Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2012, Popular Culture

In this thesis I address three specific questions that relate to the current state of NFL fandom. To what extent do religion, race, and gender influence various aspects of NFL fandom? How do these issues reflect the dominant culture and major demographics of NFL fans (white and male)? Finally, what implications do my findings have for sports culture, fandom, and popular culture as a whole? To answer these questions, I provide three different case studies of NFL fan activities such as fantasy football, issues of gender, and religious and social ideals which show how NFL fandom reflects a very conservative view of race, gender, and religion that in particular mirrors and supports the conservative backlash that has occurred since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009. For this thesis I examined NFL fan behavior and fan rhetoric on websites and blogs devoted to NFL fandom. In Chapter One, I focus on fantasy football, a popular activity among NFL fans. I examine the practices of fantasy football participants and how NFL players, particularly non-white players, are commodified by fans that play fantasy football. In Chapter Two, I analyze how women are portrayed by and situated within NFL fandom. I demonstrate that even while the NFL as an organization is trying to cater to female fans (through merchandising and branding), NFL fandom as a whole remains very much a male-dominated community that promotes traditional gender roles and behavior. In the third chapter, I explore how the Tebowmania phenomenon reflects conservative views of religion and race among NFL fans.

Committee: Dr. Marilyn Motz (Committee Chair); Dr. Esther Clinton (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; American History; American Studies; Cultural Anthropology; Ethnic Studies; Gender; Gender Studies; Labor Relations; Mass Media; Womens Studies

PHD, Kent State University, 2009, College of Communication and Information / School of Communication Studies

In this study, I utilized the third-person effects/first-person effects hypothesis to examine the perceptions and self-reported behaviors of sports fans, and more specifically, National Football League (NFL) fans. The sample (N = 417) consisted of NFL fans who completed an online questionnaire. Participants completed measures of NFL team identification, perceived effects of televised NFL games, perceptual bias of televised NFL games, perceived social distance, perceived exposure to televised NFL games, message desirability, Basking in Reflective Glory (BIRGing), Cutting Off Reflected Failure (CORFing), exposure to NFL-related television, and sociodemographic variables. Results indicated that NFL fans exhibited third-person perceptions when comparing perceived media influence on themselves and fellow fans of one' favorite/most familiar NFL team, while exhibiting first-person perceptions when comparing perceived media influence on themselves and other groups of comparison others (i.e., other fans around the NFL, the average person). First-person perceptual bias positively correlated with NFL team identification, message desirability, and BIRGing. Third-person perceptual bias negatively correlated with NFL team identification and message desirability. NFL team identification and message desirability were not significantly correlated with NFL team winning percentage. Perceptions of social distance and perceptions of NFL television exposure significantly predicted perceived effects for both the self and various groups of comparison others. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine predictors of self-reported NFL fan behaviors (i.e., BIRGing/CORFing). Variables were entered in four steps (control variables, team performance, audience factors, and perceptual bias). Self-reported BIRGing behavior was negatively predicted by age and education and positively predicted by NFL team identification, message desirability, and first-person perceptual bias. Self-reported (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Paul Haridakis (Committee Chair); Stanley Wearden (Committee Member); Adam Earnheardt (Committee Member); Shawn Fitzgerald (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Journalism; Mass Media; Psychology; Social Psychology

PHD, Kent State University, 2007, College of Communication and Information / School of Communication Studies

