Commercialization is the process of introducing a product to either a mass or niche market. Owners, often, encourage such commercialization because it helps to expose their team or sport to larger audiences, which will help generate revenue. Commercial sport is something not all people are comfortable with or like. I think that it has its place within professional sports alone. But we are seeing it more and more at the college level with Div. 1 NCAA Men’s Basketball and Football. At an elite amateur level, like colligate sport, I think is where commercialization is a bad thing because it takes away from what amateur sport is really about which is participating in athletics while learning. However, the same cannot be said about professional sports. In elite sport, I think that it is almost a required concept. It’s something that is necessary for the survival of the sport itself. Without commercialization, teams wouldn’t be able to pay the players the salaries of their contracts …show more content…
I believe commercialization comes along and has to be present once you make sport into a business. It is has to. Athletes, coaches, and owners today make millions of dollars more than some wealthy business owners. However, there are critics of sport commercialization that believe commerce corrupts sport. The Corruption Thesis according to Simon on pg. 190 of Fair Play: The Ethics of Sport: “We can understand corruption to mean that the values internal to sport, such as those of fair competition, sportsmanship, and perhaps the mutual quest for excellence, are being or already have been undermined by the growing commercialization of sport.” While in class, I didn’t quite agree with the idea that commercialization could completely corrupt sport with a more attuned understanding of the Corruption Thesis; I now understand how it could and where many critics of sports commercialization are coming
Over the last several years, it has become undeniable that any kind of sport can, and will, be sensationalized and commercialized by the people from the great companies like “Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, and Marlboro” (1667). These companies have hundreds of thousands of dollars budgeted each year to pour into sports in the form of sponsorships, advertising, etc. Once the sponsorships are introduced into a sport, it is exactly the kind of thing that will push an athlete out of competition. An athlete will find himself in a “make-it or break-it” situation. If an athlete receives a sponsorship, then the money is free flowing for equipment, testing, training, etc – anything that the athlete wants or needs to aid in putting him...
Can cheating be an excuse for the phrase; survival of the fittest, or is it an epidemic moral corruption? Since the advent of modern competitive sport, winning has always been the bottom line. Honesty, honour and fair play have taken the backseat. The purpose of the essay May The Best Cheater Win, by Harry Bruce, is to inform how cheating has become widespread and accepted in America. Sports are an integral part of American culture and indeed an entire industry exists because of these competitive sports. The result of these competitive sports has led to the moral corruption of most athletes, as they would do anything to win. Harry Bruce discusses the distortion of right and wrong that has penetrated all levels of sports, from children's league to regional division. He confidently informs his reader that organized sports not only "offer benefits to youngsters" but "they also offer a massive program of moral corruption".
Professional sports, like most of our popular culture, can be understood only partly by through its exiting plays and tremendous athletes. Baseball and football most of all are not only games anymore but also hardcore businesses. As businesses, sports leagues can be as conniving, deceitful, and manipulative as any other businesses in the world. No matter what the circumstances are, it seems that Politicians are always some how right around the corner from the world of sports. These Politicians look to exploit both the cultural and the economic dimensions of the sports for their own purposes. This is what is known in the sports industry as “playing the field”.
sport as the people's last resort for economic stability with a high price to pay; morals and
Another argument would be capitalism with athletes and commercials, Zirin explains how sports was suppose to be pure and untouched by the outside world but have been defile by commercialism. Zirin stated "It seems only commercialism is capable of making sports safe for politics...more than anything else, I 'll argue it is corporate power and fear of a backlash from sponsors that drive the anti political attitude that we find in our sports culture and make athletes afraid to rock the boat." Commercialism involving sports athletes shows how the big corporate power have control over athletes from taking a political stands against something that impact a certain group, which limit their say on a issues but their goals is to present their product and not say a word that involve
Zimbalist, Andrew S. Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism And Conflict In Big-Time College Sports. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
The Reasons Behind the Increasing Commercialism of the Olympic Games The Olympic Games is a world wide event, held once every 4 years. It is the most important event amongst the elite athletes of today. It is viewed on television by billions of people across the world, by satellite transmission (started in Tokyo in 1964). This worldwide viewing attracted sponsors as they realised that by supporting the Olympics their product would be advertised on every product sold, as they would be the 'official sponsor'. The advances in technology has played a fundamental role in the increase in commercialism, as large sums of money are put forwards for television rights over the Games from companies such as Sky, the BBC and ABC.
Mitten, Matthew J., James L. Musselman, and Bruce W. Burton. "Targeted Reform of Commercialized Intercollegiate Athletics." San Diego Law Review 47.3 (2010): 779-844. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
The Current Scale and the Economic Importance of the Sports Industry Over 100 years ago the scale of the sports industry has increased gradually. Not all sports have followed in the same path or footsteps. A slow increasing level of control has been affecting the sports industry since 1960Â’s. Mainly standardisation and commodification of sport. More money has been put into the industry equivalent with the efforts that the sports organisations have put in, to increase their potential at the professional end of the scale, and the voluntary end they remain sustainable.
Without the competitive nature and passion for the game what is left? It game becomes a have to instead of I want to. That is why a lot of people prefer to watch college sports over professionals. If you start paying the student athletes, then it changes the whole dynamic of the game being played.
As we the people of the world enter a new millennium many sociological problems can be viewed in everyday life. Problems, which often are confused and not well understood through the world’s outlook. One such problem that this paper will focus on is “Deviance In Sports”. This paper will discuss and elaborate on certain points and topics such as:
On 25 October 2013, the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) suspended the coach and four players for breaches of the FFA’s National Code of Conduct (Southern Stars players and coach banned by FFA following criminal charges for alleged match-fixing. ABC News Online, 25 October. The stakeholders in this example are the players and coaches, as well as the communities whose interest lays here in the sport being disrupted as well as any results being set aside. Policy Goal To lessen the appeal and availability for corruption, if the stakeholders interest lays with the community if you add an aspect of shaming to those who commit these forms of corruption and use the sporting community in association with the other stakeholders ie the secondary
Sports throughout history have shown close ties and relations to values and cultures of a society. Sports and competition have adapted and grown as the world and people have grown and developed. Sports are often seen as simple consequence of the industrial revolution. The Impact of increased urbanization, better communication and transportation, as well as more time and income for specialization, all led to the creation of sports. (szymanski). In essence As the public sphere grew so did the concept of sport. (Szymanski). Even the impact colonization had on spreading sports, shows the congruence between the development of society and development of modern sports. What make sports very unique is that they always bring about a sense of culture
Sports are one of the most profitable industries in the world. Everyone wants to get their hands on a piece of the action. Those individuals and industries that spend hundreds of millions of dollars on these sports teams are hoping to make a profit, but it may be an indirect profit. It could be a profit for the sports club, or it could be a promotion for another organization (i.e. Rupert Murdoch, FOX). The economics involved with sports have drastically changed over the last ten years.
Møller, Verner. The Ethics of Doping and Anti-Doping: Redeeming the Soul of Sport?Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2009. Print.