INFLUENCE OF THE MEDIA P233 – 239 “SPECTATOR SPORT AND THE MEDIA HAVE FUSED TOGETHER. THE ONE IS INCONCEIVABLE WITHOUT THE OTHER”

Sport is now a mass consumer spectacle This is a bit different from the time when ‘gentleman amateurs’ played for fun and it was not taken too seriously Sport Times have changed. We now have a ‘golden triangle’ between the media, sport and sponsors Media Sponsorship

The ‘Golden Triangle’ There is no doubt that sport, the media, which in turn means sponsorship is linked In all sports with strong media links, professionalism is a reality Sports have had to change their rules, format and scheduling in order to meet the demands of TV companies and sponsors

Sport and the Media Sport is becoming increasingly commercialised and ‘Americanised’ We are getting the ‘win at all costs ethic The stakes are high, so winning is vital This can intensify ethical problems such as corruption, cheating, violence and drug abuse, which are highlighted by the media

WHAT HAS HAPPENED? TV has had a massive effect on contemporary sport Early 1950’s – fewer than 10% of British households had a TV Late 1960’s – only 10% did not TV companies once paid relatively small amounts of money to sports bodies to cover their sports Now its is millions of pounds!

ROLES OF THE MEDIA Sport can be a feature of TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, Internet, books, films and videos – in different ways On TV – live coverage, recorded highlights, quiz shows, educative documentaries, latest news Newspapers – pre-event predictions, post event analysis, size and behaviour of the crowd, state of facilities, behind the scenes stories about celebrity sports star

ROLES OF THE MEDIA Specialist sports magazines – info on skill development, feature personalities and events Books – biography and autobiography There are a number of different ways that the media uses sport and sport uses the media

ROLES OF THE MEDIA The media has 4 roles: Inform Entertain Educate Advertise In any item in the media, one role can dominate or elements of each role can be evident Improvements in technology, have increased the potential of the media to fulfill its roles

INFORMATIVE ROLE The media gives information on: Live coverage, factual information, analysis of what is happening and happened, results, reports, rules, rule changes, team analysis, analysis of performers’ behaviour, highlights and comments feature in newspapers, magazines, TV and radio. School sport and developments in PE is also reported

INFORMATIVE Sky Sports News Various newspapers Reports and results Radio 5 Live

ENTERTAINMENT ROLE We like to read about sports stars private lives We watch sport on TV for its drama, skill and intensity of emotion We are committed to supporting a sport or team Sport is central to the increasingly popular home based leisure It can be argued that we are now a nation of arm chair supporters

ENTERTAINMENT ROLE On July 4th 1990 – the potential audience for any programme was 52.8 million 25,210,000 viewers watched the World Cup semi final between England and West Germany (penalty shoot out) This was the biggest audience for any single event in British TV history

ENTERTAINMENT Supporting your favourite team Sports stars private lives Watching for drama and skill Home based leisure

EDUCATIVE ROLE Documentary programmes give the opportunity for greater understanding of global sport Also, we can be educated about sporting skills, coaching techniques, contemporary issues (e.g. drugs) Ethics of fair play can be reinforced through comment and behaviour of role models

EDUCATIVE The importance of fair play BBC documentary series Coaching in sport Drugs in sport

ADVERTISING ROLE Sport is used to either directly advertise products (sports goods, crisps, beer, hair gel) or indirectly through sponsorship Companies sponsor individuals, teams, leagues, and events to heighten corporate awareness Preview programmes also promote events In contrast to the BBC, independent TV has always had to sell advertising in order to pay for itself

ADVERTISING Sponsoring teams Sports stars advertising a product Sponsoring events Sponsoring a league/competition

THE REAL ISSUE HOW CAN SPORT RETAIN ITS TRUE NATURE AND VALUES WHILE BENEFITING FROM THE MONEY OFFERED BY COMMERCIALISM?

WHAT HAS HAPPENED? 19th Century sport was seen as a valuable experience in its own right 20th Century sport became part of the entertainment industry Now just a branch of the advertising industry?

