Society, Culture,
and Sport
Chapter 20
Sport Books Publisher
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Introduction

We will trace the development of sport,
both nationally and internationally.

At the end, you will have a greater
understanding of the historical evolution
of modern day sport.
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Topics Covered:
Brief history of sport in Canada
 Brief history of the Olympic Games
 Sport and Canadian culture
 Canadian athlete role models
 The business of sport
 Sport as a spectacle
 Being and informed consumer

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Brief History of Sport in Canada
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Early Canada (1600-1850)
New France (1665)
 Early Native Culture
games
English Colony (1763)
 British wealth
–
–
–
–
– Focus on:
• Religious practice
• Cultural values
• Teaching of survival
skills
– Baggataway

Cricket
Horse racing
Fox hunting
Snow shoeing
Under class
– No time or money
– Drinking
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Victorian Period
(1850-1920)
Industrialization
& urbanization
1850
New concept
of free time
1860
•Focus on
socializing
•No leagues &
competitions
•Few common
rules
Development of
modern sport as
leisure activity
1890
•Many leagues &
regularly
scheduled
competitions
1920
•Increased focus
on participation
and spectator
sports
•Rule
standardization
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Emergence of Sport as a
Commodity (1920-1960)
Great Depression
WWII
1950’s
Sport commercialization
•Amateur and professional sports
Economic prosperity
•Sense of nationalism
Technological changes
•Big business
Population growth
•Spectatorship (through TV )
Example: Hockey
•1917 – emergence of the NHL
•1926 – 10 NHL teams
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Sport and the Canadian State
(1960-Present)

Role of government in Canadian sport:
– Call for government to improve sport
domain
– Sport leader became more accepting of
government involvement
– J. Diefenbaker: recognized sport as a
national pride booster
– Duke of Edinburgh: rebuked Canadians for
their low fitness
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Bill C-131
Marked the first time the federal
government was committed to the
promotion and development of sport.
Resulted in:
•Annual funding
•Initiation of the Canada Games
•Research grant and scholarships for
Physical Education specialists
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Brief History of Olympic Games
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ATHENS, 1896
•Not financed by
Greek government
PARIS, 1900
LONDON, 1908
•13 countries
•Poorly organized
•9 sports
•Little attention
•Returned some
pride
ST. LOUIS, 1904
•311 male athletes
•13 sports added
•Coincided with
World Fair
•Women competed
(golf & tennis)
•All judges =
British
STOCKHOLM,
1912
•Well organized
•2490 male
athletes
•57 female athletes
(swimming)
•12 countries
•Majority
competitors
American
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WWI
1914-1918
LOS ANGELES,
1932
AMSTERDAM,
1928
ANTWERP, 1920
•29 countries
•Germany, Austria, PARIS, 1924
Hungary, Bulgaria, •Large increase in
& Turkey not
# of countries (44)
allowed
and # of
competitors (3092)
•Women
participated in
athletics and
gymnastics
•48 countries
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•Reduced # of
participants (travel
costs)
•Many more
spectators
•1st Olympic
village
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WWII
BERLIN, 1936
1939-1945
MELBOURNE,
1956
•Hitler’s means of
propaganda
•Jesse Owens
foiled Hitler’s plan
by winning 4 gold
medals
HELSINKI, 1952
LONDON, 1948
•59 countries
•4,500 competitors
•Germany, Japan,
Soviet Union did
not attend
•Equestrian events
•“Friendly Games” held in Sweden
(no Germany)
•Spain, Holland,
•Soviet Union
China, Egypt, &
participated after
Lebanon pulled
40 years
out for different
political reasons
•Beginnings of
East-West rivalry
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•E & W Germany
combined
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MONTREAL,
1976
ROME, 1960
•All-white South
African team
TOKYO, 1964
•South Africa
•Viewed by world- banned because of
apartheid policy
wide TV
•Korea &
•1st performance
drug-related death Indonesia not
allowed
•Successful and
expensive
MUNICH, 1972
MEXICO CITY,
1968
•E & W Germany
separate teams
•Demonstration
against poverty
and inequality of
black people in
USA
•1st drug tests
•Another protest
against inequality
of black people in
USA
•Rhodesia not
allowed for having
all-white team
•Palestinian
terrorists killed
several Israelis
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•Extremely costly
•Heavy security
•French Canadians
upset because of
Queen’s Elizabeth
II opening
•Taiwan withdrew
•African country
boycotted in
support of
Apartheid policy
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MOSCOW, 1980
•Boycotted by
Western nations
•80 nations
•Heavy security
ATLANTA, 1996
BARCELONA,
1992
LOS ANGELES,
1984
•Most
commercialized to
date
•Enormous profit
•Soviet Union,
Cuba, and most
Eastern European
countries
boycotted
•140 nations
SEOUL, 1988
•Entirely peaceful
•Soviet Union
•Well organized & replaced by a
huge profit
“unified team”
•No problems
•E & W Germany
•Ben Johnson
one team
•Professional
Tennis players
attended 1st time
•Slovenia separate
from Yugoslavia
•USA bb “Dream
Team”
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•Almost every
country
participated (197)
•10,788 athletes
•Soviet Union
replaced by
Russian Federation
and independent
countries
•Small bomb only
dark side
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SYDNEY, 2000
•Flawlessly
organized
•No incidents
•10,651 athletes
•300 events
•Closing
ceremonies were a
spectacle
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Conclusions:
 Olympics are greatly affected by current
political affairs
 It appears that a new era of sporting
peace has evolved
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Sport and Canadian Culture
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Sport and Culture

