The Spectacle of Accumulation: Material and Cultural Factors in the Evolution of the Sports/Media Complex

Jhally, Sut

doi:10.1177/089692058401200304

Cited by 118 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…As Jhally (1984) so clearly outlines in his notion of the "sports/media complex," by the 1970s, sports, commerce, and television broadcasting had developed a fully symbiotic relationship with each depending on the other for survival in the highly competitive, for-profit sports entertainment industry (see also Rowe, 1999;Wenner, 1989Wenner, , 1998Whannel, 1992). Omega, Lynx Systems Developers, Seiko, and other timing and imaging providers vie for lucrative contracts and so must advertise their equipment as being more accurate and more precise than their competitors.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Timing and Imaging Evidence in Sport

Finn

2016

Journal of Sport and Social Issues

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This article analyzes timing and imaging systems used as sports decision aids (SDAs). Evidence of athletic performance in the form of timing and imaging data is the product of distinct interactions between humans, technology, and the live environment. As such, sports decisions are fallible. Yet the measurement of athletic performance is often presented as irrefutable thanks to enhanced technological precision. As this article shows, there are limits to the accuracy of timing and imaging systems as they are deployed in the physical environment, but such limits are rarely acknowledged in the public and professional discourse surrounding elite-level sport. To address this issue, the article analyses three sporting decisions: the 100 m butterfly race between Michael Phelps and Milorad Cavic at the 2008 Beijing Olympics; the third-place tie between Jeneba Tarmoh and Alysson Felix at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials; and the gold medal tie between skiers Tina Maze and Dominique Gisin at the 2014 Olympic games. The article examines the professional and public discourse surrounding each event as well as the regulations governing timing and imaging data in each sport to stress the situatedness and fallibility of SDAs. The article identifies limits to the accuracy of timing and imaging systems as they are deployed in the physical environment and calls on sports regulating bodies to clearly articulate the capabilities and limitations of timing and imaging systems in the production of evidence.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Timing and Imaging Evidence in Sport

Finn

2016

Journal of Sport and Social Issues

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“…As Phillips and Hutchins (2003) have noted, the concept of political economy allows for a greater understanding of power relationship under capitalism and generates the fundamental question of "who owns and controls the means and relations of economic production and political power?" One can suggest that the original sport/media complex identified by Jhally (1984) has become ever more concentrated, with Schiller's (1973, p. 175) question still apposite: "for whose benefit and under whose control will it be implemented? "…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among the first to explore the relationship between professional sport and the media were Lipski (1979) and Jhally (1984) who identified the emergence of a global sports/ media complex. Their work was subsequently developed into a media sports cultural complex (Rowe, 2004), and mediasport (Wenner, 1998) who discussed the role of corporate capitalism and political economy in the creation and delivery of professional sport (see also Beamish, 1982;Boyle and Haynes, 2000;Brohm, 1989;Gruneau & Whitson, 2001;Hargreaves, 1982;Hoberman, 1984;Hoch, 1972;Maguire, 1999;McDonald, 2006;Rigauer, 1994;Stoddart, 2004;Whannel, 1992Whannel, , 2008Whitson, 1998).…”

Section: Sport the Media And Political Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

