Murray State professor to appear on HBO

Photo courtesy of Sports Information

Dr. Daniel Wann, a professor of psychology at Murray State University, will appear on HBO’s Real Sports news magazine. On Tuesday, Sept. 18. Wann was flown to New York City for an interview with Bernie Goldberg on the topic of sports fan violence. Goldberg has covered stories all over the world for CBS News and has won 12 Emmy awards for excellence in journalism — six at CBS and six at HBO.

Wann has long been recognized as one of the country’s leading authorities on sports psychology. His interest in the subject goes back to his days of study.

“When I started my first year in the social psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Kansas in 1987, because I was a fan, I was interested in why I and others act, feel and think the way we do in sports fan environments,” Wann said.

Soon after earning his doctorate, Wann began his career at Murray State. Much of his research through the years has centered on the impact of team identification — for example, a fan’s psychological connection to a team and how identification level plays a key role in fan and spectator reactions. He has written a number of books and articles on the subject.

Wann fields many requests a year for interviews on sports psychology. His expertise in the subject has been sought by TIME magazine, The New York Times, USA Today, ESPN and Sports Illustrated.

Story courtesy of Murray State University

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