Commercialisation and Commoditisation has played a key role in sport since the Second World War, particularly in sociology. Charles Critcher (1979) argued that there has been a changing trend commencing from the 1950’s, most notably in football. Some of the major changes that have occurred are the growth of commercialisation, nationalism, professionalism and the inclusion of spectators. Goldlust (1987) argued that from1960 onwards “television increasingly colonised sporting cultures and undermined communal control of sporting institutions”. A critical moment in the United Kingdom came in the mid 1960’s when BBC2 was launched (1964) in addition to tobacco being banned from being advertised on the television (1965), which triggered a sponsorship revolution. Governing bodies were then forced to regard television and media as being crucial to financial survival. This was partly because of the amount of money that could be gained from sponsorship deals and also because of the rights to payments from television. In 1980 snooker capitalised on its television success with new tournaments, new sponsors and the growth into new markets. Governing bodies were then willing to respond to the needs of television which increased the activity of sports entrepreneurs from outside the traditionally rooted world of the governing bodies. Jack Kramer, Kerry Packer, Mark McCormack, Horst Dassler and Rupert Murdoch of the news corporation are key figures. The development of cricket came about though Kerry Packers’ economic power. His own World Series Cricket show was shown under floodlights. It meant that there were more cameras, resulting in close-up replays. Continuous developments brought about the introduction of coloured clothing and hard sell advertising which has resulted in a major development in the world of cricket. The development of televised sport in the United States shows other examples of the dramatic speed and scope of commoditisation and commercialisation. In the earlier days of broadcasting, television was used more as a way to bring sports together with sponsors. In the 1960’s ABC television made a massive breakthrough for televised sports with the intention of personalisation, dramatised and spectacularisation.
At the start of the twentieth century there was a significant expansion in woman’s athletics. In North America there were sporting chances for the working class woman. Due to women taking part in sport, many debates took place. Some of the debates were resolved by adopting an altered form of the sport which was less strenuous and lacked a competitive edge, as the “real” sport was played only by males. When woman first started playing sport the distance of races were shortened in athletics and swimming whilst basketball had six players aside which made the movement of the game slower and more restricted. This version of the game was created purely for women to provide an appropriate alternative to basketball that was then only played by men.
Nowadays male and female sport is much the same. Most of the changes have come in the last 25 years which has been the outcome from several developments.
Women have been playing ice hockey for over a century. It has been noticed the most by the admission of ice hockey in the Olympics. Ice hockey was included in the 1998 games in Japan of the first time. The exclusion of woman in sports was most powerful in team sports with the exception of field hockey which has been played in schools and organised at international level since the 1930’s. Woman’s volleyball was included in the 1964 Olympic Games whilst field hockey and basketball were only included in 1974.
The International Olympic Committee only approved the women’s 1500 metres in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. The 1984 Games in Los Angeles were the first opportunity for women to run in the marathon. Women had to wait until the 1988 Olympic Games to run the 10,000 metre race and 1996 was the first opportunity for woman to run the 5000 metre race. Even though these sports were well organised internationally for most of the century they were only included in the 1980’s. It can be seen that there has been developments in women’s sports because of the fact that prior to each of the modern Olympic Games there are additional sports included for woman. Gender equality has still not been achieved in some countries and some nations continue to only send male athletes to represent them in the Olympic Games, even if they were in medal contention. In other sports such as golf, woman’s playing times were restricted, there were separate club houses and separate tee’s (which are still around to this day) which make holes shorter in distance. Golfing rules meant that women were not allowed to wear shorts as their sporting attire, in order for officials to recognise and distinguish differences between the male and female members.
To summarise, it is known that there were continuous developments within the twentieth century. Points made here show that commercialisation has played a big part within sport as television and sponsorship is crucial for financial survival. Media coverage developed extensively with more competitors to show sport. Even though the BBC was in control for most of the twentieth century, SkySports’ growing power to outbid anyone has made them unstoppable. There have been small developments in Women’s sport but still equality is an issue.
Reference list
Cashmore Ellis, (1996). Making sense of Sports second edition: Routledege
Coakley Jay & Dunning Eric, (1999). Handbook of Sports Studies: Sage Publications
Coakley Jay, (2003). Sports in Society issues and controversies Eighth Edition
