Commercialisation, Sponsorship and Media

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.

Name what you are looking at

Match the example

What links the three?

A broadcaster pays a record fee to televise a league. Within a season the clubs are richer, and the shirt sponsors are paying more too. Which idea explains that chain?

• The golden triangle, where sport, media and sponsors each feed the next
• The pyramid of sport, where players rise from grassroots to elite
• The transfer window, when clubs are allowed to buy and sell players
• The offside rule, which governs where an attacker may stand

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. What is the total sponsorship income for the year, in pounds?

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