Introduction
Sports were initially formed as communal activities, which offered an extra advantage of keeping a participant’s body fit and healthy. Sporting competitions were meant to provide the thrill of competing and the joy of winning competitions, and not for material rewards. Great sportspersons such as Billie Jean King, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Owens, and Ted Williams epitomized that sport was not only a competition, but also an avenue to influence change in society and encourage unity as a communal activity. However, in recent times, sports have been used for more than just that; they have been used for numerous social purposes, as a bait in politics, and as an economic activity. Consequently, as Zhen-xi (2006) argues, sporting has become a part of the entertainment history with the largest net worth and seemingly more glamor than sectors like theater where glamor is natural. Indeed, since 1945, there has been a steady increase in the number of billions pumped into the sports industry from the corporate sector and political personalities. Therefore, commercialization of sports is turning sports from the initial communal activity to private investments. In essence, commercialization of sport is having more harm than good to sporting activities and sporting personalities socially, politically, and economically as sporting organizations have lost the essence of what sports are meant to be about and instead, sporting events have now simply become an avenue for profit.
This paper starts by highlighting the key terms that anchors the arguments presented, evaluated the social, political, and economic aspects of commercialization of sports and the effects on turning sports from its initial intentions to profit making activity. In the process, the paper also explores the ethical implications of commercialization of sports and counter arguments made by different scholars on the benefits of commercialization of sports before providing a conclusion.
Definition of Key Terms
According to Louw (2010), a sport is an activity that involves physical exertion and skill in which a team or an individual competes against another for the purpose of entertainment. The most common sporting activities in the world include soccer, American football, basketball, athletics, and rugby. Child (2004) defines commercialization as the process of introducing a new commodity in the market for consumers to purchase. Louw (2010) then refers to the commercialization of sports as the process of converting sporting activities to a marketable commodity which consumers, people who follow the particular sporting activity for purposes of their own entertainment, should purchase. For example, people in America who want to air or watch soccer played in England should pay for such content. In essence, soccer in England has been commercialized and is a commodity, which consumers have to purchase. Finally, Louw (2010) defines integrity as moral uprightness and the ability to be honest.
Social Aspects of Commercialization of Sports
Even though commercialization of sport might have some advantages, which explain its inception in the first place, it brings more harmful side-effects to the sporting industry and sportspersons than it benefits them. First, commercialization of sports infringes on human rights. By making sports a commercial industry, the sportsmen are effectively converted to commodities for purchase and sale (Maguire, 2015). Therefore, organizers groom and buy players according to their talents, which is inhumane; more like a form of modern slave trade considering the fact that the buying and selling parties might be under a sole proprietorship. Moreover, Maguire (2015) argues that this would mean that not everyone is given an equal chance to be part of these activities. Therefore, the less talented players do not get a chance regardless of their devotion and love for a sporting activity.
Furthermore, commercialization of sport can create societal conflicts. Jackson (2013) asserts that by making sporting activities commercial, sports teams become brands and competition for the market can result in incurable conflicts. Further, rifts can arise between the supporters of particular sports teams. As such, commercialization of sports undermines the advances that have been made in attempts to reduce hooliganism and crowd fights in sports. Moreover, commercialization of sports has led to conflicts between commercial firms that deal in sports products; the family feud that led to the establishment of two competitors in sportswear – Puma and Adidas is a classic example of this (Smit, 2007). As such, the search for more market for their products, following the commodification of sports as a whole, led brothers into an endless fight that entirely changed the interaction between sports and business. Indeed, sport has effectively turned from an activity that promotes business to the business itself.
Inasmuch of commercialization of sports has had the effect of making sports more popular throughout the world, the increased popularity of sports has had its own negativity. With increased amount of sports content on their screens, people have become lazy; issues of people avoiding work and other responsibilities just to follow sporting activities are not rare (Jackson, 2013). Moreover, the fascination that comes with sports fanaticism, which is on the rise because of commercialization, can have negative effects. Cases of people committing suicide and taking other extreme and irrational measures following unfavorable results posted by the sports teams or personalities they support have been reported before. Furthermore, sports betting, which is a form of gambling has been on the rise recently (High et al., 2016). The vice, which will be discussed further later on, has numerous negative effects on society. The most notable of these negative effects on society and the individual gamblers is poor physical and social health, marital problems, reduced productivity at work, and increased gambling-related criminal activities (Engwall et al., 2004).
