Bread and Circuses, Olive Oil and Money: Commercialised Sport in Ancient Greece and Rome

Abstract

By the application of new definitions of commercialisation and entrepreneurship, it is argued that sport in Ancient Greece and Rome was associated with significant levels of commercial activity. This included regular organised events, large-capacity sports stadiums, professional athletes with trainers and free agency, sports tourism, and gambling on sport. Those providing sport and sport-associated products ranged from petty businessmen, who sold food, drink and accommodation to sports tourists, to the state provision of mass-spectacle sporting events. Although much of the sport provision was not profit-oriented, those who funded games, chariot-racing and gladiatorial combat in the hope of securing prestige and political influence can still be considered sports entrepreneurs as they acted a change agents on the supply side of sport.