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Sports communication is a field of communication studies that specializes in the elements of communication in sports. Sports communication can be defined as "a process by which people in sport, in a sport setting, or through a sport endeavor, share symbols as they create meaning through interaction". [1] This field encompasses the study of interpersonal and organizational communication (both verbal and non-verbal) among participants within a sport (players, coaches, managers, referees, and trainers), fans, and the media. Researchers also examine the way that sports are represented and communicated in the media. Many careers in the sports industry are involved in the interpersonal and organizational communication process. These range from technological occupations, like media and marketing, to team psychologists who focus on relationships between players.
Sports communication is an area of communication studies that specializes in sports settings. Communication has become “a key factor for the efficient management of sports organizations, leading to the implementation of increasingly professionalized communication processes”. [2] The amount of research on the impacts of sports communication has grown exponentially since the 1980s. [3] The communication offices of sports organizations have become more professionalized, allowing them to interact with their target audiences without needing traditional media. Therefore, they have been one of the fastest growing departments, given their work in social networks, internet, and institutional event management. Corporate communication allows sport entities to create and disseminate their own identity. [2]
It encompasses the study of interpersonal [4] and organizational [5] communication (both verbal [6] and non-verbal [7] ) between participants within a sport (e.g. players, coaches, managers, [8] referees, and trainers), fans, and the media; and the way that sports are represented and communicated in the media. [9] Sports communication is not restricted to professionals only, it is something that happens at different levels of play, ranging from preschool to college level.
One of the most popular areas of sports communication studies is finding the best way for teams to communicate better. Communication works best with people who are willing to work well as a team and is vital for the success of a program. [10] Studies have found that communication in sports can be both positive and negative due to evidence that links communication and group cohesion. [11] Coaches also play an integral role, and how they interact with their players greatly determines the athletes' responsiveness, motivation, and ability to learn. When coaches cultivate prosocial relationships with their players, such as confirming positive athlete behavior and addressing their potential, there is greater self-confidence and cohesion amongst the players. [12] This field of study also examines how coaching strategies can adapt throughout a season or several seasons. For example, research suggests that positive instructional and structured coaching techniques that lead to more autocratic allowance by the end of a season can be highly effective in athlete development. [13]
Another important avenue of sports communication study is gender and race equity. This applies to sports communication careers such as the media and organizational positions and representation of minority sports. For example, sports broadcasting has largely been dominated by male broadcasters. Although there has been a significant increase in opportunities for women as broadcasters, they are consistently seen as less authoritative than male reporters. [14] This bias highlights gender stereotypes, and further communication study can provide more insight. Sports communication research has also sought to improve opportunities for women and minority groups to reach roles like senior broadcaster and leadership in sports. One of the primary tools suggested is encouraging those with such roles already to provide mentorship and sponsorship for those looking to enter the field. [15]
Non-verbal communication
Non-verbal communication is when two or more people express communication using anything besides words. This can be facial movement, reading posture, eye contact, or the tone of one's voice. [16] Participants in sports use non-verbal communication when verbal communication cannot be used. Players and teams use non-verbal communication to connect coordination and share information or upcoming tactics. [17] Effective non-verbal communication uses only necessary movement, as excessive movement can decrease effectiveness and coordination of the team. [18]
The various occupations that make up the field of sports communication involve covering, delivering, publicizing, financing, or shaping sports. Photography is key to the current state of sports communication. Sports fans often enjoy decorating with pictures of athletes. Photographers will also take live-action shots to capture movement or emotional stakes in the game. Professionals in sport communication craft and alter their work depending on the tone and what their audience needs or desires. Photography projects a feeling for a viewer, transmitting an emotional response. Photojournalists face challenges in the industry too, since they must negotiate selective access to sporting events, and must be well-versed in commercial licensing and image rights. [19]
Although positions vary in both nature (e.g., management, publicity, writing) and scope (e.g., traditional print, television, radio, online), the various career paths in the field all hinge on the ability to communicate with key audiences. Audiences often consist of whatever constituencies are deemed most valuable to the organization. Key audiences may include fans, members of the public, politicians, owners and investors, athletes, and even other members of the media.
