Love me or hate me: Predictors of perceived athlete image

In Kruse's "Apologia in Team Sport," published in 1981, she argued that the image repair of athletes or sports organizations was not an issue of importance, because—in the context of sports—"winning isn't everything; it's the only thing". However, the globalization of sports and the expansion of mass media greatly increase the media attention athletes and teams received, in which even a most private conflict could lead to a destructive damage of an athlete's public image. Established from a source-oriented perspective, the case study approach, which is typically driven by rhetorical analysis or content analysis, evaluates image repair strategies utilized by accused parties by analyzing mediated content, such as public statements from athletes or teams, sports news coverage, or fans' responses on social media. One athlete might possess certain characteristics that potentially influence people's judgment about the dependent variables. Future research should replicate the study using other athletes or situations.