Digital Links
AI for Athletes Career Development Awareness Technology: Say No to Academic Clustering View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sanethia Thomas
An athletic scholarship is one of the highest sought after opportunities for athletes. Each year, there are roughly 180,000 athletic scholarships available for adolescent student athletes. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), individuals with a post-secondary education have a less likely chance for unemployment, they earn a higher income, and have greater job satisfaction. One should choose a major for their post-secondary education based on their interest, values, passion and abilities. But academic clustering prevents this choice among student athletes. Academic Clustering is defined as 25% or more of members of a sports team being enrolled into a single major, this is primarily represented in football and basketball. Academic Clustering is a result of adolescent student athletes not being well prepared for college. Research revealed that adolescent student athletes tend to view college as a means to obtain a professional sports career and they ignore other career options. To increase career awareness and help adolescent student athletes choose a college major and career, we have developed a customized career awareness software system specifically for those who play football. The system was developed using principles from culturally relevant computing and artificial intelligence natural language interfaces to give the user a personalized interaction. This research observed how 76 adolescent student athletes interacted with the system and how it impacted their career motivation. Results show that 70% of the participants were introduced to new career options, and 83% reported that the system helped them think more about their career goals.
Featured A Level Playing Field? How a Governing Body Promotes Its Men's and Women's National Teams through Social Media View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Steph Doehler
This study examines and compares the coverage of both the England men’s and women’s national soccer teams by their governing body, The Football Association (FA), immediately before, during, and immediately following their respective 2020 and 2022 European Championships. Content analysis of two of the FA’s official Twitter accounts demonstrate some positive shifts in the general representation of the women’s soccer team. However, concerns remain regarding the FA’s social media strategy whereby they promote the women’s team through a discrete profile rather than their general Twitter account, which has a much larger following. This paper argues that social media provides governing bodies with an opportunity to effectively promote their women’s teams and, as such, they hold significant responsibility to achieve this should they wish to see more equitable promotion of women athletes in the wider media.
Featured Digital Currency Trade Use/Impact on the Globalization of Sports Business View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ezzeldin R. Aly
If Bitcoin hits the $1 million price target by 2030, the $100 investment will turn into $6,070, which represents a gain of 5,970% from now until 2030. The hypothetical investment will have an average annual return of 746.3% if the price target is achieved. (Benzinga, 2022). This current study introduced digital currency, especially bitcoin, as it was the first cryptocurrency created as an e-gold and replaced real gold in the 1990s. After the economic crisis of 2008 in the USA, the door was opened for Bitcoin in 2009 as a cryptocurrency. Still, unlike e-gold, bitcoin is not backed by real gold but by the offer and demand made by the business community. Bitcoin was a real success and made many millionaires, especially in 2013 and 2014 when the value of bitcoin reached its peak. (Silver, 2016). The current study explained the significance of the stock market to sports legislation and the current and future use of digital currency in the field of sports business. This recent descriptive study used a review of the literature and research analysis from different sources, including data, statistics, information, and sport analytics predictions, articles, magazines, editorials, and periodicals to understand the effects of using digital currency, particularly bitcoin, on the rapidly growing and unexpected sports business worldwide. Results indicated that Bitcoin is one of the digital coins but, through the last five years, happened to high improve in value. Moreover, digital currency should be used in sports business transactions to achieve significant financial benefits.
A Study on User Participation in Sports Authority of India : A Perspective from Actor-Network Theory View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Supriya Ghadwal, Madhurima Das
The Sports Authority of India (SAI), in order to develop a more centralized system, has implemented several e-governance initiatives for administrative staff, coaches, and players which aim to make information accessibility and event scheduling easier, but it has faced challenges with respect to the adoption and perception of stakeholders. An digitalized information accessibility and management system can improve the current status of sportspersons in India, by making compensation, training facilities, and event information available in a single click. The development of such a system needs to take into consideration of different stakeholders who may be reluctant to adopt such a mechanism, which has been answered through the study. The study has been conducted by collecting data from 90 respondents including coaches, athletes, and administrative officers. The study has been conducted using qualitative interviews as well as focus groups. The Actor-Network theory has also been adopted to understand user participation in such initiatives by SAI. The study's primary purpose is to identify the role of user participation in developing a better e-governance system for SAI based on Actor-Network theory. The study has found positive willingness among coaches and administrative officers to use different e-governance initiative undertaken by SAI such is expected to improve the performance of players, however, barriers regarding technical knowledge and social perception still exist which needs to be addressed.
Human Rights and Sports Events: Media Images of the 2022 FIFA World Cup View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Wojciech Skucha
This paper is devoted to media coverage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The aim of the study is to present whether and how the issue of human rights in this country was reported in media during the World Cup, as well as before and after this tournament. This objective is relevant because the human rights violations in Qatar have been widely commented by the media and are still not extensively analysed in the scientific literature. The undertaken research may also make a significant contribution to the discipline of social communication and media sciences. As part of this study, a qualitative content analysis of media reports about the World Cup was made. The subject of research using the categorization key were articles published on the websites of TVP Sport (Polish TV station), WP SportoweFakty (Polish sports website) and BBC in the following periods: the week finishing the day of the opening game of the World Cup, the first and last week of the tournament, and the week following the grand final. Observations have shown that information about the human rights violations in Qatar or protests against them appeared usually more often in media before the World Cup and in the first days of this torunament. The resulting conclusions show that social issues were more important in media reports in the early stages of the tournament, while the presentation of media reports from two countries may also be a topic of further analyses for media researchers.