Sports marketers help communicate information about a sports event or market products through specialized promotions. People post on social media about games, new players, new coaches, and other important news on their team. [20] Education careers that relate to sports communication can also be found via sports administrative degrees and the professors who teach in the discipline. Sports communication can be considered linguistic, but other communication types, such as body movement and mannerisms can be formally taught. Administrative communication is also vital to the success of programs and student progress. Sports administration can often lead to roles in related professions, such as broadcasting and marketing.
Career topics
Careers in the entertainment industry that involve sports communication include the following: blogger, media relations expert, event planner, producer, and director. [21]
Some of the best opportunities in sport communication involve behind-the-scenes occupations, many of which exist in the production and operations sides of the industry. Examples include equipment technician, audio engineer, sport videographer, graphic designer, and technical writer. Some sport arena and stadium jobs can be electronic technician, master control operator, public address announcer, and video engineer. [22]
Careers in entertainment
Movies and TV shows contain many examples of communication about sports. Sports documentaries show the significance of the historical events. Shows like 30 for 30 by ESPN allow the viewer to quickly be informed about their interests and current events. Some related fields include:
There are many ways a professional athlete or sports team can interact with the public. The most common is through media coverage and marketing, but organizations might also develop a social media brand to drive engagement on social media. [24] Social media communications have been statistically proven to have a significant effect on sports involvement and online community engagement. [25] A case study of digital spaces and brands in the National Basketball Association [26] also provides evidence of the importance of social media in branding through a Cleveland Cavaliers study on brand development, brand communication, and brand discussion. [27] The increase in social media presence can directly lead to fan engagement with the team, leading to higher ticket and merchandise sales. [28]
Sponsorship is a big way sports organizations create an image for their team. [29] For example, many athletes publicly speak to children or act as motivational speakers. In tough situations, such as the aftermath of natural disasters, well-known athletes can lift the morale of an affected community. Sports writer Lars Anderson wrote in his book The Storm and The Tide about how local athletes at the University of Alabama helped unite a town after a disastrous tornado. A big part of public interaction is dealing with the fans. There are examples everywhere of positive and negative interactions between players and fans. [30] Sports communication theories allow for the analysis of many facets of communication such as gender, race, identity, culture, and politics. [31]
Sports communication varies vastly between individual sports. An example of sports communication and its effects on players, organizations, and media was the well-documented conflict involving two players for the Miami Dolphins. Inappropriate, discriminatory, and abusive interactions between Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin led to the release of Richie from the team, organizational issues, and an abundance of media coverage. Another example is the recent "deflategate" scandal involving the New England Patriots allegedly deflating the footballs during half-time of the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. Head coach Bill Belichick claims that any wrongdoing was done by the team's equipment manager and ball boy, and no communication had occurred between them at any point in the game. The media coverage led to a widespread and highly publicized scandal that could have jeopardized the Patriots' participation in the Super Bowl. The way an organization is portrayed by the media, true or not, can also greatly alter the way the public perceives them. [32]
Connections sports communication also focuses on interpersonal relationships between coaches, players, referees, athletic trainers, and other people who work for the team. Reporters will ask these personnel questions often about a player, team, or someone who is injured, and write reports back to their network for a published article. [33] Most outlets need photographers to take pictures of players for either magazines or their social media pages. These photos are used on "Rookie Cards" that are also valued by fans, sometimes being traded for large amounts of money. [34]
Team building is a collective term for various types of activities used to enhance social relations and define roles within teams, often involving collaborative tasks. It is distinct from team training, which is designed by a combination of business managers, learning and development/OD and an HR Business Partner to improve the efficiency, rather than interpersonal relations.
Rapport is a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned are "in sync" with each other, understand each other's feelings or ideas, and communicate smoothly.
Body language is a type of nonverbal communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space. Although body language is an important part of communication, most of it happens without conscious awareness. In social communication, body language often complements verbal communication. Nonverbal communication has a significant impact on doctor-patient relationships, as it affects how open patients are with their doctor. Having open body language, which is typically identified as having a relaxed posture, nodding, eye contact can contribute to patients having higher levels of trust with their doctors. According to, W.Y. Kee, patients who had a doctor that avoided eye contact by looking at a screen or had negative facial expressions contributed to patients feeling dissatisfied after their visit.
