Professional Sports
Sport is a concept that was conceived to keep human entertained and also as a pass-time activity. Games have evolved from a hobby to now an economic activity embraced and celebrated all over the world. Many people are currently super rich and famous, thanks to the commercialization of sports. Marketing of games is not strictly for the fields only but also in institutions where school’s teams are getting sponsored by brands. The world has held events in stipulated periods to celebrate countries athletes competing against other countries. The most famous activities include but not limited to soccer, basketball, rugby, American football, cricket, tennis and even human and car races. This paper aims to discuss issues arising from professional sports such as athlete’s freedom of speech, commercializing of intercollegiate sports, how player’s union and club owners should co-exist, effects of stars on corporate gains, the issue of the salary cap and finally journalism relation with corruption in the sports world.
Professional athletes should not be encouraged to use their platform to air their views on various issues they view as injustice. Sports have dependably been utilized to advance political developments and empower comprehended political results. Utilizing game as a vehicle to improve dynamic social change turns out to be considerably increasingly incomprehensible when individual competitors, and not national or state organizations, are the ones pushing the political issues (Kaufman, Wolf 156). In actuality, when the individual ends up political in games, the spectating spirit abruptly comes to an unexpected end. If athletes utilize their status and acknowledgment to advance social and political causes, they may end up criticized and pushed to the sidelines. Even though it is commonly acknowledged when Hollywood stars utilize their status to propel social and political issues, athletes are relied upon to play and not dissent. This attitude is because athletes are viewed more as a symbol of national unity and not disunity. When sports stars end up joining the political talk and championing for social equity, they are likely to encounter a strong reaction of hatred and contempt. Undoubtedly, there is an extensive list of players who have faced such response after freely airing their political feelings on the playing field (Kaufman, Wolf 156). Therefore, athletes should desist from airing their political views on the sports medium.
Colleges have faced a surge in the number of sponsors aiming to sign contracts with them. This move is welcomed and should be encouraged seeing as its benefits outweigh its disadvantages. Researchers have found that the merits of a sports franchise are always an ensured extra income to the beneficiary. These sporting companies will guarantee a financial assurance of a particular sum to the school’s athletic division in return for trading the right of selling privileges of their specific department. The rights could be in the form of a radio business, an on-field advancement, giveaways, or visual advertisement at an athletic office, including on video board (Robert 8). To a lesser degree, sports franchises will likewise sell adverts in game programs, on ticket backs, and the athletic office’s site (Robert 8). A fan may get a calendar notice and timetable card at a football match-up with a promoter’s logo on it. The sponsor can likewise have a fixed sign at the football arena visible to fans and may also host a corporate meeting for its customers at it’s beneficiary’s premises. When the promoter and the specified college reach an agreement, the athletic division of the particular college gets a specified amount of financial assistance from the sports company (Robert 8). It is hence advisable that sports franchise gets into agreements with the college to provide them with more aid that will help the college students.
Player’s union and teams’ owners should strictly have a business-based relationship. In case there arises a disagreement, then they should solve through a court of law. Such cases are suited to be managed by courts. For instance, Justice Goldberg ruled that it was evident that there are confines to what an association or a team owner may give or take in the disguise of compulsory focuses of negotiating, and because they must negotiate does not mean that the contract agreed on may contempt other rules (Lowell 9). Justice Goldberg’s thinking does, in any case, portray the entirely unmistakable dread that the ability to make antitrust assaults upon bilateral negotiation understandings may well undermine the expertise of a negotiating officer (Lowell 9). When a disheartened proficient athlete challenges the provision of his aggregate dealing through the antitrust laws, his suit will be rejected. Except if he can demonstrate that the understanding arrangement did not involve anything to do with wages, hours and working conditions and that his negotiating officer consulted it as a co-schemer with the team’s owners in the quest for non-player placed advantages.
If the work segregation is not restricted to mandatory subjects of bargaining, then the courts will not look into the matter but dismiss it. If it is demonstrated that the union consulted the agreement being referred to regards to wages, hours and working conditions and for its advantages, then the arrangement being confronted is cloaked with antitrust protection, and the suit ought to be expelled. If the suit is rejected, the mystified player will be downgraded to seeking a remedy under the labor regulations before the National Labour Relations Board (Lowell 10). The court process is a delicate one yet accurate; therefore, the associations and a team’s owner should uphold integrity to avoid such scenarios
Research has shown that a celebrity can influence a company’s profits depending on the public’s conception concerning the said celebrity. The results noted that if a star was famous and loved by the masses, then a company’s product intake will increase, therefore increasing the profits. The promotion endorsed by the athlete may convince a shopper to review the brand even though it was also noted the athlete will not satisfy a buyer to purchase the brand advertised, hence creating positive informal exchange about the item as well as admiring or keeping up brand commitment. It was additionally substantiated by the relapse investigation done that there exists a misleading connection between the source and the celebrity authenticity and the conducting power on the brand (Naz and Siddiqui 8). Nonetheless, a higher effective relapse result means the source authenticity is clarifying noteworthy variety in the frame of mentality concerning the famous athlete demonstrates that the more dependable, trustworthy and expert the source is viewed as the more distinctly the general population will be towards his persona. In any case, this won’t have any noteworthy effect on the conduct inspiration of individuals.
