Case Studies in Sport Communication

Terry L. Rentner, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University (BGSU). She teaches public relations and journalism courses at the undergraduate level, including sport PR, and pedagogy, health communication, public relations, and advertising at the graduate level. She is also co-founder of the Richard Maxwell project, created to foster student participation in sport media and communication activities and events. David P. Burns, Ph.D., Associate Professor, teaches sports reporting and other advanced journalism courses in Salisbury University’s Communication Arts Department. Besides sport communication, his research interests focus on media-politics linkages that impact journalism and the communication industry. Burns serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Middle East Media, Central European Journal of Communication, and AEJMC’s Electronic News.

PART 1: FRONT OFFICE

SECTION 1: STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION

1. "There’s No Media Plan for the First Gay Player in the NFL": A Case Study of the Saint

Louis Rams Drafting Michael Sam

Karen L. Hartman

2. Civic Recovery in the Aftermath of a Hockey Crisis: Analyzing a Strategic Communication

Response to the Vancouver Stanley Cup Riot

Derek Moscato

3. Patching a Crisis with CSR: How the NFL Fumbled its Handling of Domestic Violence

Chelsea L. Woods

Ashli Q. Stokes

4. Explaining Sports Fans’ Recognition of Sponsors using the Elaboration Likelihood Model

Jim Pokrywczynski

5. Coming Home: The Los Angeles Rams Connect to Past to Build Future

Jean Kelso Sandlin

SECTION II: CORPORATE AND ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY

6. Should the Team Hire the Controversial, but Successful Head Coach? A Case Study of John Calipari and the Ability to Contribute to Winning

John A. Fortunato

7. To Create Our Own Legacy: Penn State Football Players’ Rhetorical Response to the NCAA Sanctions During the Sandusky Scandal

Rebecca A. Alt

8. Life After Signing: The Recruiting Process as a Resource of College Football Players’

Socialization

Gregory A. Cranmer, Richard Yeargin, & John S. W. Spinda

9. Broadcast Yourself and Multiply Your Revenue: Benfica TV Case Study

Fernando Borges

PART II: CLUBHOUSE

SECTION III: IMAGE REPAIR AND REDEMPTION

10. Roping Off the Ring: How a Series of Employee Deaths Coerced the WWE into an

Enforced Wellness Policy through the Contingency Theory of Accommodation

Jack V. Karlis

11. Does the NFL Still Own Sundays? The Rebranding of the NFL Following the Domestic

Abuse Crisis

Kelsey R. Rentner & Terry L. Rentner

12. Drafting Like a King: Daily Fantasy Sports Websites in Crisis

Cory Hillman

13. What Did Ryan Lochte Do? Bouncing Back From an International Crisis

Nicola Corbin & Anne Bialowas

SECTION IV: GENDER, RACE, AND IDENTITY

14. Challenging a Boy’s Club: Reputation Management and the Case of Women’s Pay Inequity in Professional Sport

Terry L. Rentner & David P. Burns

15. A Failure to Defend Against Cyberbullying: Examining the Organization’s Competency in Standing up for its Members

Anne Bialowas & Nicola Corbin

16. Topsy-Turvy Times: The Impact of Political and Social Issues on Super Bowl LI Ads

Lori Liggett & Terry L. Rentner

17. Gender Stereotypes in College Mascot Dyads

Esen Koc

PART III: PRESS BOX

SECTION V: SOCIAL MEDIA

18. A Grand Slam: Major League Baseball’s Social Media Evolution Through the Expectancy Violation Theory Lens

Alisa Agozzino & Brian Hofman

19. Witness? Perceptions of Lebron James’ Civic Responsibility

Amy Crawford

20. "I Was Very Intoxicated": An Examination of the Image-Repair Discourse of Ryan Lochte Following the 2016 Olympics

Kevin Hull & Kelli Boling

21. Swimming Against the Tide: Lessons in Public Image Management from Competitive Swimmers

Erin E. Gilles & Mary Beth Reese

SECTION VI: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ETHICS

22. Taking a Knee or Not Taking a Stand: A lesson in Contingency Theory of Accommodation, the National Football League and Social Justice

Jack V. Karlis

23. The Offensive Line: Journalists Use of Words Considered Disparaging

David. P. Burns & James A. Rada

24. Paradigm Repair and the Hero Myth in Sports Journalism: An Analysis of Lance Armstrong Coverage

Sada Reed

25. ‘"Don’t Say’": The Use of Identity Communication in Sport to Advance Positive Social Change

Kara Laskowski, Ashley Grimm, & Carrie Michaels

26. The Bathroom Bill and the Basketball Game: The Role of College Sports in Political Arbitration

Ryan Rogers