Since World War II and the advent of the television age there have been significant transformations in sport and sporting cultures (see Whitson, also in this issue). During the 1980s and 1990s this process intensified as governments increasingly diverted large sums of money into national sporting programmes aimed at succeeding on the international stage. As demonstrated in Australia, countries with the resources to dedicate to elite programmes can generate a greater profile through sporting successes in international competition. Sportive nationalism intensified in the late 20th century as states sought ways to position themselves in the global hierarchy of nations.1 The number of nations that can spend the necessary resources on elite sporting programmes across the board, however, is limited to a small minority of the over 200 participants in the Olympic Games and nations must often choose whether to divert limited public resources into supporting international sporting success or the attraction of international sporting events.
During the 1990s and early 2000s media corporations invested at unprecedented levels in sporting coverage and team/league ownership, particularly as pay television companies became global entities and media corporations sought cheap and ready-made programming.2 In the case of rugby league this led to one media corporation virtually buying the entire sport globally. In rugby union the result was near immediate professionalisation, while in soccer greater media ownership fostered expanding pan-European competitions, premier leagues and the concentration of wealth among high profile European clubs to the detriment of smaller clubs in Europe and leading clubs in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Media magnate Rupert Murdoch, for example, almost succeeded in adding the world’s best known sports brand, Manchester United, to his stable of sports and clubs.3 Soon afterwards, however, United formed a marketing partnership with the USA’s most successful franchise, the New York Yankees, to synergise the global marketing strategies of these two brands.
Sports and sporting events have become integral components of a global political economy, which has seen production shift from developed to less developed societies and an expanding focus in the developed world on the ‘branding’, ‘theming’ and consumption of image and lifestyle.4 From the restyling of individual matches as entertainment extravaganzas to specialised tournaments like the Olympic Games, sporting competitions have become spectacles as they compete with other leisure activities for the consumer dollar.
Since World War II and the advent of the television age there have been significant transformations in sport and sporting cultures (see Whitson, also in this issue). During the 1980s and 1990s this process intensified as governments increasingly diverted large sums of money into national sporting programmes aimed at succeeding on the international stage. As demonstrated in Australia, countries with the resources to dedicate to elite programmes can generate a greater profile through sporting successes in international competition. Sportive nationalism intensified in the late 20th century as states sought ways to position themselves in the global hierarchy of nations.1 The number of nations that can spend the necessary resources on elite sporting programmes across the board, however, is limited to a small minority of the over 200 participants in the Olympic Games and nations must often choose whether to divert limited public resources into supporting international sporting success or the attraction of international sporting events.
During the 1990s and early 2000s media corporations invested at unprecedented levels in sporting coverage and team/league ownership, particularly as pay television companies became global entities and media corporations sought cheap and ready-made programming.2 In the case of rugby league this led to one media corporation virtually buying the entire sport globally. In rugby union the result was near immediate professionalisation, while in soccer greater media ownership fostered expanding pan-European competitions, premier leagues and the concentration of wealth among high profile European clubs to the detriment of smaller clubs in Europe and leading clubs in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Media magnate Rupert Murdoch, for example, almost succeeded in adding the world’s best known sports brand, Manchester United, to his stable of sports and clubs.3 Soon afterwards, however, United formed a marketing partnership with the USA’s most successful franchise, the New York Yankees, to synergise the global marketing strategies of these two brands.
Sports and sporting events have become integral components of a global political economy, which has seen production shift from developed to less developed societies and an expanding focus in the developed world on the ‘branding’, ‘theming’ and consumption of image and lifestyle.4 From the restyling of individual matches as entertainment extravaganzas to specialised tournaments like the Olympic Games, sporting competitions have become spectacles as they compete with other leisure activities for the consumer dollar.
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