EPL Football in India: Media Coverage and Fan Culture

Introduction

The English Premier League has explored many regions — East Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the United States, as well as traditional markets such as Canada and Australia. These countries now have active football fan clubs, particularly for EPL clubs, and have helped maximize profits on EPL brands. Until recently, however, India was not considered a potential market for football, largely because of the enormous popularity of cricket. Despite this, the broadcasting of EPL matches on a regular basis, the recognition of English football among youth, and the glamour associated with the game have all contributed to a recently increasing popularity noted through media coverage (Bill Wilson, 2009).

English football has identified significant potential in India and clubs have begun establishing a presence there. Chelsea's then chief executive Peter Kenyon expressed the interest and scope for English football in India at a meeting of the UK India Business Council at Stamford Bridge: "There are real, real, positives in India for an English club as I believe football has got a real future in India over the next 10 years."

International business related to media and television programming has undergone far-reaching change since the late 1980s, largely because of the privatization of media firms and the deregulation of industries formerly controlled by states in the majority of countries. In addition, new video-sharing technologies have been introduced, which dramatically increased the number of broadcast channels requiring content.

Fandom and media are the key elements in popularizing a sport. The growth of commercialization and the rising popularity of football have increased the importance of developing a fan base. Sport marketers use strategies to convert casual followers into loyal fans, since loyal fans are more likely to spend money attending games, follow the team in the media, and purchase team apparel (Bauer, Stokburger-Sauer, & Exler, 2008). More importantly, loyal fans spend considerable time persuading others to support their favorite team. When a team develops a loyal fan base, it has a better chance of building revenues through ticket sales, merchandising, and sponsorship opportunities.

Several theoretical models indicate that an individual follows a fan progression beginning with an initial awareness of a team — for example, the Team Identity as Mediating Role Construct and the Revised Psychological Continuum Model. Moving forward in the progression, individuals begin to experience an attraction and/or attachment to the team (Funk & James, 2006). At this point, the individual has built a level of identification with the team and experiences a sense of belonging to the group of fellow supporters. The continued development of identification with a team will eventually lead the individual to exhibit attitudinal and behavioral loyalty (Scremin, 2008), completing the transition to a loyal fan.

Being a fan gives many people a sense of identity and pride. In cities with teams, local political and business leaders treat their franchises as treasured assets that help generate prestige and prosperity for their communities.

The coverage of local football in both the English and Hindi press is sparse. Most matches are not televised, and those that are televised are rarely advertised. The impression given is that the domestic league is a dying competition with nothing exciting for the fan to watch or invest in. The English Premier League, however, is a different story. While not in the same league as cricket in terms of following, the EPL enjoys much wider media coverage. Matches are telecast regularly and there is major publicity involved. Newspapers, television channels, and news networks carry scores and updates on a daily basis. There is therefore a need to examine the commentaries produced — what experts and former professionals critique about EPL and its fixtures. What the broadsheets, print media, and newspaper reports have to say about Indian engagement with the EPL constitutes a major body of articulation that many football fans and followers would relish. The nature of EPL fandom in India is intrinsically linked to the kind of coverage the sport receives, and the media plays a massive role in how football is portrayed to the public.

Language differentiation is also important since it can offer different perspectives on the EPL compared to local leagues. Print media is particularly significant because it is helping to change the image of football and making it inspirational. Print media positions its readers through its writing, particularly with regard to both real and imagined readerships.

This study focuses on English Premier League football in India and its growing popularity in the country. In the background, the paper discusses the previous history of domestic football in India and the differences between football and cricket from a spectator's perspective and in terms of public imagination.

The main objective of this study is to examine the commentaries made by members of the Indian media as they articulate fans and spectators — in other words, how the media tells the general public what spectators are doing and what the sport means. The study will also consider which forces are behind the growing popularity of EPL in India. The author analyzes media commentaries about both EPL football and local football leagues, comparing the two. The research focuses on two important aspects of EPL football: fan followings and media commentaries.

Literature Review and Theoretical Foundation

The moment one discusses sport, its spectatorship comes into focus as well. Sports teams help communities define their uniqueness both to themselves and to the outside world (Winningham, 1979; Schudson, 1995; Oriard, 2001). In turn, the coverage of sports becomes an important part in reflecting, transmitting, and interpreting the cultural influence of the sport on the community. From its outset, sports journalism has been criticized both from within and outside the profession as often playing a more promotional role than an informative one. The symbiotic relationship between media and the sports they cover has always been tenuous at best, with media attempting to uphold the tenets of objectivity and sports promoters attempting to gain as much attention as possible for their events. Without media coverage, sports promoters lose a key element of their promotions; without well-attended games to cover, sports journalists lose some of their justification for covering events. As Boyle (2006) summarized, "It is unsurprising when seen in its historical context that there has been a perennial struggle at the heart of sports journalism between the notions of journalistic rigor and the more uncritical promotion of sports, teams and individuals by newspapers" (p. 32).