Nonverbal communication is the transmission of messages or signals through a nonverbal platform such as eye contact (oculesics), body language (kinesics), social distance (proxemics), touch (haptics), voice, physical environments/appearance, and use of objects. When communicating, we utilize nonverbal channels as means to convey different messages or signals, whereas others can interpret these message. The study of nonverbal communication started in 1872 with the publication of The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin. Darwin began to study nonverbal communication as he noticed the interactions between animals such as lions, tigers, dogs etc. and realized they also communicated by gestures and expressions. For the first time, nonverbal communication was studied and its relevance noted. Today, scholars argue that nonverbal communication can convey more meaning than verbal communication.
An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete.
Intercultural communication is a discipline that studies communication across different cultures and social groups, or how culture affects communication. It describes the wide range of communication processes and problems that naturally appear within an organization or social context made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. In this sense, it seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures act, communicate, and perceive the world around them. Intercultural communication focuses on the recognition and respect of those with cultural differences. The goal is mutual adaptation between two or more distinct cultures which leads to biculturalism/multiculturalism rather than complete assimilation. It promotes the development of cultural sensitivity and allows for empathic understanding across different cultures.
Social behavior is behavior among two or more organisms within the same species, and encompasses any behavior in which one member affects the other. This is due to an interaction among those members. Social behavior can be seen as similar to an exchange of goods, with the expectation that when you give, you will receive the same. This behavior can be affected by both the qualities of the individual and the environmental (situational) factors. Therefore, social behavior arises as a result of an interaction between the two—the organism and its environment. This means that, in regards to humans, social behavior can be determined by both the individual characteristics of the person, and the situation they are in.
Media richness theory (MRT), sometimes referred to as information richness theory, is a framework used to describe a communication medium's ability to reproduce the information sent over it. It was introduced by Richard L. Daft and Robert H. Lengel in 1986 as an extension of information processing theory. MRT is used to rank and evaluate the richness of certain communication media, such as phone calls, video conferencing, and email. For example, a phone call cannot reproduce visual social cues such as gestures which makes it a less rich communication media than video conferencing, which affords the transmission of gestures and body language. Based on contingency theory and information processing theory, MRT theorizes that richer, personal communication media are generally more effective for communicating equivocal issues in contrast with leaner, less rich media.
The uncertainty reduction theory, also known as initial interaction theory, developed in 1975 by Charles Berger and Richard Calabrese, is a communication theory from the post-positivist tradition. It is one of the few communication theories that specifically looks into the initial interaction between people prior to the actual communication process. Uncertainty reduction theory originators' main goal when constructing it was to explain how communication is used to reduce uncertainty between strangers during a first interaction. Berger explains uncertainty reduction theory as an "Increased knowledge of what kind of person another is, which provides an improved forecast of how a future interaction will turn out". Uncertainty reduction theory claims that everyone activates two processes in order to reduce uncertainty. The first being a proactive process, which focuses on what someone might do. The second being a retroactive process, which focuses on how people understand what another does or says. This theory's main claim is that people must receive information about another party in order to reduce their uncertainty and, that people want to do so. While uncertainty reduction theory claims that communication will lead to reduced uncertainty, it is important to note that this is not always the case. Dr. Dale E. Brashers of the University of Illinois argues that in some scenarios, more communication may lead to greater uncertainty.
Interpersonal deception theory (IDT) is one of a number of theories that attempts to explain how individuals handle actual deception at the conscious or subconscious level while engaged in face-to-face communication. The theory was put forth by David Buller and Judee Burgoon in 1996 to explore this idea that deception is an engaging process between receiver and deceiver. IDT assumes that communication is not static; it is influenced by personal goals and the meaning of the interaction as it unfolds. IDT is no different from other forms of communication since all forms of communication are adaptive in nature. The sender's overt communications are affected by the overt and covert communications of the receiver, and vice versa. IDT explores the interrelation between the sender's communicative meaning and the receiver's thoughts and behavior in deceptive exchanges.
Social information processing theory, also known as SIP, is a psychological and sociological theory originally developed by Salancik and Pfeffer in 1978. This theory explores how individuals make decisions and form attitudes in a social context, often focusing on the workplace. It suggests that people rely heavily on the social information available to them in their environments, including input from colleagues and peers, to shape their attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions.
