In the context of a reduction in state funding for the sports sector, the issue of forming a positive image of sports organizations is becoming particularly relevant. The article is devoted to the analysis of the specifics of the formation of the image of the hockey club «Rubin» (Tyumen) in the regional media. The paper considers theoretical approaches to the concept of «image», focuses on its importance in sports marketing. Based on the content analysis method, the authors conducted both quantitative and qualitative research of publications about the club in specialized and non-specialized media of the Tyumen region. The key verbal and thematic units influencing the perception of the team are identified. The conclusion is made about the leading role of specialized publications in the formation of a positive image of a hockey club, as well as about the emotional coloring of texts as a factor of image impact.

Keywords: sport, image, hockey club, mass media, sports marketing, content analysis, Tyumen, Rubin, regional media.

В условиях сокращения государственного финансирования спортивной сферы вопрос формирования положительного имиджа спортивных организаций приобретает особую актуальность. Статья посвящена анализу специфики формирования имиджа хоккейного клуба «Рубин» (Тюмень) в региональных средствах массовой информации. В работе рассматриваются теоретические подходы к понятию «имидж», акцентируется внимание на его значении в спортивном маркетинге. На основе метода контент-анализа авторами проведено как количественное, так и качественное исследование публикаций о клубе в специализированных и неспециализированных СМИ Тюменской области. Выявлены ключевые вербальные и тематические единицы, влияющие на восприятие команды. Сделан вывод о ведущей роли специализированных изданий в формировании позитивного образа хоккейного клуба, а также об эмоциональной окраске текстов как факторе имиджевого воздействия.

Ключевые слова: спорт, имидж, хоккейный клуб, СМИ, спортивный маркетинг, контент-анализ, Тюмень, Рубин, региональные медиа.

A positive and recognizable company image has become an integral part of an organization's development in the modern world. It helps to achieve strategic goals, distinguish itself from others, attract the attention of potential customers, compete in the market and build a solid reputation.

This is also true for sport organizations. For example, teams compete for the attention of sponsors. Therefore, the creation of a positive image is obvious. In the Russian Federation, funding for sports from the state budget is decreasing. So in the program for the development of physical culture and sport for 2024–2026 it was said that 55,8 billion rubles will be allocated for sport in 2024, 41,5 billion rubles in 2025 and 43 billion rubles in 2026 [1].

Sports clubs also compete for the attention of fans and the media. A broad fan base is part of the success of a sports team. Including in economic terms, because people buy tickets to competitions, paraphernalia, etc. The media talk about the success of the club. But high-profile and scandalous stories can alienate fans and sponsors from the team. In our study, we will pay attention to the specifics of the formation of the image of the Tyumen hockey club «Rubin» in the regional media.

It is believed that the concept of «image» was proposed by the American economist K. Baldwin in the middle of the 20th century. He considered the image as a marketing tool to increase sales by increasing the attractiveness of a product or service to the consumer [5, p. 30]. It is known that the concept originates in ancient times. In its early forms, it existed as external attributes, symbols, behavior, gestures, smells, and sound signals that helped in the self-determination of ancient people and in determining their place in the ancestral hierarchy.

In scientific discourse, it is considered that an image is «a holistic image consciously created by a company based on the key characteristics of its activities, aimed at forming certain expectations and ideas about the company among key market participants, disseminated through various information channels» [3, p. 9].

As many researchers have noted, image formation is part of a special area of marketing. In our case, sports marketing. In the field of sports, marketing technologies can be aimed at sports as a value system in general, at sports teams and individual athletes.

We will focus on the image of sports clubs. Their successes are constantly in the spotlight. Victories, the history of the team, fans, famous players and coaches, modern infrastructure help to create a positive image of the team. And they are embodied in the name, logo, corporate colors and symbol, events, promotions and more.

The strategy of its formation is a complex and lengthy process. And, as a rule, it involves working with the media. Clubs provide journalists with a lot of news materials: matches, information about the arrival of new players in the team, termination of contracts, promotions and events. In addition, according to the rules of the championship, athletes are required to give interviews during and after breaks in matches. Coaches also attend press conferences after the game, the recordings of which are posted online and in the media.

In the course of their work, the media creates texts that can reflect the primary and secondary image characteristics of the organization. In our case, the hockey club. The primary characteristics are directly related to the object itself: the club's name, logo, etc. Secondary characteristics include additional assessments that refine and correct the primary characteristics. They can either create new ones, expand existing ones, or replace them [4].

Researchers can use various research methods to evaluate the effectiveness of image texts. One of these methods is the content analysis method: qualitative and quantitative. The first one is interested in the frequency of occurrence of certain content characteristics. Qualitative content analysis focuses on a symbolic approach and an explanation of the content.

Before proceeding to the study of the image of the Rubin hockey club in the regional media, let's consider the development of an analysis methodology. Based on the research of Bryantseva E. A., we propose the following algorithm for designing a content analysis classifier for image analysis in the media:

1. Formation of a research group;
2. Formulation of the classifier topic;
3. The choice of conceptual concepts or blocks of concepts;
4. Selection of units of analysis. That is, specific words or combinations that are most often found in the analyzed texts;
5. The choice of units of account, namely the number of words, lines, paragraphs or the area occupied by the research topic in the text;
6. Creating a general analysis scheme;
7. Creating a classifier in the form of a general table [2].

In order to assess the formation of the image of the Rubin hockey club in the Tyumen media, we have identified a communication environment for the dissemination of texts. There are more than a dozen media outlets in the Tyumen Region. There is one specialized sports publication, Tyumen Arena. As well as a number of major online media outlets, which we focus on. This is the online newspaper «Тюменская область сегодня» and portals «72.ru», «URA.RU» and «Вслух.ru».