John Fiske defines fandom as "a common feature of popular culture that selects from the repertoire of mass-produced and mass-distributed entertainment and takes them into the culture of a self-selected fraction of people" (Fiske, 1992, p. 30). He placed great emphasis not only on studying actual audience readings but on studying the audience as "active" in the construction of meaning. Fiske argues that fandom has three general characteristics. The first is that fans determine the boundaries between what falls within or outside of their fandom, thereby creating a line that clearly marks someone as a fan. Such investments in specific differences make fans divide the cultural world into "us" and "them" (Grossberg, 1992). The second characteristic is productivity and participation. As Fiske notes, "All popular audiences engage in varying degrees of semiotic productivity, producing meanings and pleasures that pertain to their social situation out of the products of the culture industries. But fans often turn this semiotic productivity into some form of textual production that can circulate among — and thus help to define — the fan community" (Fiske, 1992, p. 30). The third characteristic is capital accumulation: fan cultural capital lies in the appreciation and knowledge of texts, performers, and events, making the accumulation of knowledge fundamental to the accumulation of cultural capital.

Fandom has also been understood as an "interpretive community." Stemming from the work of literary theorist Stanley Fish, this concept suggests that different groups of readers — drawing on different communal codes and conventions — construct and interpret texts according to their community's reading conventions. This is particularly relevant given the local and community nature of sports.

John Tulloch's work pays close attention to fandom not merely as a community but also as a social hierarchy. A common assumption is that fandom is a social space without a pecking order, in which all fans are somehow equal. Tulloch challenges this, arguing that communal agreement remains a matter of unevenly distributed semiotic power and fan knowledge: some fans have greater power to enforce and reinforce specific readings. These fans tend to be at the apex of their fandom's social hierarchy; Tulloch refers to them as "executive fans" (Tulloch and Jenkins, 1995, p. 149). This holds true for football fans as well. While fans may be equal in the level of their support for a club, factors such as where they watch a match — at home, in the stadium, or in terms of access to particular seats — indicate that some sort of social hierarchy is prevalent.

The nature of fans of English football in India is intrinsically linked to the kind of coverage the sport receives. It is here that the idea of articulation comes into play. Ernesto Laclau described articulation as "a practice, and not the name of a given relational complex" (1985, p. 93), and further noted that articulations are not permanent but are subject to change and can be influenced by alternative forces. Stuart Hall developed this concept further, arguing that articulation enables us to think about how specific practices articulated around contradictions — which do not all arise in the same way, at the same point, or at the same moment — can nevertheless be thought together (Hall, 1980a, p. 69).

Another important concept is the link between articulation and hegemony. Hegemony may be too strong a word, but the Indian press does paint a more favorable picture of the English Premier League at the expense of the domestic Indian league. As Laclau writes, "A class is hegemonic not so much to the extent that it is able to impose a uniform conception of the world on the rest of society, but to the extent that it can articulate different visions of the world in such a way that their potential antagonism is neutralized" (Laclau, 1977, p. 161). The Indian league has become a poor distant cousin, with the press — especially English-language outlets — ensuring that more and more people identify with foreign leagues rather than the national one. As a result, football has increasingly been perceived as an upper-middle-class sport.

Sports Journalism, Game Coverage, and Framing

Since the late nineteenth century, sports news has been a consistent element of most newspapers. Sports journalism as a profession has continually reinvented itself, and the types of stories deemed acceptable for the sports pages even a decade ago may no longer be acceptable today. Because of their separation from the other sections of the newspaper in terms of goals and writing style, sports journalists at American newspapers have developed a distinct voice that sets their writing apart from other forms of newspaper journalism.

Newspaper sports sections have carved a niche among a highly specific segment of readers, mostly middle- and upper-class males. Burgoon, Burgoon, and Wilkinson (1981) found that about 40% of newspaper readers read the sports section "most or all" of the time, but also found that 39% of regular newspaper readers rarely or never read the sports section — by far the largest such proportion of any newspaper section studied.

