Sociology of Sport 2016

Quick messages

• Blog posts & comment due 21 April
• Instinct theory....

Your comments (at least 2) and interaction with other blogs demonstrate an in-depth level of understanding of the relationship between sport and society. This is shown through a superior level of critical thought evidenced in your comments. You were able to raise relevant, specific questions about the sport and society relationship based on these issues, you challenged assumptions and considered who might be advantaged or disadvantaged.

TODAY: How does money shape sport in our society?

Research by Sport New Zealand, claims that the economic value of the wider sport and recreation sector is estimated at $4.9 billion per annum

Amateur to Professional

Amateurism is a set of ideas about sport that emerged in the 19th century, especially from Britain’s public schools and universities. The central idea was that people should not receive any material reward for taking part in sport.

During the 1860s some people suggested that watermen (who made their living by transporting paying passengers in rowing boats) ought to be excluded from Christchurch’s Heathcote Regatta because their profession gave them an unfair advantage over people who worked in sedentary jobs.

No roses for Yvette

The inflexibility of strictly defined amateurism is highlighted in the career of the 1952 Olympic long-jump gold medallist Yvette Williams. A rose breeder planned to name a rose after Williams, and there were plans to use her image on a health stamp, the proceeds of which funded children to attend health camps. Both ideas were abandoned because it was feared they might compromise Williams’s amateur status

The International Olympic Committee eliminated the necessity of amateurism in 1971, allowing athletes to receive compensation for time away from work during training and competition. In addition, athletes were permitted to receive sponsorship from national organizations, sports organizations, and private businesses for the first time. In 1986, professional athletes were given permission by the International Federation to compete in each sport of the Olympic Games. For instance, in the 1992 Olympic Games, the United States was allowed to field a basketball team comprised of well-paid NBA stars, called "The Dream Team."

THING 13 - COMMERCIALISATION

Commercial sports are most prevalent when...

• Market economy
• Large, densely populated cities
• People that have time, money, media access
• Large amounts of capital
• A culture emphasising consumption and material status symbols

Unless people with power and money want to play, sponsor or watch a sport, it will not be commercialised on a large scale.

THEREFORE sports are forms of entertainment but more importantly they reproduce an ideology that fosters their interest

Globalization of commercial sports

• Egs of how sports are expanded to maximise profits
• ?

IN SMALL GROUPS...

How does $ affect who plays?

How does $ affect who watches and how?

Affect what is shown by the media and how it is portrayed?

Affect how the sport is played and how athletes behave?

Affect the dvpt of sport

Positive vs Negative