Sport studies has become one of the largest and fastest growing international industries. This collection of essays from a range of international contributors analyzes all aspects of the political economy of this industry, including media sports production, urban growth politics and capital accumulation and the economic effects of Olympism.
This timely book offers a critical interpretation of the traditional social and economic accounts of sport. It provides an incisive analysis of professional sport and defines alternative foundations to the present model. The authors demonstrate that professional sport is an extremely complex phenomenon encompassing many unique factors depending on its global reach, financing and organization. In particular they address three significant issues: • an analysis of the relationship between sport and economic development in order to explain the place of professional sport in modern societies • a study of the main difficulties facing the organization of professional sports in terms of financing, collective bargaining and the consequences of revenue sharing for competitive balance • an exploration of alternatives to current governance structures which would involve a return to professional ethics. This insightful and topical book is essential for academics and students of sport management, researchers of the economics of sport, managers of clubs and federations involved in professional sports, as well as civil servants and journalists.
Drawing from theories of the political economy of communication, this book offers readers a comprehensive data-rich assessment of contemporary sports television and its evolution. Providing an in-depth look at the ownership and regulation of sports television in the United States, William M. Kunz analyzes a range of platforms, networks, and sports, with particular focus on the way ownership has become concentrated in five conglomerates: AT&T, CBS, Comcast, Disney and Fox. The end result of years of media consolidation is that broadcast networks are now married to cable and streaming services under a single conglomerate, which has implications for the cost of contracts and the negotiation of distribution deals. Examining multiple platforms, networks and sports in an all-inclusive manner, this volume documents the evolution and current state of affairs of sports television. With historic and current data on rights fees for sports television leagues and events as well as carriage fees and subscription levels for sports-related cable and satellite services, this comparative study offers critical information for students and scholars conducting research on sports television.
This is the first book to define and explore the geopolitical economy of sport – the intersection of power, politics, money, and state interests that both exploit and shape elite sport around the world. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the global response, and the consequent ramifications for sport have put the geopolitical economy of sport front and centre in both public debate and academic thinking. Similarly, the Winter Olympics in Beijing and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar illustrate the political, economic, and geographic imperatives that shape modern sport. This book brings together studies from around the world to describe this new geopolitical economy of sport, from the way in which countries use natural resource revenues, accusations of sport washing, and the deployment of sport for soft power purposes, to the way in which sport has become a focus for industrial development. This book looks at the geopolitical economy of sport across the globe, from the Gulf States’ interests in European soccer to Israel seeking to build a national competitive advantage by positioning itself as a global sports tech start-up hub, and the United States continuing to extend its economic and cultural influence through geopolitical sport activities in Africa, Latin America, and the Indian subcontinent. This book captures a pivotal moment in the history of sport and sport business. This is essential reading for any student, researcher, practitioner, or policymaker with an interest in sport business, the politics of sport, geopolitics, soft power, diplomacy, international relations, or international political economy.
Sport on television is big business, but it is about more than just commerce. Using a range of national case studies from Europe and beyond, this book analyses the political, economic, social and regulatory issues raised in relation to the buying and selling of television sports rights.
At the global level, sport is ruled by a set of organizations including giants such as the IOC (Olympics), FIFA (soccer), and the IAAF (athletics) as well as sporting minnows such as the World Armsport Federation (armwrestling). Many of these bodies have been surrounded by controversy during their histories, after having to adjust to the reali
This book explores the contemporary dynamics of European football’s political economy, mapping the various market and regulatory forces that shape its current position and development. Offering a conceptual framework for understanding political economy as applied to the study of football, this book presents in-depth case studies from Central and Eastern Europe – a region largely underexplored in the research literature – that enable the reader to gain a sense of the rich history and diversity of the economic and social contexts in which European football is shaped. The first part of this book sets out the market structure of football in Europe and considers how key trends of globalisation and hypercommercialisation have been addressed through attempts to incentivise and regulate the football market. It presents a theoretical framework for political economy in football and explores key issues including football and economic development; UEFA’s ‘Financial Fair Play’ regulations; sponsorship in football; and the socio-economic conditions of hooligan violence. The second part of the book looks more closely at Central and Eastern Europe. Presenting case studies of aspects of political economy in football in Romania, Poland, East Germany, Austria and Hungary (including development of the women’s game), this book shows how the economic development of European football has been uneven, not only subject to global trends but also dependent on local historical, political, economic and organisational conditions. Opening up new perspectives on the complex interactions between states, sports organisations, markets and society, this book will be fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in football, the history, politics or business of sport, or political economy as a field of scholarly enquiry.
The Political Economy of Sport provides and understanding of sport in a political-economic context set against the backdrop of increasing globalization. The contributors view globalization as contested terrain in which economic, technological, and cultural features are intertwined. The chapters, grouped in three parts, offer a remarkably topical discussion of sport while locating sport within trends and characteristics of advanced capitalism. Considered together, they provide evidence of similar forces effecting, and being effected by the internationalization of sport and sport-related enterprises. Issues addressed include the expansion of neo-liberalist ideology/deregulation, vertical integration of media and sport markets, competition for capital investment at all geographical levels, and brand-name marketing of sport and sport-related goods and services. In addition, the contributors include perspectives of non-elites: school children, grassroots supporters of sport clubs and urban residents.
In recent years the interest in the patterns and policies of South African sport has grown. This book examines the increasingly complex issue of race, class and sport in the context of South African social relations. The author disputes evaluations made purely on the question of race, maintaining that it is important to examine the complex interaction between racial and class dynamics as a background for understanding the South African way of life. The book demonstrates that sport must be understood in the context of the ensemble of social relations characterizing the South African social formation.
"This handbook contains useful reviews of major theoretical frameworks and research topics in sports studies-especially sport sociology-written by a star-studded array of internationally recognized experts. The scope and depth of this volume demonstrates the intellectual maturity of this area. Each chapter provides an informative historical context and an organized conceptual framework for making sense of the relevant scholarly literature. The book will be particularly useful to graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and college and university faculty who are seeking to gain rapid, informed access to the literature." --Janet C. Harris, Professor and Chair, Dept. of Kinesiology and Physical Education, California State University, Los Angeles This vital new Handbook marks the development of sports studies as a major new discipline within the social sciences. Edited by the leading sociologist of sport, Eric Dunning, and author of the best selling textbook on sport in the USA, Jay Coakley, it both reflects and richly endorses this new found status. Key aspects of the Handbook include: an inventory of the principal achievements in the field; a guide to the chief conflicts and difficulties in the theory and research process; a rallying point for researchers who are established or new to the field, which sets the agenda for future developments; a resource book for teachers who wish to establish new curricula and develop courses and programmes in the area of sports studies. With an international and inter-disciplinary cast of contributors the Handbook of Sports Studies is comprehensive in scope, relevant in content and far-reaching in its discussion of future prospect.