Today social media is king, influencing everything from art to reality TV to national news and politics. It's hard to imagine a world without social media. But it wasn't always like this. In this fascinating book, sports social media expert Aaron Eisman chronicles the sports social media evolution since 2009. The book discusses sports social media history, taking a deep dive into the journey from a casual responsibility for major sports companies to the multi-million dollar industry it is today. Included are interesting stories about major moments in sports social media, such as the birth of ESPN social media, the disruption of Bleacher Report in the industry and the story of Omar Raja and House of Highlights. While athletes didn't give it too much importance early on, they have come to understand the necessity of building a strong social media platform and brand. The book includes interviews with major thought leaders who are influencing the industry. The book breaks down key components of social media like strategy, content, voice, and analytics. In addition, it discusses trends that people will see in the future. Eisman's writing is playful yet impactful, his tone is positive even as it breaks down the negative sides of the phenomenon. The reader will learn a lot about sports social media and how it has touched many lives, and in the end, will understand sports social media even if they had no prior clue about the subject. Sports social media is here to stay.

Social media communications play a huge role in the day-to-day operations of sport teams and organizations. Both current and aspiring sport business professionals need to know how to best leverage social media to meet their organizational goals, and Social Media and Sports With HKPropel Access will help pave the way by emphasizing the strategic, creative, and logistical elements of effective social media practices. Beginning with foundational concepts, students will first examine the history of social media and its impact on sports. They will learn about the categories of content used, including written content, images, produced video, live video, audio, graphics, dynamic visuals, and responses. They will then gain a better understanding of the social media environment by learning how to think about audiences and networks, evaluating how online communities act and interact, and considering key issues that may be encountered. The final chapters of the text assemble the building blocks from previous chapters into practical application, covering brand management strategies and overall social media presence from the perspective of a member of the sports media, a representative of a team or league, or an individual athlete. Related online learning aids, delivered via HKPropel and reviewed annually to stay current with evolving trends, provides a detailed look into major social networks and their technological elements, plus best practices, tips, and tricks for utilizing a variety of social media platforms. It also examines content methodologies, including podcasting, live video, and prerecorded video, and it discusses the use of social management software. Markers throughout the text refer students to the web resource when additional related content is available. Learning aids for students include Professional Insights, sidebars containing interviews with industry insiders; these real-world examples and professional advice provide depth and context to each chapter’s content. Key Points highlight important points, end-of-chapter review questions promote practical application and ensure content comprehension, and bolded key terms are defined in an easy-to-reference glossary. Social Media and Sports offers a practical approach to understanding social media communications in the sports industry, with application extending to those working in journalism, public relations, broadcasting, advertising, and other sport business careers where knowledge of effective social media usage will maximize career potential. Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is not included with this ebook but may be purchased separately.

Provides an overview of the increasing level of digitization in sport including areas of gaming and athlete training.

This book is about how new media, and in particular, digital and social media, has changed the world of sports forever. The way fans receive information, communicate and form communities now predominantly lives online. But perhaps even more significant is the evolution of the sports media industry, where digital media has impacted the broader media industry, stimulated new media organisations, changed old media organisations and altered old conventions of journalism in equal measure. Drawing on the expertise of academics, scholars, experts and professionals at the forefront of the sports, media, and journalism fields, the book suggests that new media has turned the sports industry on its head with profound implications – both exciting and disturbing.

This book enables students to grasp the holistic enterprise of social media as it pertains to social, legal, marketing, and management issues. The book also helps students better understand the research process in social media scholarship and make connections with academic research and applied practice in sport studies.

In the 1960s and 1970s, America experienced a sports revolution. New professional sports franchises and leagues were established, new stadiums were built, football and basketball grew in popularity, and the proliferation of television enabled people across the country to support their favorite teams and athletes from the comfort of their homes. At the same time, the civil rights and feminist movements were reshaping the nation, broadening the boundaries of social and political participation. The Sports Revolution tells how these forces came together in the Lone Star State. Tracing events from the end of Jim Crow to the 1980s, Frank Guridy chronicles the unlikely alliances that integrated professional and collegiate sports and launched women’s tennis. He explores the new forms of inclusion and exclusion that emerged during the era, including the role the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders played in defining womanhood in the age of second-wave feminism. Guridy explains how the sexual revolution, desegregation, and changing demographics played out both on and off the field as he recounts how the Washington Senators became the Texas Rangers and how Mexican American fans and their support for the Spurs fostered a revival of professional basketball in San Antonio. Guridy argues that the catalysts for these changes were undone by the same forces of commercialization that set them in motion and reveals that, for better and for worse, Texas was at the center of America’s expanding political, economic, and emotional investments in sport.

This volume examines the rise of an emerging sport as a grassroots effort (or “new social movement”), arguing that the growth of non-normative sports movements occurs through two social processes: one driven primarily by product development, commercialization, and consumption, and another that relies upon public resources and grassroots efforts. Through the lens of disc golf, informed by the author’s experience both playing and researching the sport, Joshua Woods here explores how non-normative sports development depends on the consistency of insider culture and ideology, as well as on how the movement navigates a broad field of market competition, government regulation, community characteristics, public opinion, traditional media, social media and technological change. Throughout, the author probes why some sports grow faster than others, examining cultural tendencies toward sport, individual choices to participate, and the various institutional forces at play.