Kofi Annan, a former United Nations Secretary General found the core values of sport – fitness, teamwork, fair play, and search for excellence- are balanced and universal (Wilson, 2017). However, with the extreme commercialization of sport, it has become a money seeking activity hence extreme emphasis on seeking excellence and maybe fitness while teamwork and especially, fair play are sacrificed. People playing sports for money will go to all extents there are including having to play through pain and being selfish for them to stand out. Therefore, Wilson (2017) argues that the engagement in sports for the fun of it is not anymore; sport is a career and as such, one has to do their best regardless of the situation.
In addition, many upcoming athletes are getting lost just because of their greed for money. Before commercialization, the billion pound per year contracts that define modern day sports were unheard of (Zhen-xi, 2006). With commercialization, every upcoming athlete is looking to get to the heights set by Michael Jordan or LeBron James or Lionel Messi or Christiano Ronaldo, not for their sporting ability, but for the money they earn. Thus, upcoming talents in soccer, for instance, would prefer joining soccer teams that will see them earn more money sometimes at the expense of their own career. Most importantly, young athletes often look at the millions that they have a chance to earn in the future and forget about their education. As such, commercialization of sports can be said to have impacted negatively on formal education as individuals who are thought to have sporting talents often forget formal education and concentrate on their talents – something which society does not find to be faulty since the talent is likely to pay more than the education would (Zhen-xi, 2006). Therefore, commercialization of sports has corrupted society and reduced the values of education in the eyes of society.
Furthermore, commercialization has led to a loss of the real ideals and intentions of various sporting events (Zhen-xi, 2006). A good example being the Olympic Games, which were meant for amateur athletes and were not aimed at profit making. However, in recent times, the Olympic Games have come to epitomize what commercialization of sport is all about. The participants in these games currently earn huge sums and are rarely amateurs. One reason for this is the money that exchanges hands daily in FIFA, especially after reports arose that there was bribery in the process of determining the host nations for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups (Henderson, 2014). Therefore, commercialization of sports and pumping of lots of resources into sporting activities is slowly encroaching on integrity values. In the past, people vied to lead sports federations because they thought they had good ideas that improve particular games in a country or region. Presently, it is all about the money one can earn in both orthodox and unorthodox means by holding this positions.
Political Aspects of Commercialization of Sports
Although sports were traditionally used as communal activities that helped to unite people, Jackson (2013) argues that in recent times, sports have become a source of conflict or fueled already existing conflict between countries. Commercialization of sports has just added onto the limitations of sports as an agent to diplomacy. Campbell (2014) analyzes this failure of sport as an agent of diplomacy due to commercialization by looking at Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of Cameroonian footballer Samuel Eto’o. The portrait was meant to use soccer and a well-known soccer player as an agent of peace in Africa. However, a closer view of the same portrait gives a whole different message. Just above the famous footballer’s jersey number is the puma logo. Therefore, the portrait is more of a puma advertisement than an initiative to enhance peace in Africa through sporting activities. The fact that puma were the main sponsors of Wiley’s work also asks questions about their intentions – they are only out to make profit making. As such, the use of sporting activities for diplomatic purposes is mostly just profit oriented. As Campbell (2017) further explains, at the time that Puma conceptualized their sports and arts diplomacy projects, their key competitors, Adidas and Nike, had dominated other parts of the world and only Africa looked least polarized. Thus, Puma looked to dominate Africa – and diplomacy offered them a window to spread this dominance even faster/ therefore, commercialization of sport has made sport an arena of great dishonesty, greed, and lack of integrity.
As earlier alluded to, sports can be a cause of international conflict. Commercialization of sports makes the rift and the anger that bores the conflict even deeper. A perfect example of this is the infamous football war between Honduras and El Salvador. In the second qualification match for the 1970 FIFA World Cup, skirmishes between the fans of the two sides broke with Honduran fans being harassed and intimidated (Cable, 1969). Consequently, numerous Salvadorans residing in Honduras were killed or brutalized with the remaining ones forced to flee the country. The ugliness of the situation got even worse as Honduras broke diplomatic ties with El Salvador; something, which triggered El Salvador into launching an armed forces attack on Honduras (Cable, 1969). The rising commercialization of sports played a role in exacerbating the situation. It is due to commercialization that the media in both countries got overly involved in the conflict leading to a hysteria.
