|
January 15 2001
CRICKET MEETS THE 21st CENTURY
[part 1]
Sport has become part of the
entertainment industry due to commercial and capitalist ideals of the
20th century, forcing marketing to be seen as a vital source of revenue
for any globally recognized sport. This is the story about cricket and
its battle of tradition versus commercial values during the last 30 years,
and how important the media is in its political processes.
Just thirty years ago, Test match cricket was the
pinnacle of the games achievements; there were a small group of former
British colonies battling it out around the world, with rules and traditions
that had changed little in the previous hundred years.
"Had cricket at this time of great expansion [1880's] and commercialization
of games, been a new creation, a stylized public school and university
version of an old folk game, like soccer, perhaps its leading practitioners
would have exposed it to market forces than rather a century later, and
it would have become a genuine compliment to soccer - as baseball is to
American football."
(Birley 1999: 45)
The first one-day international took place at the end of a rain-affected
Test match in 1971, and appealed to those with no time or patience for
the longer form of the game took some time to take hold as the players
adjusted to the new format.
It was not until Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer grabbed the game
by the scruff of the neck in 1977 and created his World Series competition
that market forces really arrived on the cricketing agenda.
"Cricket is going to get revolutionized whether [the establishment]
like it or not. There is nothing they can do to stop me. Not a goddamn
thing."
(Packer from Blake 2000)
Marketing men brought bright lights, bright colours and the promise of
better pay for players. The contracts were signed in secret and when the
story broke, most of the players were banned from their national teams.
Many big names jumped ship in favour of more money and better media coverage,
as the series was broadcast live on AustraliaÕs Channel Nine.
As the 21st century dawns we now see, how the media exert control over
the most popular sports through screening rights. Floodlit cricket matches
born out of Packer's revolution are much more television friendly, capturing
larger audiences when people finish work. This is where advertising has
become the key weapon in our commercialized society.
Competitions have had their sponsors in the last few decades, but now
watching a match you see logos on clothing, equipment, the pitch as well
as the boundary boards. Our daily lives are filled with messages to buy
this and that, or use these shops, buy only that brand. Every media outlet
is awash with adverts of one form or another.
Since satellite broadcasting gained a foothold on the market in the 1990's,
it has slowly blunted terrestrial television's hold over the populace.
Nearly every household in the country has a television set, making it
potentially the most important form of media.
As sport has become so important in broadcasting terms, Sky's hold over
various rights gives them a big lead. Entertainment has been the name
of the game in the last few years; calls of 'dumbing down' are thrown
about, challenging broadcasters to produce quality rather than quantity
programming. Cheap production costs and lowest common-denominator output
has been good news for ratings and advertising revenue, but bad for some
areas of production. Sport, unlike most soap operas and movies, where
the outcome is splashed over the previous nights tabloid press, supplies
a continuous diet of real life fiction.
In 1999, the BBC lost control of broadcasting English international matches.
Talk Sport and Sky took overseas international series' with the promise
of more revenue for the ECB, due to advertising fees, despite smaller
potential audiences particularly on Sky.
Where do we go now, pay per view for England Test matches, under floodlights
or a retractable roof, enabling Tests all year round? At least the game
is surviving, catching up with the rest of the world.
Traditions bunked off in favour of more lucrative
ideas yet the dwindling attendance figures were screaming out at
administrators for an idea to spark interest into
the game. More innovations will creep in
before long, but the essence of cricket must remain,
other wise we may never recognize the historical importance of this age-old
summer sport... [Part 2]>>
Richard Kendall
|
