Exploring Discourses About Race/Ethnicity in a Spanish TV Football Program

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine discourses about race/ethnicity in Spanish football commentary, where this type of research is scarce. Previous research in other countries has found that football commentators tend to draw on racial/ethnic stereotypes when commenting on players. This, combined with the large audiences that televised football attracts, may contribute to the (re)production of racialized discourses. In this study, we conducted a content analysis of ten broadcasts of televised post-match Spanish football commentary, using an in-depth qualitative approach. We conceptualized race/ethnicity as a layered concept instead of the commonly used Black–White dichotomy, taking into consideration the complexity of racial/ethnic categories in the Spanish context. We didn’t find evidence for the reproduction of some dominant discourses; however, we did find evidence for the reproduction of some hegemonic discourses that reinforce an “us” vs. “them” discourse. In our discussion we place these results within the larger societal and historical context.