ISSN: 1543-9518|Vol. 24

African-Americans in College Baseball

Submitted by: Frank B. Butts, Laura M. Hatfield & Lance C. Hatfield

Abstract:

The under-representation of African-Americans in college baseball is evident. African-American athletes make up only 4.5% of all National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) baseball players. They are a shrinking percentage of Major League Baseball players. A focus group was established to identify specific sociological issues which were perceived to influence the under-representation of African-Americans in collegiate baseball. Additionally, information from the observation of SEC baseball games during the 2006 season was used to quantify the social pattern. Data from the “traditionally black” Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) were also collected during the 2006 season. For the Southeastern Conference (SEC), fan attendance was less than 1% African-American and the player participation rate was 1.91 per team during the 2006 season. Additionally, none of the SEC head or assistant baseball coaches were African-American. The focus group determined that the reasons for the decline in numbers were related to (1) lifestyle factors, (2) competition from other sports and social opportunities, and (3) the absence of African-American role models in baseball. The authors propose that Title IX legislation and the influence of sports media were primary factors in the change.

African-Americans in College Baseball

The under-representation of African-Americans in college baseball is an obvious yet perplexing picture in athletics today. African-American athletes are more than equitably represented among many of the most popular collegiate spectator sports; however, their near absence in college baseball appears to be more than coincidental. Questions arise as to whether the educational system, the social system of athletics, and/or federal legislation have been responsible for the reduction in the number of African-American baseball players in America.

Only 4.5% of all National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) baseball players were African-American during the 2004 season. This includes all divisions, in addition to the historically African-American colleges and universities. On the contrary, 42.0% and 32.3% of NCAA basketball and football players, respectively, were African-American in the 2003-2004 academic year (Bray, 2005).

When specifically examining one of the perennial collegiate conference baseball powers, the Southeastern Conference (SEC), only 4.2% of 2006 roster players were African-American, as noted in Table 1. The twelve universities that make up the SEC represent states with an average African-American population of 20.8%.

Ironically, when examining the historically black Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Southwest Athletic Conference (SWAC), findings surface which again support the difficulty of finding African-Americans in collegiate baseball. African-Americans are the minority on many of the rosters of these teams, as seen in Table 1.

Table 1: African-American Participation and Attendance at SEC Baseball Games

University Number of African American Players State Population (African American) Number of African American Fans Average Attendance Number of African American Coaches
Alabama 1 26.0% 15 4172 0
Auburn 3 26.0% 7 3021 0
Arkansas 1 15.7% 0 7156 0
Florida 3 14.6% 8 2607 0
Georgia 1 28.7% 10 1958 0
Kentucky 1 7.3% 6 1250 0
Louisiana State 3 32.5% 8 7508 0
Mississippi 0 36.3% 2 4363 0
Mississippi St. 0 36.3% 3 6160 0
South Carolina 3 29.5% 22 3424 0
Tennessee 4 16.4% 5 1378 0
Vanderbilt 3 16.4% 3 1484 0
Alabama 1 26.0% 15 4172 0
Source: Attendance statistics from SEC member schools 2006. All observations of fan counts were from weekend games in spring 2005 and spring 2006. State African-American percentages were obtained from the United States Census Bureau.

With approximately 12.8% of the United States population reported to be African-American (United States Census Bureau, 2006), it would appear that African-American collegiate baseball players are under-represented. This is the case in both college and professional baseball.

Ken Williams of the Chicago White Sox, Major League Baseball’s (MLB) only African-American general manager, blamed the small number of collegiate scholarships designated for baseball on the small number of African-American players (Nightengale, 2006). Logan White, the Los Angeles Dodger’s amateur scouting director, noted that in his trips to colleges across the United States, he rarely encounters an African-American baseball player. Not only is the absence of the African-American player obvious at the collegiate level, the population has gone from 27% of Major League Baseball (MLB) players in 1975 to 8% today (Nightengale, 2006). Sociologists have recognized this trend and have proposed several theories to explain it.

Theories

A possible explanation for the diminishment of African-Americans in collegiate and professional baseball could be explained by Giddens’ (1979) “structuration” theory. This theory assumes that certain behaviors are shaped by an array of interconnected structures. These interconnected structures can include norms, accessibility, and facilitators. Norms are the expected behaviors that govern a culture. Facilitators can be individuals or events that increase the likelihood of engaging in a behavior. (The behavior in this case would be baseball.) Accessibility refers to the degree of availability a population has to baseball.

The Negro Leagues of the early part of the 20th century, in particular, provided African-Americans with access to a culture aligned with baseball. Prior to the integration of African-Americans into Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1947 (“African Americans in Sports,” n.d.), an estimated 2,300 African-Americans participated in professional baseball through the Negro Leagues (Lynn, 2006). In the 1920’s, even small African-American communities, such as the town of Buxton, Iowa, touted semiprofessional teams like the Wonders (Beran, 1990). African-American fans often traveled to surrounding states to watch the Wonders play. These games became a routine part of daily life for this community. Beran (1990) further noted that the games served as a gathering place for members of the community. As a result, the Wonders became a major part of the cultural identity of Buxton. Since the retirement of former Negro-League stars who went on to stellar careers in MLB, such as Henry Aaron, the number of both African-American baseball players and spectators has steadily declined in MLB (Early, 2000; Flanagan 1999).

Research by Odgen (2003a) suggested that television images may perpetuate the stereotype that African-Americans are not welcome in baseball venues. This is the basis for Odgen’s ‘Welcome Theory’, which states that certain groups feel a sense of belonging in some leisure activities, but not in others. Odgen found that African-Americans felt most welcome playing basketball and least welcome at country clubs. Feeling unwelcome in some leisure activities is not restricted to the African-American race. All races share a common attitude that activities are suited to some ethnicities more than others (Philipp, 1999). For example, of the 137 crowd shots at a particular televised baseball game, only one of them displayed a group of African-Americans (Odgen, 2003a). Furthermore, Ogden reported that only 3% of the attendance at a game dubbed “African-American Heritage Night” consisted of African Americans.

The Welcome Theory may be partially created by the extensive mass media edification of professional African-American basketball players (Hall, 2002). African-American youth are frequently shown that basketball is the most efficient route to fame and fortune. As a result, almost 80% of basketball players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) are African-American (Boyd, 1997).

Another factor that might explain the absence of African-Americans from baseball is a lack of social support for the game. A primary reason that children select extracurricular activity is for interaction with peers (Watson and Collis, 1982). Children naturally gravitate towards activities endorsed by peers within their social groups. The peers of African-American youth frequently endorse basketball instead of baseball by donning the apparel of their favorite NBA stars (Philipp, 1998; Wilson & Sparks, 1996).

Gravitation towards participation in sports other than baseball may begin at the youth level. Of the 2,000 youth players in select tournaments from 1998-2000, only 3% were African American (Odgen, 2001). Select leagues, also known as traveling teams, are the highest level of play in age-group baseball. These teams may be compiled from competitive tryouts and/or selecting players from other “all star” teams. Select team baseball is characterized by long and arduous seasons that may contain as many as 150 games for youth players (Odgen, 2003b). These teams often play games all across the country, which requires considerable travel expenses. This external demand may validate limited access as an explanation, if one assumes that African-Americans have less access to baseball leagues, select-travel teams, and fields. Baseball diamonds are documented more frequently in the suburbs than in the urban core, where the population of African-Americans is more heavily populated, further supporting the theory of a reduced access that African-American youth have to baseball (Odgen 2003b).

Efforts to Curb Disparity

Recently, several MLB celebrities and players have attempted to curb the lack of interest of African-Americans in the sport of baseball. Initiatives such as Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI), founded by John Young, a former major league player, have received funding from Major League Baseball (“Major League Baseball,” n.d.). RBI was created to enable inner city youth with reduced accessibility and funds to enjoy baseball. Since its inception in 1989, the RBI program has provided opportunities for youth baseball in more than 200 cities. Major League Baseball also sponsors a program known as the Urban Youth Baseball Academy (“Major League Baseball,” n.d.). Some former participants in this program have remained in baseball and are now professional baseball players. Another project, known as the Urban Initiative for Little League Baseball, plans to expand existing facilities and baseball programs in the inner cities (“Little League Online,” n.d. ). Professional players, such as Torii Hunter, have even spearheaded efforts to raise funds for the creation and maintenance of baseball facilities in low income areas (“The Torii Hunter Project,” n.d.).

After an examination of the literature, it appears that those who are associated with and who study baseball have taken note of the declining African-American population in the sport. The authors of this study attempted to quantify the number of African-Americans playing college baseball in several of the most visible collegiate conferences in America in an attempt to measure the magnitude of the social change.

Methods:

A focus group was established to assist in identifying specific sociological issues perceived to influence the under-representation of African-Americans in collegiate baseball. The focus group consisted of twelve college age, African-American males who were either currently on a NCAA Division II baseball roster or who had played baseball in high school but were no longer playing in college. The group met during the fall of 2006 in three, one-hour sessions over a one month period. The first meeting consisted of an introduction to the topic, followed by the distribution of the outline of this study. This was followed by a period of general brainstorming. The group was asked to investigate the literature related to this study topic before the next meeting. In the second meeting, the group continued brainstorming. Members were allowed to present findings from the previous week of research and to begin extrapolating reasons for the social change in baseball. Common themes among the focus group were identified. In meeting three, the focus group began the process of assembling and ranking its theories for the reduction of African-Americans in collegiate baseball.

In addition to the qualitative, focus group study, the authors gathered data from NCAA data bases and from observation of SEC baseball games during the 2006 season. The authors personally attended and collected SEC baseball attendance data by conducting visual counts of African-American fans and players at select SEC games during the 2006 season.

For point of interest purposes, data from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) were collected by examining the media publications of each member institution’s athletic website for the 2006 season. The schools in these two conferences are known as historical black colleges and universities (HBCU) with predominantly African-American populations. The authors attempted to secure the numbers of African-American baseball players and coaches from these conferences.

Results:

Examinations of the findings in Table 2 depict an SEC baseball fan attendance base that was 0.2% African-American during the 2006 season. There was an average of seven African-American fans at each weekend SEC baseball game in 2006, out of the average crowd of 3,707. In all cases, the African-American fan count was less than 1% of the attendance.

Table 2: African-American Participation in the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference (MEAC) and the Southwest Atlantic Conference (SWAC)

<tr”>MEAC% of African American PlayersSWAC% of African American Players

Bethune-Cook 21 Alabama A&M 90
Coppin State 30 Alabama State 84
Delaware State no baseball Alcorn State 50
FAMU 39 Arkansas PB no data
Hampton no baseball Grambling 80
Howard no baseball Jackson State 72
Maryland Eastern 16 Miss Valley St 100
Morgan State no baseball Prairie View 84
Norfolk 25 Southern no data
N.C. A&T 60
Average among those reporting 31 68
Sources, http://www.meacsports.com/, http://www.swac.org

Additionally, none of the SEC head or assistant baseball coaches were African-American during the 2006 season. The average SEC team had 1.91 African-American players on the forty-man roster with the range from one to four players. The two SEC schools representing states with the highest African-American population, Mississippi State and Mississippi, from a state with a 36.3% African-American population, had zero African-American players.

As presented in Table 3, the focus group identified four categorical areas as reasons for the limited number of African-Americans in college baseball. The reasons noted by the focus group, in order of their perceived importance, were: (1) lifestyle factors, (2) competition for the African-American athlete from other sports and social opportunities, (3) the absence of African-American role models (either active players or coaches), and (4) a limitation resulting from the perception that the African-American athlete is more difficult to coach.

