Sports

Paper Summary:

This paper contends that sports have graduated in the last half of the twentieth century from hobbies or pastimes into the pure, unadulterated pursuit of profit. The paper explains that sports have become a commodity to be exploited as far as the market will allow. The paper presents a brief history of American sports. The paper examines the latest changes in business that have allowed the sports industry to grow, globalization and communications technologies. The paper claims that these two clearly go hand in hand to some extent. The paper states that both have contributed to the acceleration of the commodification of sports.

From the Paper:

"If you were to ask the average American what they thought was wrong with professional sports today they would likely tell you that the amount of money athletes make is simply grotesque. After all, we live in an age where an eighteen year-old kid can rake in ten million dollars a year for putting a ball through a hole (and that's not to mention the endorsement deals). Meanwhile, a city garbage man counts himself lucky to earn ten dollars an hour for performing a task much more essential to the functioning of society. So, how did such a drastic disparity come about? Well, it is a funny consequence of the free market economy and the flashy spectacle we call sports. However, it's crucial to keep in mind that the athletes are not to blame. They are not, necessarily, greedy or overpaid but what actually caused their drastic pay increase over the past forty years was the realization of their true market value. The setting that professional sports are currently in, economically, means that these player salaries are merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the commodification of these sports."

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