The hyperpersonal model is a model of interpersonal communication that suggests computer-mediated communication (CMC) can become hyperpersonal because it "exceeds [face-to-face] interaction", thus affording message senders a host of communicative advantages over traditional face-to-face (FtF) interaction. The hyperpersonal model demonstrates how individuals communicate uniquely, while representing themselves to others, how others interpret them, and how the interactions create a reciprocal spiral of FtF communication. Compared to ordinary FtF situations, a hyperpersonal message sender has a greater ability to strategically develop and edit self-presentation, enabling a selective and optimized presentation of one's self to others.
Social presence theory explores how the "sense of being with another" is influenced by digital interfaces in human-computer interactions. Developed from the foundations of interpersonal communication and symbolic interactionism, social presence theory was first formally introduced by John Short, Ederyn Williams, and Bruce Christie in The Social Psychology of Telecommunications. Research on social presence theory has recently developed to examine the efficacy of telecommunications media, including SNS communications. The theory notes that computer-based communication is lower in social presence than face-to-face communication, but different computer-based communications can affect the levels of social presence between communicators and receivers.
Judee K. Burgoon is a professor of communication, family studies and human development at the University of Arizona, where she serves as director of research for the Center for the Management of Information and site director for the NSF-sponsored Center for Identification Technology Research. She is also involved with different aspects of interpersonal and nonverbal communication, deception, and new communication technologies. She is also director of human communication research for the Center for the Management of Information and site director for Center for Identification Technology Research at the university, and recently held an appointment as distinguished visiting professor with the department of communication at the University of Oklahoma, and the Center for Applied Social Research at the University of Oklahoma. Burgoon has authored or edited 13 books and monographs and has published nearly 300 articles, chapters and reviews related to nonverbal and verbal communication, deception, and computer-mediated communication. Her research has garnered over $13 million in extramural funding from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Counterintelligence Field Activity, and the National Institutes of Mental Health. Among the communication theories with which she is most notably linked are: interpersonal adaptation theory, expectancy violations theory, and interpersonal deception theory. A recent survey identified her as the most prolific female scholar in communication in the 20th century.
Sport psychology is defined as the study of the psychological basis, processes, and effects of sport. Sport is defined as any physical activity where the individuals engage for competition and health. Sport psychology is recognized as an interdisciplinary science that draws on knowledge from many related fields including biomechanics, physiology, kinesiology and psychology. It involves the study of how psychological factors affect performance and how participation in sport and exercise affect psychological, social, and physical factors. Sport psychologists teach cognitive and behavioral strategies to athletes in order to improve their experience and performance in sports.
Interpersonal communication is an exchange of information between two or more people. It is also an area of research that seeks to understand how humans use verbal and nonverbal cues to accomplish several personal and relational goals. Communication includes utilizing communication skills within one's surroundings, including physical and psychological spaces. It is essential to see the visual/nonverbal and verbal cues regarding the physical spaces. In the psychological spaces, self-awareness and awareness of the emotions, cultures, and things that are not seen are also significant when communicating.
Verbal aggressiveness in communication has been studied to examine the underlying message of how the aggressive communicator gains control over different things that occur, through the usage of verbal aggressiveness. Scholars have identified that individuals who express verbal aggressiveness have the goal of controlling and manipulating others through language. Infante and Wigley defined verbal aggressiveness as "a personality trait that predisposes persons to attack the self-concepts of other people instead of, or in addition to, their positions on topics of communication". Self-concept can be described as a group of values and beliefs that one has. Verbal aggressiveness is thought to be mainly a destructive form of communication, but it can produce positive outcomes. Infante and Wigley described aggressive behavior in interpersonal communication as products of individual's aggressive traits and the way the person perceives the aggressive circumstances that prevents them or something in a situation.
Misogyny in sports includes different discourses, actions, and ideologies present in various sporting environments that add, reinforce, or normalize the objectification, degrading, shaming, or absence of women in athletics.
Athletic identity is a part of self-identity and can be defined as the level, to which one identifies with the role of an athlete. It is a self-concept that is constructed from information processed by the individual and influences both input and output of information related to the self. For athletes and people that are actively involved in sports, athletic identity is a major part of their self and they can satisfy the need of their athletic identity by taking part in sports. Athletic identity increases with the level of involvement in sports, and strong athletic identity correlates positively with athletic achievements, as well as with higher motivation and competitiveness. Changes, such as a decline, in athletic identity facilitate adjustment to everyday life.
Sally A. Shaw is a British–New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in diversity, inclusion and gender issues in sports and sport management.