Reputational Challenges in Sport Theory and Application

Issues of reputation management are negotiated in a wide array of contexts, yet arguably one of the most visible of these areas involves how such stories unfold within the sporting arena. Whether involving individual athletes, teams, organizations, leagues, or global entities, the process of navigating issues of image repair and/or restoration and crisis-based communication has never been more byzantine with a plethora of communicative media outlets functioning in myriad manners. Reputational Challenges in Sport explores the intersection of reputation, sport, and society. In doing so, the book advances theory and then explores individual, team, and organizational applications from varied methodological perspectives as they relate to reputation and identity management and crisis orientations. The book provides a synthesis of previous works while offering a contemporary advancement of these subjects from a variety of epistemological approaches. It gives voice to variety of perspectives that offer a robust advancement of issues relating to reputation, sport, and modern society.

Acknowledgements Introduction "Sports Celebrity Reputation in a Mediated World of Scandal: Reputation, Crisis, and the Presumed Power of Narrative Manufacturing" Andrew C. Billings, University of Alabama Unit I Theoretical Foundations Chapter 1 "Athlete Reputational Crises: One Point for Linking Situational Crisis Communication Theory and Sport Crises" W. Timothy Coombs, Texas A&M University Chapter 2 "Image Repair Theory and Sport" William L. Benoit, Ohio University Unit II Applications Using Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) Chapter 3 "Experimentally Examining Crisis Management in Sporting Organizations" Natalie Brown-Devlin, University of Texas Chapter 4 "Adding Narrative to the Situational Crisis Communication Theory: The Case for Crisis ‘Narrative Management’ in Sport" James R. DiSanza, Idaho State University Karen L. Hartman, Idaho State University Nancy J. Legge, Idaho State University Zac Gershberg, Idaho State University Chapter 5 "Applying Situational Crisis Communication Theory to University Needs: A Case Study of the 2015 University of Missouri Crisis" Lindsey Sherrill, University of Alabama Chapter 6 "Knee-jerk Policymaking in Crisis Response: A Fumbled Play by the NFL" Jennifer L. Harker, University of North Carolina Chapter 7 "Reputational Challenges in the Olympics: The LGBTQ Paracrisis in Sochi" Ryan S. Rigda, Texas A&M University Chapter 8 "Crisis Communication and the NBA Lockout: Exploring Reactions to Crisis Strategies in Sport" Melanie J. Formentin, Towson University Unit III Applications Using Image Repair Theory (IRT) Chapter 9 "Empirically Studying Individual Athletes and Image Repair during Crises" Marion E. Hambrick, University of Louisville Chapter 10 "#14FOREVER: Nostalgia, Pete Rose, and the Cincinnati Reds" Todd F. McDorman, Wabash College Chapter 11 "Empirically Examining Image Repair Theory" Kenon A. Brown, University of Alabama Ziyuan Zhou, University of Alabama Qingru Xu, University of Alabama Chapter 12 "My Brand and the Team Brand; Where to Insert the "I" in Team?" Tom Isaacson, Northern Michigan University Chapter 13 "The Role of Team Success and Failure in Mitigating Fan Dissatisfaction with Ticket Price Increases" Joseph R. Blaney, Illinois State University Chapter 14 "Abby Wambach: G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) or Just a Goat?" Rachel Allison, Mississippi State University Ann Pegoraro, Laurentian University

Andrew C. Billings is the director of the Alabama Program in Sports Communication and Ronald Reagan Chair of Broadcasting in the Department of Journalism & Creative Media at the University of Alabama. He also serves on many editorial boards, including as an associate editor of the journals Communication & Sport and Journal of Global Sport Management. W. Timothy Coombs is a full professor in the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University and an honorary professor at Aarhus University in Denmark. He is currently the editor of Corporate Communications: An International Journal. Kenon A. Brown is an assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at The University of Alabama.