The Discourse of Stadium Renamings. A Comparative Analysis of Fan Banners in Germany and England

• The massive commercialization and marketization of football has been subject to fundamental criticism by football supporters who protest the unwanted modernization and sell-out of the game. For example, much criticism has been targeted at the selling of naming rights of football stadiums, which has become common practice in the German Bundesliga, and, to a lesser extent, the English Premier League. Some of these renamings have sparked nationwide criticism and huge fan protests. In this paper, we focus on banners as a highly visible and creative means of fan communication to express criticism about the renaming of football stadiums. We analyse the linguistic-semiotic characteristics and recurrent linguistic patterns in German and English fan banners as well as the expression of the stance the supporter groups take towards the renamings at hand. The findings reveal significant differences between the banners shown in Germany and England that are partially interpreted with a view to the different football ownership contexts in the two countries.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Jämförande språkvetenskap och allmän lingvistik (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- General Language Studies and Linguistics (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

banners

fan communication

supporters

stadium renaming

commercialization

ownership

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