The Espn Effect ― Exploring the Worldwide Leader in Sports

The preeminent source for sports for millions worldwide, the 35-year-old ESPN, with its 24-hour coverage of sports news and programming, has produced generations of sports consumers using multiple platforms for news and entertainment. This book, the first academic text on ESPN, examines the significant impacts of ESPN--economic, social, cultural, and mass communication. Twenty chapters are divided into five sections: business and the ESPN effect; race, gender, and the ESPN effect; journalism and the ESPN effect; the ESPN effect and its audience; the future of the ESPN effect. The first section covers ESPN’s impact on the economics and media business of sports. The second focuses on ESPN’s role in culture via how society may think about sports in terms of race and gender. Section 3 examines ESPN’s journalistic efforts. The fourth considers ESPN’s impact on the participation of its audience with network with network content. The fifth looks at the future of ESPN. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

John McGuire (PhD, University of Missouri-Columbia) is Associate Professor in the School of Media and Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University. His work has been published in the Journal of Sports Media, Communication and Sport, International Journal of Sport Communication, and the Journal of Radio and Audio Media.
Greg G. Armfield (PhD, University of Missouri-Columbia) is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at New Mexico State University. His work has been published in the Journal of Communication, the Journal of Media and Religion, Speaker and Gavel, and the Journal of Communication and Religion.
Adam Earnheardt (PhD, Kent State University) is Chair and Associate Professor of Communication Studies in the Department of Communication at Youngstown State University. He is the author of Judging Athlete Behaviors: Exploring Possible Predictors of Television Viewer Judgments of Athlete Antisocial Behaviors (2008) and has co-edited several books including Sports Fans, Identity, and Socialization: Exploring the Fandemonium (2012).