Do Not Blame it on Good Times, Blame it on The Attributions: A content analysis of attributions to wins and losses in match reports published by Swedish football clubs in Allsvenskan

Abstract: Football is one of the most followed sports globally and its communication reaches a large audience, including both fans and other stakeholders. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how Swedish football clubs in the top league, Allsvenskan, ascribe causes to their wins and losses in the match reports published online. The analysis of the club's communication was based on the attribution theory and its three most frequently applied dimensions, locus, stability, and controllability. A content analysis was conducted, and the selected sample consisted of 169 randomly chosen match reports from the 2021 season. The results only showed tendencies and differences in the locus and controllability dimension. Plausible explanations for the revealed attributional tendencies are cultural differences where the effects of impression management and cognitive bias are discussed. Feelings such as pride and responsibility were speculated to have an impact when football clubs explain their outcomes in match reports.