Bajen var namnet : Studien av en elitfotbollsklubbs informationsarbete

Sammanfattning: Abstract Örebro University Department of Humanities Media and Communication Studies Bachelor Thesis, Spring 2007 Title: Bajen is the name – The study of the information business of a professional soccer club By: Erik Johansson and Markus Welin Supervisor: Göran Eriksson Purpose The purpose of this essay was to examine how a professional and multinational sport organisation works to present a positive image of it. The object of our study was Hammarby, one of the by media most intensive covered Swedish clubs. We have also investigated the relation between the sport communication strategies and the media. Theories We have used prior research in the areas of sport and media, Sport Management, journalism and Public Relations. We have also applied Public Relations and Marketing theories. Method We chose to use the methods of qualitative interviews, and participant observations. Our interview targets were Urban Rybrink, the information director of Hammarby, and Robert Laul, prominent sport journalist. On the top of that, we expanded the study with observations of two press conferences connected to Hammarby’s matches. We also gathered together two weeks of press releases from the club along with online media material about Hammarby at the websites of two of the biggest newspapers in Sweden. Results The communication work at Swedish soccer clubs is still under development, and Hammarby need to continue to expand it further to reach the level of business companies and government institutions. The crisis communication strategies have to become more developed. In relation to other Swedish soccer clubs, however, Hammarby is rather well developed in the communications area since they actually have hired an information director. The relation between Hammarby’s communications director and media is defined as good by both parts, even if they do not agree on everything we have examined. Keywords Sport, Public Relations, Sport Promotion, Media, Journalism, Qualitative interviews