Table 3: Focus Group Conclusions for the Scarcity of African-American Baseball Players

Themes Description
Lifestyle Factors African Americans are more interested in fast-paced sports.
Competition College baseball is out-recruited by more visible sports.
The popularity of AAU basketball draws interest.
College baseball has less recruiting money.
Minority scholarships take away opportunities for African-Americans in historically black colleges and universities.
Role Models There is a small number of African-American baseball icons.
There are not many visible African-American GMs and Managers.
Limitations The African-American athlete is viewed as less able to be coached and is, therefore, less likely to be recruited.

Discussion:

There have been many theories presented as to why African-Americans are rapidly disappearing from college baseball. One possible explanation could be the relationship between the onset of Title IX, which led to many NCAA I schools reducing the number of baseball scholarships to 11.7 and to 10.0 in NCAA Division II, which may have contributed to the loss of interest in a college sport where full-scholarships are rare. In both NCAA Division I and II, partial scholarships are the rule, not the exception. There is the possibility that baseball has been socially architected out of the mainstream of African-American culture by means of well-intended legislation, such as Title IX. Results of this legislation have been to reduce access for the less affluent to college baseball and to influence athletes with the ability to play multiple sports to select a sport that can lead to a full scholarship.

Well-documented theories, such as Gidden’s structuration theory (1979), Ogden’s Welcome Theory, and limited access proposals (2003) may have credibility; however, they are difficult to prove quantitatively. It is likely that more than one specific theory or variable has been key in this social shift in baseball.

Several questions must be addressed. Have high-school and college baseball priced themselves out of the African-American athlete’s market by requiring participation in select teams for high schools or by limiting scholarship money for the college bound? Has the eagerness of the Central-American baseball player to sign for small bonuses become more appealing to MLB than going after the African-American player? Has the fact that MLB is now an international game influenced the reluctance of the high-school athlete to pursue baseball in college because other sports appear to be less competitive in the athlete’s quest for stardom? Is baseball too slow for the fast-paced lifestyle of the inner-city African-American youth? Are white athletes replacing African-Americans in baseball or is the international growth of the game naturally reducing the influence of any one racial group?

Perhaps the most perplexing rationale for the reduction in participation rates among African-Americans arises from the focus group in this study, which stated that the perceived slower pace of baseball has become a deterrent to participation among African-Americans. Baseball has many strategic games within it that are, in reality, constantly changing and fast paced. Therefore, the pace issue may have evolved out of a false perception which has been capitalized upon by those marketing other sports. People may not understand or see these elements of baseball. This issue itself merits further study.

No doubt, the evolution of sport participation is well documented. However, much study is needed before the theories behind the change can be scientifically proven. This author believes the change is primarily the result of a combination of the ramifications of Title IX legislation and the mass media marketing of the perception that other sports are faster paced and more entertaining.

References:

African Americans in Sports (n.d.). Retrieved September 15, 2006, from http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/sports.cgi?sport=Baseball

Beran, J. (1990). Diamonds in Iowa: Blacks, Buxton, and baseball. Journal of Negro History, 75(3-4), 81-95.

Boyd, T. (1997). “The day the Niggaz took over: Basketball, Commodity, Culture, and Black Masculinity in Out of Bounds: Sports, Media, and the Politics of Identity, ed. Aaron Baker and Todd Boyd. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, p. 140.

Bray, Corey. (2005). 1999-2000-2003-2004 Student-Athlete ethnicity report. The National Collegiate Athletic Association. January 2005, Retrieved September 1, 2006, from http://www.ncaa.org/library/research/ethnicity_report/2003-04/2003-04_ethnicity_report.pdf

Early, G. (2000). Why baseball was the Black national pastime. In T. Boyd & K.L. Shropshire (Eds.), Basketball Jones (pp.27-50). New York: New York University Press.

Flanagan, J. (1999, June 29). Baseball continues to ponder how to attract black fans. Kansas City Star, p. C2.

Giddens, A. (1979). Central Problems in Social Theory. Berkeley: University of California.

Hall, R. (2002). The bell curve: Implications for the performance of black/white athletes. Social Science Journal, 39(1), 113-118.

Little League Online. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2006, from http://www.littleleague.org/programs/urban.asp

Lynn, A. (2006, February 21). Research on minority stars for Baseball Hall of Fame a revelatory process. Illinois News Bureau. Retrieved September 15, 2006, from http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/06/0221hallfame.html

Major League Baseball: Community: Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI). (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2006, from http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official_info/community/rbi

Nightengale, B. (2006, June 2). Where are black ballplayers? USA Today, pp. 1C-2C.

Odgen, D. (2001). African Americans and pick-up ball: A loss of diversity and recreational diversion in midwest youth baseball. NINE: A Journal of Baseball History & Culture 9: pp. 200-207.

Odgen, D. (2003a, April 12). Baseball Crowd Shots and the Social Construction of Spectators: An Exploratory Analysis. Paper presented at the Central State Communication Association meeting.

Odgen, D. (2003b, March 20-23). The Welcome Theory: An approach to studying African American Youth Interest and Involvement in Baseball. Paper presented at the Tenth Annual NINE Spring Training Conference. Retrieved September 1, 2006 from http://muse.jhu.edu, from the Project Muse Database.

Philipp, S. (1998). Race and gender differences in adolescent peer group approval of leisure activities. Journal of Leisure Research, 30(2), 214-232.

Philipp, S. (1999). Are we welcome? African American racial acceptance in leisure activities and the importance given to children’s leisure. Journal of Leisure Research 31: pp.385-403.

The Torii Hunter Project. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2006, from http://www.toriihunter48.com/

United States Census Bureau. (Revised 2006, June 23). USA QuickFacts from the U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved September 1, 2006, from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

Watson, G. & Collis, R. (1982). Adolescent values in sport: A case of conflicting interests. International Review of Sport Sociology 17 (1982): pp. 73-90.

Wilson, B. & Sparks, R. (1996). It’s gotta be the shoes: Youth, race, and sneaker commercials. Sociology of Sport Journal, 13(4), 398-427.

2020-06-02T13:16:22-05:00March 14th, 2008|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Facilities, Sports Management|Comments Off on African-Americans in College Baseball
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Competitive Balance and Conference Realignment: The Case of Big 12 Football

Submitted by: Martin M. Perline, Ph.D. & G. Clayton Stoldt, Ed.D.

Abstract:

Past research has indicated that an effort to achieve greater competitive balance has been one factor in conference realignments within college athletics. The purpose of this study was to determine if greater levels of competitive balance in football were realized after the Big 8 conference merged with four members of the Southwest Conference. Specifically, comparisons were made between competitive balance levels for the last ten years of the Big 8 with the first ten years of the Big 12. Three measures of competitive balance were employed; in general, the findings indicated that competitive balance in football has improved in the ten years after the merger.

Introduction:

In the area of competitive sports, it is mandatory that the outcome of any game or match contain some degree of uncertainty. If this was not the case, it is believed fans would lose interest (Depken & Wilson, 2006; El Hodiri & Quirk, 1971; Kesenne, 2006; Quirk & Fort, 1992; Sanderson & Siegfried, 2003) and thus there would be significantly lower revenues for the organizations involved, particularly media revenue. Stated somewhat differently, it is of vital importance that for any sports league or conference, there needs to be some degree of competitive balance among the various teams.

Competitive imbalance is often linked to disparate revenues among competing organizations (Kaplan, 2004; Sanderson, 2002). At the professional level, these disparities are commonly linked to variables such as the size of a particular team’s media market or home facility. Organizations serving larger markets and/or having newer facilities may be able to generate more revenue than competitors, and thus secure the most talented teams. Likewise, at the collegiate level institutions may enjoy competitive advantages as a result of revenues generated from larger fan bases and better facilities. While those monies may not be passed to student-athletes in the form of salaries, high-revenue programs arguably enjoy significant recruiting advantages because they can invest in new or improved facilities and other program enhancements.

At the professional level, a variety of tactics are commonly employed to enhance competitive balance (Sanderson & Siegfried, 2003). They include salary caps, luxury taxes, revenue sharing, and draft orders favoring those teams that enjoyed the least success the previous season. At the college level, measures such as scholarship limits and prohibitions against extra benefits for student-athletes have attempted to promote competitive balance (Rhoads, 2004). These regulations are commonly enforced by a national governing body (e.g., NCAA, NAIA). However, college athletic conferences also play roles in promoting competitive balance. In particular, Rhoads (2004) has argued the conference realignments are at least partially driven by competitive disparity among institutions. Because of the large gate and television revenues that are often at stake, particularly in football and men’s basketball, efforts to maintain a certain degree of competitive balance in these sports would serve as an incentive to bring about churning within, and mergers between, conferences (Rhoads, 2004).

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to measure the change in competitive balance as a conference changes its membership. Does this bring about the desired increase in competitive balance? In order to shed light on this question, we surveyed the changes in competitive balance as the Big 8 Conference merged with four members of the Southwest Conference to become the Big 12.

Since previous research has suggested no increase in competitive balance in men’s basketball as conferences have gone through change (Rhoads, 2004; Perline & Stoldt, in press), we have chosen to test the hypothesis that attempts to increase competitive balance in football are major reasons for conference realignment (Rhoads, 2004; Fort & Quirk, 1999; Quirk, 2004). More specifically, we compared levels of competitive balance in football in the ten years before the merger with the ten years after. Although the Big 12 separated football into two divisions, we chose to use the overall conference standings for our analysis. This seemed most appropriate, since the Big 8 was not so divided, and teams in each division of the Big 12 played three of their eight conference games with teams in the opposite division.

The Big 12 Conference

The Big 12 is a NCAA Division I-A level conference founded in 1995 (Big 12, 2006). Its membership includes Baylor University, the University of Colorado, Iowa State University, the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, the University of Missouri, the University of Nebraska, the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, the University of Texas, Texas A&M University, and Texas Tech University.

Each institution in the conference was formerly a member of either the now-defunct Big 8 or Southwest conferences. Changing dynamics in the collegiate athletics marketplace, such as other conferences churning members and new agreements for television coverage, provided an impetus for the formation of the Big 12 (Michaelis, 1996; Thompson, 2000). The new conference included each member of the Big 8 and four institutions from the Southwest Conference. Texas and Texas A&M were, arguably, the flagship programs in the Southwest Conference, so their selection was not surprising. The decision to include Baylor and Texas
Tech was more controversial because those institutions were from smaller markets than the four other members of the Southwest Conference that were not selected. However, both institutions had alumni in key offices within the Texas state government at the time of the merger, and the political influence of those state officials impacted Baylor’s and Texas Tech’s selection (Thompson, 2000; Waldman, 1995). The resultant geographic market of the new conference includes 42 million people and 18 million households with television — roughly 16% of the nation’s total (Big 12, 2006; Michaelis, 1996; Thompson, 2000; Waldman, 1995).

The conference is separated into two divisions for football. The North Division features Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, and Nebraska. The South Division is comprised of Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech. Each year, each school plays one game against its divisional opponents and three games against teams from the other division. A rotation system is used to select which three “other division” opponents a team will face in a given system. Over four years, each team will play every team from the other division twice — once at home, once away. All conference games count toward the division standings, and the two division winners meet in a conference championship game each year. The winner of that championship game receives an automatic bid to participate in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).

Big 12 football teams have enjoyed considerable success at the national level. The conference has placed a team in the BCS national championship game five times, more than any other conference (Big 12, 2006). Further, three teams have won national championships since the conference was founded: Nebraska in 1997, Oklahoma in 2000, and Texas in 2005.

