കൊമ്മെര്കിഅലിസടിഒന് and Americanisation of UK and European Sport

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Commercialisation and Americanisation of UK and European Sport

Introduction
Sport is entertainment. As you have learned earlier in the course the growth of newspapers and literacy of the general population had a massive effect on professional sport in the late 19th century. Both radio in the 1930’s and television from the 1950’s all played their part in developing sport as entertainment that can be enjoyed from the comfort of home

Commercialisation
Commercialisation is the process of attempting to gain money from an activity rather than being interested in the activity purely for its own sake.
Large amounts of money can be made from sports activities from ticket sales, media rights etc. Major corporations carry out intensive research into TV viewing habits in relation to sport. They are then able to advertise their products on billboards, logos and players shirts.
The growth of satellite and cable TV has meant that sport can be seen as a global commodity [hence the term globalisation] where TV companies such as Sky sports pay huge amounts of money for the sole rights to televise major sports activities. The TV companies earn their money by selling advertising opportunities to major corporations. This advertising in real terms is quite cheap and has included advertising for questionable products such as tobacco and alcohol.

Globalisation needs also to be examined in respect of spreading sports to other countries. The Superbowl is now popular in the UK and one of the fastest growing sports in the USA is Football. Additionally most professional sports usually have a diversity of different nationalities


Click here to visit the Sky Sports web site

How Commercialisation [Americanisation]has affected sport
The Americanisation of sport in the UK is reflected in various ways. Anyone visiting America is usually very surprised at the number of commercial breaks there are on TV. In the UK most commercial breaks last no more than 3 minutes and commercials are limited to 3 breaks per hour of TV. In the USA commercial breaks are every 10 minutes lasting for 4/5 minutes each time. American professional sport receives huge coverage, however both College and High School sport are televised extensively at local level.This means that many sports are organised to allow for a high number of commercial breaks which enables sponsors the opportunity to advertise their products.

Lombardian Ethic
Another American influence on sport has been the spread of the win at all costs ethic. This so-called “Lombardian ethic” was practiced by Vince Lombardi a very successful American Football coach. Although this approach is very controversial it has become widespread across the UK and Europe. Examples of this philosophy are, players being encouraged to take greater risks when playing and also playing whilst injured having taken pain killing drugs.


Click the photograph to learn more about the Lombardian Ethic

The Franchise System
The American franchise system has also become evident in the UK and Europe. The franchise system is where a team can be moved from its home base and moved to a different part of the country. This is usually driven by the media, particularly TV for commercial reasons. Examples of this approach in the UK include the Rugby Union Super League where clubs have been set up in areas such as London where Rugby League has traditionally not been played, and the restructuring of Welsh Rugby Union Clubs to make the league more commercially viable. European sport may have taken the franchise system one stage further with massive amounts of TV money influencing competitions. Examples include the Champions League in Football, Grand Prix Athletics and European Rugby Union Cup.

Changes to the format
In the UK to provide more excitement penalty shoot outs and the golden goal have been introduced in Football. Rugby Union changed the laws to increase the number of points scored by a try to encourage a more exciting open type of game. The introduction of one day and more recently 20-20 Cricket has led to an increase in the number of people either going to or watching Cricket.

Marketing
Another example of the Americanisation of sport is in the way National Governing Bodies and clubs market themselves. In Rugby League we have the Warrrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors. Compare names such as these with examples from the USA such as Orlando Magic and the Washington Redskins. Professional sport has also become more family oriented with pre match entertainment, family areas within the stadia and cheerleaders.
As UK sport becomes more commercialised the control moves from the National Governing Body and clubs to the sponsors and to some extent the media. The European Champions League in Football is a typical example. Another is Sky Sports who have the power to change kick off times to fit in with their schedules. [Man Utd v Liverpool 11am]

Case Study – Sky TV and Football
1990 Sky TV pays £304 million for the TV rights for the Premiership League.
Coverage of football on Sky increases by over 300%
To encourage subscription to the Sky Network the cost to install equipment is halved to £50. Over the next few years the number of subscribers to Sky TV rises to over 4 million.
1996 Sky renews its deal for the Premiership TV rights at a cost of £670 million. Subscription base rises to over 6 million.

The Future
It is clear that in the 21st century the media will continue to have a significant impact on sports development. With massive amounts of money being generated by media rights there is a danger that control of individual sports will be taken out of the hands of the governing bodies. Sportsmen and women will also continue to be high profile media figures on a par with actors and pop stars which will put them under increasing amounts of pressure to perform well. Indeed most premier league football clubs now run courses for all their players to learn how to handle the media.
On the positive side the “Americanisation” of sport has generated a huge interest in sport in general, which has led to an increase in a number of sports related qualifications, the production of films, magazines, computer games and videos. Players at the top level in televised sports are well paid and for the most part make good roles models for young people. The technology has also assisted in ensuring that crucial decisions are correct with the advent of the 3rd Umpire in Cricket and the Video Referee in Rugby.