Sport and popular culture are intricately
intertwined in developed countries

Culture – the ways of life people create in any
given society by interacting with one another

Why is sport an important part of popular
culture?
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1. A Quest for Excitement

Sport satisfies a quest for excitement in
otherwise somewhat uneventful lives in
contemporary society
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2. Sports are appealing

Because each and every one of us has an
appreciation of the tremendous physical skills
required to participate at high level sports
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3. Sport Has Cultural Significance

Because of our need for development of
social identification and rivalries
 We need to be part of a collective whole and
to identify with the accomplishments of the
collective whole
 e.g., “Summit Series”
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Canadian Athlete Role Models
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James Naismith

Inventor of basketball

Wrote down original rules
December, 1891

Naismith Memorial
Basketball Hall of Fame
stands as a tribute
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Tom Longboat

Considered the best runner
in the world at that time

Won Boston Marathon in
1907 in poor weather
conditions

Full five minutes ahead of
the old record
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Bill Crothers

A fighter for honest, drugfree sport

One of the best middistance runners in the
world

800m gold medal in 1964
Tokyo Olympics
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Fergie Jenkins

Outstanding
baseball pitcher

The first and sole
Canadian in Major
League Baseball’s
Hall of Fame
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Paul Henderson

Scored the last minute
winning goal in the
“Summit Series” of 1972
against Soviet Union
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Rick Hansen

His many accomplishments
include:
– Captain of three national
volleyball title winning teams
– Marathon participant
– Basketball championship
participant

25,000 mile “Man in Motion”
tour around the world raised
$10 million for spinal cord
research
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Terry Fox
Embarked on the “Marathon
of Hope” run across Canada
with amputated leg
 Abandoned run in Thunder
Bay, Ontario due to a
relapse
 Raised $24.17 million for
cancer research and
remains an inspiration

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Silken Laumann

World-renowned rower:
– Two Pan-American Games gold medals
– 1991 world record in 2,000 metre sculls
– One World Championship gold medal

Great athletic accomplishments in spite of her
chronic back problems and a pinched sciatic
nerve
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Wayne Gretzky
“The Great One”
 Dominated and re-wrote
the NHL hockey record
books including:

– Goals scored
– Assists in any one season
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Donovan Bailey

Restored Canadian pride in
track and field after the Ben
Johnson tragedy of Seoul

Gold medals in 100 metre
dash and 4x100 metre relay
in 1996 Olympics in Atlanta
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The Business of Sport
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The Business of Sport

Sport is a big business and one of the
fastest growing industries in developed
countries

Economic factors are now dominating
major decisions about sport
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The Business of Sport
Licensing
fees
Gate receipts
Merchandise
Media rights
Revenues
from sales of
concessions
Internet hits
Sponsorship
Other?
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Commercial sports grow best under the
following economic conditions:

Market economy where material rewards are
highly valued
 In societies with large, densely populated
cities
 Countries with a high standard of living
 Large amount of capital (public or private)
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Professional Sports in NA

Athletes are paid
 Sports are privately owned
Comparison of minor league vs. top NA franchise owners
Minor League
Profit
Negative
Top franchise
Make
millions of dollars
Lucky
to break even
Owners go out of
business
Owner
description
Individuals
or
partnership
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Large
corporations,
wealthy partnerships, or
individuals
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Amateur Sport in Canada
Athletes do not make a salary, and
participate for the sole love of the game
 No owners
 Have governing bodies

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Governing body
(e.g., Sport Canada, Canadian
Olympic Association)
Control athletes,
events, and revenues
Develop the rules and
policies that govern
national sport
organizations (NSOs)
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Sport Sponsorship
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What is Sport Sponsorship?