Measuring Competitive Balance:

Several methods have commonly been used to measure competitive balance. The most appropriate of these methods often depends on what the researcher is attempting to measure. Methods most appropriate for measuring competitive balance within a given season may be different from those used to measure competitive balance between seasons (Leeds & VonAllmen, 2005). Since different concepts are being measured, there is no reason to assume the various methods will reach the same conclusions about degree of competitive balance. Indeed, if it is argued that competitive balance is necessary to keep fans interested and thus revenues maximized, it could be argued that no particular method can address theoretical optimal balance, i.e., what the fans who buy tickets and watch television believe is most appropriate. One could even argue that overall conference revenue could be maximized if the teams in the largest markets, with the largest fan base, won most often. Given these caveats, efforts have been made to measure competitive balance. In addressing our task, we rely on such methods.

Three of the most commonly employed measures are:

  • the standard deviations of winning percentages of the various teams in the conference or league
  • the Hirfindahl-Hirschman Index to measure the number of teams that achieve championship status over a given period of time
  • the range of winning percentages

Standard Deviation of Winning Percentages

The method probably used most often to measure competitive balance within a conference in a given season is the standard deviation of winning percentages. Since there will, outside of a tie, always be one winner and one loser for each game, the average winning percentage for the conference will always be .500.

In order to gain insight into competitive balance, we need to measure the dispersion of winning percentages around this average. To do this, we can measure the standard deviation. This statistic measures the average distance that observations lie from the mean of the observations in the data set. The formula for the standard deviation is:

σ = (√(Σ(WPCT – .500)2)) / N

The larger the standard deviation, the greater the dispersion of winning percentages around the mean, thus the less the competitive balance. (If all teams have winning percentages of .500, there would be a standard deviation of zero and there would be perfect competitive balance.)

Using the actual standard deviation in our case presents a potential problem. This occurs because, all things being equal, there is a likelihood that the larger the number of conference games played, the more likely there will be less deviation of winning percentages, since various lucky breaks, injuries, etc. will, over time, even out. Since the number of league games played in the Big 8 was seven and the number of league games played in the Big 12 was eight, there is a need to adjust for these differences. This adjustment entails finding the ideal competitive balance in which each team has a 50% chance of winning each game. This ideal can be measured as:

σ = 0.5 /√ N

where .5 indicates the .5 probability of winning, and n is the number of games played by each team in the season.

In the Big 8, the ideal standard deviation ratio would be 0.5 / √ 7 = 0.1890 and for the Big 12 would be 0.5 / √ 8 = 0.1768.

To measure the competitive balance within a given season, we find the ratio of the actual standard deviation to the ideal standard deviation.

R = σA / σI

The closer the measure is to one, the more competitive balance there is.

Championship Imbalance

While using the standard deviation as a measure of competitive balance provides a good picture of the variation within a given season, it does not indicate whether the same teams win every season, or if there is considerable turnover among the winners i.e., whether there is between-season variation.

Therefore, another method economists have used to measure imbalance is the Hirfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), which was originally used to measure concentration among firms within an industry (Leeds & von Allmen, 2005). Whereas the standard deviation was used to measure percentage winning imbalance, the HHI is used to measure championship imbalance — how the championship is spread amongst the various teams. Using this method, the greater the number of teams which achieve championship status over a specific time period, the greater the competitive balance. The HHI can be calculated by measuring the number of times each team won the championship, squaring that number, adding the numbers together, and dividing by the number of years under consideration. Using this measure, it can be concluded that the lower the HHI, the more competitive balance among the teams.

Range of Winning Percentage Imbalance

Although the standard deviation of winning percentages can tell us about variation around the mean, it does not specifically reveal if the same teams win or lose from season to season. Likewise, whereas the HHI gives us some perspective on the number of teams who win the championship over a period of time, it does not tell us what is happening to the other teams in the conference. It is quite possible that a few teams could always finish first, but that the other teams could be moving up or down in the standings from one year to another.

One way of gaining insight into the movement in the standings of all teams over time is to get the mean percentage wins for each team over a specific period. The closer each team is to .500, the greater the competitive balance over this period. If several teams had very high winning percentages and others had very low winning percentages, it would suggest that there was not strong competitive balance over time, because the same teams would be winning losing, year after year.

Results:

We employed each of the three measures of competitive balance in our analysis of football results for the Big 8 and Big 12 Conferences. Findings are offered in the following sections.

Standard Deviation of Winning Percentages

Source: Information provided by Big 12 Conference office.

Table 1: Winning Percentages at the Big 8 Conference
Year MO KU OU KSU NU ISU OSU CU
1986 .286 .000 1.000 .143 .714 .428 .571 .857
1987 .428 .071 1.000 .071 .857 .286 .714 .571
1988 .286 .143 .857 .000 1.000 .428 .714 .571
1989 .143 .286 .714 .000 .857 .571 .428 1.000
1990 .286 .357 .714 .286 .714 .357 .286 1.000
1991 .143 .428 .714 .571 .928 .214 .071 .928
1992 .286 .571 .571 .286 .857 .286 .357 .786
1993 .286 .428 .571 .643 1.000 .286 .000 .786
1994 .286 .428 .571 .714 1.000 .071 .071 .857
1995 .143 .714 .286 .714 1.000 .143 .286 .714
Mean .257 .343 .700 .343 .893 .307 .350 .807 .500

 

Source: 2005 Big 12 Football Media Guide contained data for 1996-2004. Big 12 Website contained data for 2005.

Table 2: Winning Percentages at the Big 12 Conference
Year KU CU UT ISU TTU OU NU OSU BU MU TAMU KSU
1996 .250 .875 .750 .125 .625 .375 1.000 .250 .125 .375 .500 .750
1997 .375 .375 .250 .125 .625 .250 1.000 .625 .125 .625 .750 .875
1998 .125 .500 .750 .125 .500 .375 .625 .375 .125 .625 .875 1.000
1999 .375 .625 .750 .125 .625 .625 .875 .375 .000 .125 .625 .875
2000 .250 .375 .875 .625 .375 1.000 .750 .125 .000 .250 .625 .750
2001 .125 .875 .875 .500 .500 .750 .875 .250 .000 .375 .500 .375
2002 .000 .875 .750 .500 .625 .750 .375 .625 .125 .250 .375 .750
2003 .375 .375 .875 .000 .500 1.000 .625 .625 .125 .500 .250 .750
2004 .250 .500 .875 .500 .625 1.000 .375 .500 .125 .375 .625 .250
2005 .375 .625 1.000 .500 .750 .750 .500 .125 .250 .500 .375 .250
Mean .250 .600 .775 .313 .575 .688 .700 .388 .100 .400 .550 .663 .500

Tables 1 and 2 display the annual winning percentages for the football teams in the Big 8 and Big 12 Conferences, respectively. Tables 3 and 4 display the annual standard deviations, the standard deviation ratios, and the means for the ten years of data in the Big 8 and Big 12 conferences.

Source: Authors’ calculations according to formulas in text from data in Table 1.

Table 3: Standard Deviations and Standard Deviation Ratios of Winning Percentage Imbalance in Big 8 Conference
Year Standard
Deviation		 Standard
Deviation Ratio
1986 .3498 1.851
1987 .3498 1.851
1988 .3498 1.851
1989 .3498 1.851
1990 .2725 1.442
1991 .3415 1.807
1992 .2321 1.228
1993 .3171 1.678
1994 .3479 1.841
1995 .3238 1.731
Mean .3234 1.711

 

Source: Authors’ calculations according to formulas in text from data in Table 2.

Table 4: Standard Deviations and Standard Deviation Ratios of Winning Percentage Imbalance in Big 12 Conference
Year Standard
Deviation		 Standard
Deviation Ratio
1996 .2968 1.679
1997 .2919 1.651
1998 .2919 1.651
1999 .2968 1.679
2000 .3153 1.783
2001 .2968 1.679
2002 .2770 1.567
2003 .2968 1.679
2004 .2556 1.446
2005 .2500 1.414
Mean .2869 1.623

The data indicate that overall competitive balance increased with the merger of the Big 8 into the Big 12. After adjusting, the mean of the standard deviation ratio was 1.711 for the Big 8 (see Table 3 – mean standard deviation ratio) and 1.623 (see Table 4 – mean standard deviation ratio) for the Big 12. This was a difference of 5.4%.

If we eliminate the lowest standard deviation ratio for the Big 8 – 1.228 – which would appear to be an outlier as it was well below the mean, the mean for the Big 8 would rise to 1.767, which would raise the percentage differential between the Big 8 and Big 12 to 8.9%.

Championship Imbalance

Using the HHI to measure competitive balance in the Big 8, we find that over the ten-year period, three teams achieved a first place finish: Nebraska 6, Oklahoma 2, and Colorado 2. If we give one point for each first place finish squared, we find:

HHI= 62 + 22 + 22 = 44/10= 4.4

Since the Big 12 is divided into two divisions, the first place finishers in each division play each other to determine the championship. We find that over the ten-year period, six different teams won the championship: Oklahoma 3, Texas 2, Nebraska 2, Colorado 1, Texas A&M 1, and Kansas State 1. Applying the HHI to this data, we find:

HHI= 32 + 22 + 22 + 12 + 12 + 12 = 20/10= 2

Here, the numbers are particularly revealing. We see twice as many institutions won the championship in the first ten years of the Big 12 than had won in the previous ten years with the Big 8. These results, though, need be mitigated by the fact that one would expect there to be more difference in teams achieving the championship with twelve competitors than with eight. Nevertheless, in the case of the Big 8, three teams out of a possible eight (37.5%) won the championship, whereas in the case of the Big 12, six out of a possible twelve teams won the championship (50%). While this does lessen the difference, the Big 12 still remains considerably more competitively balanced.

Range of Winning Percentage Imbalance

If we arbitrarily set .500 plus or minus .100 as a range, which would suggest a high degree of competitive balance over the ten-year period, we find significantly more competitive balance in the Big 12 than in the Big 8.

The mean winning percentages displayed for each team in Table 1 (Big 8) suggest that when using such an approach, no teams fell within this .400-.600 range. There were obvious winners and losers, but not many in the middle. (Nebraska, Colorado, and Oklahoma were the winners, and the remaining five institutions were the losers.)

On the other hand, the mean winning percentages displayed for each team in Table 2 (Big 12) indicates that four institutions (33% of the league total) – Colorado, Missouri, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech – fell within the specified range. Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas State exceeded the range. Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Kansas, and Baylor fell below the range, with the latter two institutions never having a winning season.

When looking at the range between the top and bottom winning percentages, we find that in the Big 8 the range is .636 (Nebraska .893 and Missouri .257), whereas it is actually larger for the Big 12 at .675 (Texas .775 and Baylor .100). Baylor has not had a winning season since joining the Big 12, and only once in the ten-year period has it won as many as two conference games. Therefore, if we were to exclude Baylor at an outlier, we find the range drops to .525 (Texas .775, and Kansas .250). This would make the range approximately 20% lower in the Big 12 than in the Big 8.

Conclusions:

Previous research had suggested that one reason for conference realignment was to achieve greater competitive balance in sports among the various member institutions (Rhoads, 2004). This appeared to be particularly true in football, one of the very high revenue sports in major athletic conferences. With this in mind, we investigated whether there was an increase in competitive balance in the sport of football after the Big 8 Conference merged with four members of the Southwest Conference to form the Big 12 Conference. The data for this study came from the conference standings in football for the Big 8 for the ten years prior to the merger and the standings for the Big 12 ten years subsequent to the merger.

Using the standard deviation to measure the winning percentage imbalance, and the Hirfindahl-Hirschman Index to measure championship imbalance, we concluded that each of the above measures indicated an increase in competitive balance after the merger. In the case of the range of winning percentages, the results suggested a slightly greater competitive balance for the Big 8, although once the least successful team in the Big 12 was dropped as an outlier, there was considerably more competitive balance in the Big 12. Given the fact that conferences often realign in an attempt to achieve greater competitive balance (Rhoads, 2004), these findings would support the decision to realign.

