Dilwyn Porter
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199226009
- eISBN:
- 9780191710315
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226009.003.0018
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
Sport in Britain, especially elite sport, has been transformed over the period since 1960, increasingly taking on the appearance and attributes of big business. This chapter discusses three important ...
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Sport in Britain, especially elite sport, has been transformed over the period since 1960, increasingly taking on the appearance and attributes of big business. This chapter discusses three important aspects of this transformation. Firstly, the institutions governing British sport, most of them dating from the era of amateur hegemony, which began in the mid 19th century, were subject to a long drawn-out process of modernization, starting in the early 1960s when the distinction between ‘gentlemen’ and ‘players’ was abandoned in English cricket and ending with the arrival of ‘open’ rugby union in 1995. Secondly, as the constraints on commercialism dating from the amateur era were progressively abandoned, sport and business became more closely related as companies began to view sports sponsorship as a cost-effective way of raising consumer awareness of the goods and services that they offered. It is argued that the demands of building relationships with sponsors helped to change the way that sports businesses were run, as the stadium gradually made way for the ‘tradium’. Thirdly, it is clear that business sponsorship, the effectiveness of which was determined by the level of television exposure, helped to push sport into an ever-closer relationship with the media, especially television. The part played by the media, especially BSkyB, in bringing about structural changes in English football and rugby league since the 1990s are explored against this backdrop.Less
Sport in Britain, especially elite sport, has been transformed over the period since 1960, increasingly taking on the appearance and attributes of big business. This chapter discusses three important aspects of this transformation. Firstly, the institutions governing British sport, most of them dating from the era of amateur hegemony, which began in the mid 19th century, were subject to a long drawn-out process of modernization, starting in the early 1960s when the distinction between ‘gentlemen’ and ‘players’ was abandoned in English cricket and ending with the arrival of ‘open’ rugby union in 1995. Secondly, as the constraints on commercialism dating from the amateur era were progressively abandoned, sport and business became more closely related as companies began to view sports sponsorship as a cost-effective way of raising consumer awareness of the goods and services that they offered. It is argued that the demands of building relationships with sponsors helped to change the way that sports businesses were run, as the stadium gradually made way for the ‘tradium’. Thirdly, it is clear that business sponsorship, the effectiveness of which was determined by the level of television exposure, helped to push sport into an ever-closer relationship with the media, especially television. The part played by the media, especially BSkyB, in bringing about structural changes in English football and rugby league since the 1990s are explored against this backdrop.
Marlene Zuk and Robin M. Tinghitella
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199216840
- eISBN:
- 9780191712043
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216840.003.0008
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Surprisingly few examples of rapid evolutionary change in behavioral traits have been documented in nature, yet circumstances favoring rapid evolution in other traits apply equally well to behaviour, ...
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Surprisingly few examples of rapid evolutionary change in behavioral traits have been documented in nature, yet circumstances favoring rapid evolution in other traits apply equally well to behaviour, including animal signals. This chapter considers the role of signals in rapid evolution and the way behavior influences evolutionary change. Because communication involves interactions between individuals, changes in signal structure or production must be accompanied by change in the receiver, which means that behaviour itself can constrain evolution. Alternatively, behaviour may facilitate contemporary evolution. The chapter reviews the literature as well as work presented in this chapter with a field cricket in which pre-existing behavioural plasticity apparently facilitated spread of a mutation that silences males, simultaneously eliminating their sexual signal and protecting them from a parasitoid.Less
Surprisingly few examples of rapid evolutionary change in behavioral traits have been documented in nature, yet circumstances favoring rapid evolution in other traits apply equally well to behaviour, including animal signals. This chapter considers the role of signals in rapid evolution and the way behavior influences evolutionary change. Because communication involves interactions between individuals, changes in signal structure or production must be accompanied by change in the receiver, which means that behaviour itself can constrain evolution. Alternatively, behaviour may facilitate contemporary evolution. The chapter reviews the literature as well as work presented in this chapter with a field cricket in which pre-existing behavioural plasticity apparently facilitated spread of a mutation that silences males, simultaneously eliminating their sexual signal and protecting them from a parasitoid.
Ronojoy Sen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231164900
- eISBN:
- 9780231539937
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231164900.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sport and Leisure
Reaching as far back as ancient times, Ronojoy Sen pairs a novel history of India’s engagement with sport and a probing analysis of its cultural and political development under monarchy and ...
