"I'm Not a Fan. I'm a Journalist": Measuring American Sports Journalists' Sports Enthusiasm

This study uses a multicontact survey and Izzo, Munteanu, Langord, Ceobanu, Dumitru, and Nichifor's 2011 measure of sports-fan motivation to analyze American sports journalists' sports enthusiasm. This study also examines correlations between fandom and newspaper circulation size, as well as what demographics can predict levels of sports fandom. Results suggest that sports journalists' sports enthusiasm could be categorized into three elements: the vicarious achievement they experience while watching the game, their appreciation for physical skill, and the socialization they are able to do at games. Results suggest that each of these elements correlate negatively with age, which supports past studies' findings that young editors, often working at smaller-circulation newspapers, see themselves more as sports fans than as journalists.