The social media application Snapchat has ascended rapidly, quickly becoming the third most utilized platform of millennials with a valuation as high as US$19 billion. A national survey of 125 respondents revealed that people using Snapchat to follow sports devote roughly the same amount of time to the platform as Facebook and more time than Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest. Despite finding other platforms better for sport information seeking, relaxation, and interaction, respondents still reported using Snapchat as a main platform for facilitating sport fandom. Both sport fandom and identification bolstered likelihood of using Snapchat for sport-related interactions. Implications for communication and sport scholars and industry professionals are offered.

This study compares the tendencies and motivations of the traditional sport fan (who consumes sport to see if his or her favorite teams/players are victorious) and the relatively newer fantasy sport fan (who consumes with the added variable of wanting to see certain players do well in order to secure personal fantasy team victories). A total of 1,261 traditional and fantasy sport consumers were surveyed, with results indicating that fantasy sport users had elevated levels of enjoyment, entertainment, passing time, social interaction, and surveillance motivations when compared to traditional fans. No significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of arousal, whereas traditional fans scored higher regarding escape motivations. In addition, all motivation behaviors increased significantly based on the amount of fantasy sport involvement, leading to the conclusion that fantasy sport participants have many of the same fanship motivations as traditional nonplaying fans, albeit at higher and often significantly higher levels. Theoretical and applied conclusions are extrapolated as well.

To measure relationships between Olympic media viewing and nation-based attitudes, 6 nations (Australia, Bulgaria, China, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and the United States) were surveyed in the 5 days immediately after the 2012 London Olympics. A total of 1,025 respondents answered questions pertaining to four measures of nationalism: patriotism, nationalism, internationalism, and smugness. The amount of Olympic viewing resulted in significantly higher scores for patriotism, nationalism, and smugness, but not internationalism. In addition, differences by nation are reported, revealing considerable differences in nationalism measures among the 6 nations studied; for instance, the United States was the lowest of the 6 nations regarding internationalism yet highest of the 6 nations regarding smugness. Conclusions related to theory and the role of Olympic media content are offered.

A number of professional athletes have used social media to disclose personal experience with mental illness, including NBA All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love in 2018. The disclosures could serve to challenge the stigmatization of mental illness, given the positive social standing of professional athletes and the potential power of parasocial relationships in health promotion and behavior. The present study quantitatively examined 3,366 fan responses to the mental health disclosures of both athletes, unpacking the extent to which fan commentary perpetuated or challenged the stigmatization of depression and anxiety. Fans provided overwhelmingly positive response to the athletes’ mental health disclosures, creating a normative environment in which disclosure translated into acceptance rather than rejection. While more frequently offering messages of advice and strength to DeRozan, fans were more likely to offer messages of encouragement and personal experiences with mental illness to Love.

All sixty-nine hours of National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) 2012 primetime Summer Olympic telecast were analyzed, revealing significant gender trends. For the first time in any scholarly study of NBC’s coverage of the games, women athletes received the majority of the clock-time and on-air mentions. However, dialogues surrounding the attributions of success and failure of athletes, as well as depictions of physicality and personality, contained some divergences by gender.

Mental illness remains stigmatized in the United States and abroad, with the mass media often blamed for perpetuating stereotypes about people who experience mental health issues. 2018 witnessed two professional basketball players—star athletes DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love—disclosing personal experiences with depression and anxiety. Informed by social cognitive and framing theories, the present study examined how news stories characterized the disclosures, examining ways in which journalists presented the athletes as mental health advocates and models for pro-health attitudes and behavior. News stories generally framed the athletes as demonstrating character strength for disclosing mental illness in an athletic culture that often stigmatizes any potential weakness. Journalists often permitted the athletes to directly share their message concerning mental health with readers, as DeRozan and Love discussed (a) the experience of coming out; (b) the positive reception of teammates, coaches, and the public; and (c) the need for an end to mental health–oriented stigma. Stories often called for action, communicating to readers that people with mental illness are “not alone” and should share their experiences with others. The results provide the foundation for research into the relationship between media exposure and mental health-related attitudes, particularly how news framing of athletes’ disclosures shape fan attitudes toward mental health treatment, mental illness, and people who experience mental illness.