Further, sports is one of the modern day reasons to the poor diplomatic ties that exist between Israel and their neighbors in the Middle East. Even though Israel was among the founding members of the Asian Football Confederation, they were expelled from the confederation after they inflicting loss on hosts, Iran, in a tense match in the 1974 Asian Games; something which caused Arab countries including Kuwait to decline playing Israel (ARB, 1974). Israel later joined UEFA. As such, commercialization of sport, which led to heavy television of the tournament, increased the loss of dignity that the Arab countries felt.
Nonetheless, sports can exaggerate diplomatic conflicts. The uneasy situation between Argentina and the United Kingdom that had started as a diplomatic war over the jurisdiction of Falklands was exaggerated as Argentinian forward Diego Maradona scored a goal with his arm, an action not acceptable in soccer, in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico (Stradling, 2009). Consequently, the hatred and animosity between Argentina and the UK was enhanced by a sporting event. The same can be said of the 2004 Asian Games held in China where the Chinese fans jeered the Japanese anthem and rioted outside the Beijing Workers Stadium after a match in which China lost to Japan by three goals to one (Stradling, 2009). Again, commercialization of sport, which was responsible for the heavy TV coverage and TV analysis of the tournament, played a role in exacerbating this situation. Finally, commercialization of sports can also fuel political rifts between supporters of certain teams even in domestic leagues. Classic examples include the clash between FC St. Pauli and FC Hansa Rostock in Germany and that between Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabi Haifa in Israel.
Economic Aspects of Commercialization of Sports
Commercialization of sports has also impacted on the nature of sporting events in negative ways significantly. Zhen-xi (2006) posits that the most important of these is the fact that many companies are increasingly using sports for the business opportunities that it offers. Thus, private investors are increasing exploiting sports for their own personal gain. As such, sports teams, for instance, are stripped from the domestic fans who have seen the development of the team and have been with it through thick and thin and handed to foreign investors who change the very norms of the team for their own private gain Zhen-xi, 2006. In soccer, for example, many fans find foreign owners as not interested in the feelings of the fans or the success of the team but how to make more money.
Moreover, with commercialization, sports betting and gambling has been on the rise. In fact, sports betting companies rank among the most important sponsors of sports teams in the world currently. Sports betting has changed the entire landscape of sports. One negative impact being that match fixing has been on the rise to benefit the betting companies (Bag and Saha, 2011). Notably, match fixing is a vice that devours our sports; predetermined results take away the thrill that sports are supposed to bring along.
Sports gambling also puts extra demands on participants of sporting events and fans. Bag and Saha (2011) note that players have to work harder to satisfy the demands of the betting companies, which sponsor them. As such, ethics in sports are lost. Conversely, the fans are no longer satisfied with their team with their team winning, rather they would love for the team to produce a certain result for which they placed their stake. Sports betting also has the obvious effect that in a single game too much stake is lost (Bag and Saha, 2011). In essence, the gamblers gain little from the activity with most of the profits going to the betting company.
As earlier alluded to, sports betting tends to affect the health and personal lives of the gamblers negatively (Engwall et al., 2004). The pressure associated with the wait and the hope that the favorable results will be achieved is thought to be a contributing factor to hypertension and depression (Engwall et al., 2004). Cases of individuals committing suicide after losing major stakes are not all that rare too. Sports betting, in which there is a higher natural probability of losing a stake rather than winning it also reflects as a waste of resources. Since the activity gives the gambler a wrong idea about money and means of gaining wealth, laziness creeps in. Long time betters are people who rely totally on home to make wealth and often lack creativity and initiative to do anything (Engwall et al., 2004). As such, an individual who is continually wasting resources and is too lazy to create new ones is made. Eventually, family and social conflicts arise.
Social, Economic, and Political Commercialization
Indeed, commercialization of sports erodes the very intentions of sports. At best, the use of sports for diplomacy is marred with greed and self-centeredness. Companies or individuals who use sports as a way of promoting diplomacy have their own private intentions. As seen earlier, for puma to embark on an African peace and unification mission, they had noticed a market gap in Africa and at the same time a dire need to promote peace and collaboration between African nations (Smit, 2007). Consequently, they moved to address this need while they continued to advertise their products in Africa. As such, use of sports in diplomacy leads to economic and social exploitation of individuals.
Economic implications of commercialization of sports are also known to have numerous effects on the social being of sports personalities and their fans. As seen, the continually growing sports sponsorship by betting firms is slowly eroding the very ethics of sport in order for the sports to be far more beneficial to the betting firm (Maguire, 2015). Moreover, Smit (2007) notes that sponsorship of sports teams by people who do not know of the very ideals of the sports team since the time of inception can be a thorn in the flesh for fans of the particular team. Since the foreign owners are only out to make money, the results posted by the particular team may start deteriorating with the fans being the biggest sufferers.