This exploration underpins the past research led by Till and Busler which shows that the popular athlete supports can prompt inspirational frame of mind towards the brand, however, it may not lead the individual into purchasing the item. Another significant finding of this examination was the way that positive or negative frame of mind towards the big name may prompt positive or negative mentality towards the brand which is in accord with the investigations directed by Agrawal and Kamakura (1995) and Mc Cracken (1989). When the relapse study with constant factors such as source reliability, boldness towards the basis and attitude towards the product was used to recognize the effect on acquisition willingness, only attitude towards the product showed substantial impact on the buying purposes which means that acquisition willingness could be influenced by several external factors other than celebrity endorsements (Naz and Siddiqui 8). Therefore, an athlete can affect the product, either way, depending on the public’s conception concerning him.
The concept of the salary cap is till much at play. The utilization of salary caps, restricting how much groups can pay their players, is a moderately new advancement. Basketball was the first game to cap pay rates, in the 1984-85 season, and a substantial limitation became effective in football in 1994. In different games, the salary cap was opposed in both the 1994-95 baseball strike and the 1994-95 lockout in hockey. In these games, associations have had the option to battle off acknowledgment of a salary cap, even though “extravagance charges” were put into impact on baseball crew payrolls surpassing indicated sums, and hockey currently has a salary cap for its new players. (Staudohar 3). Work relations models in the four mentioned games have certain shared traits. Since 1967, when the first team sporting communal negotiation contract was reached in basketball, proprietors and athletes have trialed with methods of sharing authority and dividing income.
Today, all games have a type of free agency, enabling players to pitch their expertise to different clubs after a specific timeframe has passed. Salary caps have developed as a remuneration to free agents. That is, while players are permitted to pitch their services to the most elevated bidder, the salary cap confines what amount can be paid to players in a team generally, thus preventing output expenses from rising beyond required amount (Staudohar 3). Ball and football have general salary pay, while baseball has a payroll tax, a sort of cousin to the salary cuts that punish groups that spends over a specific sum on players’ pay rates. Hockey has a compensation top for its new players and no different set levels. Newbies pay rates are likewise independently capped in basketball and football. Even though hockey does not have either a salary cap or finance charge for veteran players, its free agent framework is generally feeble. This is because free agency is seen as remuneration for types of pay restriction, hockey may not require anything else besides the limitations given by the work market (Staudohar 10). Hence it can be seen that the salary cap in sports is an extension of the legal market.
The point of corruption stays at the edges of an investigation into the connection between the media and sports. Contemporary studies on the relationship between the media and sports have concentrated on three distinct highlights. To start with, they fundamentally break down the popularized media framework and its effects on games morals or ethics. Second, they spread the job of columnists during the time spent delivering media messages. Third, they capture the media’s messages on corruption or, as it were, the media’s picture of debasement. A careful review of these marvels, be that as it may, is prominently missing. A few past investigations have stated that the media, in general, encourages corruption in sports and that they accordingly strengthen improper and exploitative types of social conduct. These investigations thought about the job of the media inside a more lengthy procedure of games professionalization and commercialization, (Rumerato 262). The connection between games and business and expanded financial benefit gives one conceivable response to the topic of why there is corruption in games.
Specific types of connection between the media and corruption were inspected in the second gathering of studies referenced. A portion of the particular manifestations of the nearness of games in a marketed media framework was clarified by Giulianotti (1999), as per whom the presence of corruption in soccer culture is mostly an outcome of the expanded unpredictability of the institutional relations of the extending soccer economy. Giulianotti proposed that the significant proprietors of some soccer clubs are additionally key on-screen characters in the media outlet. In this situation, players can begin business adventures or give paid meetings, accordingly giving channels through which aberrant transmission of fixes can happen (Rumerato 263). Therefore, journalism, as we used to know it is no longer ethical but riddled with immorality due to the temptations offered by commercial offers from sports.
The paper started by discussing why athletes should shun away from addressing social issues while playing. The article proceeded then explained why colleges should embrace sports franchises; then it discussed how a team’s owner and player’s union should co-exist, how famous players affect companies’ income, the issue of the salary cap and finally concluded by discussing corruption in the journalism and sports world. Therefore this article has met its objectives.
Work Cited
Kaufman, Peter, and Eli Wolf. “Playing and Protesting: Sport as a Vehicle for Social Change.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 16 Feb. 2010, journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0193723509360218.
Lowell, Cyn H. “COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND THE PROFESSIONAL TEAM SPORT INDUSTRY.” Duke Law, 1973, scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3392&context=lcp.
Naz, Farah, and Kamran Siddiqui. “Impact of Sports Celebrity Endorsements on the Purchase Intentions of Pakistani Youth.” ResearchGate, Jan. 2012, www.researchgate.net/publication/256492868_Impact_of_Sports_Celebrity_Endorsements_on_the_Purchase_Intentions_of_Pakistani_Youth.
Rumerato, Dino. “The Media and Sports Corruption: An Outline of Sociological Understanding.” Academia, 2009, www.academia.edu/7404275/Numerato_D._2009_._The_Media_and_Sports_Corruption_An_Outline_of_Sociological_Understanding._International_Journal_of_Sport_Communication_2_3_261-273.
Staudohar, Paul D. “Salary Caps in Professional Team Sports.” Seandices, 1998, www.seandinces.com/s/Staudohar_1998_Salary_Caps.pdf.
Zullo, Robert Humphreys. “RESTRICTED SPONSORSHIPS AND OUTSOURCED MARKETING IN DIVISION I INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS.” ProQuest, 2013, search.proquest.com/openview/9ad52cbd74f81223fd6c1576dc4ffd17/1?cbl=2034846&login=true&pq-origsite=gscholar.