Impact of Commercialization, Media, and Sponsorship on Modern Sports

Hi folks, welcome to this video on commercialization, media, and sponsorship. Basically, what I'm going

to do here is look at the varying impacts of these things on different people, the sports, uh, coaches,

performers, people like that. Um, one thing I would say is don't forget commercialization, media, and

sponsorship are kind of the same thing. Um, you don't have one without the other. Hence why I've got this little

diagram here, sometimes called the golden triangle. You've got sport, you've got sponsorship, you've got media

coverage. Uh, and what we're just going to do is show you how these things interact and relate with each

other. So, what you've got, if you've got a sport that is high standard and it's

entertaining, people, companies are going to want to put it on TV. They want to give it a high level of media

coverage, TV, social media, uh, press, things like that. They're going to want to show

games. As a result, that is going to attract sponsorship. If something is on TV, if something is in the public

viewing arena on a regular basis, it's going to attract high levels of sponsorship as a result of this

increased sponsorship. That's going to mean more money going back into the sport. Now, the thing is more money goes

into the sport. That means you can buy better players. You can increase the quality of your training facilities, of

your stadia. That in turn makes the sport more entertaining and raises the standard even more which makes it on TV

even more which attracts greater levels of sponsorship which puts more money into the sport which raises the standard

of the sport and makes it more entertaining which puts it on TV more which puts more sponsors in and so on

and so forth. So it's one of those things where why is it called the golden triangle? because they they fuel each

other. They they you know, one feeds into the other. But equally, having said that, that's all well and good if you're

a big sport or you're a big performer and things are going well. What happens if you if you things aren't going so

well? What happens if you're a performer who's just been, you know, found guilty of taking drugs? What if you're a sport

that is name has been dragged through the mud such as cycling, athletics, with drug scandals and things like that?

Well, the opposite is going to have an effect. That sport loses its credibility. is not going to be on TV as

much or that performer loses their credibility and they're not on TV as much. That means sponsors are likely to

drop them as they have with FIFA, as they have with the IAAF, as they have with Maria Sherupov, as they did with

Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong and Manny Pacquiao and things like that. So less money goes to these players, goes

to their sports, which potentially lowers their standard of performance, which means they're not on TV as much,

which then attracts even lower levels of sponsorship, which means less money, which lowers their performance even

more, etc., etc. So this golden triangle is absolutely crucial to modern day sport. I think, you know, if you're a

football fan, it's rumored that Manchester United not qualifying for the Champions League in the first season

that they didn't cost them£ 53 million. Now, that's in loss revenue due to sponsorship, which means you can't buy

as many good players anymore, which lowers your chance of getting to the Champions League the following season.

So, you know, this sport is a business now. There's no avoiding it. So, what we're just going to quickly look at now

are the pros and cons to this commercialization, this media, this sponsorship on various people associated

with sport. So someone who's currently doing very very well off the back of you know their

sporting success Mo Farah is an example of that. So let's see what increased commercialization and sponsorship and

media coverage uh what the benefits of that on a performer such as Mo Farah. So where are you? He's obviously

going to get more wages. He's going to get more sponsorship money more endorsements more funding because he's

highly successful and he's on TV a lot. He's going to become a role model off the back of his sporting success to

millions of people worldwide. Now, some people might agree that it's a disadvantage. You know, the demand to

compete at more events. Um, he's going to increase his risk of injury and illness. Yeah, but he's getting paid to

attend these events. So, the opportunity to earn more money. You know, everyone wants to have the Olympic champions and

world champions compete at their events in their countries and they'll pay for those people to attend.

you know, as an athlete in this country, as a British athlete, he technically still has amateur status. He does not

get paid a a contract salary, things like that. But with all this extra money coming in through his success and

through media coverage, he can now train full-time. He doesn't have to work part-time. He can train full-time. And

equally, that money that he earns will allow him to increase the quality of his training. Better training facilities,

better equipment, uh better support, you know, research and development, things like that. So all of these are benefits

of increased media coverage for a performer. So what are the downsides to increased media coverage, increased uh

uh sponsorship and commercialization? Well, you know, I'm going to use not all points are relevant to Lance Armstrong,

but he's an example. So we're just going to draw a few things off him. Well, two that are definitely related to Lance are

the, you know, increased deviency and the greater pressure to win. If you're on TV a lot, the pressure to be

successful, the pressure to retain those sponsor those sponsorship deals and that media coverage is very very high and

it's going to increase the risk of your drug taking or you know doing something illegal because of the pressure you know

that is now on you to win. But some that are not related to Lance but still negatives. So not all sports benefit.

