Articles by author: Brock University

• Beyond Heated Rivalry: Brock researcher examines queer sport organizations as playbooks for social change

  Thursday, February 05, 2026 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE — February 5, 2026 — R0014

  Heated Rivalry’s celebration of queer joy and representation quickly turned the Canadian streaming show into a global sensation, spurring broader conversations about the intersections of identity and inclusion within hockey culture.  

  In his new research, Brock University Associate Professor of Sport Management Kyle Rich is looking at equity-seeking sport organizations in Canada for lessons on making sport environments safer and more welcoming for 2SLGBTQIA+ athletes.

  Supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant, which is funded by the Government of Canada, the two-year project seeks to understand how organizers can leverage sport as a catalyst to drive social change within the sports themselves and across wider society.  

  “It is important to understand how equity-owed sport groups can be better supported within our sport system as well as how their work might be leveraged for change both in sport cultures and the broader communities in which the organizations are working,” Rich says. 

  His research will be centred on the Toronto Gay Hockey Association (TGHA), a not-for-profit community sport organization founded in 1994 that offers a place for 2SLGBTQIA+ athletes and allies to play hockey free from harassment or discrimination.  

  While the TGHA is the largest association of its kind in the world, the number and prominence of similar organizations are on the rise.

  “Historically, queer sport organizations have operated on the margins of the sport system, but recently, some high-profile events have really put them in the spotlight,” Rich says.
  

  The project will involve two simultaneous studies. 

  The first involves examining the development of the TGHA over the past 30 years and the experiences of organizers. 

  The second study will look at how organizers engage in relational solidarity and inclusion work with other 2SLGBTQIA+-focused sport organizations in Toronto and other Canadian cities. 

  The research team will collect data through archival research as well as interviews and participant observations at meetings, sport and social activities, and formal events. 

  Using the information collected, Rich aims to develop a framework for understanding the agency and institutional work of Community Sport Organizations (CSO) in Canada.  

  The research, he says, will also generate analysis that will be useful for provincial and territorial ministries responsible for sport and recreation, municipal governments that support and engage CSOs, and policy-makers, particularly those at Sport Canada. 

  “There are community-level organizations offering safe spaces to play and working with other organizations to move the needle on the culture of sport more broadly, and I think we need to highlight them and show what they’re doing as positive examples,” Rich says. “We’ve also seen that national sport organizations can put forward beneficial policies or frameworks which are then undercut by provincial governments, so it’s critical for there to be a consolidated effort to do this together if we want to see meaningful change across all levels of sport.” 

  St. Catharines Member of Parliament Chris Bittle says “sport plays a vital role in strengthening communities and supporting overall well-being, creating opportunities for connection while helping people stay active and healthy.” 

  “However, too many individuals still feel excluded, and sports organizations have more work to do to ensure participation is truly open to everyone,” he says. “This new research will help policy-makers build sport and recreation environments, from grassroots programs to high-performance competition that are more welcoming, accessible and inclusive for all Canadians.” 

  
  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  *Sarah Ackles, Communications Specialist, Brock University [email protected] or 289-241-5483

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  Categories: Media releases

• Super Bowl LX: NFL’s ‘secret sauce’ brings entertainment — but diversity questions remain

  Wednesday, February 04, 2026 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY — February 4, 2026 — R0013

  While the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will go head-to-head this Sunday to secure the Super Bowl LX title, it’s the National Football League (NFL) that will ultimately come out on top, say Brock University researchers.

  “The NFL’s ‘marketing machine’ has been telling compelling narratives of players and franchises across the league all year so that regardless of who ultimately wins, there’s going to be a great story attached,” says Assistant Professor of Sport Management Ryan Clutterbuck. “The NFL’s ‘secret sauce’ is how it capitalizes on those stories and engrains itself into the culture of its fans.” 

  Part of the allure this year lies in the redemption arcs and unexpected rises to the top playing out with athletes and coaches on both teams, Clutterbuck says. 

  Even the teams themselves, which last faced off in 2015, had dismal pre-season odds to make it to the Super Bowl.

  “Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is now a starting quarterback in the Super Bowl after persevering through management decisions that took away his starting position and could have ended his career, and Patriots quarterback Drake Maye — in his second year in the NFL — is an MVP candidate in the biggest game of his career,” Clutterbuck says. “You also have Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel’s triumphant return to the Super Bowl to watch, so whichever way the game goes, there’s going to be great images and post-game conversation focused on remarkable achievements.”

  In off-the-field action, the buzz about this year’s halftime show, headlined by Bad Bunny, is exactly the sort of chatter the NFL and its advertisers like to see, says Derek Foster, Associate Professor of Communication, Popular Culture and Film.

  Public reaction has ranged from fandom to dismay, but Foster says no one should be surprised by the NFL courting the world’s most popular artist for its biggest game of the year.

  “The NFL is increasingly positioning itself as an international cultural product, playing games in international cities to widen the reach of the league,” he says. “American artist Bad Bunny has made it to the top of every country’s Spotify playlist, top in international sales and so forth, so he represents a constituency that the NFL would find very difficult to ignore.” 

  Foster says that in the interest of spectacular halftime shows, the NFL has taken a much more hands-off approach to programming, instead letting Jay-Z’s Roc Nation select the musical acts since 2019. 

  He also points to the initial resistance to Taylor Swift’s fandom descending on the NFL and notes that the “experiment” worked, because supersizing the “spectacle” of the Super Bowl to be more inclusive of a young female audience allowed new fans to connect with the event.  

  “Some NFL owners reportedly resisted the initial halftime show headliner announcement due to the language divide, because as a Puerto Rican, Bad Bunny performs in Spanish,” Foster says. “Knowing the marketplace, they were not going to lose traditional Super Bowl viewers who still want to watch football, but they now have an opportunity to expand viewers worldwide.”

  Despite successes in cultivating connections with fans and diversifying viewership, Clutterbuck says the league still has considerable work to do within its own ranks after a “frustrating hiring cycle in terms of under-representation of minorities in senior leadership roles.”  

  Notably, only one of the 10 head coaching jobs available this offseason went to a minority candidate, Clutterbuck says, and none went to Black candidates.

  “In a league made up of, depending on the year, between 75 to 80 per cent players of colour, this is another black eye for the league and its leaders,” he says. “The NFL has implemented policies to address some of these challenges, with some success, but this seems like a big step back — particularly this year in the context of the current political climate and the NFL’s previous public efforts to ‘End Racism.’” 

   

  Assistant Professor of Sport Management Ryan Clutterbuck and Associate Professor of Communication, Popular Culture and Film Derek Foster are available for media interviews on this topic.

  
  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  *Sarah Ackles, Communications Specialist, Brock University [email protected] or 289-241-5483

  – 30 –

   

  Categories: Media releases