Sports

Once formally codified and standardized, the social practice we now term modern sports was destined to form part of consumer culture. In the twenty-first century, we now find ourselves in a position where sports—both in terms of activities that are participated in globally by billions from elite to recreational levels, and also as spectacles watched by [Page 1371]billions more—can be regarded as a commodity that is bought and sold within an increasingly global marketplace. Arguably the most global of spectator sports—Association football (commonly referred to as soccer)—best represents the interdependent relationship between sports and consumer culture. Of particular significance are global sports events; the television-sport relationship; endorsements and sponsorship; commercialization of sports stadia; and consumption of sports celebrities.