Sport and the Media

Sport and the Press

Sport and the Press

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sport and Radio

Sport and Radio

The emergence of radio in the early 20th century changed the relationship between sport and the media significantly

Firstly, and most importantly, it offered live coverage

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

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

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

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

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

Sport and Television

Sport and Television

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Many thanks