The Sociology of Sports

Book excerpt: This third edition takes a fresh approach to the study of sport, presenting key concepts such as socialization, race, ethnicity, gender, economics, religion, politics, deviance, violence, school sports and sportsmanship. While providing a critical examination of athletics, this text also highlights many of sports' positive features. This new edition includes significantly updated statistics, data and information along with updated popular culture references and real-world examples. Newly explored is the impact of several major world events that have left lasting effects on the sports realm, including a global pandemic (SARS-CoV-2, or Covid-19) and social movements like Black Lives Matter and Me Too. Another new topic is the "pay for play" movement, wherein college athletes demanded greater compensation and, at the very least, the right to profit from their own names, images and likenesses.