ABSTRACT
Understanding sport’s impact on society has been argued as an important conduit for implementing social change (Eitzen and Sage, 2009). The highprofile nature of sport organizations within American culture often polarizes many people, thus blurring the lines between deviant behavior and normative, behavioral conduct (Woods, 2011). Unique emotional attachments within sport often leads to the obfuscating of lines separating acceptable and deviant behavior (Bass and Newman, 2013), as evidenced by recent media coverage of high-profile events involving domestic violence, child abuse, and racial insensitivity within the National Football League (NFL). Understanding people’s reactions to sport issues, dynamics, or problems becomes important for shifting perceptions, and for examining the role of sport within society.
