Commercialization in sports- China

Commercialization in sports- China

China have undergone a dramatic shift from the days when the government focused on collective gain rather than individual accomplishment. Those changes have helped foster the development of a new kind of athlete, one whose sacrifices result in fame and fortune. The shift spans the panorama of Chinese sport where athletes will pay as much as a bonus of more than $14,000 if he wins at the national level. One of the reasons that sport in China is becoming more commercial is that China government wants to use sports to build a strong image of China overseas. Thus, the Chinese government is providing more incentives to encourage more people in China to become an athlete. In other word, it means it is largely due to the money but not the motivations for pursuing in sports that make many people in China to become a professional sportsman. Commercialization of sports is unavoidable for all of us pay to play and to see others play. For example, thanks to satellite TV, people from all over the world were able to catch ‘live’ matches during the Beijing Olympic in 2008. Thus, the Beijing Olympic 2008 was a classical example in showing that sport in China is becoming a global product when people all around the world follow it. All in all, commercialization of sport can be a positive thing for it has acquired international renown for many athletes, and the Chinese government has been successful in using sport as a lucrative tool to boost up the China’s economy.

Angel Chan, David Law, Han Rui Yuan, Tjide Lisa, Chee Kaiyi

Commercialization of sports in USA

Commercialization of sports in USA

Sports have been a major part of American broadcasting since the early days of radio. Commercialization of sports that is commonly seen in USA is through media. Since revenue of advertising space represents network television’s principal revenue stream, the size of and composition of programmes audiences assumes critical importance. Commercial television networks has put sports in their menus of entertainment-oriented programming (games shows, situation comedies, docudramas and infotainment), designed solely to secure mass audiences. It is relatively inexpensive and easy to produce (certainly compared with programming lasting upwards to two hours); it is practically the only live television genre involving uncertain outcomes; it has a historically and culturally entrenched popular appeal; and, perhaps the most significantly, it can boast a rare ability to attract high concentration of the 18 to 34 year-old male consumers prized by corporate advertisers.

One such example is the Walt Disney Co. the world’s largest and entertainment conglomerate based in USA, who is holding 80 percent of the joint venture of ESPN along with Hearst Corporation. There has been an increasing trend in the revenue of Walt Disney Co. and the main reason is none other than ESPN. Most programming on ESPN and its affiliated networks consists of live or tape-delayed sets of events and sports-related news programming (such as SportsCenter). The remainder includes sports-related talk shows (such as Around the Horn, Jim Rome is Burning, Outside the Lines, "SportsNation", and PTI), sports-related documentaries, films (such as "3: The Dale Earnhardt Story"), and original series (such as "The Bronx Is Burning"). With the rights of airing major sports leagues such as Major Soccer League and National Basketball Association, it has attracted huge number of audience around the world.

In 2007, the company reported a 12 percent rise in quarterly net income on Thursday largely from strong gains at ESPN. Its income for 2007 rose to $4.7 billion from $3.4 billion on revenue of $35.5 billion. Excluding one-time gains from the sale of its stakes in the E! Entertainment cable channel and Us Weekly, revenue jumped 24 percent a share. Revenue for the quarter was largely static — $8.93 billion compared with $8.65 billion a year earlier — in comparison with what had been a spectacular quarter of growth in 2006 across the company’s studio, theme park and consumer products businesses. ESPN was largely responsible for the climb in net income. Higher cable fees and advertising revenue at the sports television unit drove Disney’s cable networks’ operating income up 30 percent to $1.1 billion.

It is followed by another rise in 2009. The company's media networks division, which includes ABC, ESPN and Disney Channel, among other outlets, reported that its revenue jumped 14% to $4.73 billion, while its operating profit increased 26% to $1.49 billion. ESPN was lifted by higher fees paid by cable and satellite operators. ‘Ad revenue at the network declined, but ad sales are showing improvement in the current quarter, said the representative of the company.

Tjide Lisa, Han Rui Yuan, Chee Kai Yi, Angel Chan and David Law

Commercialization of Sports in Singapore

Research on Singapore; sports commercialization

International:
For instance, the upcoming Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, it is a period of time when Singapore showcase to the world our ability in organizing large-scale events and our spirit for sports. In future, profitable worldwide events would be given to Singapore to organize with confidence. Furthermore, with officials and participants coming to Singapore within the gaming period, Singapore can promote its tourist attractions and its local food to the foreigners who had never heard and been to Singapore. Back in their country, they would suggest Singapore as a place for vacation trip. Thus, sports are tools for increasing revenues for any country in procession of heading any sporting event.

National:
More people would be involve with sports when sports are brought to be as profit use. The market for sports would be expanded when more people are involved in sports. Not only the athletes are involved, commoner can also be part of the sporting event. Whenever more people are in demand for sports, they tend to demand for more sports equipment and accessories. Thus, with more involvement of people on sports, demand for sports equipment and accessories would increase, and market of sports would expand due to an expand in supply to accommodate the high demand. As a result, sports brought profit to local businesses.

Chee Kaiyi, Angel Chan, David Law, Tjide Lisa and Han Rui Yuan