The commercialization of sports is that aspect of the
sports enterprise that involves the sale, display, or use
of sport or some aspect of sport so as to produce income. Some experts prefer the term “commodification
of sport” as a label for the same process.
Interest in the commercialization of sport has existed for several decades, but only in recent years has the
phenomenon has been taken seriously on a larger scale.
The first attention came from a small group of critical,
mostly leftist writers, who have now been joined by
people from all political and social perspectives.
History
The commercialization of sport is not a cultural universal, but a product of unique technical, social, and
economic circumstances. Sports in the colonial United
States were usually unstructured, spontaneous activities that the participants initiated, coordinated, and
managed. Only in the latter part of the 19th century did
organized sport cross the ocean from Great Britain and
arrive in America. At that time, urbanization forced a
large number of people to live in new settings and to
abandon traditional leisure activities, which included
drinking, carousing, and gambling. The dominant class
sought to replace them with activities such as baseball,
horseracing, and boxing.
Setting the stage for future commercialization, industry moved to meet the burgeoning desire for organized sports. The most prominent producer of sports
equipment was Albert Spaulding. In 1876, he opened
the A. G. Spaulding and Brothers Company. Spaulding’s
ability to influence the organizers of the various professional sports leagues allowed him to sell his goods
and to capture a virtual monopoly on sporting goods
by the latter part of the 19th century. But others quickly
followed, and by the beginning of the 20th century, began producing their own lines of sports equipment.
During the first two decades of the 20th century, the
growth in sales of sporting goods and services glittered
brighter than ever. Commercial spectator sports attrracted the interest of much of the population. Commercialized sports was one of several male bastions.
However, the by the 1920s, women began to take an interest in both watching sports and participating in sports. Although the commercialization of sports
slowed during the Great Depression and World War II,
by the early 1950s it had solidly established itself as
feature of modern Western culture.
Professional Sports
Professional sports, a big business that has grown
rapidly over the last three decades, may be the epitome
of commercialization, its influence pervasive throughout. Athletes, support personnel (managers, coaches,
officials, media persons, lawyers, and agents), and
sports team owners benefit handsomely from the willingness of sports fans to pay to watch their favorite
sports and to purchase the commodities endorsed by
sports personalities. Hundreds of professional athletes
earn well over $1 million a year. Before 1977, $1 million
contracts did not exist. By 1994 there were well over 200
professional athletes who earned salaries in excess of
$1 million. In 1990, reported average 1989 salaries for
athletes in four different professional sports stood at
$577,200 in the National Basketball Association,
$490,000 in the national baseball leagues, $212,000 in
the National Football League, and $156,000 in the National Hockey League. Forbes’s 1994 list of the top-earning athletes included basketball stars Michael Jordan at
$30 million and Shaquille O’Neal at $17 million, golfers
Jack Nicklaus at $15 million and Arnold Palmer at $14
million, and boxers Micheal Moore and Evander Holyfield at $12 million each. In most cases, athletes’ endorsements make up over 90 percent of their earnings.
Owners of professional sports franchises are some
of the wealthiest people in the world. They continue to
make large profits from their sports teams. In the
United States there are about 110 professional sports
franchises, including football, basketball, baseball, and
hockey. The combined revenues of these four sports
leagues equaled $5.1 billion in 1993. In addition to the
money from gate receipts and television revenues,
owners realize profits through the buying and selling of
franchises. Sports franchises are very profitable shortand long-term investments. For example, the Dallas
Cowboys football team was purchased for $600,000 in
1960. In 1989 the team sold for $140 million.
The profits for the players, owners, and other associates of professional sports come from various
sources. One source, the fares paid at the gates for the
opportunity to see one’s favorite professional players or
teams, continues to increase. By 1998, with good seats,
$3 hot dogs, and $15 parking fees, it costs over $200 for
a family of four to go to National League Football and
National Basketball Association games.
Olympic Games
The ideal of the modern Olympic Games stands in
stark opposition to the commercialism of sports. However, many commentators have argued that this idealism has been compromised to the point that the
Olympics is currently the epitome of commercialism.
In the early part of the 20th century 98 percent of the
Games’ amateur competitors made no money from
their participation. In contrast, today’s Olympic athletes are far from amateurs. The International Olympic
Committee recognized the inevitable creep of commercialism and professionalism, and instead of requiring
participants to be amateurs they merely ask that participants have an “amateur spirit.”
The Games have also come under criticism because
of the movement toward corporate sponsorship. While
most Olympic administrators recognize the need for
support from the private sector, there is concern about
how much help and control should be exchanged.Private
enterprises that range from soft drink producers to automobile companies compete to be an official sponsor of
the games. For example Coca-Cola paid $22 million for
the guarantee that no competitive soft drinks be allowed
to display the Olympic symbol for the Seoul Games.
Intercollegiate Sports
Sports at the university and college level, many argue,
are big-time entertainment businesses, not collections
of students striving merely to achieve physical, mental,
and moral health. Over the past 140 years, student control has been replaced, and the commercial aspect of the
activities has grown immensely. Many universities have
athletic budgets in excess of $12 million, football bowl
games generate $30 million for the teams, teams for the
men’s intercollegiate basketball championships earn
$1.37 million, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association has annual profits of approximately $9 million.
Mass Media
The mass media have been linked to the commercialization of sports. They exist in a symbiotic relationship
with sports, each benefiting greatly from the other.
Sports employs all forms of the mass media. Books and
magazines that specialize in particular sports are published regularly. Newspapers often devote up to onethird of their nonadvertising space to sports coverage.
Radio stations all over the country have changed their
menu to include 24-hour coverage of sports.
However, television has affected sports most profoundly. Television and sports are involved in a relationship in which the economic stakes are very high.
Television contracts for the coverage of professional,
Olympic, and college events reach billions of dollars.
The return on the investment by the major television
networks is just as impressive.
Television has altered individual sports in the effort
to accommodate larger viewing audiences. In some
sports, additional time-outs have been implemented to
allow for more commercials. In tennis, the rules regarding play-offs have been changed to allow matches
to fit into prescribed schedules. The scheduling of
events in the Olympic Games has been modified not to
provide athletes with the optimum conditions for peak
athletic performances, but to allow large audiences in
the United States to view events at more convenient
times.
Gambling
A rise in gambling on sporting events has been an indirect consequence of these phenomena.Great Britain and
Las Vegas permit some legal gambling. However, it is
likely that more money is bet on sports illegally.According to McPherson, Americans lose an estimated $200
million on sports bets annually. The link between sports
and gambling is complex. For example, the profits from
legalized gambling are often used to build sports facilities and to operate many youth sports programs.
Social Consequences
How does this commercialization affect the individual
and society? Proponents of modern sport argue that
capitalist systems have made more sports available to
more people. They contend, too, that the owners, producers, and distributors of sports are simply responding to the demands of sports consumers.
Critics of commercialization reject this view and argue that in reality only a small segment of society—the
wealthy—have access to many sports. In addition,
some critics also argue that commercialization via television especially has turned sport yet another form of
passive entertainment. In addition, it is argued that
commercialized sports, when used to display social
status, effectively divides society. Finally, critics complain that commercialized sport is another way of
defining life in terms of the purchase price rather than
an inner sense of meaning and achievement. Despite
these criticisms, there is little doubt that sports continues to become more and more commercial and the
process is spreading to the non-Western world.
—DANIEL G. YODER