An agreement between a
commercial company and an
individual, team, or sport

In return for money athletes
advertise the names of sponsors
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Sponsorship in Professional
Sports
•Sponsors are advertised
through clothing lines,
corporate logos on
equipment, TV
advertisements, and choice of
commodities
•Millions of dollars are made
from corporate sponsorships
Sponsorship in Amateur
Sports
•Athletes are required to
wear or consume only certain
types of products
•Only enough money is made
to allow the athlete to train
full time
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Advantages and Disadvantages
for Professional Athletes
Money
Made
Money
Lost
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Advantages and Disadvantages
for Professional Athletes
•Strong reliance =
powerful hold by the
sponsor
Allows to give up
a job and train
full-time
•Sponsors request
changes in organization
•Hard to attract
sponsors if low TV
appeal
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How It All Works

Agreed period of time (months or years)

Sign legal agreement to prevent quick
termination if things go wrong
– e.g., The actions of athlete bring bad publicity
– e.g., The sponsor is linked with unethical practice

Therefore, it important to make correct
selection
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The Nature of the Sponsorship
Should companies that sell unsuitable
products be allowed to sponsor sports?
 Who makes that decision?

– Amateur sports: several Canadian
universities have specific committees
– Professional sports: no committees???
• In case of tobacco sponsorship, federal
government made the decision
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Sport as a Spectacle
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Television

Televised sports have become a form of
sportainment
 Sports account for a growing proportion of
income made on the sales of commercial
time by television companies
 TV companies are therefore willing to spend
an escalating amount of money for the rights
to televise certain sports and sporting events
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TV companies
pay escalating
amount of
money for right
to televise sports
Televised Sport Event
TV Rights Cost (millions)
Sydney
$705
Olympics (2000)
NFL (2001)
NA (2001)
NHL (2001)
Televised sports
attract large
audience
$2.3
billion
$660
$120
Program
Average US
Audience (million)
Winter
45.7
Olympics 2/34/94)
Super Bowl (1997)
Super Bowl (1998)
42.0
43.6
Corporations love to
advertise during such
popular time slots
Super Bowl: 1 min
advertising time = ~ $1
million
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TV companies
make large profits
on commercial sales
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Newspapers
One sports page in
common
newspapers
~1900’s
•Sports “section” in a common
newspaper
•Coverage devoted to sports =
~25% of the major newspapers
1920’s
TODAY
•More daily coverage devoted to sport than any
other topic
•Sports section = 1/3 of total circulation
•Tremendous circulation reaches millions of
readers
•Large advertising revenues for newspapers
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Books and Magazines

Magazines
– About major and minor sports
– Popular content: biographies, statistics,
pictures, all forms of news
– Less popular content: sports in general

Books
– Popular content: (auto)biographies, coaching
and training
– Less popular content: novels based on sport
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Radio
Before TV radio was #1 media form
 Advantages of radio (vs. TV) live event
broadcasting:

– Company: More economical because it
involves smaller # of broadcasters and
producers
– Listener: Cost less, more mobile - therefore
can do other things at the same time
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Film and Video
In spite of their dramatic content, sports
are not a popular topic for films and
videos
 Video collection of sporting moments
and instructional videos remain popular

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Internet

Unlike other media forms:
– Allows the consumer to access information
at the time of his/her choosing
– Provides a relatively “unedited” version of
sports reality

Use of Internet:
– Extension of existing media
– Fantasy leagues
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Sport as a Spectacle
In summary, sport and the media
depend on one another in may ways
 They could survive without each other,
but both would be radically changed by
the other’s absence
 Example?

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Being and Informed Consumer
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
Sport commercialism, as well as our
rich sports history, impact on us as
individual consumers.

Corporations have a financial interest in
the average Canadian citizen (e.g., the
Canadian high school student).
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Factors Influencing Student
Participation

People participate in physical activity
(PA) for different reasons at different
points in their lives

Therefore, issues considered by a high
school student will be different than
those considered by adult
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Media
influences
Individual
perception of
the cultural
importance
of PA
Commercial
interests
Teacher or
coach
Participation
Canadian
athlete or
team hero
Other ?
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The Benefits of School and
Community PA
Improving cohesion
among students and
faculty
Other?
School and
Community PA
Improved selfesteem and overall
mood
Improved
fitness levels
Development of
school spirit
Lower
hospitalization
costs
Greater overall
acceptance by
one’s peers
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Being an Informed Consumer

Advertisers constantly tell us that what
we currently have comes up far short

We will almost always feel the need to
buy more and better sports and
exercise equipment
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Technology

Continues to change sports:
Tennis players hit
with greater power
using larger,
graphite, tightly
strung rackets


Introduction
of the flexible
glass pole
completely
changed pole
vaulting
However, the choice of racket or club will make little,
if any, difference to non-elite performance
Therefore, it is best to go with less expensive
equipment until an advanced level is reached
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Clothing

Have performance benefit:
– Heat removal
– Windproof
– Aerodynamic advantage
– Biomechanical advantage of shoes

Again, these technological advances
have little benefit for non-elite
performance
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