3. 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
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
14. 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
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
21. 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
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
