Sociologist C. Wright Mills saw this coming—and tried to warn us—60+ years ago. jacobin.com/2026/02/wrig...

I am excited to be in Houston for The World at Play: The Beautiful Game in 2026! ⚽ worldatplay.blogs.rice.edu

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dedicated his life fighting for equity and justice. He taught us that even in the face of intimidation and discrimination, we must never stop working towards a better future – a lesson that feels especially relevant today.

Looking forward to this conversation!

Full panel here m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwwn...

"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future." - @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit. Incredible words. Listen to all of it!

💰 FIFA released 2026 World Cup prize money amounts, which is relevant to the USWNT. Why? Because it and the USMNT agreed in their current CBA to share all their World Cup prize money:

Really proud of this new article! @rkossakowski.bsky.social and I argue for comparative frameworks for studying professionalization in women's soccer and present the cases of Poland and the U.S.: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

As the President-Elect of NASSS, I hope that you will join us in Calgary for the 2026 conference!

Enjoyed speaking with Sarah Crosbie about our recently published @jssisport.bsky.social research, using Nat'l Sports & Society Survey, about parental expectations for their children’s athletic achievements, on CONNECT with Sarah Crosbie on QR 770AM in Calgary! open.spotify.com/episode/0Rj6...

In a new analysis with Adam Gemar and Stacey Pope, we use recent survey data from adults in the UK and USA to consider who fans of women's sport are and which sport contexts they follow! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

New research published today with Braden Leap! "Gender and Genre: A Comparative Analysis of Peloton Instructors’ Sexualized Genders in Exercise Classes Set to Country and Hip Hop Music" link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Hot off the press! ISSA-EASS 2026 Congress has a website and abstract submission opening soon. www.jyu.fi/en/events/re...

How can leagues report losses & still have big valuations? How is the WNBA ownership model affecting CBA negotiations? What are fair salaries for W players, and why is revenue share so important? Economics professor @wagesofwins.bsky.social breaks it all down. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...

Yes! This article cites the wonderful scholar @rachelallison.bsky.social and speaks to the importance of all kids and the adults in their lives being fans of the W!

This is absolutely unconscionable and definitely worth your time reading it.

Still thinking about the Euros? (I know I am) Read this great piece from @staceypope.bsky.social on a recent article of ours on women footballers as 'role models!' www.durham.ac.uk/research/cur...

This is so fascinating and also so overdue.

From @theathleticfc.bsky.social: Sexist social media posts from the soccer legend Javier “Chicharito” Hernández received international blowback. “So, you want a man who will provide for you, but cleaning is patriarchal oppression? Interesting.” https://trib.al/l8xMnqG

“The 2021 policy is not in effect and has not been since Commissioner [Jessica] Berman was hired in March of 2022. The NWSL does not currently have a policy in this regard.” Why did the NWSL drop silently drop its Transgender athlete policy?

Special Issue: Call for Proposals We are excited to announce a new Special Issue in the Journal of Sport and Social Issues on post-qualitative inquiry!

In Seoul for the @issa1965.bsky.social conference! Looking forward to meeting lots of great scholars and hearing about new sport research.

Our new book is out today! We’re pleased to announce the release of our new edited book: Critical Perspectives on the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup: Events, Issues, Controversies (Routledge).

The 2026 men’s World Cup kicks off one year from now, amidst an escalating crackdown on human rights in the US. Real risks to fans, journalists, residents and players. The militarised crushing of protest in LA is a warning. With @sportrightsall.bsky.social www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

The Journal of Sport & Social Issues is on BlueSky, sport studies friends!

As an Associate Editor for @jssisport.bsky.social, I’m having to make about 10-12 requests right now to get 2 reviews. It’s tough out here!

Mississippi’s average teacher salary is again lowest in country www.wlox.com/2025/05/20/m...

Today’s newsletter looks at the ways the recent trajectory of the New York Liberty mirrors the gentrification of Brooklyn itself, making the team increasingly inaccessible to longtime fans & existing community members—something that’s impacting teams across the WNBA.

My latest newsletter takes a deep dive into Alex Cooper and her continued affiliation with Barstool Sports, and why that makes a partnership with the NWSL especially ill-advised for a league attempting to re-brand after multiple sexual and workplace abuse scandals.

@nasssbsky.bsky.social Our decision to run a two site conference to avoid the U.S. border has made it into a biting comedy piece.

Calling all academics interested in sociology of leisure, tourism studies, leisure studies, or social psychology of leisure, please submit your papers to IJSL, published by Springer: link.springer.com/journal/41978

"[I] will not be travelling to the United States right now because it feels very dangerous to do so.” Academic organizations are changing their conference plans to deal with the threat of the US border. www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7531255

Really good look at the NWSL's mental health leave benefit, how it came to be, why it's important, and the first few players to use it by @theolloydhughes.bsky.social: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

We absolutely need to be talking more about the jawdropping environmental costs of AI. Read @leximcmenamin.com on how a single ChatGPT search can use a whopping 10 times the energy of a typical Google search www.teenvogue.com/story/chatgp...

It was a pleasure to join Ohio State University's Chris Knoester for a webinar discussion of The High School. The link to the webinar is below.

Oh yes, sigh. counterpunch.org/2022/09/16/w...

From targeting trans athletes, doing a lap at the Daytona 500, and taking in a UFC show, here is how Trump uses sports to fuel a culture war & present a facade of strength in his first 100 days. www.sportspolitika.news/p/trump-100-...

More on Mississippi’s new law that says we can’t raise awareness or understanding about things including gender and sexuality. Our university has directed our Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies to step back from their institutional involvement with the 2025 Oxford Pride Parade.

Laura Harvey: "I wish there was more female coaches coming. It's heartbreaking, we have 14 teams in this league & only TWO female head coaches - that's a big vice for me. I want to push the female game on in every facet & to me female coaches are a big part." Q: Asli Pelit #WitnessTheReign #NWSL

The good news is I was prepared because I had just interviewed the genius @roseveleth.com about the rules and their amazing show TESTED and how much cognitive dissonance goes into this idea that women's sports needs protecting from interlopers... more here! maggiemertens.substack.com/p/what-is-a-...

I honestly wasn’t sure this day would come, the new CBA is finally out (and I can stop refreshing the page every morning) 118 glorious pages www.nwslplayers.com/_files/ugd/8...

Canada's first professional women's soccer league, the NSL, kicks off on April 16th, and you can watch it on ESPN+ in the US 🇨🇦⚽️📺

Comment for @theguardian.com: While the USA & UK hosting the 2031 & 2035 Women's World Cups is great, it's sad to see no other bids. Africa has never had a #fifawwc. The US & UK deserve this the most, for backing women's football, but they also need it the least. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

A big topic of stress and conversation happening in the sports world right now is about how the fuck the US is going to host the World Cup (2026) and the Olympics (2028) if athletes and fans literally cannot safely come here.

My latest, for Vogue: I wrote about the increase in stalking behavior women’s athletes face as their popularity & visibility increases.

"With ICE Out of Control, How Can the US Co-Host the 2026 World Cup?" My latest, co-written with @edgeofsports.bsky.social, for @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/worl...

How Barbra Banda got caught up in a swirl of misinformation and double standards | Suzanne Wrack

Millie Bright was forever a two-sports-bras-simultaneously girl - until last year. “My life changed.” How Bright is the latest women's sport star to find renaissance in sports bras & her fight to normalise it. “I don’t want others to endure the journey I have.” nytimes.com/athletic/621...