1. Sport and the Media

2. Sport and the Press

3.  The relationship between sport and the media is a long-standing and above all evolving one  Increasing literacy rates in the nineteenth century produced a demand for popular newspapers which responded to working- class interest in sport

4. Sport and the Press  In European countries where literacy was slower to develop – the Mediterranean countries – the “popular” section of the daily press now consists entirely of sports newspapers

5. Sport and the Press  France: L’Equipe  Spain: As, Marca, El Mundo Deportivo, Sport  Italy: La Gazzetta dello Sport, Tuttosport, Corriere dello Sport  Portugal: A Bola, A Gazeta dos Desportos, Record

6. Sport and the Press  L’Equipe, Marca, Gazzetta and A Bola are the most-read newspapers in their respective countries  In the 1930s the Soviet sports daily Sovetsky Sport was the most widely read newspaper in the world, selling over 30m copies per day

7. Sport and the Press  The appeal of the sporting press was vast  During his imprisonment Antonio Gramsci noticed in the 1920s that even the political prisoners went for Gazzetta rather than the high- brow press

8. Sport and the Press  Early illustrations took the form of engravings  It wasn’t until the 1930s that the use of actual photographs became common

9. Sport and the Press  Press coverage was important in the transformation of sport into spectacle  This phenomenon was already clearly visible at the end of the nineteenth century

10. Sport and the Press  The early relationship between sport and press was characterised by a growing movement from report to story  Journalists increasingly dramatised sport, turning it into a spectacle

11. Sport and the Press  The relationship between sport and the press continues to be an important one  In recent years in the UK the sports coverage has in fact increased in both the tabloid and broadsheet press

12. Sport and the Press  It has now moved to the web, where the traditional resources are complemented by video  Further convergence seems inevitable in the future

13. Sport and Radio

14.  The emergence of radio in the early 20 th century changed the relationship between sport and the media significantly  Firstly, and most importantly, it offered live coverage

15. Sport and Radio  While the press developed techniques for dramatising something that had already happened, radio had to dramatise the event as it took place

16. Sport and Radio  The commonest technique was to highlight sets of binary opposites:  Experienced v. young  Disciplined v. skilful  Team player v. individual  This technique is still widely used on TV

17. Sport and Radio  Secondly, it reached very large audiences – much larger than any single newspaper  Thirdly, in the UK at least it had a public service remit and elevated certain events to the status of national events

18. Sport and Radio  In some countries radio played the additional role of promoting sport as a way of keeping fit  In Sweden "Morgongymnastik med Bertil Uggla” was one of the most popular radio programmes between 1929 and 1945

19. Sport and Radio  Though now overshadowed by TV radio remains important  Its greatest asset is its portability  Football phone-ins remain a quite unique space in Scottish culture

20. Sport and Television

21.  Television was not the first medium to offer moving images of sporting events  These had been regularly included in Pathé News in cinemas for some time  But it was the first medium to offer live visual coverage

22. Sport and Television  Sport played a major role in the popularisation of terrestrial television in the early 1950s, and again in the launch of satellite television in the early 1990s

23. Sport and Television  The first thing televised in Spain was a bullfight  The first thing televised in France was the Tour de France  The BBC continued its focus on “national events” from radio

24. Sport and Television  Early coverage was “poor” by today’s standards, with few cameras, low-quality images and no possibility of replays, slow motion and the like

25. Sport and Television  As the relationship between sport and high-level sport became closer, we witnessed the emergence of the “sport-media complex”  The emergence of commercial television in the 1990s increased competition for television rights

26. Sport and Television  Major sporting events today are covered by hundreds of cameras, some of them in the goalposts, in the cars in F1, or suspended above the field in the Super Bowl  Digital TV can offer a range of viewing options

27. Sport and Television  This increasingly symbiotic relationship has resulted in changes to timing, rules and so on  In 1994 some of the American networks wanted four quarters rather than two halves in the World Cup there

28. Sport and Television  The use of video and even computer generated footage to check controversial refereeing decisions is becoming more common  Despite opposition, this must eventually come to football

29. Sport and Television  There is no lack of voices blaming the woes of sport on the media  However:  Change is an inevitable feature of sport (e.g. the introduction of the penalty in 1891)  The fusion of elite sport and television is here to stay

30. Sport and Television  This relationship endures because, despite the inevitable tensions, it is beneficial to both partners  Though spats will continue, there is no sign of a divorce in the near or even distant future

31. Many thanks