Mediatization, Branding, and Institutionalization of Competitive Crossfit

The paper is the result of extensive research on CrossFit, conducted using an enactive ethnography (Wacquant, 2015) over several years, employing various data collection techniques: from gathering life stories from athletes, coaches, event organizers, and sponsors, to field notes, content analysis, and discourse analysis of posts on the official social media of CrossFit LLC, as well as from athletes, coaches, events, sponsors, and the streaming and broadcasting of competitive events, alongside the content of major magazines dedicated to the discipline.

The article focuses on two different aspects of the transformation of this sport and its consumption:

1. It analyzes how processes of mediatization—both in terms of the development of specific media (web magazines, podcasts, YouTube channels) and the entry of mainstream media—are influencing the institutionalization of this recent discipline, as well as the sport itself, shaping live performances in a manner similar to other sports in the past.
2. As CrossFit is established as a “lifestyle sport” (Wheaton, 2013), it reflects on its connection to consumption processes, particularly those mediated by social platforms. This encompasses the proposal of new gender models through the figures of its athletes (Podmore and Ogle, 2018) and the general branding processes surrounding it (clothing, accessories, dedicated apps, etc.). Indeed, a defining feature of CrossFit is its nature as an “immersive” sport (Heywood, 2015), whose subculture has spread almost entirely through online presence and video publication. The practice of online sharing involves educational aspects (tutorials, videos of practitioners, discussions) and the actual practice (online classes, workout apps), as well as consumption as fans (following the profiles of competitors, magazines, competitions). In this context, the “visibility labor” (Abidin, 2016; 2020) that athletes must engage in to consolidate their “performance capital” becomes central, both in the eyes of the public and those of sponsors.