Achieving greater levels of competitive balance in a single sport is not the only justification for conference realignment. There are numerous ways in which the Big 8-Southwest Conference merger has impacted its member institutions and the overall landscape of college athletics. However, since competitive balance is recognized as being generally appealing to consumers and football is among the conference’s most marketable sports, the implications of these findings must be deemed important if not surprising.

References:

Barfknect, L. (2005, August 28). The Big 12 Conference turns 10: Still lookin’ good. Omaha World-Herald, 12fb.

Big 12. (2006). The Big 12 Conference-Celebrating its 10th season. Carlsbad, CA: CSTV Networks, Inc. Retrieved June 27, 2006 from http://www.big12sports.com/aboutbig12/big12-aboutbig12.html

Big 12. (2006). The Big 12 Conference. Carlsbad, CA: CSTV Networks, Inc. Retrieved June 27, 2006 from http://www.big12sports.com/sports/m-baskbl/big12-m-baskbl-body.html

Depken, C.A. (1999). Free-Agency and the competitiveness of Major League Baseball. Review of Industrial Organization, 14, 205-217.

Depken, C.A., & Wilson, D. (2006). The uncertainty of outcome hypothesis in Division I-A college football. Manuscript submitted for publication.

El Hodiri, M. & Quirk, J. (1971). An economic model of a professional sports league. Journal of Political Economy, 79, 1302-19.

Fort, R., & Quirk, J. (1999). The college football industry (pp. 11-25). In J. Fizel, E. Gustafson, & L. Hadley (Eds.). Sport economics: Current research. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Humpreys, B. (2002). Alternative measures of competitive balance. Journal of Sports Economics, 3, (2), 133-148.

Kaplan, D. (2004, March 29). “Our work just started” on revenue sharing, group says. Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal, 40.

Kesenne, S. (2006). Competitive balance in team sports and the impact of revenue sharing. Journal of Sport Management, 20, 39-51.

Leeds, M. & vonAllmen, P. (2005). The Economics of Sports. Boston: Pearson-Addison Wesley.

Michaelis, V. (1996, June 30). Big time: Big Eight, SWC get the message, The Denver Post, 2D.

Quirk, J. & Fort, R.D. (1992). Pay dirt: The business of professional team sports. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Rhoads, T.A. (2004). Competitive balance and conference realignment in the NCAA. Paper presented at the 74th Annual Meeting of Southern Economic Association, New Orleans, LA.

Sanderson, A. (2002). The many dimensions of competitive balance. Journal of Sport Economics, 3, 204-228.

Sanderson, A.R., & Siegfried, J.J. (2003). Thinking about competitive balance. Unpublished manuscript. Vanderbilt University

Thompson, A. (2000, July 1). No piece of cake: ‘Pandemonium’ prevailed during Big 12’s creation; Planning paid off in the end. The Denver Post, D09.

Waldman, A. (1995). A death in the family. Sport, 86 (6), 78-83.

2016-10-12T14:49:22-05:00March 14th, 2008|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off on Competitive Balance and Conference Realignment: The Case of Big 12 Football
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Incidents of Sexual Harassment in Turkey on Elite Sportswomen

Submitted by: Nevin Gündüz, Hakan Sunay & Mitat Koz

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to examine incidents of sexual harassment by trainers, administrators, spectators, etc. directed at elite sportswomen from different branches. The 356 sportswomen participants voluntarily took part in this study. They completed a twenty-item questionnaire that had been tested for validity and reliability. The Alfa reliability coefficient was found to be 0.86. The data collected were analyzed through SPSS program and data relations were examined via a chi-square test. The significance level was p<0.05.

The findings of the study revealed that 200 out of 356 sportswomen stated that they had been sexually harassed. The most frequent time of harassment was found to be after games or training, and the most frequently occurring location of harassment was the sports center. The relationship between branch groups, age, educational background, and the sexual harassment was found to have p<0.05 significance. The relationship between years of experience in sports, marital status, the gender of the trainer, and sexual harassment were found to be insignificant (p>0.05). The overall findings of this study show that elite sportswomen from different branches are exposed to sexual harassment. This supports the related literature.

Introduction:

As a form of sex discrimination, sexual harassment has a variety of definitions in different domains. However, none is universally accepted (Brackendridge et al., 2000). In general terms, sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual attempts (Fedai et al., 2001); in sports, it takes the form of slang words, teasing, covert jokes, negative comments on a sportsperson’s body or performance, and unwelcome physical contact. Whether physical or psychological, it is disturbing to the person, and is given without consent (Brackendridge et al., 2000, Charney et al., 1994; Ian, 2000, Kirby et al., 1997; Lackey, 1990). Research on sexual harassment in sports began in the mid-1980s (Brackendridge, 1997) and was commonly defined as rudeness to women by adult men (Brackendridge, 2000 & Seefelt, 1998).

Sexual harassment is a relatively new area of study in our country, but it has been on the agenda in Western countries for a long time. Though the problem has existed in our country, due to social perceptions, attitude differences, and the socialization process it has not been studied in detail. When considering the damage it causes to a person, to a club, and to the sports community, the significance of the situation becomes obvious. Moreover, sexual harassment has potentially negative influences on performance, economical and social position, self-confidence, mood, and physical health (Brackendridge et al., 2000).

The sub-objectives of the research were to determine whether sportspersons experienced sexual harassment or not. If so, the type of harassment, by whom they were exposed to harassment, the place(s) it happened, the psychological and physical damages, and the rate of reactions needed to be considered. In addition, the relationship between the sportsmen’s branch (team and individual), age, educational background, marital status, active years in sports, and conceptualization of sexual harassment were examined.

Methodology:

The Subjects

Three-hundred and fifty-six elite sportswomen from various branches of athletics: weightlifting (eight), football (thirty-six), taekwondo (fifty-two), basketball (twenty-six), swimming (eighteen), handball (seventy-eight), volleyball (forty-two), table tennis (eighteen) gymnastics (twenty-two), and miscellaneous (fifty-six) voluntarily participated in this study. Before the training, in the changing room, sportswomen from team and individual sports were given information about the study and the questionnaire. Completed questionnaires were returned to the researchers in sealed envelopes by the participants or the coaches.

Data Collection Tool

After a detailed study of the related research, a twenty-item questionnaire was prepared and piloted on fifty students from Ankara University, College of Sports to check validity and reliability. The Alfa reliability coefficient was 0.86. Before asking sportswomen of different branches to fill out the questionnaires, they were given the necessary information and the questionnaires were distributed in closed envelopes. These consisted of twenty questions, the first five of which involved personal information (age, sports branch, training age, educational background, marital status), and the rest of which were multiple choice questions about sexual harassment. The focus of these multiple choice questions concerned the frequency of sexual harassment incidents, the harasser, the affective dimension, actions against harassment, and the location of the incidents.

Statistical Analysis

The data were analyzed by use of SPSS (7, 5) program. The descriptive statistics was referred to in order to identify the relation between data via the chi-square test. For the analysis of personal information and other responses, frequency (f), percentage (%), arithmetical mean (x), and standard deviation (SD) were referred to. By use of the chi-square test, the relationship between the sportsperson’s branch (team and individual), age, educational background, marital status, active years in sports, and relation to sexual harassment were examined. Finally, the level of significance was found to be p<0.05.

Findings:

Table 1: Personal Information about Participating Sportswomen
Variables Number Percentage (%) Total
Age <19
>20		 190
166		 53.4
46.6		 356
Educational
Background		 High School
College		 110
246		 69.1
30.9		 356
Marital
Status		 Married
Single		 18
338		 5.1
94.9		 356

Table 1 provides personal information about the elite sportswomen. For age, 53.4% of the participants were under the age of 20 whereas 46.6% were above 20. For education, 69.1% were college graduates while 30. 9% were high school graduates. Finally, the marital status rate was 94: 9% were single and 5.1% were married. The branches of participants are displayed in Table 2.

Table 2: Branch Distribution of Sportswomen
Sports Branch Number Percentage (%)
Athletics 56 15.7
Weightlifting 8 2.2
Football 36 10.1
Taekwondo 52 14.6
Basketball 26 7.3
Swimming 18 5.1
Handball 78 21.9
Volleyball 42 11.8
Table Tennis 18 5.1
Gymnastics 22 6.2
Total 356 100

In addition, it was found that the sportspersons had four to ten years of active sport experience.

4-6 Years11632.7

Table 3: Experience
Duration of
Participation in Sport		 Number Percentage (%)
1-3 Years 26 7.3
7-9 Years 124 34.8
10+ Years 90 25.3
Total 356 100

The results revealed that out of 356 sportswomen, 56.2% declared that they had been exposed to sexual harassment, whereas 43.8% declared the opposite ( see Table 4). The most frequent sexual harassment type was ‘come-ons’ by 26.4%, ‘unwelcome jokes, questions and ‘sexual utterances’ by 25.3%, and ‘unwelcome letters and phone calls’ by 24.2%.

Table 4: Frequency of Exposure to Harassment
Frequency Number Percentage (%)
Yes 200 56.2
No 156 43.8
Total 356 100

In addition, the harassers were identified as ‘spectators’ by 40%, ‘teammates’ by 33.1%, and ‘the trainer’ by 24.8% (see Table 5). As to the frequency of exposure to these kinds of problems, once in a sportswomen’s life was 12.4%, once to three times was 30.9%, four to eight times was 7.3%, five to eight times was 5.1% and continuous was 3.9%. Sexual harassment occured during the following times: 21.3% after games, 19.7% after trainings, 9% before or during games, and 6.7% before games. As a reaction to harassment, 29.8% of the participants stated they ignored the harassment. In addition, 18.5% stated, “I told the harasser not to do it” and 16.9% stated, “I stopped the harasser.”

Table 5: Type and Distribution of Harassment
Types of Harassment Trainer Manager Teammate Spectator Other Total
No % No % No % No % No % No %
Come-ons 16 4,5 16 4,5 24 6,7 34 9,6 4 1,1 94 26,4
Unwelcome Jokes,
Questions or Sexual
Utterances		 18 5,1 18 5,1 30 8,4 22 6,2 2 0,6 90 25,3
Unwelcome Asking Out 14 3,9 14 3,9 28 7,9 26 7,3 4 1,1 86 24,2
Unwelcome Letters or
Phone Calls		 14 3,9 8 2,2 18 5,1 28 7,9 6 1,7 74 20,8
Sexual Exposure of the
Body		 2 0,6 8 2,2 8 2,2 20 5,6 4 1,1 42 11,8
Light Touching 22 6,2 – – 6 1,7 10 2,8 4 1,1 42 11,8
Clearly Touching 2 0,6 2 0,6 4 1,1 2 0,6 2 0,6 12 3,4
Rape – – – – 2 0,6 – – 2 0,6 4 1,1
Total 88 24,8 68 19,1 118 33,1 142 40 28 7,9

As to location, 45.5% of the sportswomen stated that the gym or game field is the place where sexual harassment primarily occurs (Table 6). A high percentage of sportswomen (69.1%) believed that sport apparel does not promote sexual harassment, while 29.2% accepted that there was a relationshp between the two.

Table 6: Locations of Sexual Harassment
Location No. Percentage (%)
Gyms or Game Field 162 45.5
Changing Room 14 3.9
Equipment Room 2 0.6
Other 62 17.6

Whether sexual harassment affects the performances of the sportswomen was a subject of varying opinions. The percentage that answered that it didn’t change performance was 36%, the percentage that felt it created a decrease in performance was 18.5%, and the percentage that felt that it increased performance was 2.2%. The duration of the decrease in the performance was felt by most to last “less than a week”. The most frequent reaction to sexual harassment is ‘anger’ by 20.8 % (see Table 7).

