Once deemed an unworthy research endeavor, the study of sports fandom has garnered the attention of seasoned scholars from a variety of academic disciplines. Identity and socialization among sports fans are particular burgeoning areas of study among a growing cadre of specialists in the social sciences.Sports Fans, Identity, and Socialization, edited by Adam C. Earnheardt, Paul Haridakis, and Barbara Hugenberg, captures an eclectic collection of new studies from accomplished scholars in the fields such as communication, business, geography, kinesiology, media, and sports management and administration, using a wide range of methodologies including quantitative, qualitative, and critical analyses.In the communication revolution of the twenty-first century, the study of mediated sports is critical. As fans use all media at their disposal to consume sports and carry their sports-viewing experience online, they are seizing the initiative and asserting themselves into the mediated sports-dissemination process. They are occupying traditional roles of consumers/receivers of sports, but also as sharers and sports content creators. Fans are becoming pseudo sports journalists. They are interpreting mediated sports content for other fans. They are making their voice heard by sports organizations and athletes. Mediated sports, in essence, provide a context for studying and understanding where and how the communication revolution of the twenty-first century is being waged.With their collection of studies by scholars from North America and Europe, Earnheardt, Haridakis, and Hugenberg illuminate the symbiotic relationship among and between sports organizations, the media, and their audiences.Sports Fans, Identity, and Socialization spurs both the researcher and the interested fan to consider what the study of sports tells us about ourselves and the society in which we live.

Identity and socialization among sports fans are burgeoning areas of study among a growing cadre of scholars in the social sciences and beyond. Sports Fans, Identity, and Socialization, edited by Adam C. Earnheardt, Paul Haridakis, and Barbara Hugenberg, is an eclectic collection of new studies from accomplished and emerging scholars in the fields of communication, business, geography, kinesiology, psychology, and more, who employ a wide range of methodologies including quantitative, qualitative, and critical analyses.

ForewordJames R. WalkerIntroductionPaul M. Haridakis& Adam C. EarnheardtPart One: Fan Identity1Remaining Rooted in a Sea of Red: Agrarianism, PlaceAttachment, and Nebraska Cornhusker Football FansRoger C. Aden& Scott Titsworth2The Dynamics of Identity in the Communities of LocalProfessional WrestlingDavid Beard& John Heppen3The 13th Man: Constructions of Fandom at the 2008Ryder CupJohn Harris4 Farewell to the Chief: Fan Identification and theSports Mascot as Postmodern ImagePhil ChidesterPart Two: Fan Socialization5The Social Dimension of Sports FanshipWalter Gantz, David Fingerhut& Gayle Nadorff6 The Importance of Team Identification in Perceptionsof Trust of Fellow and Rival Sport FansDaniel L. Wann, Frederick G. Grieve, Ryan K. Zapalac, Amanda J. Visek, Julie A. Partridge& Jason R. Lanter7 No Limits: Sensation Seeking and Fandom in the SportCulture of the X GamesSarah Porri& Andrew C. Billings8 Sport Fans, Athletes, and Communication: Applying Theory to Understanding if Fans Impact AthletesCognitive and Physical PerformanceJennifer Marmo9 Pronger You Ignorant ApeI Hope You Fall Off Space Mountain!: A Study of the Institutional Work ofSport FansWilliam M. Foster, Craig G. Hyatt& Mark JulienPart 3: Fans and Media10 Brett Favre is a God: Sports Fans Perpetuation ofMythology on Newspaper WebsitesKelly Berg& Allison Harthcock11 Communicating Organizational History to Sports FansMatthew Gill12 The Many Faces of Fans: How the NBA Meets theDemands of its Different Audience SegmentsJohn A. Fortunato13 From Good ol Boys to National Spectacle: Motives and Identification among Young NASCAR FansJohn S. W. Spinda14 Why Hispanic Fans Are the Lifeblood of Major LeagueSoccerRic JensenPart 4: Fans and Gender15 From Football Widow to Fan: Web Narratives ofWomen and Sports SpectatorshipLawrence A. Wenner16 Football Fans Do Wear Pink: Game Day Broadcasts, Female Football Fans and Their NFLKathy Brady17 Great Expectations: An Analysis of the Fan Base for WNBAs 2008 Expect GreatKatherine L. LavellePart 5: Fans and Fantasy Sports18 Fantasy Sports and Sports Fandom: Implications forMass Media ResearchNicholas David Bowman, Jessi McCabe&Tom Isaacson 19 Show Me the Numbers!: Media Dependency and Fantasy Game Participants 285John P. McGuire, Greg G. Armfield& Jeff BooneIndexAbout the ContributorsAbout the Editors