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Reaching as far back as ancient times, Ronojoy Sen pairs a novel history of India’s engagement with sport and a probing analysis of its cultural and political development under monarchy and colonialism, and as an independent nation. Some sports that originated in India have fallen out of favor, while others, such as cricket, have been adopted and made wholly India’s own. Sen’s innovative project casts sport less as a natural expression of human competition than as an instructive practice reflecting a unique play with power, morality, aesthetics, identity, and money. Sen follows the transformation of sport from an elite, kingly pastime to a national obsession tied to colonialism, nationalism, and free market liberalization. He pays special attention to two modern phenomena: the dominance of cricket in the Indian consciousness and the chronic failure of a billion-strong nation to compete successfully in international sporting competitions, such as the Olympics. Innovatively incorporating examples from popular media and other unconventional sources, Sen not only captures the political nature of sport in India but also reveals the patterns of patronage, clientage, and institutionalization that have bound this diverse nation together for centuries.Less
Reaching as far back as ancient times, Ronojoy Sen pairs a novel history of India’s engagement with sport and a probing analysis of its cultural and political development under monarchy and colonialism, and as an independent nation. Some sports that originated in India have fallen out of favor, while others, such as cricket, have been adopted and made wholly India’s own. Sen’s innovative project casts sport less as a natural expression of human competition than as an instructive practice reflecting a unique play with power, morality, aesthetics, identity, and money. Sen follows the transformation of sport from an elite, kingly pastime to a national obsession tied to colonialism, nationalism, and free market liberalization. He pays special attention to two modern phenomena: the dominance of cricket in the Indian consciousness and the chronic failure of a billion-strong nation to compete successfully in international sporting competitions, such as the Olympics. Innovatively incorporating examples from popular media and other unconventional sources, Sen not only captures the political nature of sport in India but also reveals the patterns of patronage, clientage, and institutionalization that have bound this diverse nation together for centuries.
Ronojoy Sen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231164900
- eISBN:
- 9780231539937
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231164900.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sport and Leisure
The arrival of the British and the introduction of English sport in India.
The arrival of the British and the introduction of English sport in India.
Ronojoy Sen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231164900
- eISBN:
- 9780231539937
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231164900.003.0011
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sport and Leisure
The regional variations in the development of sport in India and the role played by clubs, corporate business and the armed forces.
The regional variations in the development of sport in India and the role played by clubs, corporate business and the armed forces.
Ronojoy Sen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231164900
- eISBN:
- 9780231539937
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231164900.003.0012
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sport and Leisure
How cricket swamped all other sports in India.
How cricket swamped all other sports in India.
Alan Bairner
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199583119
- eISBN:
- 9780191744822
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199583119.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
The interplay of politics and sport is a major theme in the social and cultural history of Ulster. The origins of many of the games popular in Ulster today go deep in time. With the rise of Irish ...
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The interplay of politics and sport is a major theme in the social and cultural history of Ulster. The origins of many of the games popular in Ulster today go deep in time. With the rise of Irish nationalism certain games came to be categorised as Gaelic (Gaelic football, hurling, handball and camóige), while other games such as cricket, rugby, soccer and hockey were stigmatised as ‘foreign’. Sport became both a way to escape political and social hardship and a key factor ‘in the construction and reproduction of competing identities’. Some games had clear provincial elements in their organisation: for example the Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union established in 1879 and the Ulster Council of the GAA in 1903. But representation at international, including Olympic, level has posed problems for individual sports people. The debate about sport and politics continues to this day.Less
The interplay of politics and sport is a major theme in the social and cultural history of Ulster. The origins of many of the games popular in Ulster today go deep in time. With the rise of Irish nationalism certain games came to be categorised as Gaelic (Gaelic football, hurling, handball and camóige), while other games such as cricket, rugby, soccer and hockey were stigmatised as ‘foreign’. Sport became both a way to escape political and social hardship and a key factor ‘in the construction and reproduction of competing identities’. Some games had clear provincial elements in their organisation: for example the Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union established in 1879 and the Ulster Council of the GAA in 1903. But representation at international, including Olympic, level has posed problems for individual sports people. The debate about sport and politics continues to this day.
Peter Davies and Robert Light
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780719082795
- eISBN:
- 9781781705964
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719082795.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
The structure of book is chronological but also thematic. Our analysis begins in Chapter 1, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with an inquiry into the nature of early sport and early ...