Football's role in mass media is clearly one of entertainment. Sports journalism has long been classified by academic research as entertainment writing. Early newspaper accounts of football games appeared in entertainment and lifestyle sections before stand-alone sports sections developed toward the end of the nineteenth century. Because of this entertainment function, sports writing has always tended to be more dramatic and colorful than hard news writing, while also presenting familiar storytelling motifs to which readers can relate.

Football has long been known as an important component of newspaper coverage. Stanley Woodward (1949) described the role of the football writer at the 1940s New York Herald-Tribune: "In the fall the football writer becomes the most important man on the paper. The hold this game takes on readers is incredible. Nothing the sports department does in the course of the year produces so widespread and so massive a reaction as the football story" (p. 148).

At the heart of a newspaper's sports section is coverage of the games themselves. Although some organizational structures and language have changed, the basics of the sports game story — the "gamer" — have remained quite static since Woodward's 1949 description: "By reading the story of a good modern sports writer, you will be able to find out at once which team won, how it won, where it won and what the score was. Secondarily you will be able to find out how many people saw the match, the first names of the important players, the strategic background of the event and what were the spectacular plays" (Woodward, 1949, p. 60).

Fensch (1995) gave a similar description five decades later, illustrating the stability of the basic elements of sports writing: "In general, the complete game story, no matter what sport, should contain these elements or items: the final score, usually in the top three paragraphs, often in the first paragraph; names of the teams; when the game took place and where; key players or outstanding plays or both; coaching strategies; crowd; quotations from players or coaches; injuries; records set during the game; effect of game on league standings; any oddities, length of game, number of penalties, etc.; weather — if a factor in outcome" (p. 74).

Reader expectations play a large role in what is addressed and what is excluded in a gamer. Stories are often constructed with the assumption that readers will already know some basic details of the game by the time they read the story, or that they attended the same event as the reporter. As Woodward (1949) explained: "By the time the reader gets to the first words you have written, he already has the general facts from the headline, which the copy reader has contributed. What he wants now is expansion and detail. Facts will make the story, if you have the right facts and present them in an order commensurate with the curiosity of the reader" (p. 158).

Gamers also rely on a structure, or frame, from which to base a story. The very definition of what qualifies as a frame remains the subject of debate. Entman (2004) summarized the standard definition of media framing: "selecting and highlighting some facets of events or issues, and making connections among them so as to promote a particular interpretation, evaluation, and/or solution" (p. 5). Gamson (1989) defined a frame as "a central organizing idea for making sense of relevant events and suggesting what is at issue" (p. 157).

Reese (2001, pp. 11–12) identified several components of mass media frames: they organize; they are based on principles and are not the same as the texts themselves; they are shared, to make them significant; they are persistent and carry over time; they are revealed in symbolic forms of expression; and they organize into patterns. Entman (2004, p. 6) also addressed how frames have both resonance and magnitude — resonance defines a frame's potential for influence, while magnitude addresses its prominence and repetition.

Journalists play a powerful interpretive role in society, helping set the terms for appropriate interpretations of complicated events. What journalists choose to stress — or not to stress — in writing about an event influences the way that event is interpreted by society. McCombs (2004) drew the parallel between framing and agenda-setting theory, in which mass media tell readers less what to think and more what to think about. The availability of numerous frames gives journalists options for defining the frame of a news story, but a frame in its very construction also excludes certain elements from being considered relevant. Goffman (1974) explained that, once applied, a frame "is expected to enable us to come to terms with all events in that activity" (p. 347).

Entman (2002) noted that the bits of information highlighted in a frame make those aspects more meaningful, noticeable, and memorable, and the increased salience readers experience makes information easier to perceive and process. Frames serve four roles: defining problems, diagnosing causes, making moral judgments, and suggesting remedies. Van Gorp (2010) observed that journalists play a role in the public's construction of meaning and reality simply by using the form of a news story: "They cannot tell stories effectively without preconceived notions about how to order story elements and about what meanings they could or should impose upon those story elements" (p. 84).

Construction of a sports story begins with the lead paragraph, which helps define the theme of the story and the direction the writer wants to take the reader. A lead "is a critical stylistic component, for it is the lead that must successfully entice news consumers to attend to the news story" (Johnson-Cartee, 2005, p. 122). Numerous lead formats have long been available to sportswriters. Gelfand and Heath (1969) identified 17 different types, while Fensch (1995) identified 25 — a list quite similar to the earlier one but more refined — illustrating that many of the narrative techniques used by sportswriters today have deep roots in the profession.

