After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

• Identify the major forms of the media, what they provide to people, and the influence of commercial forces on media content.
• Discuss how the new media, including the Internet, change spectator experiences, and what many people find attractive about playing sport video games and virtual sports.
• Identify factors that influence the images and narratives represented in the media.
• Discuss how sports and the media depend on each other for commercial success.
• Critically assess the notion that the media have corrupted sports.
• Identify major trends in televised sports and media rights fees.
• Identify the ways that economics and ideology influence the relationship between sports and the media around the world.
• Explain why corporations that sell alcohol, tobacco, soft drinks, confectionary products, and fast food are likely to sponsor sports in the media.
• Identify ideological themes around which the media coverage of sports is constructed.
• Describe the ways that media images and narratives have been used to represent disability sports and athletes with disabilities.
• Describe the major differences in the ways that men and women and blacks and whites are represented in media images and narratives.
• Explain what is meant when sociologists say that media organizations are gendered.
• Provide examples of how the media overlook whiteness in the coverage of sports today.
• Discuss research findings on audience experiences and the media impact on sport-related behaviours, such as active participation, game attendance, and gambling.
• Identify the factors that influence relationships between sports journalists and athletes today.
• Distinguish between the characteristics of the role of sports announcer in television and radio and sportswriters in newspapers, magazines, and the Internet.