Commercialisation, Sponsorship and Media
How sport became big business: the golden triangle of sport, sponsorship and the media, the types of each, and the good and bad effects of commercialisation on players, sports, officials, fans and sponsors.
Justify the choices, the way you are assessed
Free interactive practice on the decisions the assessment actually asks you to justify.
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Sport as big business
Top-level sport is now run to make money, and three things feed off each other to do it: the sport that people want to watch, the media that shows it, and the sponsors who pay to be seen. That link is the golden triangle. This module works through commercialisation, the types of sponsorship and media, and the good and bad effects on everyone involved.
Business words to know
Learn these before you follow the money.
Good effects against bad effects
Commercialisation cuts both ways for a sport.
Use the triangle, judge each side
In the exam, use the golden triangle: the sport draws viewers, the media pays to show it and hands sponsors an audience, and the sponsors pay the sport. Then judge the effect for each side. Money helps players, facilities and the sport itself, and gives fans more to watch; but breaks for adverts interrupt the action, minor sports lose out, and players can be pushed to suit a sponsor. Name the stakeholder and give a fair, two-sided answer.
Match the term
- commercialisation
- sponsorship
- media
- golden triangle
- running sport as a business
- a company paying in return for advertising
- the ways sport reaches the public
- sport, sponsorship and media feeding each other
Match the example
- financial sponsorship
- clothing sponsorship
- television
- social media
- money paid straight to a club or player
- free kit and boots carrying a logo
- matches broadcast into homes
- players posting to fans online
What links the three?
What links sport, sponsorship and the media so that each one helps the others?
- The golden triangle
- The offside rule
- The pyramid of sport
- The transfer window
True about commercialisation
Select the TWO true statements about commercialisation.
- Commercialisation brings money into a sport
- Media coverage lets sponsors reach a big audience
- Sponsorship never affects the performer
- Commercialisation helps every small sport equally
Total the sponsorship
A club has 4 sponsors, and each one pays 5000 pounds a year. Multiply the number of sponsors by the amount each pays to find the total sponsorship income for the year in pounds. What is the answer?
Order the money flow
Put the golden-triangle money flow in order, earliest first.
- Fans want to watch the sport
- The media pays to broadcast it to them
- Sponsors pay to advertise to that big audience
- The money flows back to fund the sport
Complete the rules
Running sport as a business to make money is _____. A company paying a team in return for advertising is _____. The ways sport reaches the public, like TV, are the _____. Sport, sponsorship and media depending on each other is the golden _____.
Spot the good effects
Tap the TWO positive effects of commercialisation on a sport.
- more money for better facilities
- more coverage so fans can watch
- constant adverts breaking up the play
- smaller sports getting ignored
Read the case
Read each case and choose the best answer.
- A drinks company pays a football club and puts its logo on the shirts. What is this?
- A minor sport gets almost no television coverage while football is shown constantly. Which effect of commercialisation is this?
- Which media type lets a player post directly to millions of fans by themselves?
Explain commercialisation
Explain the golden triangle and the effects of commercialisation on sport.
- Explain what commercialisation, sponsorship and the media are
- Explain the golden triangle and how the three depend on each other
- Give one positive and one negative effect of commercialisation