Jesse Owens achieved sporting success at the 1936 Berlin Olympics but gained little financially, having to participate in demeaning exhibitions after to earn a living. The commercialization of sport has grown enormously since then. Major sporting events and competitions are now multibillion dollar brands, and sports organizations and teams partner with large corporations to generate substantial revenue through sponsorship and advertising deals. However, some argue this commercialization has gone too far, with concerns around the targeting of children and the tax-exempt status and opaque finances of large sports governing bodies.

1. Sport &
Commercialization
Beginnings
• Jesse Owens broke 4 world records in 1936 Berlin Olympics. He had a warm
homecoming and became a national celebrity in the USA.
• However, Owens gained nothing and had to accept a $130 month salary as
playground instructor. He made shows where he ran against horses, motorbikes
or dogs.

3. Do you think this is a coincidence?
Most visited countries in the world
Sport &
Commercialization
Country branding

4. Most valuable sports competitions in the world 2013
Competition Brand Value (in $M) Sport
1 Super Bowl 464 Football
2 Summer Olympic Games 348 All
3 FIFA World Cup 160 Soccer
4 NCAA March Madness 137 Basketball
5 MLB World Series 135 Baseball
6 Winter Olympic Games 123 All
7 UEFA Champions League 117 Soccer
8 Daytona 500 98 Car racing
9 Kentucky Derby 97 Horseracing
10 MLB All-Star Week 86 Baseball

5. Sport &
Commercialization
Sports branding
• Are there limits to the commercialization of sport teams and competitions?
• In 2013 FC Barcelona made a deal with technology company Intel worth $25
million over a 5 year period. Intel rented FCB’s shirt insides…

7. Sport &
Commercialization
Sports &
technology
• Sporting competitions spur the technological change
• Consumer Electronics Association surveys have found that almost a quarter of
TV buyers get a new set specifically for the Super Bowl.
• Big screens run 5 to 10 percent cheaper during the week leading up to the Super
Bowl than they are in the three months before and after, said Ben Arnold,
executive director and industry analyst for The NPD Group

8. La Vanguardia – 15/02/1959
• February 2 1959 television arrived to
Barcelona city.
• On February 20 Real Madrid faced
FC Barcelona.
• Spanish television paid Real Madrid
$1100 for the broadcasting rights.
• People rushed to obtain a tv set.
Sport &
Commercialization
The arrival of
television to
Barcelona

9. There was a rumor that the game was going to be
broadcasted on national television. As the rumor spread
people invaded the streets in search of their own television set.
6,000 were sold out in less than a week. YA daily’s headline
said: “All tv sets sold out in Barcelona. 9 to 12 dollar tips for
those willing to resell their tv sets in the second hand market”.
Families invited their acquaintances home for tea and the
game. Marca newspaper reported: “Still a few televisions
spotted in Las Ramblas store windows”.
1. BONAUT, J (2008). La influencia de la programación deportiva en el desarrollo histórico de TVE durante el monopolio de la
televisión pública (1956-1988). Comunicación y Sociedad, 21(1): 103-136.

10. • Sporting supranational organizations benefit from a distinctive
corporative status. They are considered not-for-profit companies so
they don’t pay taxes.
• FIFA is often regarded as the “United Nations of Soccer”, its aim
being “to improve the game of football constantly and promote it
globally in the light of its unifying, educational, cultural and
humanitarian values, particularly through youth and development
programs.”
• FIFA made $1386 million in 2013. So, what do they do with this
money?
Sport &
Commercialization
Sport as white
swam

11. FIFA finances in 2013

12. • According to Forbes, FIFA pursues tax exemption from every
country agreeing to host the Cup. The bidding process for upcoming
host countries requires “a comprehensive tax exemption to be given
to FIFA and further parties involved in the hosting and staging of an
event.”
• There are strong indications that the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids
that became selected offered bribes to FIFA members.
Sport &
Commercialization
Sport as white
swam

13. Sport &
Commercialization
Boundaries
• Should kids be off-limits to sport commercialization?

14. Sport &
Commercialization
• Should kids be off-limits to sport commercialization?
Boundaries

16. Sport &
Commercialization
Boundaries
• Do you have a problem with any of these commercials?

17. Sport &
Commercialization
Implications
• Sportswear is not only used
for professional sports.
• The sportivization of our
societies also encompasses
a “sporting lifestyle”

18. Sport &
Commercialization
Boundaries

19. Txindoki Mountain,
Basque Country

20. Sport &
Commercialization
• The biggest sport retailer in the world is Decathlon. It has a over a hundred
stores in Spain
Implications

21. Sport &
Commercialization
• In a few years Decathlon has become a reference in the Spanish market.
Everybody thinks about Decathlon as the first option to buy anything sports-
related in our minds:
 Cheap but short-lived clothing for kids
 New products unknown to the Spanish consumer
 Very functional and easy to use products
 Accessible but at the same time inspirational products
 Promotion of sport habits among elderly people, adults and kids
Implications

22. Sport &
Commercialization
• In Barcelona the ‘sporting lifestyle’ is extremely popular:
 Every weekend there is some kind of race, marathon or something.
 The outskirts of Barcelona city offer different possibilities to run. The
“water road” (carretera de les aigües) has become popular and
everyday the trail is packed with runners from the surrounding area.
Implications

23. Sport &
Commercialization
• People use social media to share and spread this lifestyle among their
friends and acquaintances:
Implications

25. Sport &
Commercialization
• The world largest clothing retailers
(Zara and H&M) have started to fight
the sportswear war.
• The owner of Inditex, mother
company of Zara, is Spanish:
Amancio Ortega, the 4th richest man
in the world.
Implications
Sporty girls, Zara