Sport as big business

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 533.

The role of television

Television has been absolutely crucialto the growing obsession with sport. It gives increased numbers of people access to sporting events around the globe. With this, certain sports have accumulated untold riches via advertising, sponsorship and fees. Television changes sport completely, nearly always for the worse. We are saturated with football nearly every night of the week with the same top clubs playing each other again and again. TV companies dictate tennis players' schedules. The most important matches must take place at a time when most people are at home, even if this is late at night. Only in this way are the highest advertising fees commanded.

The growing importance of sport is reflected in the money that surrounds it. Sky TV's sports channels are worth over £8bn. Manchester United football club is a public limited company worth around £lbn. It has even formed a superclub with baseball's New York Yankees, so that they can package themselves collectively.

The rise of sport has been accompanied by the growing prominence of sports stars. They have become public figure hence in great demand for TV commercials. For advertisers, they convey glamour, success, credibility and authenticity. The rise of the sports star is mirrored by the rise of sports companies such as Nike and Adidas. Along with pop music, the Internet, and multinational companies, sport is one of the key agents of globalization.