Football Today: A Show or a Game
Contemporary Football is not just a great game that captures millions of hearts in the world. It turned into a show that is now watched by millions of television viewers. In order to address the question, key points of Steve Wagg’s statement must firstly be assessed. The meaning of ‘football as a television show’ is an ambiguous one to say the least, therefore it is important to define what criteria the sport of football must meet for it to be considered ‘a television show’. This essay will begin by addressing the actual presentation of football on television, the techniques used in today’s programmes and the direct practical affects of televising the game. However it will move on to issues such as the effect of television on football’s place in society, the blurring of the lines between broadcasting companies and clubs, and football’s increasing reliance on television revenue as a means of survival. Even when the issue of football as a television show has been addressed, consideration must be paid to Wagg’s claim that this is not just one of football’s roles in British society, but the ‘main significance.’ This suggests that football now has more importance as a television programme than it does to countless other issues that include regional and national identity, escape from the reality of the rest of a football fan’s life, profit making business or simply as a form of leisure. Although to address football’s development into a television show consideration must be paid to underlying issues, the most obvious and direct issue raised by the question is that of the actual presentation of football on television. The study of football’s presentation on television raises some valid points and shows undoubted development of the sports role in entertaining a media audience, however to answer the question fully consideration must be paid to more than just the techniques used to deliver the game to an audience. To justify Steve Wagg’s statement that football’s significance is as a television show, evidence may be needed that the game itself has been directly affected by the medium. Television has been criticised for damaging the game, Ed Horton describing its moment of arrival as ‘when the cancer set in’ in his book Moving the Goalposts; Football’s Exploitation. However despite this kind of criticism, it cannot be denied that the very image and reputation of football has been affected and boosted enormously by television, particularly since the arrival of satellite broadcasting. Sky, Granada and NTL are amongst the television companies holding shares in Premiership football clubs including Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Leeds and Liverpool- clubs who, as they are floated on the stock market, have a legal obligation to consider any offer that is beneficial to their shareholders whether it is for the good of the game or not. (McGill, 2001) Although at the moment broadcasters do not hold controlling stakes in clubs, it is feasible that they hold a degree of influence somewhere down the line. Football clubs may not be mere investments that will be left alone by broadcasting companies according to former Sky chairman Sir Frank Barlow, who stated that ‘clubs are being bought up by TV companies who are gaining increasing power and influence over club matters.’ The bid by Sky to take over Manchester United forced the issue of club ownership into the public eye and highlighted the potential power of broadcasting companies if they were to dominate the ownership of British football. Sky (or BSkyB as the company was called at the time) announced a £575m bid for a 100% share of the club in September 1998, a figure which was later raised to £623m. The bid was met with immediate controversy, Manchester United fans fearing the running of their football club as a money making machine by the infamous Rupert Murdoch. The bid was referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission which recommended to Trade Secretary Stephen Byers that the takeover be blocked, advice that he promptly took. Although the bid was unsuccessful, the issues that it raised are applicable to today’s clubs, where although broadcasters do not hold controlling stakes, they most definitely have their feet under the table. The takeover bid is a case study useful in highlighting the potential results if the lines between the industries of broadcasting and football were to become completely blurred. Steve Wagg’s statement raises some immensely valid points and demonstrates that television’s effect on football is evident in many areas. However the claim that the game’s main significance is as a television show is one that is incredibly difficult to prove and is a claim that is, in the opinion of this essay, unjustified.
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