The impact of Sports on Media Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The impact of Sports on Media - Research Paper Example Sporting events are frequently played on the media, and celebrated through advertisements and sponsorship. The way that sports are perceived is also a cultural phenomenon and as such this varies significantly depending on what part of the world is being examined. For example, Britain is well-known for behavior known as soccer hooliganism, which consists of violence occurring between soccer fans (Dunning, 2000). Although violence between fans is observed with other sports, such as the beating of fans (CBS News, 2011) in football (Roberts & Benjamin, 2000), the way that this occurs with soccer fans is unique, and can result in behaviors such as mobs of fans rushing the field (Dunning, 2000). Because of these differences, this paper will focus on the four major sports within North America, hockey, basketball, football and baseball, rather than considering sports globally. Both popular culture and the media are subject to two distinct, contradictory pressures. The first of these is the dissatisfaction with current forms of entertainment, and a desire to find new focuses, or to access a broader market. The second pressure is where people seek out the forms of entertainment that interest them, while avoiding those that do not. Sports have the potential to impact the media in either way. They could act as a unifying force, bringing together people with a wide range of different viewpoints. Alternatively, the media could treat sports as being a niche interest that is only a relatively small number of people care about. The purpose of this essay is to examine what effect sports has on the media, whether the media responses to sports are unifying or diversifying and if this changes depending on the type of sport or sporting event that is being shown. There is a substantial relationship between the media and sports within the United States, and the media has a