Sporting behaviour + Commercialism in sport

Question 1

What is the definition of sportsmanship?

Answer 1

Sportsmanship is an understanding of and commitment to fair play, ethical behavior and integrity, and general goodwill toward an opponent.

Question 2

What is a sporting example of sportsmanship?

Answer 2

The Brownlee brothers: Jonny was helped over the line by Alistair as his legs were failing towards the end of the World Triathlon Championships.

Alistair sacrificed his chance for first place to do so.

Question 3

What is the definition of gamesmanship?

Answer 3

Pushing or bending the rules to gain an unfair advantage. They aren’t illegal, but not in the spirit of the game. Coaches can also be guilty of such behaviour.

Question 4

What are sporting examples of gamesmanship?

Answer 4

1) Football players wasting time with the ball in anticipation of the final whistle.
2) Cricket batters sledging a batter to intimidate them. (Constantly talking to them to get into their head)
3) Tennis players deliberately calling the ball ‘out’ when it’s ‘in’.

Question 5

What is deviance in sport?

Answer 5

• Behaviour that is either immoral or seriously breaks the rules and norms of a sport.

Deviance = cheating, violence, taking PEDs and match fixing.

Question 6

What is positive deviance?

Answer 6

(Gamesmanship) - no intention to break the rules or cause harm but almost trying too hard.
e.g. training when you have an injury.

Question 7

What is negative deviance?

Answer 7

Deviance that has a detrimental effect.

Question 8

Why does deviance in sport happen?

Answer 8

Need to win - promotion to a higher ranked team, fame, fortune, earn a living.

Pressure - fans, sponsors, media, coaches.

Temper - lash out at opponents or officials.

Question 9

What are the consequences of deviance?

Answer 9

• Penalties, bookings, sending off.
• Fines, bans, point deductions.
• Losing contracts / sponsorship.
• Get injured, possibly career ending.
• Damage reputation - self, club, team, sport, country.

Question 10

What is being done to prevent deviance?

Answer 10

• Random drug testing.
• Fair play awards (e.g UEFA Respect Fair Play Rankings, FA Respected Fair Play Awards).
• Campaigns such as anti-drug (100% me), anti-racism (NO to Racism, Show Racism the Red Card and Kick It Out).

Question 11

What is commercialisation?

Answer 11

Making something available on the market with the aim of making a profit.

Question 12

As part of The Golden Triangle, what has increased income / funding from sponsors and the media resulted in?

Answer 12

• The development of grass root sport.
• More specialist coaches.
• Better equipment and facilities.

-> This all results in higher level performers which creates an increase in spectators.

Question 13

As part of The Golden Triangle, how does the media influence sport?
Hint: TV, Commentators.

Answer 13

• The media pays money to the sport to be able to film and broadcast events.
  Companies can then dictate the timings of games (especially in football) to reach their target audiences, but viewers have to pay to watch the games.
  -> Some of this money goes back into the sport to ensure clubs can buy the best players for the best teams and this resukts in higher watch rates.
• At higher level sport you will have expert commentators who will give viewers an increase of knowledge of the game.

Question 14

As part of The Golden Triangle, how does business have an impact on sport?
Hint: sponsors, adverts, product placement.

Answer 14

Companies can sponsor an event and this will increase their publicity and brand awareness which they hope will boost sales of their products and services. This will also result in an increase of their profit which is more than the cost of sponsoring an event.

Product placement - comoanies can pay for their product to be used by players, e.g during Wimbledon the players will only drink ‘Evian’ water.

Sponsoring teams/individuals - companies can sponsor teams , e.g Emirates and Arsenal.

Adverts - Companies will pay for advertising boards on the sides of pitches / courts as well as paying for media adverts to be played during world events.

Question 15

What are 3 advantages of sport?
(+ an example of each)

Answer 15

• Increases grassroots participation: There’s an increasing interest in the sport because of a higher awareness due to media presentation and family/friend connections.
  E.g. Blueharts HC, Hitchin Belles FC
• There are more competitions: increases the reach of the sport, so increases participation and audience. So, role models and ambassadors for the sport are created.
  E.g. Growth of women’s football: 110,000 more girls take part each week compared to 4 years ago.
• Prize funds and rewards are bigger: Clubs will have more money to improve facilities and coaches, creating an incentive for players, allowing a higher standard, creating better entertainment for viewers.
  E.g. In 2001 the Wimbledon Men’s winner recieved £500,000 compared to £2,350,000 in 2023.

Question 16

What are 6 disadvantages of sport?
(+examples)

Answer 16

• Rules are changed to meet the requirements of the media and sponsors.
  E.g. TV breaks, which pause games at regular intervals so that sponsors can have their adverts broadcasted. Plus, rules have changed surrounding players and brand representation.
• Over-exposure (e.g being televised) may cause people to lose interest in a sport as both grassroots participators and supporters.
  E.g. Wimbledon taking up BBC 1 + BBC2 all day, some will enjoy this, others will find it boring.
• Minor and womens’ sports get less coverage than higher level sports.
  E.g. The Men’s Football World Cup / The Olympics.
• Controversies bcome sensationalised.
  E.g. if an athlete makes a mistake, it could be exaggerated by the media, impacting both the player’s image and their mental health.
• Sport depends on money from the media and sponsors, with disastrous results if it’s withdrawn.
• Sponsors may sell products or services that promote poor lifestyle choices.

Question 17

What are 6 advantages of commercialisation to a player / performer?

Answer 17

• Players get paid higher wages.
• Players can be turned into role models / heroes by the media.
• If the players get more money they can pay for better equipment/ facilities.
• If they have more money they can pay for better coaches + training programs.
• If more competitions are happening and more people are competing it raises the standard of competition.
• More money available to support smaller teams, which benefits people who do sport for fun and provides progression for younger athletes.

Question 18

What are 8 disadvantages of commercialisation on a player?

Answer 18

• A strong media presence can increase pressure to perform and reduce players’ enjoyment.
• Media can spotlight mistakes a player makes.
• Sponsors may dictate a players’ behaviour.
• Maintaining appeal to sponsors and media can distract players from training.
• Intense media on the players personal lives - e.g paparazzi following them.
• More compeititons means more training (overtraining) which could lead to injury.
• Women are paid less than men because the media focus more on mens’ sport.
• The achievements of one/two players can be emphasised at the expense of the team.

Question 19

What are 5 advantages of commercialisation to the spectators?

Answer 19

• Spectators will watch matches at the best times as companies pay for matches and they choose what time it will be on TV.
• When sports are at a higher level they have commentators with more knowledge. This means spectators can learn more about the sport and have a better viewing experience.
• Larger competitions attract larger audiences, meaning they usually are highly viewed. This generates more revenue from ticket sales and media coverage.
• Spectaors can stay up to date via apps, which makes them feel more connected to their favourite team / role models.
• Through increased revenue the viewing experience can improve, as better cameras, viewing angles and features like VAR can be achieved.

Question 20

What are 3 disadvantaes of commercialisation to spectators?

Answer 20

• More people are staying at home to watch games. This means tickets aren’t being paid for, limiting the club’s revenue. Additionally, subscriptions are expensive, so less people may watch matches on demand.
• Tickets, merchandise and concessions are becoming more expensive due to the sport’s popularity. This means less people will watch it live as it’s cheaper to watch at home. The atmosphere will be less exciting at games as more people choose to stay at home.
• The more popular a sport / club becomes the harder it is to buy tickets. This discourages people as it’s harder to find them at cheap prices, so the sport wil gain less money.

E.g: Wimbledon tickets are becoming more expensive (£200+) so more people will watch it at home instead.