Table 7: Psychological Reactions of Sportswomen after Being Harassed
Reaction No Percentage (%)
Anger 74 20.8
Fear 40 11.2
Desperation 20 5.6
Inferiority and Worry 22 6.2
Depression _ _
Guilt 4 1.1
No Feelings at All 6 1.7
Other 36 9.1

As for the physical/physiological reactions to these kinds of incidents, ‘headache’ was the largest reactant at 37.1 % (see Table 8). The subsequent actions taken by the sportswomen also varied: 53.9% said they “have done nothing”, 1.7% indicated “having seen psychological counselors,” and 1.7% indicated “having taken tranquilizers.’

Table 8: Physical/ Physiological Reactions of Sportswomen after Being Harassed
Physical Reaction No Percentage (%)
Headache 74 20.8
Insomnia 40 11.2
Heartburn 20 5.6
Tiredness 22 6.2
Nausea- Vomiting – –
Dizziness 4 1.1
Irregular Menstruation 6 1.7
Other 36 10.1

The harasser was identified as ‘a friend’ by 37.2%, as ‘family’ by 9.0%, and as “the trainer” by 5.1%. That sexual harassment is a problem was partially agreed to by 52.2% of the participants; 29.8% saw it as a real problem, and 18% did not see it at all as a problem.

On the other hand, the relationship between the sports branches (especially team sport) and sexual harassment was found to be significant (p 0.05). Likewise, for age (especially 20 or above), educational background (especially college graduates) and sexual harassment, the significance level was found to be p 0.05. Nevertheless, the relationship between the duration of experience, martial status, gender of the trainers, and sexual harassment was not significant (p 0.05).

Discussion:

To reach the optimum level of performance, training and game conditions for sportswomen should be secure (Brackendridge et al., 2000). More importantly, the low number of female trainers in our country makes this topic more critical. The research shows that the number of sportswomen and female trainers is much fewer than that of men (Anonymous, 1991). In our study, 84.3% of the women’s trainers were men, whereas 15.7% were women. The studies conducted in the U.S. also supported this rate (Lackey, 1990). The harassers generally turned out to be sportsmen and male trainers. In addition, as the perceptions of men and women differ, “unwelcome behaviors” may be taken to be less problematic by men. As a result, completely unwanted conduct may be considered acceptable by sportsmen (Brackendridge et al, 2000 & Seefelt, 1998). The studies so far states that the trainers are the ones abusing relationships (Brackendridge et al, 2000).

The fact that spectators are the most frequent harassers underscores the fact that the low education level of Turkey may be reflected by the conduct of spectators. In this study, 56.2% of sportswomen declared that they had been harassed, whereas the study conducted on 301 Israeli and American sportswomen by Fedjin et al. showed a harassment rate of 14% (Fedjin et al., 2001). This study defined harassers in the following manner: 40% were spectators, 33.1% were teammates and 24.8% were trainers. The most frequent type of harassment turned out to be ‘come-ons’ at 26.4% followed by ‘unwelcome jokes, questions, and sexual utterances at 25.3%, which are the highest, according to studies in the U.S. (Lackey, 1990).

Sexual harassment may occur once; on the other hand, unwelcome sexual conduct may take place repeatedly (Anonymous, 2000; Brackendridge, et al, 2000). The first study about sexual harassment on women in Turkey concluded that 56.2% of the sportswomen had been subjected to sexual harassment at least once. In many other countries, findings show that every three to four sportswomen experience sexual harassment before adolescence (Brackendridge, 1997; Brackendridge et al., 2000). More than 90% of the victims of harassment are negatively influenced emotionally (Brackendridge et al., 2000; Ian, 2000). This study acknowledged that having been psychologically affected, sportswomen have feelings of anger, fear, weariness, loss of self confidence, and loneliness.

The findings for the physical/physiological effects of harassment were parallel to those of other studies (Brackendridge et al, 2000; Charney et al., 1994). The location of harassment occurs 45.5% of the time at the gym or sports field and 21.3% of the time after a game; Kirby and Graves (1997) argued that sexual harassment doubled during trips for trainings.

Of the participants, 69.1% did not agree on the relationship between sportswear and harassment; 29.2% did. Furthermore, no clear relation was identified in the related research; it was considered simply a risk factor (Brackendridge et al., 2000).

A significant relationship of p 0.05 between the branches (especially team sports), age groups (especially the group of 20 or above), educational background (especially the college group), and sexual harassment was found. Female athletes in team sports are at higher incidences of harassment than in individual sports in Turkey (GSGM 2006). Indeed, it is highly popular to participate in team sports such as volleyball, basketball, and handball among females in Turkey. Therefore, it can be proposed that sexual harassment in team sports in Turkey is increased due to the increased interest of spectators. The study on the health staff found that young nurses are the most frequently harassed group in Turkey (Kisa et al., 1996). Other studies conducted in Turkey displayed these findings: 14% of working women are harassed (Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 2004; Milliyet Newspaper, 2004). This is widely observed in hospitals (Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 2004). Sportswomen, at the beginning of their professional life, get discouraged if subjected to harassment. They tend to leave the sports club. On the contrary, some of the elite sportsmen declared that, independent of the trainers, they succeeded in becoming members of the groups that helped prevent harassment. However, due to their lack of self-confidence, they relate their successes to other people (trainers, managers, etc.). Therefore, we can conclude that instead of coping with harassment, they tend to leave the profession (Brackendridge et al., 2000). The relation between active sports years, marital status, and harassment was found to be insignificant (p 0.05).

Conclusion:

Out of 356 participant sportswomen, 56.2% declared that they had been exposed to sexual harassment while 43.8% did not. The most frequent sexual harassment was stated to be ‘come-ons’ at 26.4% followed by ‘unwelcome jokes, questions and sexual utterances at 25.3%, and ‘unwelcome letters and phone calls’ at 24.2%.

As regards sources of harassment, 40% claimed that spectators, 33.1% teammates, and 24.8% trainers were guilty of harassment. The rate of sexual harassment varied. Of the participants, 12.4%, declared it occurred only once, 30.9% said that it occurred one to three times, 7.3% said that it occurred four to eight times, 5.1% said that it occurred five to eight times, and 3.9% declared continuous harassment.

As to the timing of the harassment, 21.3% stated it happened after the game, 19.7% after the training, 9.0% before/during the training, and 6.7% before the game. Of the participants, 29.8% said, ‘I ignored the act’, 18.5% said, ‘I told that person not to,’ and 16.9% said, ‘I prevented the behavior.’

The most frequently occurring location for harassment, noted by 45.5%, was the gym or the field. Of the participants, 69.1% did not accept the existence of a relationship between the clothing and harassment, while 29.2% did.

When questioned, 36% stated no change in their performances, whereas 18.5% expressed a decrease in performance in the case of harassment. The duration of the decrease was stated by most as ‘less than a week’. The most common psychological reaction to harassment was found to be ‘anger,’ at 20.8%.

The most frequent physical reaction of sportswomen to harassment was headaches (37.1%). Of the participants, 53.9% declared that they did nothing to overcome the reactions, 1.7% acknowledged that they have seen counselors and 1.7% have taken tranquilizers. In addition, 37.2% have reported the incident to a friend, 9.0% to family, and 5.1% to a trainer. Finally, 52.2% accepted the harassment as a partial problem, 29.8% as a larger problem, and 18% as no problem at all.

Recommendations for Further Study:

Sportswomen are exposed to sexual harassment in Turkey. Therefore, the following recommendations should be considered. Information sessions on ‘sexual harassment’ for sportswomen from different branches should be inititated. Practical rules, security guidelines, and other materials should be prepared to increase the security of sportswomen. Sportswomen should enroll in self-defense training. Harassers should be punished with a preventative and appropriate punishment. Working conditions must improve to discourage harassment. Sports managers should take measures to prevent harassment towards sportswomen (eg. escorting sportswomen, making the gym and sport fields safer). Harassed women must be helped to recover and regain their status and self-confidence.

References:

Anonymous (1991). Official paper from the Prime Ministry General Directorate for Youth and
Sports. Ankara.

Anonymous (2000). Official paper from the National Association for Sports and Physical Education (NASPE), 1-5. Sexual Harassment in Athletic Settings. Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/naspe

Brackendridge, CH. (1997). Researching sexual abuse in sport. In Clarke G, Humberstone B.
(Eds.) Researching Women Sports. (pp. 126-141). London: Macmillan.

Brackendridge, CH & Cert Ed. (2000) Harassment, sexual abuse and safety of the female athletes. Clinics in Sports Medicine, 19(2), 187-199. April.

Charney, D. A. and Russell, R.C. (1994), An overview of sexual harassment. Am. J. Psychiatry. 151 (1). 10-17.

Cumhuriyet Newspaper (2004). The Nightmare of the working women. pp. 18 December. Fedai, T. & Teke, K. (2000). Sexual harassment: importance in hospital management. Journal of Health and Society. 10(2). 17-21, April.

Fedjin, N. and Hanegby, R. (2001). Gender and Cultural Bias in Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in Sport, International Review for the Sociology, 36 (4), 459-478.

GSGM (2006), Genclik ve Spor Genel Mudurlugu, http://www.gsgm.gov.tr/sayfalar/istatistik/istatistik_index.htm

Ian Holmes (2001). Policy on Harassment. Retrieved April 4, 2005, from http:/www.australiansoccer.com.au/pdfs/fairplay/800-6-Circular%2024-2001.pdf

Kirby, S. & Graves, L. (1997, July). Foul Play: Sexual Harassment in Sports. Paper Presented at the Pre- Olympic Scientific Congress, Dallas, TX.

Kisa, A. & Dziegielewski, F. S. (1996). Sexual harassment of female nurses in a hospital in
Turkey, Health Service Management Research, 9, 243-253.

Lackey, D. (1990), Sexual harassment in sports. Physical Educator, 47(2), 22-26.

Milliyet Newspaper (2004). They are not complaining about harassment. pp. 16 December.

Seefelt, V. (1998). Understanding Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Power in Athletic Settings, YSI home page, 1-4.

Appendix: The Questionnaire

Dear sportsman,

Sexual harassment, though not a new issue in our country, has been on the agenda of Western countries for a long time. In many of the sport branches, the number of female trainers is low, which makes this issue significant.

The purpose of this study is to examine sexual harassment incidents by trainers, administrators, spectators, etc. toward elite sportswomen from different branches. Your responses to this questionnaire will not be used anywhere else. The success of this study depends on your complete and correct answers. I thank you for your help and cooperation.

The Researchers

1. Age?
2. Sport branch?
3. For how many years have you been actively involved in sports?
a- 1-3    b- 4-6    c- 7-9    d- 10+
4. Educational level?
a- High school    b-University    d-Other:_____________
5. Marital status?
a- Married    b-Single    c- Separated/Divorced    d-Widow/er
6. The following is a definition of sexual harassment: intentional or repeatedly unwelcome words or physical contact. The following are considered to be actions of sexual harassment: come-ons, unwelcome jokes, questions and sexual utterances, sexually explicit hand movements and facial gestures, unwelcome invitations out, unwelcome letters and phone calls, sexual exposure of part of the body, a soft touch to the body, a clear touch to the body (eg. touching breasts), and rape.

7. Based on this definition, have you ever experienced sexual harassment?
a-Yes    b-No
8. Please mark the following that apply to your experience.