In this study, I examined whether the extent to which television viewers are fans of sports and their motivation for viewing sports affected judgments of anti-social behaviors demonstrated by athletes. The uses and gratifications theoretical framework guided exploration of possible predictors. The sample (n = 347) consisted of undergraduate students from two midwestern universities. Several instruments were used in this study. The questionnaire included measures of fandom, motives for watching televised sports (i.e., entertaining relaxation, etc.), affinity for watching televised sports, intention to watch televised sports, activities during exposure to televised sports, involvement with televised sports, exposure to televised sports, parasocial interaction with athletes, identification with athletes, and judgments of athlete behaviors (i.e., violent crime, drug use, forging checks/failing to keep promises, and uncharitable/dishonest behaviors). Results showed that fandom correlated significantly with affinity, motives, intention, involvement, exposure, parasocial interaction, and identification. Fandom was negatively related to judgments of violent crime behaviors and uncharitable/dishonest behaviors. Fandom was not related to judgments of drug use or forging checks. Results suggested that people who reported greater fandom were less likely than their counterparts to judge violent crime and uncharitable/dishonest behaviors negatively. Separate multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the contribution of the antecedent variables to predicting each behavioral judgment factor. Results of the regression analyses suggested that women who were engaged in other activities while viewing televised sports content were more likely to judge violent crime behaviors as most wrong, or negatively. Additionally, women were more likely to judge drug use and uncharitable/dishonest behaviors as most wrong, or negatively. Path analyses provided further evidence for links b (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Paul Haridakis (Advisor) Subjects: Mass Communications

Master of Applied Communication Theory and Methodology, Cleveland State University, 2012, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Emerging technologies and the ever-changing climate of the Internet has helped social networking sites to foster relationships between sports fans and professional sports teams. This study focused on identification a Cleveland Browns fan feels with the team as a predicting factor of emotions, actions, self and group identity, and pronominal usage. An online survey was given to Cleveland Browns fans to determine their level of fandom, Cleveland Browns knowledge, overall media habits, feelings toward the city of Cleveland, personality traits, and demographic information. A content analysis was conducted to determine the pronominal usage, used to indicate a specific distance from the team based on its successes or failures, and whether the fan was more likely to distance themselves when speaking of the team's future. The survey found that Cleveland Browns fans were proud of the city of Cleveland based on its sports teams, will wear apparel regardless of a win or loss, and bigger fans with more knowledge and time spent on the Internet were more likely to speak out when in the minority opinion in response to topics related to the team. The content analysis found that bigger Cleveland Browns fans were more likely to use pronouns when speaking about the team, expressed positive feelings towards the future of the team, and reported negative feelings toward Art Modell, former owner of the team.

Committee: George Ray PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Kimberly Neuendorf PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Anup Kumar PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2013, American Culture Studies

Scholarly writing on the conflation of sport as a religion regularly concentrates on the historical and institutional parallels with the religious dimensions of sport, focusing on ritual, community, sacred space, and other categories more traditionally associated with religious life. Instead, this study redirects focus toward the neo-religious nature of modern spirituality; that is, the fulfillment of Thomas Luckmanns prediction that a significant aspect of modern spirituality would concern the need to construct a self, the constantly shifting work of forming personal identity and enhancing self understanding. As such, internal commitments and intense devotion may perform as a de facto invisible religion in the lives of people. As popular culture provides useful texts toward satisfying this ongoing work, professional sports can act as a conduit of both personal and collective self understanding for highly identified fans, subsequently operating as an invisible religion within their lives. This study investigates the nature of fandom among a sample of Cleveland professional sports fans. Using a semi-structured interview format, it explores the lived world of patrons of the Parkview NiteClub, a long standing Cleveland sports bar/blues club, asking, How might the experience of this group of highly identified fans in Cleveland constitute a kind of invisible religious experience that both shapes their view of themselves and influences how they journey in this life? Using Edward Baileys tripartite implicit religion rubric to assess commitment, integrating foci, and intensive concerns with extensive effects, formal interviews with fifteen Parkview patrons took place over six months, using a semi-structured questionnaire to explore the contours of their devotion to the Cleveland teams. The interviews reveal that the co-mingling of civic history, existence of the teams, and personal life narrative of the fans themselves are intimately interwoven, producing a relationship b (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Michael Butterworth PhD (Committee Chair); Vikki Krane PhD (Committee Member); Bruce Edwards PhD (Committee Member); Kara Joyner PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; Cultural Anthropology; Religion; Spirituality