New Media, Professional Sport and Political Economy

Dart

2012

Journal of Sport and Social Issues

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New media technologies are seen to be changing the production, delivery and consumption of professional sports and creating a new dynamic between sports fans, athletes, clubs, governing bodies and the mainstream media. However, as Bellamy and McChesney (2011) have pointed out, advances in digital technologies are taking place within social, political, and economic contexts that are strongly conditioning the course and shape of this communication revolution. This essay assesses the first wave of research on professional sport and new media technologies and concludes that early trends indicate the continuation of existing neoliberal capitalist tendencies within professional sport. Using the concept of political economy, the essay explores issues of ownership, structure, production and delivery of sport. Discussion focuses on the opportunities sports fans now have available to them and how sports organization and media corporations shifted from an initial position of uncertainty, that bordered on hostility, to one which has seen them embrace new media technologies as powerful marketing tools. The essay concludes by stating as fundamental the issues of ownership and control and advocating that greater cognizance be accorded to underlying economic structures and the enduring, all-pervasive power of neoliberal capitalism and its impact in professional sport. Developments in new media technologies are seen to be changing the production, delivery and consumption of professional sports. As Hutchins and Mikosza (2010) have noted, a greater amount of sport is now being delivered to larger audiences via mobile/cell phones, laptops and tablets, digital radio, subscription and interactive television. These developments, together with the emergence of social media platforms, are changing relationships between sports fans, athletes, clubs, governing bodies and the mainstream media, with each segment seeking to capitalize on the latest technological advance. These developments have amplified tensions over the control of, and access to, the sporting products (principally, but not exclusively, live sports events). Professional sports organization and media corporations have increasingly sought to integrate new media technologies and develop their presence on across various web based platforms; the intention being to attract sports fans to come to their site, view their content, engage in "conversation" and ultimately increase their profits. Sport fans themselves have sought to take advantage of new media technologies to engage with each other and, bypassing traditional media structures, participate in less mediated and hierarchical online debates about their favourite sports, teams and athletes. Some 30 years ago Toffler (1980) claimed we were atop the crest of a technological wave and, with access to an emerging body of sports-themed research, we are now in a position to press "pause" and reflect on how new media technologies are beginning to crystallize and assess their impact within professional sport. This essay starts...

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“…Later that year, Stack (1988a) discussed the situation of South African runner, Zola Budd, obtaining a British passport and the contradictory position of politicians who sought to separate sport from politics and then, Janus-faced, put political issues before sport, citing the Olympic Games in 1980and 1984. Stack (1988c subsequently focused on football hooliganism and its links with right wing nationalism, revisiting the theme (Stack, 1989) in a discussion of football before the introduction of all-seater stadia, concluding that the 'hooligan problem' was largely a creation of media frenzy.…”

Section: 'Stack On the Back'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Representations of sport in the revolutionary socialist press in Britain, 1988–2012

Dart

2013

International Review for the Sociology of Sport

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This paper considers how sport presents a dualism to those on the far left of the political spectrum. A long-standing, passionate debate has existed on the contradictory role played by sport, polarised between those who reject it as a bourgeois capitalist plague and those who argue for its reclamation and reformation. A case study is offered of a political party that has consistently used revolutionary Marxism as the basis for its activity and how this party, the largest in Britain, addresses sport in its publications. The study draws on empirical data to illustrate this debate by reporting findings from three socialist publications. When sport did feature it was often in relation to high profile sporting events with a critical tone adopted and typically focused on issues of commodification, exploitation and alienation of athletes and supporters. However, readers' letters, printed in the same publications, revealed how this interpretation was not universally accepted, thus illustrating the contradictory nature of sport for those on the far left.Keywords: capitalism, Marxism, socialism, Socialist Workers Party, working class IntroductionA long-standing, passionate debate over sport has existed amongst those on the revolutionary left, polarised between those who reject sport as a bourgeois capitalist plague and those who seek to enjoy sport sui generis and/or seek to use it to advance socialist ideas. A popular perception exists which sees the revolutionary left dismiss sport as a site of, and for, excessive nationalism, sexism, racism, homophobia and class bias; yet, there is another perspective which argues for the reclamation and reformation of sport. However, until now, much of the debate has been based on abstract theory and lacking reference to empirical data. This study seeks to correct this by offering an empirical informed discussion on how sport is viewed by the largest party on the revolutionary left in contemporary Britain.The paper focuses on a political party that has consistently used revolutionary Marxist ideology as a basis for its activity. A content and discourse analysis of three socialist publications, over a 30 year period, tracks the level and nature of sports-themed coverage. The empirical material is then used to inform a discussion between those who reject sport and those who seek to reform it. With interest in the relationship between capitalism and sport continuing to attract academic attention (see Boykoff, 2013;Collins, 2013;Lavalette, 2013), this paper identifies an organisation that has, unapologetically, consistently focused on the politics of class and, resisting the turn to culture, postmodernism or identity politics, remained firmly within the tradition of class-based, revolutionary Marxism. It begins with an assessment of the academic and popular literature representing the different leftist positions towards sport. The British Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is then located on the political spectrum before identifying the data sources and methods used. A series of vignet...

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The Spectacle of Accumulation: Material and Cultural Factors in the Evolution of the Sports/Media Complex

Cited by 118 publications

References 6 publications

Timing and Imaging Evidence in Sport

Timing and Imaging Evidence in Sport

New Media, Professional Sport and Political Economy

Representations of sport in the revolutionary socialist press in Britain, 1988–2012

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