What if you're a performer in a sport that isn't on TV a lot? you're not attracting the sponsorship deals because

you've not got the TV coverage. Therefore, you can't afford to train full-time. So, you know, there are lots

of sports that are big in some countries and not in others. Um, as a result of increased media coverage, some rules of

sports are changing and formats are changed and that can be detrimental to some players. They have their ways of

playing. They've always played this way and suddenly a rule change comes in or a format change comes in and it ruins

their game. And equally, there can be an over reliance of some sports and some performers on the sponsorship. uh for

them. So as soon as those sponsors drop them, they've got no way of supporting themselves through their professional

sporting career. So you know there are lots of downsides as well as the positives. So there there's a balance

point in terms of the impact of commercialization, sponsorship and media on the

performer. So what about the spectators then? What about us who watch sport? How does commercialization sponsorship media

benefit us? But how does it take take away from the sporting experience from us? So again I'm going to write the

positives in green. I'm going to write the negatives in red. So, we'll start with the positives

first. So, what are the benefits then? Well, the more money that comes into a sport, the better the standard of

performance. You can buy better players. You can increase the quality of their training facilities as we've said

before. So, that means more entertainment for these people watching. You also get better stadia. So, all seat

stadia, nice comfy chairs, retractable roof so you can keep the rain off. Fantastic news uh for us spectators.

We also get before the competition, halfway through it, during, at the end, expert analysis. So we get like

education. We get things pointing out to us that we didn't know. So there's an educational element to sports being on

TV a lot. We also get exciting new formats. So things like 2020 cricket. You might not be cricket fans, but 2020

cricket is definitely brought people to cricket. It's a hell of a lot more uh entertaining for a lot more people than

it used to be when it was just the uh test match format. Rules change things like playoffs introduced into many

sports such as in rugby league. So you don't just have like a league winner with five games to go at the end of the

season, so no one's watching it anymore. Someone might have won the league with five games to go, but you've still got

the playoffs where teams are going to get dumped out each round. So that can keep it exciting for us the spectator

and we also have improved technology at the ground such as HD screens you know uh we get 3D don't we these days you

know all the different camera positions and things like that so there's multiple benefits to more money more TV more

commercialization more sponsorship to us the spectators so what about the disadvantages

then so the disadvantages then you know look at some of the advantages and just turn them on the Hence, we've got

exciting new formats and rule changes, but the traditional nature of the sport has been lost. For every person who

likes the introduction of 2020 cricket, we've got those who are disgusted by it and who would prefer it to have stayed

as test match cricket. If you are the fan of a of a minority sport, you're not going to see on TV as much, you know, so

you're not going to that sport is not going to see much media coverage. Therefore, very little sponsorship and

the standard is not going to be raised. Even if your sport is on TV, loads of advert breaks, you know, sponsors trying

to push their products on to you. And when someone sponsors an event, they get lots of tickets in terms of hospitality

and things like that. So the tickets available to you, the loyal fan, and you, the spectator, there aren't as many

or you've got to pay higher prices because there's so much pressure on winning as well, the increased risk of

match fixing. So you're not seeing a truly competitive experience sadly. And a lot of sports due to sponsors having

to have their start times changed. If you look at this country, the UK, go back 20, 30 years, every single football

match kicked off at 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon. Now that it's on TV and we want to show more games, it's on Monday

night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night, Wednesday afternoon, Saturday. Three games on a Saturday,

three games on a Sunday. Yeah, that's great if you like football, but it can also be saturation of the market. you

know, your team might have to play at different times based on a TV schedule, not on, you know, when you can get

there. And also, you have a merchandise monopoly. If Nike or Adidas or Reebok or anyone else sponsor your team, you have

to buy their products and they can charge what they like. You have very little choice in the matter. You either

pay the prices or you don't. So, what are the benefits of increased media commercialization,

sponsorship on the sport itself? Well, let's take cricket as an example of that. I've mentioned 2020 cricket a few

times. So, you know, things like the IPL, the Aussie big bash has really come and revolutionized

um cricket and the way it should be and and the way it's played and the money that gets invested in it. That's

crucially the thing. So, what are the advantages of all of this uh incre you know what what the advantages to the

sport of all this increased commercialization media sponsorship? As you'd expect, when a sport really

attracts new investment and really gets on TV a lot more, you're going to generate more role models, more kids

going out on a weekend trying to be like the people that they've seen play at the weekend or in an evening, which you

know, you've advertised your sport to a new audience with that respect, which is then going to increase your

participation rates and increase your grassroots participation levels and things like that. Now, as a result, it's

going to bring in new sponsors, people who want to be sponsoring a sport that people are talking about, that people

are playing, that people are getting involved with. So, you know, it's that it's that self-fulfilling prophecy.

