Copyright by Seth Adam Kessler 2015 The Dissertation Committee for Seth Adam Kessler Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: GLOBALIZATION WITHIN SPORT DISCOURSE: A MIXED METHOD CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE 1984, 2000, AND 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES’ NEWSPAPER COVERAGE Committee: Thomas Hunt, Supervisor Janice Todd Marlene Dixon Kevin Witherspoon Matt Bowers Emily Sparevo Globalization Within Sport Discourse: A Mixed Method Critical Discourse Analysis of the 1984, 2000, and 2008 Olympic Games’ Newspaper Coverage by Seth Adam Kessler, B.A., B.J., M.P.A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2015 Dedication To my Parents To my Brothers Thank You All Acknowledgements I can honestly say I would not have accomplished this goal without my family’s support, guidance, and humor. To my Mother, Kathleen Sommer, you helped more than you will ever know—thank you. To my Step-Mother, Sandra Kessler, thanks for putting up with all the nonsense. Your kindness and tenacity have always been an inspiration. To my Father, Gary Kessler, words cannot describe my gratitude and admiration. You have taught me more than anyone and gave me the courage to pursue to my goals—I cannot thank you enough. Your friendship, love, humor, intelligence, and encouragement have been instrumental in all my successes. I hope to continue to make each of you proud. To my brothers, Torrey and Jeremy Kessler, I cannot imagine two better older brothers. I have always appreciated your support, and have learned many life lessons from you both. Thanks for being good brothers, I truly value our relationships. Finally, to my late night writing partner, my cat, The Face Kessler. You have listened to more of my ideas than anyone, thanks for responding. First, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to my advisor, Dr. Thomas “Tommy” Hunt. I would not have been able to achieve this goal without your guidance, intelligence, and friendship. I cannot thank you enough for helping through this process, challenging me when I needed it, and believing in my work and ability. I also wanted to thank you for making me think through my ideas and the process of writing. Your influence has made me a better writer, scholar, and person. I will forever think of you when I write the word “that”. Thank you for all you did. v Further, I would like to acknowledge and thank the rest of my dissertation committee. Drs. Jan Todd, Matt Bowers, Emily Sparevo, Kevin Witherspoon, and Marlene Dixon. I wanted to thank you all for your comments and suggestions. Your contributions were invaluable. I wanted to give special thanks to Dr. Matt Bowers for being a sounding board, pushing me to contribute to the conversation, and being the other perspective. I would also like to thank the numerous people that I have worked besides during my time at the University of Texas at Austin. Drs. Robin Atwood, Nell Gottlieb, Karissa Horton, Jennifer Loyo, Alexandra Loukas, Mrs. Trina Robertson, and Mrs. Catherine Cunningham thank you for all your help and support. I learned a lot from all of you and truly appreciated our time together. I would also like to acknowledge the Institute of Urban Policy Research and Analysis for employing me for more than two years and demonstrating the genuine value of a diverse and talented team. I would like to give special thanks to Dr. King Davis for his positive outlook, vast intelligence, and willingness to listen. I thank you for your time. I would also like to give extra thanks to Dr. Shetal Vohra-Gupta, you expanded my ideas and reminded me of the value of good academic research. You were an extremely positive influence and I valued our time together—thank you. I would also like to thank my classmates, the faculty, and staff at the University of Texas at Austin—I learned a great deal from a great many of you. Finally, I would like to extend a gracious thanks to all the men and women involved in Major League Baseball radio broadcasts—the sounds of that beautiful game served as the vi audio backdrop for more projects and papers than I care to count. The sounds of baseball will forever be dear to my heart. I would also like to thank the many good friends that have supported me during my time in Austin. Dr. Tolga Ozyurtcu, an honorary Missourian, has expanded my horizons—thank you for the ongoing brainstorming session. Dr. CJ Stanfill—my opposite in so many ways—your friendship is irreplaceable. I also wanted to thank Dr. Darren Kelly for his friendship and sage wisdom. Anthony Newell, Anthony Arroyo, Jeff Carrillo, Steve Patterson, Greg Roberts, Shelby “Sherman” Bowden, Keith Daly, and JR Ohr have all helped to make Austin my home away from home. I would also like to thank Nick Winters, Kyle Nunn, Jon Youngman, Kenny Townsend, Michael Price, Bryan Detwiler, and Paul Fehler for their enduring friendships—you all mean a great deal to me. I would like to extend to special acknowledgement to Heath Harris—my friend since fourth grade. There are too many jokes to choose from—“It don’t look good”—and hopefully there will be many more. Finally, to my beautiful and intelligent muse, Annie Major. I cannot thank you enough for your love and support during this process—I would have never finished without your help. Your mean more to me than you will ever realize and I cannot imagine my life without you. Here’s to the next step. vii Globalization Within Sport Discourse: A Mixed Method Critical Discourse Analysis of the 1984, 2000, and 2008 Olympic Games’ Newspaper Coverage Seth Adam Kessler, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2015 Supervisor: Thomas M. Hunt Abstract: The goal of this study was to analyze nine different newspapers’ coverage of three separate Olympic Games (i.e., 1984, 2000, and 2008) in order to determine how the globalization of sport was discussed, how this discourse reflected the power relations within international sport, and what sport management implications could be extracted. Globalization is an axial theme of the current era and is applicable to discussions of international sport. Sport has been characterized as a highly profitable, largely popular, and globally networked cultural form (Smart, 2007) that serves both as a source and a product of globalization (Eitzen, 2012), and, on a more practical level, as a global product and service (Ratten & Ratten, 2011). Houlihan (2007) reiterates the importance of globalization, stating that it has become one of the most prominent research concepts in the social sciences, including sport studies. An additional goal of this study was to critically evaluate sport journalism, as an often-overlooked aspect of journalism, and demonstrate linkages between media coverage and sport management practices. Sport— especially international, professional, and collegiate sport—and sporting ideals are intimately intertwined and attached to the sport media, and the sport media has both beneficial and detrimental influence over sporting and social norms. Sport management scholars should continue to critically examine and further understand the interplay between sport management, the sport media, and the power of discourse. Results indicate viii that treatment of globalization within the sport discourse evolved over time, and the understandings and presentations of globalization and its relationship to sport became more nuanced and sophisticated. Findings provide additional support for the dynamic nature of discourse, suggest the importance of conscientious and critical monitoring, and indicate the need to adapt best practices to reflect the changes in discourse, particularly in regards to influential phenomenon such as globalization. The research findings of this study will be of interest to sport management and globalization studies scholars and sport practitioners who are interested in understanding how discourse influences concept proliferation, power relations, policy creation, organizational and economic forecasting, strategic management, and other management practices. ix Table of Contents List of Tables ........................................................................................................ xii List of Figures ...................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................1 Sport Management and Globalization Studies: Young, Hybrid Disciplines ..8 Sport Management and Globalization Studies: Brief Overview ...................14 Underlying Assumptions ..............................................................................19 Statement of Purpose and Significance of Study ..........................................27 Research Questions .......................................................................................31 Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................32 Globalization .................................................................................................35 Globalization Definitions .....................................................................35 Globalization Perspectives ...................................................................38 Globalization Debates ..........................................................................51