‘

Trainer Administrator Teammate Spectator Other
Come-ons
Unwelcome jokes, questions and sexual
utterances
Unwelcome asking out
Unwelcome letters and phone calls
Sexually exposing any part of the body
A soft touch to the body
A clear touch to the body
Rape -tendency to rape

9. How many times you have experienced this kind of sexual harassment?
a- once    b- 1-3 times    c- 4-8 times    d- 8-15 times    e- continuously

10. When did you experience sexual harassment?
a-before/during training    b-after training    c-before game    d-after game
11. How did you find solutions when you experienced sexual harassment? (may circle more than one choice).

a-I ignored the act.    b-I took it as teasing.    c-I prevented the behavior.
d- I told that person not to.    e-I reported it to my teammates, trainer and administrators.
f-Other, please write _____________________
12. Where did you experience sexual harassment? (may circle more than one choice)
a- Gym    b-Changing room    c-Equipment room    d-Other (please write) _________________
13. Do you believe that there is a relationship between the uniforms on the field and sexual harassment?
a- Yes    b- No
14. How has your performance changed since the incident?

a- My performance increased.    b- There was no change in my performance.
c- My performance decreased.
15. If your performance decreased, how long did that last? (based on the latest incident).
a-Less than a week    b-1 week- 1 month    c-1 month- 3 months    d-Less than 6 months
16. How did you react to this incident? (You may circle more than one choice.)
a- Anger    b- Fear    c- Desperation    d- Inferiority    e- Depression    f- Guilt    g- No feelings
h-Other reactions (please write)______________________________________.
17. Which of these physical complaints did you have after the incident of sexual harassment? (may circle more than one choice)

a- Headaches    b- Insomnia    c- Heartburn    d- Fatigue    e- Nausea-vomiting    f- Dizziness
g- Irregular menstruation    h-Other:________________________________________
18. To overcome the physical complaints, what have you done?

a-I have changed my eating habits.    b-I have taken tranquilizers.
c-I have had psychological guidance or therapy.    d- No actions taken

19. Whom did you talk to about this sexual harassment incident?

a-My spouse    b-My family    c-My sibling    d-One club administrator    e-My friend    f-My trainer
g-Other:_____________________________________________
20. What is the gender of your trainer:
a- Male    b-Female
21. Do you think sexual harassment is a problem in sports?

a- Yes    b- No    c-Partially

2016-10-12T14:47:06-05:00March 14th, 2008|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Coaching, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology, Women and Sports|Comments Off on Incidents of Sexual Harassment in Turkey on Elite Sportswomen
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The Demise of the WNBA in Florida: A Mixed Method Case Study of Newspaper Coverage about Women’s Professional Basketball

Submitted by: Frederick L. Battenfield, Bosmat M. Dzaloshinsky & Samuel Y. Todd

The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a hot phenomenon on the American sports scene. With its recent popularity, the question has been raised as to whether newspaper coverage of the teams is pivotal to the survival of the fledgling franchises. This study sought to discover if the actual coverage of the Miami Sol and the Orlando Miracle, two now defunct WNBA teams, affected the demise of the franchises.

Our mixed method case study compared a qualitative inquiry (interviews) with an empirical examination of the newspaper coverage. It examined the development of coverage for the two franchises, story placement, the average number of column inches for each story, use of photographs, and story content. It attempted to discover the viewpoints of the beat writers for the two teams at the Miami Herald and the Orlando Sentinel. Additionally, a perspective was shown of how prevalent the Sol and Miracle public relations directors think their teams’ coverage is.

The study examined whether women were depicted as sex objects through commoditization or objectification, whether gender marking was present in the stories, and whether the coverage was written from a female or male perspective.

By examining the newspaper coverage of the most popular women’s sport in our country, conclusions were drawn as to whether the sports media has accepted the popularity of women’s sports, or whether masculine hegemonic practices of sports editors are still in place.

Introduction:

The conceptual genesis of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the “We Got Next” campaign, with the approval of the male dominated NBA Board of Governors, was formally approved on April 24, 1996 amidst great fanfare from women’s professional basketball enthusiasts. Shortly thereafter, the new women’s league began its trek toward a June 1997 date for its first official tip-off. Many “firsts” soon followed: the league’s first commissioner, Val Ackerman, was hired; Lisa Leslie became the first woman to sign a contract; broadcast partnerships with NBC, ESPN, and Lifetime Television were inked; and eight fledgling franchises were initiated throughout the United States.

What didn’t follow amidst the hoopla surrounding the new league was extensive media coverage. To examine this phenomenon, a mixed method case study of Florida’s two now defunct WNBA franchises, the Orlando Miracle and the Miami Sol, was conducted to show that not only was limited newspaper coverage by the two major newspapers in the teams’ coverage areas partially to blame for the two franchises’ demise, but there was also a marked deference by sports editors to existing stereotypes regarding media content decisions.

The Orlando Miracle joined the WNBA as an expansion franchise in 1999. The Miami Sol followed its sister Florida team into the league in 2000. The Miracle lasted four seasons, and compiled a 60-68 record with one playoff appearance before the franchise was transferred to the Connecticut Sun in 2003. The Sol was in existence three years and it amassed a record of 48-48 with one playoff appearance before it was disbanded in 2003.

This study will seek to discover if newspaper coverage by the two respective newspapers, the Miami Herald and the Orlando Sentinel, contributed to the short tenure of the two ill-fated WNBA teams in the state of Florida. Newspaper coverage of women’s professional basketball in the United States has been marginal in the markets where the WNBA competes. Boutilier and SanGiovanni (1983) referred to newspaper coverage of women’s sports as ghettoization because sports editors generally treat women’s sporting news as essentially not newsworthy. When coverage exists, it is assigned to non-prominent space (Boutilier & SanGiovanni, 1983). Some experts believe that sports editors act as gatekeepers and, through their purported biased decision-making, erect barriers to coverage, adversely affecting female participation (Matheson and Flatten, 1996). Others hypothesize that hegemonic theory (Gramsci, 1971; Sage, 1998), or the power to sanction the power and privilege over women in sport (Daddario, 1994), is the basis of the discriminatory coverage exerted by sports editors. The symbiotic relationship between mass media and sport reinforces the importance and power of sport that is embedded in our cultural landscape. However, the mass media is also a controlling the institution that creates, reinforces, and perpetuates our society’s existing hegemonic order. Graber (1997) stated that the biased process mass media utilizes to determine what will get into print is directly correlated to the reinforcement of existing cultural norms in American society. Stories chosen for prominent coverage are selected on the basis of enforcing and subsequently intensifying the power of the media to reinforce dominant cultural values determined by the elite.

The purpose of the study is to examine the newspaper coverage of the two WNBA teams in light of the previously mentioned hegemonic practices of the sports editors. We began with a qualitative study where the sports editors, beat writers, and team public relations directors were interviewed (questions are presented in Appendix 1). Based on the predominant themes and issues that were revealed by the interviews, we then conducted a content analysis to examine the findings empirically.

Background:

The significance of sports in the United States is illuminated by recent surveys indicating that 30% of the public says it purchases newspapers primarily for the sports section. In several major market newspapers, nearly 50% of the non-advertising space is devoted to sports, which has five times the readership of any other section (Sage, 1990). It can be presupposed that media coverage of women’s sporting endeavors is a critical issue related to the future development of women’s sport for variety of reasons; the media plays a central role in creating the public profile and image of women’s sport; the media has the power to provide role models for other sportswomen, or women who may take part in sport; and media coverage, particularly television exposure, is often a major factor in securing commercial sponsorship (The Sports Council, 1995).

Historical analysis implies that the relationship between sport and the mass media is one of mutual interdependence and of reciprocal influence. Therefore, if the media has become the lens through which sporting images are portrayed, and is the convex mirror through which everything is reflected, then it can be claimed that sport and the mass media are inextricably linked in a mutually beneficial relationship (Snyder & Spreitzer, 1983).

Lever and Wheeler’s (1984) content analysis of sports pages of the Chicago Tribune from 1900 to 1975 found that women’s sports coverage in 1900 was 1.2% of the total paper. The coverage expanded to 4% between 1925 and 1950, but grew to only 7.1% by 1975. In an analysis of five newspapers, Woolard (1983) found that only 15% of the sports sections contained coverage of women’s sports. A recent content analysis of USA Today, The (Nashville) Tennessean, and the New York Times from 11 March to 7 April 1996 revealed that female athletes received a meager 11% of sport coverage (Huggins, 1996).

A recent study of the New York Times’ coverage of the 1995 women’s and men’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournaments confirmed that female athletes are receiving less coverage and are being framed as the “other” athletes (Silverstein, 1996). Silverstein conducted a quantitative and qualitative comparison of the newspaper’s coverage of the three-week event, including the number and length of articles, the size of photos and graphics, and the placement in the paper and sports section. The quantitative results indicated that there were three times as many articles, photos, and graphics on the men’s tournament as on the women’s, and there were eighteen features on male players and six on their coaches, compared to two on female players and four on their coaches. Further, the study found that men’s articles appeared on the front page of the sports section thirty-one times compared with four women’s articles. The qualitative findings revealed that the women’s tournament was framed as the “other” tournament, compared with the “real” tournament played by men.

The importance of newspaper photographs is underscored by the fact that photos are among the first news items to catch the reader’s eye. They often help to establish the context or frame of reference from which the reader interprets the accompanying story (Miller, 1975). Numerous content analyses of photographs in newspapers have found female athletes to be under-represented. For example, Miller (1975) conducted a content analysis of the photographs in the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post and found that males dominated the sport sections of both papers. The ratios of photos of men to photos of women were 16:1 (Washington Post) and 9:1 (Los Angles Times). Lee (1992) also discovered disparity when examining the photographs of female/male athletes participating in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympic Games. The ratio of photos of Olympic male athletes to those of Olympic female athletes was 2.2:1 in The Global and Mail, compared to 2.6:1 in the New York Times. Newspaper coverage of female athletes is often found in less prominent pages and sections. Bryant (1980) found that the location of articles about women’s sports was either the fourth and fifth or last pages of the sports section.

In summary, despite increasing opportunities and growing social awareness and acceptance for women participating in sport, research on media representation of women in sport in the U.S. has generally found that female athletes are under-reported. Often, the coverage is clouded by traditional, outdated, sexist coverage in electronic and print media.

Methods:

This study utilized a mixed methodology. We developed a list of questions to utilize in interviews with the sports editors and the assigned beat writers from the Orlando Sentinel and the Miami Herald. Additionally, the public relations directors for the Miracle and Sol were queried to determine the attitudes, perceptions, and motivations on media coverage of women’s pro basketball in Florida. Next, we summarized our findings and conducted a comprehensive two-year content analysis of the Orlando Sentinel and the Miami Herald to search for differences in the volume of actual stories and photographs related to the Sunshine State’s two (now former) WNBA franchises.

Sample:

Three distinct sampling decisions were used to conduct a content analysis study (Berelson, 1952). The first decision involves selecting the titles (specific newspapers). For this study, the purposive sampling technique was used. This technique involves the researcher choosing the sample based on the newspapers (titles) having similar characteristics, such as circulation and readership profiles. The second sampling decision relates to the issues or dates of the titles. In this study, the dates of the newspapers to be studied coincide with the dates of the 2000 and 2001 WNBA seasons, including two weeks prior to the beginning of the games and a week after the season concluded (May 1 2000- September 2 2000, and April 30, 2001 – September 2, 2001). The final sampling decision is the content to be coded from the newspapers. For the purpose of this study, the content to be coded included the front page of the newspapers, the front page of the sports section, and the entire sports section in both newspapers.

A sample of the two WNBA franchises in Florida, the Orlando Miracle and the Miami Sol, were selected for the current study to scrutinize trends in media coverage of relatively new teams in well-established sports metropolises. These newspapers were chosen because they are the largest periodicals in the respective cities of the teams. The Miami Herald is the most popular daily newspaper in Miami, with a daily circulation of 326,410, and a Sunday circulation of 441,564. This study investigates its coverage of the Miami Sol in its first two seasons in the WNBA. The Orlando Sentinel is the only daily newspaper in Orlando, with a daily circulation of 256,278, and a Sunday circulation of 378,172. The study investigates its coverage of the Orlando Miracle in its second and third seasons in the WNBA.