Moreover, commercialization of sports has led to the denial of equal economic and social opportunities. With commercialization, more money is invested in the commodity that is likely to fetch the most profit. As such, more sponsorship and grooming is done to the sports personalities with the greatest talent hence social alienation and denial of opportunity to people who may love the sport but have lesser talent (Campbell 2014). Additionally, more sports infrastructure and policies are directed to regions, which produce more talented sports personalities. A perfect example being the determination of the host nation of the FIFA World Cup. Apart from having sizeable facilities, the host nation of the FIFA World Cup or any other major sports event, which comes with the massive development of infrastructure in the host cities, must be a nation with substantial soccer talent and one that can challenge at the highest level in soccer (Byrne, 2014). As such, as suggested by as suggested by Cornelissen (2009), nations with facilities but little or no soccer talent like China my wait much longer before they have the opportunity to rip the economic advantages that come with hosting the World’s greatest soccer extravaganza.
Ethical Implications of Commercialization of Sports
There are many ethical problems that commercialization introduces to sports and sports personalities. First, commercialization distorts the very reasons why sporting activities were created in the first place. Sporting activities were initially meant to be fun activities, to promote socialization, for fun, and to promote community building (Zhen-Xi, 2006). However, with the commercialization of sports, sports have become income-generating activities for both the sports personalities and firms that invest in sports. In fact, for the sportsmen and women, sports are careers. Moreover, every sportsperson is currently striving to get to a pro level to benefit from the numerous advertisement deals in the market. A perfect example is the first division college sports in the USA. These sporting activities were initially to be co-curricular activities that play the role that has been mentioned earlier for college students. However, with mega sponsorship deals, college sports are an important avenue through which institutions earn money and as such, dishonesty and lost integrity characterize these sports as discussed later (Furst, 1971).
Moreover, in the division one college sports, sponsorship deals have led to a notable loss of integrity. For colleges to attract more sponsors, they have to play at the top level and have to have famous players who can attract a large following (McAllister, 1998). To do this, colleges usually recruit young pro players regardless of their high school grades. Consequently, the academic results of such players are often forged since the personalities are rarely in class or are not comfortable with whatever subjects they are pursuing.
Even among individual sports teams, commercialization can lead to distortion of the very traditions that define the sports team. A good example has been NBA’s recent approval of advertisement deals on the kits. This would imply changing the iconic blue uniform of Los Angeles Lakers just for a bigger sponsorship deals. This has not only happened in the NBA. Iconic soccer stadia have had to be renamed just because of sponsorship deals (Hillman, 2016). In recent times, iconic and longtime Stoke City Football Club’s home stadium has had to be renamed from Britannia stadium to Bet365 Stadium because of a sponsorship deal. Indeed, instead of having names of great sportspersons, the world has chosen to advertise multinationals to gain profits.
Secondly, with commercialization, the large amounts of money that are pumped into sports lead to loss of integrity and greed. Instances of bribery and other forms of corruption have been reported in sporting associations before (Hillman 2014). For instance, the basis for FIFA’s dismissal or Michel Platini were allegations that the legendary French footballer had taken bribes while serving in the capacity of UEFA president. The cause of this loss of integrity is directly due to the large amounts of money that are available. Similarly, the act of match fixation and pre-determination of the results of sporting events to the advantage of betting companies is in itself lack of integrity since it is dishonesty (Bag and Saha, 2011). Sports are supposed to be fair and competitive and to be played for the thrill of it. Conversely, predetermined results give a falsified implication of the real situation and cause mental torture on the fans of a particular sports team.
Furthermore, greed, which is in itself unethical, is the main driver of commercialization of sports. Smit (2007) insinuates that the increasing competition to sign sponsorship deals and use sports teams for running their adverts by kit and sports shoes making companies like Puma, Adidas, Nike, New balance, and Warrior are a perfect example of a show of utter greed. The billions that these companies invest in soccer, for example, and pay to individual soccer players is not to make the game better, but to promote their own sales – the companies are out to loom for business. Therefore, instead of promoting sports, their actions have sought to improve their sales.
