1. MEP315 SPORT, MEDIA AND CELEBRITY 3. Political economies of sport and the media

2. Political economy of global media Media production serves the interests of existing political and economic powers Rampant US media and cultural imperialism (inc. American sports/sporting celebrities) destroys local sporting cultures, events, traditions, etc. Multinational corporations (MNCs) dominate the market share of advertising revenue from media sports coverage

3. TV sport rights: media macro economics (Rowe 1999) NBC costs for exclusive US TV rights to show OLYMPIC GAMES: 1980 – $72 million 1988 - $300 million 2000 - $715 million 2004 - $793 million 2008 - $894 million 2012 – $1.181 billion (Horne 2006)

4. Corporate synergy MNCs are able to integrate their sports coverage both horizontally (cross-media content / promotion) and vertically BSkyB (owned by Murdoch’s News Corporation) pays £304 million (1992), £670 million (1996) and £1.11 billion (2001) for exclusive rights to Premier League football, publicised by The Sun,etc

5. Vertical integration DISTRIBUTION PRODUCTION EXHIBITION/RETAIL Investment in teams/competitions Camera/ technical staff Advertising Subscription offers Pay-per-view channels Interactive digital technologies

6. Globalised sports? ATHLETICS – yes FOOTBALL – mostly (but limited in North American markets) GOLF, TENNIS – maybe (but limited in most of Africa & some of Asia/South America) CRICKET – no (only S. Asia, S. Africa, UK, Aus/NZ, Caribbean) AMERICAN FOOTBALL – no (mostly USA & Canada, exc. Superbowl) BASEBALL – no (only N. Amer., Far East) BASKETBALL – no (N. Amer., parts of Europe & Africa, China/SE Asia) ICE HOCKEY – no (N. Amer., parts of Europe)

7. UK - government protection of sports coverage on terrestrial TV 1996 Broadcasting Act – the World Cup and European Championship Finals, the Olympic Games, FA Cup Final, Grand National, Derby, Wimbledon Finals, Rugby World Cup Final and RL Challenge Cup Final to be live on free-to-air TV Qualifying rounds of the above, Test Match and World Cup Cricket, Six Nations Rugby, Open Golf, Ryder Cup, Commonwealth Games, World Athletics Champs to receive secondary coverage