You're going to get the next generation of talent coming through, which going to be your next superstars and heroes,

which is going to attract your next generation of sponsors and and the next, you know, the next amount of money

that's going to come in. So, it is really really important to get these sports global. But like we've said, for

all the positives, there are definite negatives. So what the negatives to the sport of increased media sponsorship and

commercialization? Well, as we've mentioned, and this is what I don't need to be afraid of, we've mentioned some of

these in terms of the spectators and some of these in terms of the performers and there is a great deal of overlap.

Just as the performers and spectators get, you know, disadvantaged or advantage due to rule, formats and

change. So does the sport itself. Some of those in the sport would not have liked the introduction of 2020 cricket.

I dare say some people may have even resigned over the fact that it was brought in. Again, the sport loses the

control of the playing times. You've got to put events on based on when peak viewing figures are, not when you want

to play the events as the governing body of the sport. Look what's happened in terms of football and athletics and

cycling in recent years. They over sensationalize negative events. You mentioned cycling, athletics, and the

first thing that most people think is drugs because it's on the media all the time. You mentioned football and FIFA,

you think corruption. You don't think of the World Cup. So, the media can overens sensationalize negative events and ruin

the image of your sport. What else happens on TV? You pay your monthly subscriptions and you pay everything

like that. And then suddenly pay-per-view comes on as well. So, you can start to get charged more for

watching events. So, you've got no real regulation over the prices that you pay. When a sport is on TV, you might get

lower attendance at the televised event because what's the point in buying a ticket when I can watch it at home?

And you often get oversaturation. Too much football, too much rugby, too much hockey. It's just getting boring and

bland. Now, I know some of you out there going, "You can never have too much sport TV." But for every one of you,

there's one that thinks the opposite. So, you know, the sport can benefit, but it can suffer under increased media

sponsorship and commercialization. Right? So there's only one more section to look at and that is the impact of the

media on the coach. So there's a couple of coaches who've worked in the English Premier

League in terms of football. So let's, you know, relate some of the topics. I'm not going to relate all of these to each

of them, but let's, you know, think about the pros and the cons. And again, we're going to go pros of increased

media sponsorship commercialization in green and the negatives in red. So, you know, Eddie how took um

Bournemouth from, you know, was it league two into the Premiership, you know, so what has it done for him?

Increased media coverage. It's raised his profile. He's now, you know, from someone who the majority of people have

not heard of. He's, you know, a future England manager off the back of the successes he's had in charge of

Bournemouth. He's going to get an increased salary. So, it's good for him due to with the increased media coverage

that Bournemouth have in the Premier League, he gets more money to develop his squad. And that hopefully leads his

team on to greater success. But also because his opponents are on TV a lot, it's easier to analyze his opponents.

How are they playing? How are they lining up today? And how can we best break them down based on how they've

played in previous games. So there's lots of benefits to the coach of increased media coverage of their sport.

Now I know Marina's unbelievably successful football coach, but you know, I'm doing this at a time and season

where he lost his job at Chelsea. You know, Chel Chelsea really underperformed. Now you know what are

the downsides to increase commercialization, media sponsorship. There is much greater pressure to be

successful. Okay, you're one of the top four. So you've got to stay in that top four. You have to deal with the media

constantly. You've got to do press conferences and you can feel like you ask stupid questions all the time. You

know how many times did he, you know, walk out press conferences and not answer questions and act flippant and

things like that. Ultimately, he lost his job. So when the results don't come in, there's a higher and fire culture uh

in certain sports based on um you know based on the media coverage on on the commercial deals. As we've mentioned

here, what's a big advantage is it's easier for you to analyze your opponent's tactics, but then the obvious

downside is your own tactics are being analyzed. Your own uh formats uh formations, things like that are being

broken down by your opponents week in week out. And ultimately this, you know, ties in with Chelsea. It's unlikely that

Chelsea are going to qualify as I'm doing this video for the Champions League off the back of their poor star,

which means less coverage on TV next season, which means lower levels of funding and which means less attractive

to big players. Clubs are want to going to go to clubs that are playing in the Premier League, sorry, in the Champions

League. And if they're not, I might go to a club that is. So, they might end up losing a lot of their players as a

result of this. So, you know, there's big pros and cons. What you've got to do is you've got to analyze the question

carefully. It's often going to be discussed discuss the impact of commercialization, media sponsorship.

Remember, they're all the same thing. Money is money from sponsors from, you know, the commercialization of sport

from the from the media coverage. And then look at who is it asking you about. Is it asking about the coach, the

performer, the sport uh or the spectator? And just tailor your answers to that need. And don't forget some of

the advantages automatically make disadvantages as well. Hopefully you found this video useful, folks.