Qualitative Analysis:

We first compiled an interview schedule (list of questions), used to format extensive personal interviews with the sports editors and beat writers who collaborate in the decision-making process on the volume of media coverage of the Miami Sol and the Orlando Miracle. The public relations directors of both teams, who by the nature of their job descriptions were responsible for attempting to coax additional column inches for their respective organizations out of the sports editors, were also interviewed.

Qualitative research has several key characteristics that make it a valuable asset in collecting rich personal data directly from subjects. McMillan (2000) notes several key characteristics of qualitative research: 1) data collected in a natural setting, 2) direct data collection, 3) rich narrative descriptions, 4) process orientation (a process through which the data is collected), 5) inductive data analysis (generalizations inducted from synthesizing gathered data), 6) participant perspectives, and 7) emergent research design (entering the study with no preconceived notions about the subjects’ attitudes).

The specific methodology employed in the study is ethnography, or a qualitative research project whose purpose is rich description from an ’emic,’ or insider’s perspective. Rooted in anthropology, ethnography is a process by which the researcher seeks to discover cultural meanings from the data. The ethnographer identifies themes and patterns beyond the mere reporting of events and details, and seeks to provide an explanation of the sporting world in which we live.

Three methods of collecting data are common to ethnographic studies – participant observation, interviews, and analysis of documents (McMillan, 2000). In the study, two of these techniques were used – personal interviews and content analysis. The interviews were conducted with the three primary actors in the professional media context: the newspapers’ sports editors, the beat writers assigned by the papers to cover the teams, and the PR directors employed by the WNBA teams. The content analysis provided empirical data directly from the newspaper stories written about the Miracle and the Sol for the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

To insure the validity of the interviews, a semi-structured format was selected. Using McMillan’s (2000) information on formulating interviews, the researchers established contact with the subjects prior to the interviews to give them a general idea of the basic topics to be covered. The interviewer then let the interview process with all three subjects flow from the responses of the subject. Follow-up questions were asked if the collected information warranted.

The ethnographic approach provided a detailed analysis of the attitudes, perceptions, and motivations related the selection of and attempts to influence media coverage of the two teams. The team’s PR directors (PR area), beat reporters (newspaper staff writers), and sport editors (newspaper management) were the interview sample.

McMillan (2000) states this type of interview is utilized with individuals possessing insight and understanding into the problem. For the study, the key informant interview was used because the six people interviewed were experts on the respective subject areas, as detailed by their positions of employment.

Results:

An initial e-mail was sent to each of the potential interviewees. It included suggested questions, but also requested that they consider their thoughts about media coverage of the team they either worked for or covered as a member of the media. After receiving a confirmatory response from each person with an agreement to participate in the interview, each of the subjects was telephoned.

Following the interviews, data transcription occurred, and a comprehensive examination was performed to determine if thematic patterns could be found. First, an analysis of the responses from the team public relations directors depicted consistent coverage of both the Sol and the Miracle in both markets. Both PR directors concurred that they believed their teams should receive more coverage than was allocated by the respective hometown paper. A “grain of salt” explanation must be referenced because PR people have an understandable bias toward their teams, and would like to see more coverage in the local newspaper. In trying to determine the value of the team in the sport landscape (Is it a legitimate sporting entity, or an alternative sport offering like the X Games?), the PR directors were queried as to the teams’ position in the market. Both firmly believed the WNBA is a legitimate entry into professional sports and has a long-term future.

Both the Sol and Miracle PR directors responded to a question about their relationships with the beat writers and sports editors in a positive manner. In their opinions, both beat writers were genuinely interested in covering the teams, and were not there because they had been assigned to the beat. They reported that their relationships with their respective sports editors were cordial and professional, but mentioned that the editors viewed the WNBA team as just another entry-level sport that should be placed in the second tier of sports coverage. The results from the content analysis of the Miami Herald and the Orlando Sentinel clearly showed that both WNBA teams received extensive coverage in June at the beginning of the season. However, the column inch count from both newspapers showed a significant drop once professional football training camps began in late July.

A highly entrenched tier system of media coverage is one phenomenon that emerged from the research. Interviews with the sports editors revealed that they placed coverage of the ‘Big 4’ pro teams (baseball, basketball, football, and hockey) first before making any other space allocations. The WNBA fell into the second tier, which puts it on a parallel with college sports, minor professional sports, and entities like major league soccer, pro tennis, golf, and other events that occur periodically through the year. Related to the tier system, both editors concurred that when the month of July started and professional football training camps opened, a manifest decline in WNBA coverage occurred. The primary reason the WNBA season is played in the summer is to avoid conflict with three of the four ‘Big 4’ sports. The content analysis results clearly showed that when football pre-season training camp began, the column inch count of the WNBA plummeted. One beat writer bluntly stated, “When the ‘Fins’ begin, the space goes.”

The PR directors also surmised that media coverage was poor in half of the twelve WNBA cities, and that their spaces in the local Florida papers were better than the majority of the league. One PR director noted that the 2001 league champion Los Angeles Sparks received minimal exposure in the Los Angeles Times until they were deep into the league playoffs.

From the PR directors’ perspective, the primary obstacle to more team coverage is the sports editor. If the sports editor takes a personal interest in the team, the coverage increases. If an editor was only marginally interested, the teams would receive the same coverage as a second tier fringe sport. However, the PR people deduced that the mere existence of the league shows that “baby steps” have been taken in the drive to obtain more space in print media for women’s pro basketball.

Second, interviews with the beat writers of the two teams provided crystal clarity into the issue of media coverage of women’s pro basketball. A surprise to the researchers was that both beat writers were hired specifically to cover the WNBA teams. In the past, sports editors assigned the “unwanted” beat to a less-experienced writer. For the Sol and the Miracle, the beat writers had either covered women’s pro basketball in another city or had been major college women’s basketball writers. These factors indicate that the sports editors were taking a professional approach to WNBA coverage and were not relegating it to the third tier of coverage (for example, high schools, outdoors, bowling, or running).

The beat writers both noted that coverage of the team dropped off after the All-Star break (mid-July). This confirms the hypothesis mentioned by the PR directors that the beginning of pro football training camp signals a drop in space allotment for women’s basketball. One writer mentioned that the sports editor sent out an e-mail that said there would be fewer team notebooks (notes columns), less game advances, and shorter team stories. One writer said space would not improve for WNBA coverage under the current sports editor.

Obstacles to better coverage noted by the beat writers were the national economy (fewer ads mean fewer pages, and less available space), newspaper cutbacks for economical reasons, lots of competition for space in the sports world (there are hundreds of sports events going on all over the nation each day), an uphill battle for respectability for women’s professional basketball, and a fight inside the newspaper to make change happen. Solutions to those obstacles noted by the beat writers were: 1) winning – teams must win consistently to force coverage to happen; 2) teams proving themselves to the sports editors through increased attendance, emails/letters to the editor, general public interest; 3) convincing newspaper management that they can sell more papers by attracting new readers; and 4) convincing management that the WNBA is a solid professional sports commodity worthy of more coverage.

Third, the interviews with the sports editors were consistent with the supposition that newspaper readers prefer the ‘Big 4.’ Both sports editors responded that this alleged demand heavily influenced their editorial decisions. The editors of both the Miami Herald and the Orlando Sentinel stated that the start of football season is a defining factor in the coverage of the WNBA. When questioned about their space allocation policy for assigning space for second tier sports, both sports editors said that consistency in coverage was important. They tried to cover the team with a regular beat writer and allotted space for notebooks, advances, and feature stories. However, the content analysis study shows that coverage was consistent until July, but dropped systematically in both cities simultaneously. The sports editors pointed to smaller paper sections in the summer when there are fewer sports actually in season and space is limited. Both papers routinely rotated the Sol or the Miracle to page one of the sports section, but the content analysis showed that coverage in the Miami Herald was superior in its coverage of the WNBA.

Content Analysis:

A content analysis of the selected newspapers was employed to quantitatively examine the coverage of the 2000 and 2001 WNBA seasons. “Content analysis is fundamentally empirical in orientation, exploratory, concerned with real phenomena, and predictive in intent” (Krippendorff, 1980, p. 9). Berelson (1952) lists seventeen uses of content analysis, including three that frame this study: (1) to describe trends in communication content; (2) to construct and apply communication standards; and (3) to reflect attitudes, interests, and values (“cultural patterns”) of population groups.

Content analysis is “a method for examining the message or content of the media, such as newspapers, in order to draw inferences about encoding and decoding practices of the communication system (Rintala & Birrell, 1984, p. 232). Through content analysis, it should be possible to draw inferences about how a printed medium like a newspaper treats female athletes or how the media commits itself to coverage of female subjects (Vincent, 2000).

In content analysis studies, content, or as it is sometimes called, face validity, is normally relied upon. Content validity is usually established through the informed judgment of the researchers. It is often assumed that a measure self-evidently measures what it is supposed to if the categories are rigidly defined and the coding has a high degree of reliability (Vincent, 2000).

The units of analysis in this study for all print and photograph space were square inches and simple number counts. When either an article or a photograph began above the newspaper’s fold and then wrapped to the bottom, it was coded as if it began at the top of the page.

This study utilized one primary coder and one assistant who scanned the newspapers during each day of the two WNBA seasons for both teams. Therefore, there is a risk that the coders introduced bias because the task of imputing documents into the categories of analysis is largely a subjective process. An example of a subtle coder bias would be a coder’s understanding of the categories shifting over time, resulting in inconsistent coding. Another possible bias would occur if the coder prejudged the outcome of the research. To avoid introducing these kinds of bias and thus invalidating the study, a coder and assistant worked in close collaboration. Another method that was used in this study was re-coding of the data after a span of time (intra-observer agreement). This method will identify any problems deriving from inconsistency in coding, but will not identify researcher-induced bias.

Results:

Chi-square tests were used to compare the obtained distributions from the categorical data. Chi-square tests are appropriate when both variables are essentially categorical, making it impossible to carry out usual inferences in terms of means or variances (Hays, 1988). In addition to Chi-square tests, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to describe the differences in the metric dependent variable means among the newspapers.

Frequencies, means, and standard deviations for all variables of the local team coverage in the Miami Herald and the Orlando Sentinel are summarized in Table 1 and Table 2.

The Herald newspaper coverage of the local team was greater than the Sentinel coverage in column inches of stories, column inches of photographs, presence of a story, front-page tease, front page of the sports section, general locations of stories in the sports section, and presence of stories above the fold.

