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Background This study investigates the complex relationships between sports media use (SMU), sports participation behavior (SPB), and sports commitment. With the increasing consumption of sports media, it is essential to understand both the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of how media engagement correlates with participation and long-term commitment to sports. Objectives The study aims to investigate the relationship between SMU and SPB, as well as the mediating role of SPB in sports commitment, using a mixed-methods approach. Additionally, it explores individuals’ lived experiences to provide deeper insights into how media shapes engagement and commitment. Method A mixed-methods design was employed, integrating quantitative and qualitative data. A survey of 484 participants from diverse demographic backgrounds was conducted, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the relationships among variables. To complement these findings, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a subset of participants to explore their narratives surrounding media roles, sports behavior, and commitment. Thematic analysis was applied to interpret qualitative data. Results Quantitative findings revealed significant positive relationships between SMU and SPB and between SMU and sports commitment. SPB was found to partially mediate the relationship between SMU and sports commitment. The qualitative findings supported these results, highlighting key themes such as motivation, role modeling, and identity formation through media exposure. Participants described how sports media inspired them to engage in sports and reinforced their long-term commitment. Conclusions This study demonstrates that SMU plays a significant role in fostering sports participation and commitment, with SPB as a key mediator. The integration of qualitative insights strengthens these findings by illustrating the personal experiences and psychological mechanisms that drive engagement. These results underscore the potential of sports media for promoting sustained participation and commitment, offering practical implications for policymakers, educators, and sports organizations aiming to leverage media for greater sports engagement. Future research should explore cultural differences and the role of specific media content types to refine further our understanding of the media’s correlation with sports behavior.

Purpose – Sports tourism is one of the fastest-growing tourism sectors. Based on the uses and gratifications theory, this study investigates how different characteristics (i.e., information, entertainment, and engagement value) of destination management organisations’ (DMO) social media posts on sports tourism influence potential sports tourists’ social media usage, booking intentions, and intentions to spread positive word of mouth (WOM) about the destination. Methodology – We collected the study data through a combination of an online survey and paper-and-pencil questionnaires and used PLS-SEM to analyse the hypothesised relationships. Findings – Our results demonstrate that a high information value of a DMO’s post triggers booking intentions, while posts additionally need to have a high engagement value when it is also important to increase social media users’ WOM, and a third post characteristic – entertainment value – is essential when future social media usage intentions are to be increased. Originality of the research – The results of our study enable DMOs to choose the most critical post characteristics (information, entertainment, and engagement value) according to the respective objective pursued with their social media communication (i.e., increasing booking intentions, WOM, or future social media usage intentions). Prior research has not provided such insights that can enhance communication strategies.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate why do people spectate eSports on the internet. The authors define eSports (electronic sports) as “a form of sports where the primary aspects of the sport are facilitated by electronic systems; the input of players and teams as well as the output of the eSports system are mediated by human-computer interfaces.” In more practical terms, eSports refer to competitive video gaming (broadcasted on the internet). Design/methodology/approach The study employs the motivations scale for sports consumption which is one of the most widely applied measurement instruments for sports consumption in general. The questionnaire was designed and pre-tested before distributing to target respondents (n=888). The reliability and validity of the instrument both met the commonly accepted guidelines. The model was assessed first by examining its measurement model and then the structural model. Findings The results indicate that escapism, acquiring knowledge about the games being played, novelty and eSports athlete aggressiveness were found to positively predict eSport spectating frequency. Originality/value During recent years, eSports (electronic sports) and video game streaming have become rapidly growing forms of new media in the internet driven by the growing provenance of (online) games and online broadcasting technologies. Today, hundreds of millions of people spectate eSports. The present investigation presents a large study on gratification-related determinants of why people spectate eSports on the internet. Moreover, the study proposes a definition for eSports and further discusses how eSports can be seen as a form of sports.

