Virtual goods refer to virtual objects such as items, avatar clothing, weapons, virtual furniture, currencies, characters, and tokens that commonly exist solely within variety of virtual environments where they are usable ( Hamari & Keronen, 2017 ).
Published in Chapter:
Growth in Sport Media and the Rise of New Sport Fandom
Andrew Kim (University of Georgia, USA), Tyreal Yizhou Qian (Louisiana State University, USA), Hyun-Woo Lee (Texas A&M University, USA), Brandon Mastromartino (University of Georgia, USA), and James J. Zhang (University of Georgia, USA)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 22
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-3323-9.ch009
Abstract
Most aspects of life in contemporary societies permeate and are reciprocally influenced by the media. Sports are no exception. Each has influenced and depended on the other for its popularity and commercial success. Sports fans are individuals interested in and following sports through their psychological connections with teams or athletes. Nowadays, sports fans can watch different kinds of sport games or follow their favorite teams and athletes via various media platforms. Modern technology has substantially transformed the ways sports are consumed and has even created new platforms, such as esports. This chapter highlights modern sport fandom by starting from an overview of its growth with mainstream media and disentangling the currently intertwined dynamics of emerging trends. In particular, the authors discuss modern sport fandom by shedding light on the similarities and differences, underlining what causes, channels, and sustains individuals to consume sports, examining the consequences and results of fandom and highlighting contemporary research and developmental trends.