Frames and themes must go deeper than a lead to help readers process and understand a news story. Journalists use themes and frames to make sense of new information, leading to predictable, repeated structures. Knoppers and Elling (2004) observed that sports journalists tend to remain in the sports department rather than rotating between sections of the newspaper, creating a journalistic subculture in which conventions and traditions become more deeply entrenched and more resistant to change.

Sports writing also puts more focus on cadence and rhythm than news writing. Sports writers are often instructed to make their stories "sing" (Fensch, 1995, p. 167), and are expected to use more "color" and a quicker "tempo" than standard news reporters (Gelfand and Heath, 1969, p. 19). These professional conventions create predictability for readers and writers alike. Koppett (1981) noted that the policy decision that counted was the decision to cover the event; what follows is more or less automatic, and the results are remarkably similar regardless of who the individual reporter is (p. 90).

These conventions do not mean that every gamer is built in the same way. Gelfand and Heath (1969, p. 19–20) put it simply: "No absolute formula can be applied to the construction of a sports story." Anderson (1985) likewise observed that many games do not lend themselves to a summary lead in which all essential information is jammed into a rapid-fire first paragraph (p. 67). Football, with 22 players executing numerous plays each game, offers more opportunities for varied coverage than perhaps any other sport (Woodward, 1949, p. 149).

Boyle (2006) asserted that a reliance on heroes and myths — often seen in contemporary sports writing circles as old-fashioned — is nevertheless an inherent part of the sports narrative and of Western culture as a whole: "On one hand, as a journalist you face the challenge of telling the story as you find it and often have to resist the temptation to simply run with the 'media pack.' While on the other, you must recognize that at the cultural and commercial core of the sports industry is the process of myth-making, with sports journalists a central element in that process" (p. 23).

In short, football stories tend to follow no single pattern. Numerous themes and angles are based on need, insight, and opportunism. Although the media have become powerful interpreters of sports events, they have not become the sole interpretive method for audiences. Oriard (1993) explained this dynamic: "Football neither reinforces nor undermines existing power arrangements; it tells stories that serve individual needs from wherever they arise. In the 1990s as in the 1890s, football generates multiple narratives about work, gender, race, and success, many of our most hopeful and most disturbing fantasies. Print and electronic media powerfully influence our ideas about these matters, yet without resolving our conflicting beliefs into a single master narrative" (p. 282).

Conclusion and Main Themes

The basic research question of the study was whether media commentaries have any influence on popularizing EPL in India and whether there is a difference in the coverage of Indian local football compared to international football. To address this, the researcher analyzed EPL coverage by Indian media — particularly print media — and conducted interviews with journalists and personnel connected to local football.

From the content analysis it is evident that EPL is becoming popular and has a rising viewership. There has been a significant increase in fans from 2006 to the present. Though India remains a cricket-dominated country, there is clear scope for football.

One significant finding is that EPL has a rising fan base and that media is primarily a medium for reaching fans rather than a major force in constructing EPL's image.

Media coverage has no significant influence. Content analysis and interviews reveal no significant difference in the volume of EPL and Indian local football coverage by media. Interviewees agreed that media serves as a medium for EPL to reach its fans but is not highly influential in determining EPL's image in India. Media commentaries exercise only a slight influence, with fan choices and preferences being the more important factor.

Rising popularity of football in India. Football has become popular, and predictions suggest it will become more popular in the future. International matches are being telecast to audiences that are mostly middle- and upper-middle-class. Given India's vast population, the country has considerable potential to become a significant market for football and other internationally popular sports.

Rising viewership of EPL and international teams in India. EPL viewership is rising steadily. Indian sponsors are purchasing teams' and tournaments' broadcasting rights, and EPL clubs have established academies in India. Experts confirmed that there is a big market for EPL in India and that broadcasting helps boost its popularity, further demonstrating the significance of media coverage in connecting the league with its audience.

Improving local football. Although local football teams cannot yet compete with EPL clubs at an international standard, the AIFF is making determined efforts to close that gap through training and marketing investment. Interviewees noted that the Indian Federation actively studies how the EPL operates and tries to replicate its standards in infrastructure, sponsorship, and training facilities: "The Indian Federation takes notes of how things work in the EPL. The Indian Federation tries to rope in big sponsors, to get good grounds and training facilities to match European standards."

Cricket versus football. Cricket remains the top sport in the country, and football may not reach its level of popularity — but there is scope for football to become India's second most popular game. Interviewees agreed that cricket has reached an ultimate level of popularity among Indians, but that football is emerging and moving forward: "Football is definitely on the rise. Football may not get to the level of cricket but it is certainly moving forward."