explored the social integration of digital media in sports by individual and organizational agents.