During the quantitative analysis, we determined that the Tyumen Arena journalists wrote the most about the Rubin hockey club. Which is logical, because the media specializes in sports. In 2023, 309 texts were published there. In Figure 1, it is possible to trace the pattern that the texts appeared most often in winter, spring and autumn: when hockey competitions were actively going on. There was almost no news in the summer. The genre was dominated by news, but there were also interviews.: both short and long. In the summer, there were more of them due to the lack of news from the competition.

Fig. 1. Number of materials about the hockey club «Rubin» in the «Tyumen Arena» for 2023

133 texts about hockey appeared in non-specialized media (Figure 2). There were fewer texts, and this is obvious, since these publications are general media. However, it is obvious that the largest number of texts about the team were published on «Вслух.ru». In 2023, 90 hockey-themed materials were published in this edition. In May and June, the journalists of «Вслух.ru» did not write anything about Rubin. And during the competitive season, they also published reports and match announcements, but in less detail. Also, sports commentary and other types of interviews with Rubin players or coaches were not found on the pages of this online media. The fewest texts about the club have been published «URA.RU», «72.ru» and «Тюменская область сегодня». The least of them were in «URA.RU «only six. It is also noteworthy that these were not only texts about Rubin Tyumen, but also materials of a more general nature that related to the hockey life of the region as a whole. The texts were also published from January to April and from September to December, which corresponds to the period of hockey competitions.

Fig. 2. Number of materials about the hockey club «Rubin» in non-specialized media for 2023

The next aspect of the analysis is qualitative. We created a classifier that was used for content analysis. It is presented in table 1.

Table 1

Classifier of content analysis of the features of the formation of the image of the hockey club «Rubin» in the Tyumen media

During the content analysis, the following units of analysis were identified. First of all, it's the name of the club itself, which appears about 1,000 times in media reports for 2023. This is the primary image characteristic of the team. The name «Rubin» is most often mentioned in the Tyumen Arena, which also correlates with the amount of materials about the club.

Related nouns include words such as «cup», «experience», «fans», «Sports Palace», «leader», «proposal», «family», «tradition», «scandal». Most of them have a positive meaning.

The use of the word «cup» is due to the fact that Rubin is annually among the contenders for the main trophy of the league. It directly depends on its results. Journalists use «Cup» in the phrases «to win the cup», «to earn the cup», «to fight for the cup». In this case, we may be talking not so much about the image of Rubin as about the image and prestige of the All-Russian Hockey League, in which Rubin plays.

The definition of «leader» is also mentioned. Rubin is characterized as the leader of the VHL for objective reasons, because the team often wins and occupies high positions in the standings.

The words «fans» and «family» are often found. Sometimes they are mentioned together. Journalists quote Rubin's players and say that the team and the fans are one family. The players mention the support they receive from the fans and talk about how important it is to them. The media also covers the family life of the players. For example, they write about the birth of children in their families, which, of course, characterizes hockey players on the positive side.

However, there are words like «scandal». They can be found on the pages of non-specialized publications. For example, «URA.RU» we have published news about hockey defenseman Danil Mokrushev, who joined Rubin in the spring of 2023. He became unpleasantly famous for a fight in Chelyabinsk, when he beat up a neighbor out of jealousy. The headline of this news was the phrase «scandalous hockey player». In the article, the journalists provided a direct hyperlink to their own material about this fight. No other media outlet has presented this event in such a way. Tyumen Arena wrote about Mokrushev as the record holder of the Belarusian Hockey League and an experienced player, without mentioning this scandal.

It is also worth noting the verbal definitions that journalists use in texts about the Tyumen Ruby. Words such as «earned», «achieved», «fought», «won» are common. Most often these verbs are used in the expressions «achieved victory», «will fight an opponent», etc. Non-specialized publications practically do not use such formulations and write neutral «won», «lost», «will play», «played». These verbs are less emotionally colored and serve more to state the fact of victory or defeat than to create any characteristics that would be inherent in Rubin as a team. Both «earned» and «fought», etc., allow you to associate a hockey match with a battle that requires certain character traits from the team's players. Such units of analysis create a positive image of a team, a cohesive team fighting for victory. Separately, we can highlight the created image of Rubin players and coaches. For example, the word «star» is used several times in relation to the players, which characterizes them as professionals.

Separately, let's pay attention to the news that concerned the club's employees. Alexandra Stashkevich, a journalist for club television, represented the Tyumen Region at the Miss Russia pageant in 2023. This news was published in the Tyumen Arena and on the portal «72.ru». Alexandra's participation and the publication of news about it also had a positive effect on the recognition of the club.

The calculation results are presented in detail below.

Table 2

Analysis form of factors of formation of the image of the hockey club «Rubin» in the media

Rubin is an iconic team for the Tyumen Region, and sports are one of the most popular sports here. Therefore, the media pays a lot of attention to the club, as well as to Tyumen hockey in general. Content analysis was used to study the specifics of the team's image formation. It is determined that the Tyumen Arena specialized publication is the most active in shaping the image of the Rubin hockey club. Socio-political publications did not ignore the successes of Rubin and wrote about them.

It was announced that Rubin is most often described as a team that «fights», «achieves victories» and claims the cup, the main award of the All—Russian Hockey League. Such definitions are more common in relation to the Tyumen Arena, and non-specialized media use less emotionally colored words. The team is also «family» and «national», because the fans and the club are very close, and this has been repeatedly emphasized in media reports. Indirect events, such as the participation of Rubin correspondent Alexandra Stashkevich in the Miss Russia pageant, only expand the boundaries of Rubin's interaction with society and make its participants more versatile. The media of the Tyumen region are actively involved in shaping the image of Rubin.

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