Promotion of physical activity is a priority for health agencies. We searched for reviews of physical activity interventions, published between 2000 and 2011, and identified effective, promising, or emerging interventions from around the world. The informational approaches of community-wide and mass media campaigns, and short physical activity messages targeting key community sites are recommended. Behavioural and social approaches are effective, introducing social support for physical activity within communities and worksites, and school-based strategies that encompass physical education, classroom activities, after-school sports, and active transport. Recommended environmental and policy approaches include creation and improvement of access to places for physical activity with informational outreach activities, community-scale and street-scale urban design and land use, active transport policy and practices, and community-wide policies and planning. Thus, many approaches lead to acceptable increases in physical activity among people of various ages, and from different social groups, countries, and communities.

This study analyzed how the behavioral patterns of esports and authentic sports viewers differ, adopting user and gratification theory and media transportation theory. In particular, it was investigated whether there was a difference in behavioral patterns according to the experience of playing the sport even among authentic sports viewers. As a result of analyzing the relationship between viewers’ motivation and media transportation outcomes through structural equation modeling and multigroup structural equation modeling, it was observed that cognitive motivation was more important for esports viewers than for authentic sports viewers. A second analysis of comparisons among fans of authentic sports showed that viewers with sports experience had greater cognitive needs. This result shows that there is a difference between the viewer behaviors of esports and traditional sports, but it is concluded that the presence or absence of sports participation experience rather than content is the factor that separates the difference.

Background Few studies have assessed the use of dietary supplements, anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) and selective androgen receptor modulators (SARM) in male gym users. The comparison of physical appearance with others on social media and the exposure to fitness-related content on social media (i.e., image-centric social media use) may have a profound role in using these compounds due to its role in creating negative body images in male gym users. Objective Provide contemporary data on the use of dietary supplements, AAS and SARM among young male gym users, and test the hypothesis that social media is associated with the use of dietary supplements, AAS and SARM, as a result of a negative body image. Methods In this cross-sectional study, conducted in the Netherlands, male gym users ( N  = 2269; 24 ± 6 years) completed an online questionnaire including self-reported measures regarding resistance training participation, image-centric social media use, dietary supplement intake, and body image. The prevalence of AAS and SARM use was assessed with randomized response, a technique to ask sensitive questions indirectly. Results Of all participants, 83% used ergogenic dietary supplements (mainly protein and creatine), and an estimated 9 versus 2.7% had ever used AAS versus SARM. Image-centric social media use was positively associated with the use of dietary supplements ( r  = .26; p  < 0.01) and AAS ( p  < 0.05), but not SARM. Image-centric social media use was associated with a more dissatisfied body image ( r  = .34; p  < 0.01). Body image did not mediate the relationship between image-centric social media use and the use of doping compounds. Conclusions The use of dietary supplements in young male gym users is exorbitant, with the use of AAS and SARM being substantial. Image-centric social media use is positively associated with the use of dietary supplements and AAS.

Background Some studies suggest that elite athletes experience adverse mental health symptoms at rates commensurate with the general population, despite the well-established buffering effects of exercise. Within contact sports, such as ice-hockey, recurrent concussions may be a source of this discrepancy. We compared the point prevalence of various mental health outcomes with other athlete and general population samples, as well as investigated their relationship with concussive events. Methods We surveyed 648 active ice hockey players from the top two men’s tiers and the top women’s tier in Swedish elite ice hockey on lifetime concussive events, hazardous alcohol use, problematic social media use, depression, anxiety, and burnout. Results Hazardous alcohol use was more prevalent among male ice hockey players (29.5% AUDIT-C ≥ 6) compared to other athlete and general population samples, while other mental health symptoms were less common. Female ice hockey players reported higher hazardous alcohol consumption (36.4% AUDIT-C ≥ 4) than another athlete sample and more burnout (19.1%) than the general population. After adjusting for covariates, athletes with 3+ concussive events had 2.1 times the odds of elevated depressive symptoms and 3.5 times the odds of elevated burnout symptoms compared to those with no concussion history. Treating lifetime concussive events as a continuous predictor revealed positive correlations with all outcomes except for hazardous alcohol use. Conclusions Mental health outcome rates among active elite ice hockey athletes differ from those of other athlete and general population samples, whilst concussive events may be particularly linked to elevated symptoms of depression and burnout.

