Sport, Media, and Consumption in Asia: A Merchandised Milieu

Abstract

The saturation of Western media sport markets has prompted a turn to the predominantly youthful, increasingly urbanized cultural milieu associated with forms of "aspirational" middle-class consumption of globalized Western sport. Asia has become a prime target for the expansionary strategies of some of the world's most powerful professional sports leagues, teams, and media conglomerates. Although other media and cultural industry sectors in Asia, such as film and television drama, enjoy increasing content localization and intraregional exchange, media sport remains decidedly Western dominated. The influence of transnational broadcasters in Asia and the intensive marketing efforts of Western sports interests are combining to privilege European-and American-based sports leagues, such as the English Premier League and the National Basketball Association, which tend to "crowd out" domestic Asian professional sport. Sport fan engagement within the "media sports cultural complex" in Asia tends to produce a form of consumption predisposed to advantage globally marketed Western sports competitions and their celebrities (some of whom are "migrant" Asian sport stars) and so hampers the development of "indigenous" Asian sport and media. This article critically analyzes sport and consumption in Asia with reference to a range of sports, especially, soccer and basketball, and various Asian nations, particularly, China.

Sport in Asia: Globalization, Glocalization, Asianization

“…From the earliest phases of the sportization process to the first decade of the 21 st century professional sport (Western hegemonic sport that is, Sumo wrestling has been professional sport since the 14 th century [Khoon Choy Lee, 1995]) had been dominated "politically, economically, technologically (and) culturally… by the West" (Rowe, 2008). As we approached the end of the first decade of the 21 st century the previously established Western media-sports markets lost their potency and became, as Rowe and Gilmour (2010) suggested, "saturated". At this time the world's sporting gaze was firmly fixed on Beijing and China's preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games.…”

From perpetual foreigner to national hero: a narrative analysis of US and Taiwanese news coverage of Linsanity

“…Advances in new media technology and increased marketing efforts by professional sports organizations in the West (e.g. the NBA, MLB, and NFL) have transformed modern sports into media sports that cross national boundaries (Rowe & Gilmour, 2010). From production and distribution to consumption, media sports are one of the most visible and pervasive social phenomena across countries and cultures in the age of globalization.…”

The rise of sport in the Asia-Pacific region and a social scientific journey through Asian-Pacific sport

“…Asian sport goods brands such as Asics, Giant, Merida, Anta and Li-Ning are now recognized internationally. Simultaneously, the Asia-Pacific region offers arguably the largest consumer market for the global sport industry (Rowe and Gilmour 2010). A huge volume of Western sports media products such as the MLB, the NBA and the English Premier League (EPL) is consumed in this area (Cho 2008;Huang 2013).…”