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics for the Local Team (Metric Variables)
DV Presence of a team story this day Front page tease Sports page 1 highlight Page no. in sports section A/B the fold
2000 Miami
(125)		 90(72%) 4(3.2%) 45(36%) 2-5: 1
(.8%)
6-10: 62
(49.6%)
11-20: 9
(7.2%)		 A: 58
(46.4%)
B: 32
(25.6%)
Orlando
(125)		 74(59.2%) 4(3.2%) 30(24%) 2-5: 43
(34.4%)
6-10: 29
(23.2%)
11-20: 1
(.8%)		 A: 61
(48.8%)
B: 11(8.8%)
X2 X2 (df=1)=4.538
p= .033		 X2 (df=1)=.00
p=1.0		 X2 (df=1)=4.286
p= .038		 X2 (3)=
58.467
p<.001
Total
Year
(250) 		164(65.6%) 8(3.2%) 75(30%) 2-5: 44
(17.6%)
6-10: 91
(36.4%)
11-20: 10
(4%)		 A: 119
(47.6%)
B: 43
(17.2%)
2001 Miami
(125)		 95(76%) 7 (5.6%) 57 (45.6%) 2-5: 48
(38.4%)
6-10: 36
(28.8%)
11-20: 11
(8.8%)		 A: 66
(52.8%)
B: 29
(23.2%)
Orlando
(125)		 74(59.2%) 1(.8%) 13(10.4%) 2-5: 0
(0%)
6-10: 91
(72.8%)
11-20: 0
(0%)		 A: 61
(48.8%)
B: 13
(10.4%)
X2 X2 (df=1)=8.054
p= .005		 X2 (df=1)=4.469
p=.031		 X2 (df=1)=38.413
p<.001		 X2 (3)=
83.069
p<.001
Total
Year
(250) 		169(67.6%) 8(3.2%) 70(28%) 2-5: 48
(19.2%)
6-10: 127
(50.8%)
11-20: 11
(4.4%)		 A: 127
(50.8%)
B: 42
(16.8%)
Standard Deviation in Parentheses

 

Table 2. Frequencies of the Non-Metric Dependent Variables for the Local Team
DV Column inches of story Column inches of photos
2000 Miami (125) 19.08 13.72
Orlando (125) 9.42 5.34
2001 Miami (125) 16.24 6.93
Orlando (125) 11.60 6.99
Average Years 00′ + 01′ Miami (250) 14.25 9.54
Orlando (250) 13.92 6.96
Average NP 00′ + 01′ Miami (250) 17.66 10.32
Orlando (250) 10.51 6.18
Average NP*Year Miami (250) 19.08 13.72
16.24 6.93
Orlando (250) 9.42 5.34
11.61 6.99
Standard Deviation in Parentheses

Discussion:

At the heart of the qualitative part of this analysis of the two Floridian newspapers, equal coverage of the local team, as well as the WNBA league, were expected. The data indicates that the Miami Herald coverage of the Miami Sol was significantly higher than that of the Orlando Sentinel of the Orlando Miracle. However, the coverage of the WNBA league as a whole was equal in both cities.

The results of the content analysis showed that there was a significant difference in coverage between the Miami Sol and the Orlando Miracle in the two newspapers. The explanation for this difference could be found in interviews with the beat writer and sports editor of the Miami Herald. Both interviewees indicated a firm commitment to covering the team on a wide basis. The beat writer was hired specifically from another newspaper to cover the team, and the space commitment allotted the team by the sports editor was shown to be much greater when compared to that of the Orlando Miracle by the Orlando Sentinel.

The analysis of the interviews with the PR directors, beat writers, and sports editors presented a poignant picture of the status of women’s professional basketball in relation to newspaper coverage in Florida. The stumbling block appears to be the sports editors, who have the difficult task of satisfying the voracious space appetite of the ‘Big 4’ while trying to balance the shifting public attitude toward the acceptance of women’s professional basketball.

Fink (1998) concluded that a sports establishment determined to preserve existing societal norms has long made newspaper coverage decisions. The image of female athletes is “in the hands of the media,” and the media has the power to influence societal thoughts and attitudes. With that in mind, Coakley (1998) stated that the primary dynamic in the filtering of news content is the sports editor. Within this process, preference is deferred to images and messages consistent with the dominant ideologies of society.

Studies have shown that 90% of sports editors in the United States are male (Duncan & Messner, 1998). Combining Fink’s (1998) thought that newspaper coverage preserves societal norms, or rather, the major male professional sports dominate the sports pages, with the fact that newsrooms are markedly male, it is easy ascertain a pattern explaining why coverage of a women’s professional league would fall into the second tier.

The study’s findings showed that only 5% of the sports sections were dedicated to the coverage of the respective WNBA teams during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. The qualitative section of the study showed women’s professional basketball has been relegated to “second tier” status by the sports editors of the papers. These findings are similar to that of Silverstein (1996), who revealed that women’s tournaments were purported to be the “other” tournament, while the men were playing the “real” tournament.

Conclusions:

The critical societal issues addressed in this study are directly related to the hegemonic and biased decision-making of sports editors in determining coverage of women’s professional basketball. Rintala and Birrell (1984) noted that people are strongly influenced by what they ‘hear, see, or read’ in the mass media. The content analysis study of the Miami Herald and the Orlando Sentinel revealed a discernable pattern of media coverage that was directly correlated with the purported tier system of sports assigned by the sports editors. Following the analysis of the actual content from two full seasons of newspaper coverage of the two WNBA teams, interview questions for the sports editors, beat writers, and public relations directors for the two respective teams were formulated. After transcription of the interviews, the data were analyzed and specific patterns of behavior by the sports editors emerged.

The sports editors at both the Herald and the Sentinel confirmed that the primary factor in the decision-making process for space allocation in the sports section is men’s professional sports. They cited “what the readers’ want” as their justification. However, neither editor could provide exact market research to confirm this process. Neither editor specifically stated that women’s pro basketball did not warrant more coverage. Quite the contrary, our content analysis of column inch count, placement of the stories, and the selection and size of photographs from both papers showed that early in the season (June and early July), the Sol and Miracle did receive a fair share of coverage. The percentage was higher during these months than any other entity (with the exception of professional baseball in Miami). However, a clear line of demarcation appeared the same day the Miami Dolphins opened pre-season training camp.

Ultimately, the primary reason for the departure of Florida’s two WNBA was money, or the lack thereof. Official attendance figures (Table 3) for the four seasons of the Miracle and three seasons of the Sol indicate different results. The Sol was consistently in the middle of the WNBA in attendance, with a three-year average of 8,556 (Women’s Basketball Online, 2005). The Miracle, however, was near the bottom of league figures with a four-year average of 7,873. By contrast, the Washington Mystics led the WNBA in attendance three of the four years that the two franchises played, with an average of 15,589. The WNBA does not release official financial results, but media estimates indicate a multi-million dollar loss per season for each franchise.

Table 3. Official WNBA Attendance Figures – 1999-2002, WNBA Attendance, www.womensbasketballonline.com
Year Team Games Attendance Average League Rank League Leader
2002 Miracle 16 113,837 7,115 13 (16) Wash. Mystics 16,202
Sol 16 141,252 8,828 7 (16)
2001 Miracle 16 118,874 7,430 12 (16) NY Liberty 15,660
Sol 16 141,717 8,857 6 (16)
2000 Miracle 16 117,810 7,363 11 (16) Wash. Mystics 15,258
Sol 16 127,721 7,983 9 (16)
1999 Miracle 16 153,366 9,585 6 (16) Wash. Mystics 15,306

It cannot be definitively concluded that newspaper coverage was the principal factor that led to the demise of Florida’s two WNBA teams. However, the results of the content analysis of the Miami Herald and the Orlando Sentinel, in combination with our qualitative inquiry (interviews), clearly show that the space allocation decisions by the sports editors was a major contributing factor. Can it be surmised that if WNBA coverage was allotted on a tier one basis for the Sol and Miracle, that attendance would have increased, revenues would increase exponentially, and the two squads could still be playing in Florida?

Future research needs to be conducted to substantiate and confirm the hypothesis that sports editors subjugate coverage of women’s professional basketball to a second tier assignment, which in turn directly affects the attendance at games. Other research should center on examining coverage of the WNBA in all league cities to establish if there is a direct connection between WNBA coverage and space allocation.

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Appendix 1:
Interview Questions for Team PR Directors:

  1. What is the sports editor’s philosophy of women’s professional basketball coverage?
  2. What importance does the newspaper staff put on the WNBA team?
  3. How are space allocation decisions done in relation to other sports entities (Big 4, tier two, and tier three sports)?
  4. What is your relationship with the beat writer and the sports editor?
  5. What is your interest level of the beat writer (high, medium, low, or just another beat)?
  6. What is the level of freedom of beat writers to pitch story ideas?
  7. What is your interaction with newspaper management?
  8. What is your background in PR and experience with women’s basketball?
  9. What are your perceptions of the WNBA, management, team, players, and the future for the league?
  10. What is your attitude toward controversial issues facing the WNBA?
  11. How are the majority of stories on the team generated (press releases, contact with beat writers/sports editors, other?
  12. Do you believe a paradigm shift in the coverage of women’s basketball is occurring in this country?

Interview Questions for Beat Writers:

  1. What is your philosophy on the coverage of women’s professional basketball?
  2. What is your professional background in sports writing?
  3. How are the space allocations established for women’s pro basketball at your paper?
  4. Is this a coveted beat for you?
  5. How/why did you get this beat?
  6. Do you have the freedom to freelance on story ideas?
  7. What is your interaction with the PR person from the team?
  8. What is your interaction with team management, coaches, and players?
  9. What is the emphasis of the WNBA within the sports staff at the paper?
  10. Does the sports staff at the paper recognize the value of the WNBA as a sports entity worthy of coverage?
  11. Do you enjoy covering the team?
  12. What are your perceptions of the WNBA, the team, and management?
  13. What is your attitude toward the controversial issues surrounding the WNBA?
  14. What are your predictions/perceptions of what the future holds for media coverage of the WNBA?

Interview Questions for Sports Editors:

  1. What is upper management’s philosophy of coverage of women’s professional basketball?
  2. Is the WNBA considered a second tier sport in the paper’s coverage philosophy?
  3. What is your personal philosophy in the coverage of women’s pro basketball?
  4. Is there a difference in the coverage of other second tier sports and women’s pro basketball?
  5. What is your professional background in journalism?
  6. What factors must be considered when deciding space allocation for coverage of the local WNBA team?
  7. How were the beat writers assigned to the teams?
  8. Will the beat writers be able to submit story ideas and notebook content without the prior approval of the sports editor?
  9. What is the interest level of the beat writer in the team?
  10. What is your relationship with the team PR person, team management, coaches, and players?
  11. How many WNBA games did you attend last season?
  12. What is your overall perception of the WNBA as a whole? Was it professionally organized, is there a significant interest in continuing the league, and have you had contact with the league office in New York?
  13. What is your attitude toward the controversial issues connected with the WNBA?
  14. What are your perceptions of the future of the WNBA and women’s professional basketball?
  15. Do you think there is a gradual shift in the coverage of women’s pro basketball in this country?
2020-06-02T11:24:35-05:00March 14th, 2008|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Management, Women and Sports|Comments Off on The Demise of the WNBA in Florida: A Mixed Method Case Study of Newspaper Coverage about Women’s Professional Basketball
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Book Review: 2006 Sports Market Place Directory

Submitted by: Glaucio Scremin

The sports industry is a multifaceted, multibillion dollar industry. It encompasses a wide range of business segments, from sporting goods to stadium and arena construction. The 2006 Sports Market Place Directory brings a multiplicity of sports industry sectors together into the most comprehensive index of sport business resources available. Divided into ten sections, it contains thousands of listings on single, multi, and college sports, sporting events, meetings and trade shows, the sports related media, sports sponsors, professional sports services, sports facilities, and sports manufactures and retailers.

In addition, the 2006 Sports Market Place Directory contains a chapter with valuable statistical data on sports participation, sports consumer purchases, and attendance to collegiate sporting events. The sections are separately indexed for ease of use. The 2006 Sports Market Place Directory is a valuable resource for the sports business professional, and should be considered indispensable in academic and public libraries.

Book Review: 2006 Sports Market Place Directory
Edited by Richard Gottlieb.
Published in 2006 by Grey House Publishing: Millerton, NY
(1,888 pages, ISBN 1-59237-139-6).

2015-10-30T13:26:27-05:00March 14th, 2008|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Management|Comments Off on Book Review: 2006 Sports Market Place Directory
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The Sport Jounral

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