The Contribution of Televised Sports to the Spread of Sports Activities

Abstract

The French public opinion takes for granted that televised sports have played a great part in the expansion of sport practice. This opinion is shared by sport economists, television top experts and leaders of sports organizations. The statistical data analysis of recent surveys proves that televised sports have only a small influence on the practice and development of sport in France.The question dealt with in this paper is &dquo;When the viewer watches sport on television does he feel the need to do sport himself, or to do more than he already does?&dquo; More generally we will question the role of televised sports events in the spread of athletic activities.In France, asking such questions seems ridiculous because it seems obvious that televised sports events motivate the viewer to practise more sports. To prove this we cite the waves of young people who go to volleyball clubs after a cartoon like &dquo;Jeanne et Serge&dquo;' has been broadcast, similarly in Germany the increase in the number of people playing tennis is explained by the impact of seeing Boris Becker and Steffi Graf on television. This certitude is held not only by the general French public, but also by some of its most famous academics. Vladimir Andreff, the sports economist, who is seen as an authority on the subject in France says &dquo;T.V. can condition non-active viewers to feel the need to practice sports, and because of this it contributes greatly to the promotion of sports activities&dquo; (Andreff, 1987, 34). Dominique Wolton, a French university lecturer specialising in the analysis of the influence of television, backs up this point of view in writing: &dquo;The viewers are not satisfied with being 'armchair players' ; in watching they are often motivated to go and take part&dquo; (Wolton 1990, 69). This certitude also seems to be held by the sports movements themselves: the French Basketball Association paid the fees (production costs) for several seasons (up to 1986/7) so that basketball would be seen on the small screen.From Ideological Certainties to an Objective Approach Such general agreement comes from the ideological conviction of the omnipotence of the television. What is ideological in nature is taken for granted Int Rev for Soc of Sport 29/2 (1994)

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“…A trickle-down effect is partly based on the assumption that media coverage frames the way information is processed with favourable portrayals creating supportive attitudes (Ritchie, Shipway & Chen, 2010) and it was widely believed that watching sport on television motivates viewers to take part in sports (Irlinger, 1994). For events to attract a large television audience, coverage needs to reflect viewer interests and values (Green, 2001) and the ability of the Olympic Games to symbolise issues and present a wide range of narratives (McDaniel & Chalip, 2002) means that they retain an enduring ability to pull fragmented audiences onto the television networks (Slack, 1999).…”

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“…On retrouve ici un constat déjà fait dans un travail antérieur portant sur les rapports entre la pratique sportive et la consommation de sport télévisé (Irlinger, 1994): les différentes pratiques d'exercice, de communication et de consommation relevant du champ sportif tendent à s'associer, à se cumuler plutôt qu'à se concurrencer, ne serait-ce que sur le plan du temps investi.…”

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“…They suggested that both activities, being involved and watching, play a significant and constantly changing role in shaping the participants' experience. These findings seem to challenge the literature in the realm of sports that suggested there is a weak relationship between participating in an activity and an earlier or subsequent choice to view (Burnett, Menon & Smart, 1993;Irlinger, 1994). Yet different from Lamont and McKay (2012), this work (Burnett, Menon & Smart, 1993;Irlinger, 1994) has not looked at immediate experiences on site, but into how viewing sport activities on television might spread participation.…”

“…These findings seem to challenge the literature in the realm of sports that suggested there is a weak relationship between participating in an activity and an earlier or subsequent choice to view (Burnett, Menon & Smart, 1993;Irlinger, 1994). Yet different from Lamont and McKay (2012), this work (Burnett, Menon & Smart, 1993;Irlinger, 1994) has not looked at immediate experiences on site, but into how viewing sport activities on television might spread participation. More research is needed in other sports tourism settings to fully understand this phenomenon of merging and oscillating experiences of being actively involved and viewing.…”