Additionally, Campbell (2014) argues that commercialization of sports has led to the commodification of sports personalities. Campbell calls Samuel Eto’o a valuable asset to any company, not only because of his footballing ability that he has showcased in various club footballs in Spain, Italy, and England and his performances for the Cameroonian national team on the African and World platforms, but also because of his dual citizenship to Cameroon and Spain. Nevertheless, the player’s dual citizenship makes him a good ambassador for marketing in both Africa and Europe. In essence, sports personalities like Eto’o are human beings and viewing them as commodities, which can earn a company great profits because of particular attributes that they have, is in itself unethical.
Pros of Commercialization of Sports
Nevertheless, despite the criticism against commercialization of sports, it is not all that bad. In fact, commercialization of sports has had many advantages to sports and sportspersons. Due to commercialization, Zhen-xi (2006) argues that sports facilities have been made in many parts of the world and many more individuals are getting an opportunity to showcase their talents at the biggest stages. European soccer teams, for instance, are opening numerous training facilities in many parts of the world in collaboration with their sponsors. Even though such deals are meant to search for more market for the sponsor and to search for more talent for the soccer team, the activities give young players from a particular region a chance to play soccer at the biggest stage. Without commercialization, such events and the opportunities that come with them would have never been there. Besides, currently, betting companies are actively assisting many football clubs to erect stadia and renovate already existing stadia and training facilities in order to improve soccer talent (Hillman, 2016). Moreover, it is only due to commercialization that sporting events have become careers. Even though critics may see this as going against the very intentions of sports, there is totally nothing wrong with someone using their talent to earn money. As such, sports and their commercialization have saved many families with talented children from abject poverty (Hillman, 2016). The big amounts of money that are earned by athletes solely as a result of the commercialization of sports, make people realize the value of talent. Increased valuation of talent is bound to aid in the better grooming of talented individuals to yield more quality players.
Furthermore, commercialization of sports has enhanced the spirit of competition, which is one of the biggest definers of sport. With commercialization, sports tournaments have become more meaningful and competitive because of the prize that is there to be won (Hillman, 2016). Engaging in sports just for the fun of it is a killer of the spirit of competition. However, with a big ultimate prize, sporting personalities will go to all available extends to win the ultimate prize, something which adds up to the thrill of the sport. Increased competitiveness then enhances the hard work and the effort that is put in by sports personalities who want to become better to win the ultimate prize. Additionally, commercialization of sports has led to increased TV coverage of sporting activities and thus more accessibility of sporting events to fans (Maguire, 2015). In fact, apart from betting companies and sportswear firms, media houses rank among the other chief sports sponsors by buying television rights of various sports. The NBA and the English premier League, for instance, can be accessed on many partner TV channels throughout the world. Were it not for the billions that have been invested in English football, maybe people in America would n0t have had the chance to watch the world’s most competitive soccer league live on TV. Thus, by increasing the fan base, commercialization is definitely making sports better.
Apart from the direct gains by players and event organizers, commercialization of sports has led to economic development. The improved infrastructure that hosting major sports tournaments comes with is a perfect evidence of this (Levermore, 2009). In fact, one of the reasons why hosting major sports tournaments like the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games is highly valued and has become a public policy in many nations is the economic development that comes with it. Hosting such sporting events not only opens a window for the various organizing committees to assist the host’s authorities in erecting and furnishing stadia and other facilities that will be utilized but also provides a ready market for the local people to sell their products to the many visitors. For instance, Kaplanidou et al. (2016) suggests that Qatar is set to benefit when it holds the 2022 World Cup from not only the mega infrastructure built during the preparation period, but from a potential increase in tourism. Therefore, it not for the large amounts of money that are invested into sports, such infrastructural development would not have been possible.
Thirdly, some scholar such as Frey and Eitzen (1991) have argued that commercialization of sports, through sports diplomacy has improved peace and collaboration between and within various nations. It is through commercialization that sporting events have had great impacts on the political and social situations in various places. In the latest events, the world’s most celebrated soccer players of the current generation, Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo were used to deliver a message to encourage ceasefire and peace in Syria. The fame and influence that the two personalities have on the world is because of commercialization. The same can be said of former Ivory Coast soccer captain, Didier Drogba, who used his fame, which was as a result of the commercialization of sports to encourage peace in his home nation. Moreover, various sponsors of the African soccer tournament, AFCON, have used the platform to encourage peace and collaboration between and within various African nations. By sponsoring TV coverage of the tournament, these sponsors are sure to reach many individuals within Africa and relay their peace message everywhere. Finally, sports give various nations and regions an identity (Maguire, 2011). This identity is propagated and sometimes used by private firms for their private gains. For instance, Brazil is known to be a nation of soccer, New Zealand and Australia are known for rugby while Kenya is known for their prowess in athletics – which is all down to commercialization.
