Associate Professor Seán Crosson from the University of Galway is the opening speaker
The Sport and Politics Research Network (SPRING) has presented its first webinar in a new series about communication and sport. These webinars are aimed at PhD students in the Communication and Design program at the University of Vic and students from other universities around the world.
The first webinar, titled If you’re not first, you’re last: Sport, Film and Donald Trump, was presented by Associate Professor Seán Crosson from the University of Galway. The topic of the webinar was informed by content found in the new edition of Crosson’s book Sport and Film (Routledge, 2026) that considers the history and contemporary relevance of sport cinema. As the author highlighted during the talk: “A relevant aspect of Trump’s success for this publication is the important role that both the media (as a TV celebrity through his prominent role as a host of the popular TV series The Apprentice, 2004–2017) and sport played in Trump’s rise to political office”.
Since the turn of the twenty-first century, Dr. Crosson contended that developments in sport cinema have mirrored larger political and cultural realignments of the United States. As he noted in his talk, “while the theme of underdog perseverance remains a constant, the genre has increasingly emphasized spectacle, individual triumph, and the commodification of identity. Simultaneously, the rise of Donald Trump from reality television celebrity to President of the United States epitomizes a similar cultural shift: the merging of entertainment, populism, and politics”. Moreover, Dr. Crosson also identified the importance of the American Dream ideology in many sport films. While he identified some evidence of increasing disillusion with this Dream more broadly in American society, nonetheless, he contended that “the belief and ideology that underpins this dream continues to feature prominently within the discourse of American politics and identity. Indeed, some commentators have suggested that the election of President Donald Trump could be attributed partly to disillusionment with mainstream politics and its failure to realize a central ideological underpinning in American life”.
Ultimately, Dr. Crosson emphasised the importance of “sport cinema (and popular culture) more broadly to provide a vocabulary, mythology and means of meaning making for millions of Americans navigating a period of deep division, uncertainty and precarity”. At the end of the webinar, attendees asked some questions about main topics addressed during the conference.
In closing, as the senior researcher pointed out, the second edition of Sport and Film book (Routledge, 2026) is now available to order and download at https://www.routledge.com/Sport-and-Film/Crosson/p/book/9781032294803. Also, for a limited time, a 20% discount is offered by inputting the discount code 26AFLY1 when purchasing through the link above. Finally, the next webinar will be on 22nd April at 4pm. The main topic will be Formula 1 and it will be led by Professors Raymond Boyle and Richard Haynes.
