Black Lives Matter to the NBA: The Impact of Sport Fanship and Political Affiliation on the Perception of the NBA’s Racial Justice Initiatives During the 2020 Playoff Bubble

in International Journal of Sport Communication

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Kenon A. BrownAlabama Program in Sports Communication, Department of Advertising and Public Relations, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

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Nicky LewisUniversity of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

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Matthew BarnidgeUniversity of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

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Courtney D. BomanUniversity of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2022-0150
Keywords:
social identity theory; fanship; political affiliation; National Basketball Association; survey
First Published Online:
21 Dec 2022
In Print:
Ahead of Print
Page Range:
1–15
Restricted access

The NBA’s (National Basketball Association’s) racial justice initiatives during the 2020 Playoff Bubble are considered an act of corporate social advocacy and provide an exemplary scenario to explore this intersection of sport and politics. Based on this observation, the purpose of this study was to explore how one’s level of identification with the NBA and his/her identification with a political party can impact one’s perception of the NBA’s racial justice initiatives. Specifically, the researchers wanted to determine if outrage toward the NBA and one’s perception of the NBA’s reputation is influenced more by one’s political identity or one’s fanship for the league. A survey was conducted using a national convenience sample of 518 participants recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Results showed that while both fanship and political identity had effects on one’s outrage toward the NBA and one’s perceived reputation of the NBA, the stronger factor differed between Democrats and Republicans.

Brown (brown@apr.ua.edu) is corresponding author.

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