Popular culture, sport, and management

Abstract

This chapter acknowledges that sport's contribution to popular culture has been permanently affected by its commercial transformation and global mobility. Sport's traditional practices have been compromised and monetised shadowing the imperatives of a market-driven economy where the ephemeral needs of customers, and increasingly, the on-demand viewer, are placed sovereign. Spectacular, entertaining, novel and time compressed contests are the defining characteristics of sport's cultural content. While sport might still be a cultural experience, it also has varying degrees of commercial value to be exploited. The cultural dimensions of sport, which focus on its capacity to provide meaning, identity and sociability remain relevant, but an increasing volume of resources are allocated to sport's commercial opportunities, which revolve around attracting fans, selling merchandise, securing sponsors, getting the best broadcast rights deal, and building the brand. The chapter introduces the concept of cultural literacy highlighting the formation and subtleties of popular sporting culture.