Watching Televised Sport
The answer is all of these reasons, and others, which I will explore
in more detail throughout this essay. To do this successfully I am
going to focus on three sports, which I intend to compare and analyse.
These are: The London Marathon, The Brazilian Grand Prix and The
Champion's League semi-final between Manchester United and Real
Madrid. I have chosen these sports because they are each different;
The London Marathon is an individual sport, which covers a large area
and has many competitors; The Grand Prix is raced for a team but by
individuals using very fast cars around a circuit; and football, which
is a team sport with only two teams competing per match.
Because all of these sports are different, it allows me to explore the
diverse ways in which each is broadcast, as all aim to attract as many
viewers as possible.
As I come back to the question 'Why do people enjoy watching televised
sport?' there is one clear answer: The quality of coverage.
All television companies try to make their coverage, regardless of the
sport, as good as they possibly can: The sole reason for this being to
attract viewers and make money.
The term 'quality of coverage' basically means the lengths the
television company covering the event will go to, to make the event as
enjoyable and authentic as possible. This is done in a number of ways:
both visually and aurally. Visual effects include close-ups, replays,
highlights, the best view of the sport, timers, scores etc. Crowds can
be heard and commentary and presenters are used. This is because at
the event itself there are no commentators or presenters, so TV
viewe...
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...t watch it, so it's up to the television companies to make the
sports as attractive and interesting as they possibly can.
Additionally, the way in which people watching the sport on
television, who usually get to view sport for free, have many more
luxuries and features than the spectators at the event who pay
dramatically influences the reasons why people enjoy to watch
televised sport.
Football, running and motor racing all make an effort to be as
dramatic and exciting as possible solely to attract viewers, all their
techniques seem to work, so they must be effective!
Which would you prefer: standing outside on your own in the pouring
rain, hardly able to see a thing and paying £20….or…. staying in the
comfort of your own home, alone or with friends, with the best view
possible and it's free!? Exactly!
Sports bring friends, family and our country together more so than political debates or even church on Sunday. Whether it be football, basketball, baseball or everything in between everyone has their favorite team that they cheer for regardless if they are the shits or number one. Americans will have gatherings of their friends every week of the season to watch games and “support” their teams from hundreds of miles away. Sports have an enormous impact on our society in every way shape and form, whether it is kids pretending to be their favorite super star while playing in the yard or it is co-workers participating in fantasy sports or making March Madness brackets, but which is the most entertaining, is it the professionals that are paid millions of dollars to play or college kids struggling to get by while trying to earn an education?
As Football fans all over the world countdown to Superbowl 51 and with the Raiders being this year 's up and comers we remember a tragic time in their history. Legendary quarterback Ken Stabler of the Oakland Raiders suffered from C.T.E in which was believed to be caused by multiple blows to the head as a result of football. In Steve Almond’s article “Is it Immoral to Watch the Super Bowl?” he explains to us how most players end up with some form of brain damage and as a result of this his moral compass has shifted and he can no longer watch football. Fortunately being a spectator of a sport where players know the risk, are handsomely rewarded for playing, have a union and health benefits is in fact,
The Reasons Behind the Increasing Commercialism of the Olympic Games The Olympic Games is a world wide event, held once every 4 years. It is the most important event amongst the elite athletes of today. It is viewed on television by billions of people across the world, by satellite transmission (started in Tokyo in 1964). This worldwide viewing attracted sponsors as they realised that by supporting the Olympics their product would be advertised on every product sold, as they would be the 'official sponsor'. The advances in technology has played a fundamental role in the increase in commercialism, as large sums of money are put forwards for television rights over the Games from companies such as Sky, the BBC and ABC.
The eighteenth-century was a time of tremendous change with North America’s religious history. Colonists rejected the more ascetic forms of Christianity as a result of The Great Awakening. By the end of the eighteenth century, the majority of the colonial regions had developed their own extensive denominations of Christianity due to the failure of the English church. The Church of England was declining and new religions ranged from Congregationalist to Anglican to Lutheran. In addition to the many denominational divisions, churches were manifesting a rupture between rationalists and evangelicals. The rise of the Great Awakening amongst prominent colonists signaled a shift towards a more democratic form of Christianity.
Men and women from all walks of life in the United States watch sports and identify themselves with a team. Fathers and sons watch the big game together and talk endlessly about the outcome. This American culture has developed over the course of generations.
Sport fans, sometimes also called sport devotees, followers, or supporters, are persons who are enthusiastically devoted to a particular athlete, team or sport. They may show their enthusiasm by often attending sporting events or watch on television, being members of a fan club, follow sport news through newspapers, online websites, and creating fanzines. Their disposition is often such that they will experience a game or event by living through their favored players or teams. These behaviors manifest itself in different ways. To enable better understanding of these behavioral patterns, we have to classify these sports fans into groups based on their devotion to teams: fair-weather fans, bandwagon and the super-fans.
