“On the Tour, They’re Always Sticking a Microphone in Your Face”: Mediatization of Professional Tennis From the 1980s to the Early 2010s

Abstract

Although the intertwining of sports and media, especially in soccer and from an organization-centered perspective, has been highlighted in communication research, little attention has been paid to the perception and evaluation of the mediatization of professional tennis. The aim of this study was to close this research gap by presenting the athletes’ perspective. Based on the autobiographies of four top international athletes, we systematized their perceptions of the media before the rise of social media, using a qualitative content analysis. We demonstrate a significant influence of the media system and the perceived media logic: Tennis is closely intertwined with the media, and mediatization processes have strong effects on the players, both positive and negative. Players are aware of the importance of public attention for tennis and actively adapt to the perceived media logic. On the other hand, they often feel inhibited by the press and reject adaptations to media affordances. Our study demonstrates once again the research potential of mediatization as a beneficial concept in studies on sports communication, stresses the need to focus also on the dysfunctional influences of media and mediatization, and opens the path for further research on social media influences.