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Media In The Media

Good Essays

Sport, Media and the Economy – the impact of commercialisation on football fans
Throughout the modern era, sport and media have had an ever-strengthening relationship, using each other to promote their own product and consequently thriving off each other.
From newspaper articles about sport, to the invention of radio broadcasts which allowed people to follow live events, through to modern day TV broadcasts and social media coverage, sports events have always been popular for media to cover.
Football is, by a significant margin, the most popular sport in the world – its coverage is so widespread that it is watched or played by billions of people annually. The popularity of football therefore makes it an attractive prospect for investors (particularly in the largely capitalist global economy), either by investing in individual football clubs or by securing deals to broadcasting rights. Between 1888 and 1992, the Football League controlled the professional leagues; at its peak there were four leagues consisting of Division One through to Division 4. However, in 1992, with pressure mounting from the so called “big clubs” in the top division over their share of money received from broadcasting rights, the Premier League was formed, becoming independent from the Football League. BskyB, who at the time were making losses, paid £304 million for broadcasting rights for 5 years, a 600% increase on the previous broadcasting deal (Slack, 2004) and broadcasted matches live on their

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