Published: Jan. 30, 2019

American footballWith Super Bowl LIII set for this weekend, experts are available to speak to reporters about race and the NFL, the decline in football participation among high-schoolers, the evolution of Super Bowl Ads, fairness in officiating and the philosophy of sport.

On race in the NFL: Pat Ferrucci is an assistant professor of journalism in the College of Media, Communication and Information (CMCI). Ferucci has extensively studied the different ways media portray athletes, including NFL quarterbacks, based on race and how that perpetuates racial stereotypes in sport. He recently delivered a TEDx Talk on the subject. He can discuss recent issues at the intersection of sports and race.
patrick.ferrucci@colorado.edu

On the decline of high school football: Roger Pielke Jr., director of the CU Center for Sports Governance, has documented a steady drop in high school football sports participation in the past decade. Overall, football participation among high-schoolers decreased by about 19,000 players in the academic year ending in 2018 and by about 26,000 players the previous year, his research found. Pielke can discuss what’s driving the decline and what this means for the NFL. 
roger.pielke@colorado.edu

On fairness, identity and ethics: Alex Wolf-Root is a former collegiate athlete and PhD candidate in philosophy who teaches a course on philosophy and sports. He can discuss issues of fairness in sports with respect to controversial officiating at the end of the NFC Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints. He can also speak about how team identities shift with changes in location, such as the Rams’ recent move to Los Angeles. Through his course, Wolf-Root has also explored the ethicality of being an NFL fan amid ongoing concussion issues in the game. 
alexander.wolfroot@colorado.edu

On Super Bowl ads: Kelty Logan, an associate professor of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design, can discuss shifting trends in Super Bowl advertisements and which ads are most successful.
kelty.logan@colorado.edu

Contact:
Lisa Marshall, CU Boulder media relations
lisa.marshall@colorado.edu
303-492-3115