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The structure of book is chronological but also thematic. Our analysis begins in Chapter 1, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with an inquiry into the nature of early sport and early cricket. The following chapter, Chapter 2, investigates the way in which the early cricket clubs were formed. It will relate the development of cricket clubs to the social, economic and cultural changes that took place during the last four decades of the nineteenth century. We then move on, in Chapter 3, to the issue of competition. What was the nature of early competition? We will assess the concept of the challenge match and also evaluate how such events contributed to the early development of the sport. Moving into the twentieth century, in Chapter 4 we investigate the significance of the two world wars as regards the development of cricket. In what sense were they a rupture? As regards the post-war era, Chapter 5 examines a range of issues, including multiculturalism in the grassroots game, the role of women, equipment and junior cricket. The final chapter, Chapter 6, brings the story of cricket up to date and investigates such issues as competition, globalisation, commercialisation, and the role of the ECB.Less
The structure of book is chronological but also thematic. Our analysis begins in Chapter 1, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with an inquiry into the nature of early sport and early cricket. The following chapter, Chapter 2, investigates the way in which the early cricket clubs were formed. It will relate the development of cricket clubs to the social, economic and cultural changes that took place during the last four decades of the nineteenth century. We then move on, in Chapter 3, to the issue of competition. What was the nature of early competition? We will assess the concept of the challenge match and also evaluate how such events contributed to the early development of the sport. Moving into the twentieth century, in Chapter 4 we investigate the significance of the two world wars as regards the development of cricket. In what sense were they a rupture? As regards the post-war era, Chapter 5 examines a range of issues, including multiculturalism in the grassroots game, the role of women, equipment and junior cricket. The final chapter, Chapter 6, brings the story of cricket up to date and investigates such issues as competition, globalisation, commercialisation, and the role of the ECB.
Ross McKibbin
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206729
- eISBN:
- 9780191677298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206729.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Social History
This chapter looks at the history both of national sports, those broadly representative of society as a whole: cricket, football, rugby, horse-racing, and fishing, and of ‘sectarian’ sports, whose ...
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This chapter looks at the history both of national sports, those broadly representative of society as a whole: cricket, football, rugby, horse-racing, and fishing, and of ‘sectarian’ sports, whose following was much narrower. It considers the forces that encouraged or inhibited their popular following. The chapter also considers the relationship of women to sport, and the role of betting both in sport and society. It discusses English sport in the international sphere and what the apparent loss of international sporting competitiveness might reveal about English social codes more generally. Sport was one of the most powerful of England's civil cultures. However, the period was not equally kind to all sports. As a rule, ‘middle-class’ sports did well, especially in the interwar years, by exploiting the physical and numerical expansion of the middle classes.Less
This chapter looks at the history both of national sports, those broadly representative of society as a whole: cricket, football, rugby, horse-racing, and fishing, and of ‘sectarian’ sports, whose following was much narrower. It considers the forces that encouraged or inhibited their popular following. The chapter also considers the relationship of women to sport, and the role of betting both in sport and society. It discusses English sport in the international sphere and what the apparent loss of international sporting competitiveness might reveal about English social codes more generally. Sport was one of the most powerful of England's civil cultures. However, the period was not equally kind to all sports. As a rule, ‘middle-class’ sports did well, especially in the interwar years, by exploiting the physical and numerical expansion of the middle classes.
H. S. Jones
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199510177
- eISBN:
- 9780191700972
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199510177.003.0022
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
By 1850, the Boat Race, though not yet known by that lapidary title, had an established place in the sporting calendar of Oxford University. It was almost (though not quite) an annual fixture, and ...
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By 1850, the Boat Race, though not yet known by that lapidary title, had an established place in the sporting calendar of Oxford University. It was almost (though not quite) an annual fixture, and was regarded as ‘the great event of the aquatic year’ and ‘the greatest of all aquatic reunions’. The Oxford–Cambridge cricket match, a still more venerable fixture, had established itself as an annual contest, but excited less public interest than its counterpart on the river. These were, however, the only two inter-university contests yet established; the concept of the ‘blue’ had not yet emerged; and Lord's was not yet established as the permanent venue for the cricket match. Sport in Oxford had not taken on a recognizably modern form; netther had the word ‘sport’ assumed its modern meaning, for to the Oxford undergraduate of the 1850s it still meant hunting, whereas rowing, cricket, and boxing were ‘athletic pursuits’. The half-century that followed saw the establishment of the distinctive patterns of modern Oxford sport and, indeed, of undergraduate leisure.Less
By 1850, the Boat Race, though not yet known by that lapidary title, had an established place in the sporting calendar of Oxford University. It was almost (though not quite) an annual fixture, and was regarded as ‘the great event of the aquatic year’ and ‘the greatest of all aquatic reunions’. The Oxford–Cambridge cricket match, a still more venerable fixture, had established itself as an annual contest, but excited less public interest than its counterpart on the river. These were, however, the only two inter-university contests yet established; the concept of the ‘blue’ had not yet emerged; and Lord's was not yet established as the permanent venue for the cricket match. Sport in Oxford had not taken on a recognizably modern form; netther had the word ‘sport’ assumed its modern meaning, for to the Oxford undergraduate of the 1850s it still meant hunting, whereas rowing, cricket, and boxing were ‘athletic pursuits’. The half-century that followed saw the establishment of the distinctive patterns of modern Oxford sport and, indeed, of undergraduate leisure.