QUESTIONS Has money corrupted sport or has the media saved sport from economic disaster? Has sport benefited from its relationship with the media? Has sport been manipulated for the sake of the sponsors, advertisers and passive armchair spectators, at the expense of the paying punter? DISCUSS

ISSUES Colour TV revived activities such as snooker, darts and even tennis Modern commercial sport earns millions for the very best performers in the most media exposed sports, yet others are exploited in the interests of profit

ARE THESE ISSUES NEW? Not really, we are left with the same concerns as 150 years ago When professionalism worked its way into amateur cricket, athletics and rowing – that the needs to win for money might lead to corruption and the temptation to cheat

CAN SPORT BENEFIT? Professional sport is certainly a media commodity driven by market forces But can sport benefit from its mutually dependant relationship with the media? With careful management, the unique qualities and potential of sport as an educational and entertainment tool can hopefully be retained

SKY, CABLE & PAY PER VIEW Events: Olympics World Cup Commonwealth Games FA Cup Final Wimbledon Test match cricket The Derby Grand National Boat race 1950’s the Govt, the BBC and ITV identified and agreed on 10 sporting events that should ‘belong’ to everyone and not be given exclusive coverage by any one organisation

BRITISH SATELLITE BROADCASTING Began 1988, used sport to attract a mass audience The Broadcasting Act of 1990 declared that all rights to broadcast sport could be sold to the highest bidder November 1990 – British Satellite Broadcasting merged with Sky to create BSkyB

BSkyB Exclusivity forced fans to sign up to the entire channel Deals: BSkyB paid £304million for a 5 year deal with the top clubs, who then broke away from the Football league and formed the Premiership They turned football into big business

DEALS Channel 4 paid £50 million for the rights to televise Test matches from 1999-2002 ITV paid £44 million in 1992 for a 4 year deal for exclusive live coverage and highlights of league football, forcing it to drop coverage of other sports By 1997, two-thirds of Football League clubs were losing money, Premier League clubs were making around £8 million from broadcasting and sponsorship rights As you can see relegation has massive consequences

ITV DIGITAL In 2002, ITV Digital's short lived coverage of League football ended in disaster When they collapsed, they owed nearly £200 million to football clubs Many faced economic ruin because of this BBC and BSkyB stepped in This illustrates the mutually dependant relationship between sport and the media It also illustrates the firm control and profound effect that TV can have over one particular sport

TASKS Look at the diagram sport and the media. Make sure you know the: Roles Types The relationship between sport and the media Positive and negative outcomes

TASKS In pairs, compare a report in a tabloid with a broadsheet on a men’s sporting event and a women's sporting event Do the reports: Differ between newspapers? Language used? Reference to personal life, clothes worn, skilfulness, personality, looks, training regime? Suggest reasons for your findings Has the reporting of women's events improved in recent years? Give reasons for your answers

Sponsorship Is the funding of sport to gain recognition and increased income Sponsors can support individuals, teams, events or organisations in order to get good publicity and commercial return Agents can promote particular competitors for their mutual financial benefit Athletes can endorse particular products by displaying the company name on their clothing or equipment

Sponsorship Sports stars can use their celebrity status to advertise products away from their sport Companies can advertise around the perimeter of sports grounds

Sponsorship OXO sponsored the 1908 Olympic Marathon Since then Companies are prepared to pay loads of money to secure sponsorship deal in sport - £12 million for Carling to sponsor the Premiership over 4 years Sponsorship has been called ‘the most visible relationship between sport and business in the modern world’ (Mason, Only a Game)

Sponsorship The aim of both sport and business is to win, but the drive to win at any price undermines the true ethic of sport – enjoyment, participation, fair play There is also a problem that sponsorship is uneven across sports, high profile sports attracting big sponsorship and low profile sports attracting little or no sponsorship

Sponsorship There is a vicious circle If low profile sports such as Volleyball fail to attract media attention, they also fail to attract sponsorship; if they do not get sponsorship they cannot market themselves, improve or compete on an even playing field with those that do

Tasks List 10 examples of events, leagues or sports men/women who are sponsored by a particular company Complete the sport and sponsorship worksheet, use P240/241 of the textbook to help you