Media Sports and Society Studyguide Distinctiveness of Media Sports o It s reality factor o The true reality program not many other live shows on air The unpredictability of it Uncertainty suspense psychological responses to unpredictability o Regular periodic scheduling Appointment viewing Scheduled programming College Saturday Professional Sunday Monday nights etc Known viewers will tune in Fans know the scheduled time o International Literacy Basic rules of sports are universal Sports translate mostly the same to every culture Sports are distinct from other forms of content o Loyalty engendered by teams athletes coaches o Zap proof programming Don t fast forward o Integration of sports and media companies Distinct media which warrants a different type of attention Sports o What is sport are sports A particular form of play o What is play Hallmark of human existence On some level is about practicing skills that can be used in real or everyday life as well as survival techniques Single definition is debated Is it an activity or a quality o The distinction between work or play If an activity then requires leisure time Activity Leisure time o The period of time where we can choose what o Historically leisure time is defined by bank we want to do account Leisure time bank account Non Serious Amusing What if it has goals o Then a game Goals Game But not all play is goal oriented Play is NOT work sleep eating ritual Play is intrinsically motivating self satisfying o Highly attractive o Involves a change in perceived reality In play it is acceptable to do certain things block steal the ball etc o Frequently repeating PLAY intrinsically motivating highly attractive involves a change acceptable to block steal etc repeating Sports for our purposes Sport Play activity governed by a set of rules typically competitive in nature where the physical capabilities of competitors solely or at least primarily determine the outcome Sport itself team vs individual limits Leagues Teams clubs Individual players athletes Sports a subset of play and play a subset of leisure activity SPORT set of rules competitive physical capabilities of the outcome comes from the players team individual leagues teams clubs Media o Multinational corporations worth billions of dollars o Content creators producers o Marketing outlets o Channels of distribution MEDIA creators marketing outlets channels of distribution o For our purposes Print newspapers magazines books Traditional TV radio film New internet video games mobile devices o Many angles that media can cover Audiences o For our purposes individuals differentiated by Demographics age gender ethnicity geography Psychographics fandom personality variables values held Audiences are different by age gender ethnicity geography fandom famous person personality variables and values held Audiences need play o We can seek this through sports or media Audiences PLAY Sports media Sports need fans o As a business entity they need fans o Come from audiences Sports Fans Audiences Sports need exposure and money o Builds from growing media o Sports rely on media for this Media needs money o Comes from advertisers Advertisers need consumers o Come from media Media needs reach to gain money o Comes from audiences Media needs content that reaches audiences o Comes from sports Audiences play sports media Sports fans audience Sports exposure money media Media money advisors Advertisers customers media Media reach to gain Audiences Media content that reaches audiences sports Audiences elect or accept legitimacy authority o From governing bodies o Create rules and regulations to create guidelines for sports and programs to follow o Regulations give legitimacy to sports Rules are set for sports by electing some sort of authority to set those regulations Governing bodies protects integrity of the sports regulate advertisers and media and sports o Sports lobby against governing bodies Governing bodies serve or protect integrity of the sports o In order for the audiences to continue watching supporting them Governing bodies regulate o Regulate advertisers and media and sports Sports then lobby o Against the governing bodies Ex rebelling against approved pre game NFL clothing Players get fined if they do not wear approved clothing Hittites circa 1800 BCE for practice o 2nd century BC o Introduced sport for play AND pleasure o Competitively o Earliest sport heads Minoans circa 1600BCE o Bull Leaping Basically like gymnastics on a bull Done as something for others to view Spectator sport Sport like display competition in conjunction with religion was extremely important The intricate drawings meant that the sport like orientation meant a lot to their culture Homer s Iliad and Odyssey and First Olympic Games 776 725 BCE o Greeks had the biggest contribution to the evolution of sports Evolution of sports Greeks o Greatest contribution from the beginning of the Olympic Games Began as a religious festival celebrating all the Gods Zeus etc Also to celebrate human achievement 1 game every 4 years Early one were not sport competitions There was only one event when the games began A 50 yard dash Built in to the religious ceremony As the Olympics developed more sports were added to the games Milo of Croton Footraces archer MMA style fighting javelin throw discus throw long jump high jump etc Only 6 time Olympic champion in the same event o Wrestling competition The day after he won every 4 years he would put a calf on his shoulders for 4 years until the next game where he would bring in the 4 year old cow and it would be killed and eaten Milo is the first person to be known for being an athlete The merging of the heroic myth in sports led to a democratization of sports o The Olympic Games Started as religious festival celebrating the gods human achievement every 4 years started with ONE event 50 yard dash more sports were added later Milo of Croton only 6 time Olympic champion in the same event wrestling Milo of Croton First person to be known as an athlete Put a calf on his shoulders until next Olympic games calf killed Greek Sports media o Epinikia or victory odes o Pendar famous Greek poet of victory odes Words were written to celebrate the victors of the games o Theoroi or envoys Words used to drum up business to get the best athletes Athletes had paperwork that exempt them from all bodily harm The culture and religion believed that athletes were looked down upon more heavily from the Gods o