Whether you are an avid spectator of football, hockey, basketball, or NASCAR, you have witnessed a fair amount of violence. In the 2013-2014 football season, at least five different college football players broke their leg, and hundreds of other players at the high school, college, and even professional level have injured a plethora of other body parts in a variety of methods. Hockey is considered one of the most violent sports in the world—the players have violent tendencies and generally release their anger on their opponents—and, unsurprisingly to its audience, results in many injuries. While basketball is not considered particularly violent, audiences are thrilled when they witness almost any sort of injury. Last year, University of Louisville guard Kevin Ware’s compound fracture broke through his skin, exposing his broken bone to everyone around him. Several people took videos of the incident and less than a year later, the video has nearly tw...
In today’s world of big time professional sports there are the two major players and they are football represented by the National Football League (NFL) and baseball represented by Major League Baseball (MLB). Now there are other sports that the American public enjoys watching, however the argument generally boils down to which sport is the true favorite of the American people: baseball or football. In this paper I will attempt to examine both sports from several different angles to include attendance, television revenue, ticket costs, venues, salaries, entertainment value, and athlete perception. The goal of this exercise will be to determine, once and for all, which sport is the American favorite and can truly be called the “American Pastime”.
Sports is the center of American culture. In many families, sports is their entertainment. They use sports to show their happiness, anger and physical ability. The United States is known for their sports culture. They have many national sports such as NFL (National Football League) and the NBA (National Basketball Association). People in the United States often choose their favorite teams and become very competitive when their team is playing. At a young age many girls and boys join sports which is where they become competitive, and also where they realize if they like playing sports or not. Once many teenagers get into high school sports become important to them because it is a gateway into getting into college and getting that quick way to reach their American Dream in possibly becoming a famous athlete. Although not all Americans play, watch, or like sports they still know what sports are and there is more Americans who play watch and like sports than people who do not. Sports will always be the center of American culture because Americans love to be competitive and aware of what is going on in their world.
Media is known for taking an issue and exaggerating the truth and putting out the bias of their own political ideology. In sports media the same could be said about how the sports analyst have their bias about teams, players and coaches. This bias directly hurts the image and reputation of people who may not want the attention or made a mistake that was blown out of proportion. Also sports media tend to cover many rumors that may not always be true, but even if the rumor isn’t true at the end, it tends to affect the viewer’s perspective anyway. Sports media outlets such as ESPN and recently Fox Sports 1 hurt or enhance the images of players, coaches, owners, and teams by covering and reporting rumors that are sometimes untrue and they also broadcast sportscasters' biased opinions ultimately causing the public to change their opinions of sports figures.
The ball comes speeding over the net and slams down onto the face of the court landing just beyond the base line, the line running along the back of the court. I had called her winning point... "out." As I turned towards her, I could see the anger building in her eyes. We walked towards each other, and with only the net separating us, she began to confront me. She argued that, as she saw it, the ball was obviously in and that we should replay the point. I wanted this game as much as she did and we were both standing strong. I finally decided that there was no use in fighting. We had to resolve this argument between ourselves because there were no line judges to decide for us. We decided to replay the point and she won. I tried to convince myself that there would be times when a call would be questionable and that I should try not to point fingers. I still went home discouraged that night because I knew that the call I had made was fair.
A recent article in Readers Digest estimates that most Americans spend at least 13% of their income on sporting events and sport related products. Sports has entertained American people and drained money out of their pockets making sporting events an arena of pure economic activity. It has been proven that Americans will purchase tickets to attend sporting events, but this alone does not create enough revenue to keep sports teams profitable.
Did you know that radio waves travel at 189,000 miles per second? Throughout its long life career, radio has always had a close relationship with sports. Today sports radio continues to be an important media in the athletic culture. Even with the giant, which is sports itself today, sports radio is still one of the most popular, reliable and convenient ways to listen to live games, hear scores, or even listen to sports talk shows. This paper will cover three big subjects that relate to sports radio and just radio itself. These subjects are history of radio, evolution of radio, and last but not least the future of the radio.
“Is it ok to watch football” An article by Ian Crouch demonstrates how dangerous the sport is to its player’s bodies and brains. Sports are in our everyday lives, but do we really play the sport for excitement or for violence? Football is a sport that is simply full of danger and threat all the time. That’s just sports; there will always be risk for injury with any sport played. When fans watch football they love to see the big hit or the game winning touchdown play to wide-receivers. Violence raises enjoyment, but it also raises the chances for life threatening injuries. There is more to football than big hits, touchdowns, interceptions, and fumbles. Many good points are stated by Ian Crouch, but he is ultimately wrong in questioning whether it is ok to watch football or not because there are many health benefits as well. These benefits include keeping one active, making one smarter, being respected by teammates, becoming a leader, making one stay in the present, boosts emotions and confidence, and it is pretty much fun all the time.
The majority of viewers are never able to witness these events first hand, which is where television comes into play. Without television, the people who are able to view sporting events would be restricted by the size of the arena. However, television allows sporting events to be broadcasted to millions even billions of people allowing them to experience the events and feel more connected to the teams they so dedicatedly support. Without television, people would not have as much access to sports, and therefore the ability of sports to unite people and nations would not be nearly as successful. Sporting events are one of the biggest media spectacles in world culture. Douglas Kellner writes “media spectacles are those phenomena of media culture that embody contemporary society’s basic values, sever to initiate individuals into a way of life, and dramatize its controversies and straggles, as well as its modes of conflict resolution” (108). The movie Invictus depicts how Nelson Mandela used sports, in particular rugby, as a means...