Commercialization in Sport

1852 Words8 Pages
The commercialization of sports is a very controversial and highly debated topic in society. Over the last two decades the sports business aspect has rapidly increased in its worth along with the amount of organizations involved. Players' salaries have skyrocketed, the number of teams and the number of leagues has increased, team attendance numbers have gone up. This Goliath just keeps growing. The question is what effect will this have on the experience of watching or appreciating sports and sporting events. With this recent boom in the sporting industry, everyone seems to want a piece of the pie. The amount of commercials, billboard adds, sponsors, and merchandise being sold is often overwhelming. Does commercialization have to change the experience of sport? In this report I will investigate the reasons for the large commercialization of the sports industry, as well as the positive and negative effects the increase in commercialization brings to sports. Today our global sports industry is estimated to be worth $480 billion - $620 billion dollars with U.S football alone owning 13% of the market. The industry has also seen an annual steady increase of 6% in its worth since 2005.? One of the main reasons for this strong growth is the increase in mass media exposure. Media is a mean of which information is passed from one individual to another. In today’s society there is an overwhelming number of ways people are able to gain information. The internet television, billboards, radio, handheld devices, and newspapers just to name a few. There are so many ways fans can interact with their favorite player and teams, and many ways the industry can captivate new dedicated fans. An example of this would be fantasy basketball. Fans can build a team through a draft of their favorite players, and play against friends to see whose team does better throughout the season.
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