The phenomenon of “slutpages,” tied to high schools, fraternities, and the military, used to post, share, and comment on nude and semi-nude images of women, has emerged in mass media. To our knowledge, this is the first study to empirically investigate slutpage use behaviors including: visiting slutpages, posting nude images/videos online without consent, and using a vault app to store/share nude images. We conducted a survey of undergraduate college students attending a large Midwestern university in the U.S., with 1867 respondents (36.4% cis/transgender men, 63.6% cisgender women; 18–24 years old M  = 20.39) to determine who is engaging in slutpage use behaviors. Our results showed that younger participants and men were more likely to engage in slutpage use behaviors than older participants and women, especially if they participated in Greek Life or played a team sport for their university. Men in a fraternity or on a team sport visited slutpages and posted nude images/video online without consent more frequently than men outside these groups, or women in general. Drinking alcohol and using pornography more frequently were also associated with slutpage use behaviors. This study provides a new understanding of slutpages as a social form of image-based sexual abuse and informs researchers, educators, and policy makers to expand their inquiry into online sexual experiences and exploitation to include this phenomenon.

Social media have an ambivalent effect on the physical activity of young athletes. The purpose is to establish the relationship between young athletes' psychological disorders through the excessive use of social media. The main task was to analyze whether there is a deviation from training, which increases time spent on social media. Research methods. The study is based on the results of anonymous valid psychodiagnostic tools submitted to Google Forms and statistical analysis. Physical activity of young athletes (N = 110) aged 16 to 21 years was assessed on the scales of diagnostic tests, parameters of physical activity, time spent online, feelings of loneliness, and sleep disorders due to excessive use of social media during the global pandemic. Results. It was found that during quarantine, young athletes prefer to displace bad thoughts and distract from training for spending too much time on social media applications (rs = .202; p < .05). It was stated that young athletes experience negative emotions due to the situation with the coronavirus, which leads to the increased time spent on social media, which is a kind of coping strategy (rs = .340; p < .01). As a result of uncontrolled use of social media and reduced parameters of physical activity, competitive performance during the lockdown, young athletes face sleep disorders (rs = - .277; p < .01) and manifestations of depression (rs = .430; p < .01). Conclusions. It is empirically established and theoretically substantiated that there are causal links to excessive use of social media due to reduced parameters of physical activity. The decreased physical activity provokes an exacerbation of loneliness, training regimen, and recovery. It is noted that the \"mask of the active user\" encourages manifestations of depression, displacement of feelings, and problems, which leads to a decrease in the psychological well-being of young athletes.

PurposeEsports (electronic sports) are watched by hundreds of millions of people every year and many esports have overtaken large traditional sports in spectator numbers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate spectating differences between online spectating of esports and live attendance of esports events. This is done in order to further understand attendance behaviour for a cultural phenomenon that is primarily mediated through internet technologies, and to be able to predict behavioural patterns.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs the Motivation Scale for Sports Consumption to investigate the gratifications spectators derive from esports, both from attending tournaments physically and spectating online, in order to explore which factors may explain the esports spectating behaviour. The authors investigate how these gratifications lead into continued spectatorship online and offline, as well as the likelihood of recommending esports to others. The authors employ two data sets, one collected from online spectators (n=888), the other from live attendees (n=221).FindingsThe results indicate that online spectators rate drama, acquisition of knowledge, appreciation of skill, novelty, aesthetics and enjoyment of aggression higher than live attendees. Correspondingly, social interaction and physical attractiveness were rated higher by live attendees. Vicarious achievement and physical attractiveness positively predicted intention to attend live sports events while vicarious achievement and novelty positively predicted future online consumption of esports. Finally, vicarious achievement and novelty positively predicted recommending esports to others.Originality/valueDuring the past years, esports has emerged as a new form of culture and entertainment, that is unique in comparison to other forms of entertainment, as it is almost fully reliant on computer-human interaction and the internet. This study offers one of the first attempts to compare online spectating and live attendance, in order to better understand the phenomenon and the consumers involved. As the growth of esports is predicted to continue in the coming years, further understanding of this phenomenon is pivotal for multiple stakeholder groups.