Conclusion
Indeed, commercialization of sports since 1945 has had effects to not only sportspersons and their fans, but has also influenced the political, social, and economic landscape of the world. Commercialization has far more harmful effects on sporting activities and personalities than the advantages it has to offer. Nevertheless, for almost a century, commercialization of sports has intensified and cannot possibly be scrapped. Even though commercialization of sports does not look immoral outwardly, the immorality of this practice is highlighted when business and entertainment ethos become more important that sports ethos in the running of sports. Therefore, there is need to modify and moderate the extent of commercialization in order to protect sports, sports personalities, and fans from the social, political, and economic harms that come with it.
Bibliography
ARR. 1974. Arab Report and Record. Economic Features Ltd.
Bag, P.K. and Saha, B., 2011. Match-fixing under competitive odds. Games and Economic Behavior, 73(2), pp.318-344.
Byrne, C., 2014. Relationship of convenience? The diplomatic interplay between the Commonwealth Games Federation and the Commonwealth Games host city. Sport in Society, 17(9), pp.1204-1219.
Cable, V., 1969. The ‘Football War’ and the Central American Common Market. International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), pp.658-671.
Campbell, Rook, 2014. “Conflicting Interests In Non-State Actor Diplomacy: A Case Study Of Corporate Diplomacy In Art And Sport – Public Diplomacy Magazine”. USC Public Diplomacy Series. http://publicdiplomacymagazine.com/conflicting-interests-in-non-state-actor-diplomacy-a-case-study-of-corporate-diplomacy-in-art-and-sport/
Child, B. (2004). Parks in transition: biodiversity, rural development, and the bottom line. London, Earthscan Publications.
Cornelissen, S., 2009. A delicate balance: Major sport events and development. In Sport and international development (pp. 76-97). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Engwall, D., Hunter, R. and Steinberg, M., 2004. Gambling and other risk behaviors on university campuses. Journal of American College Health, 52(6), pp.245-256.
Frey, J.H. and Eitzen, D.S., 1991. Sport and society. Annual Review of Sociology, 17(1), pp.503-522.
Furst, R.T., 1971. Social change and the commercialization of professional sports. International Review of Sport Sociology, 6(1), pp.153-173.
Henderson, J.C., 2014. Hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup: opportunities and challenges for Qatar. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 19(3-4), pp.281-298.
Hillman, C., 2016. American Sports in an Age of Consumption: How Commercialization Is Changing the Game. McFarland.
Hing, N., Russell, A.M., Vitartas, P. and Lamont, M., 2016. Demographic, behavioral and normative risk factors for gambling problems amongst sports bettors. Journal of gambling studies, 32(2), pp.625-641.
Jackson, S.J., 2013. The contested terrain of sport diplomacy in a globalizing world. International Area Studies Review, 16(3), pp.274-284.
Kaplanidou, K.K., Al Emadi, A., Sagas, M., Diop, A. and Fritz, G., 2016. Business legacy planning for mega events: The case of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Journal of Business Research, 69(10), pp.4103-4111.
Levermore, R., 2009. Sport-in-international development: Theoretical frameworks. In Sport and international development (pp. 26-54). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Louw, A. M. (2010). Sports law in South Africa. Alphen aan den Rijn, Kluwer Law International.
Maguire, J., 2015. Assessing the sociology of sport: On globalization and the diffusion of sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 50(4-5), pp.519-523.
Maguire, J.A., 2011. Globalization, sport and national identities. Sport in Society, 14(7-8), pp.978-993.
McAllister, M.P., 1998. College bowl sponsorship and the increased commercialization of amateur sports. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 15(4), pp.357-381.
Smit, B., 2007. Pitch invasion: Adidas, Puma and the making of modern sport. Penguin UK.
Stradling, J. (2009). More than a game: When sport and history collide. Millers Point, NSW. Pier 9.
Wilson, Brian, 2017. Sport, Peace, and Conflict. Columbia: University of British Columbia. Web. 18 Mar. 2017. School of Kinesiology.
Zhen-xi, N.I.U., 2006. Study on the Side-effects of the Commercialization on Competitive Sports and the Strategy to Deal with Them [J]. Journal of Tianjin University of Sport, 1, p.024.
