Power Within the Olympic Rings?: Nationalism, Olympic Media Consumption, and Comparative Cases in Germany and the United States

• In Event: An Examination of Sports Consumption and Fandom

Abstract

A total of 1,025 respondents from the United States and Germany were asked questions about Olympic media consumption, fan involvement, and nationalized feelings over four data collection points before, during, and after the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. Nationalized qualities across four factors (patriotism, nationalism, smugness, and internationalism) varied little over time, with structural equation modeling indicating that these four qualities did have an effect on both fan involvement and the amount of Olympic media consumption. Models for the U.S. and Germany were also markedly different. Cultivation theory and disposition theory are utilized as lenses for further understanding of the results.

Authors

• Kenon A Brown, U of Alabama

• Andrew C. Billings, U of Alabama

• Christiana Schallhorn, Wuerzburg University

• Holger Schramm, U of Wuerzburg

• Natalie Brown, U of Alabama