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    CS - Day 2 - Prateek Chhillar - 040A

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    The document discusses how football/soccer has grown into a global industry and cultural phenomenon. Some key statistics are provided showing the massive scale of the sport globally in terms of players, clubs, and countries involved. It is noted that football fandom can create a sense of community and identity beyond national borders. The text then analyzes how commercialization and the flow of money and players internationally has transformed the sport. It explores how clubs are developing local communities and the social benefits this provides. In conclusion, it argues that football clubs should recognize their social role and strive to improve relationships with supporters and local groups.

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    CS - Day 2 - Prateek Chhillar - 040A

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    f1rsak3n
    35 views4 pages
    The document discusses how football/soccer has grown into a global industry and cultural phenomenon. Some key statistics are provided showing the massive scale of the sport globally in terms of players, clubs, and countries involved. It is noted that football fandom can create a sense of community and identity beyond national borders. The text then analyzes how commercialization and the flow of money and players internationally has transformed the sport. It explores how clubs are developing local communities and the social benefits this provides. In conclusion, it argues that football clubs should recognize their social role and strive to improve relationships with supporters and local groups.

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    CS_Day 2_Prateek Chhillar_040A

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    The document discusses how football/soccer has grown into a global industry and cultural phenomenon. Some key statistics are provided showing the massive scale of the sport globally in terms of players, clubs, and countries involved. It is noted that football fandom can create a sense of community and identity beyond national borders. The text then analyzes how commercialization and the flow of money and players internationally has transformed the sport. It explores how clubs are developing local communities and the social benefits this provides. In conclusion, it argues that football clubs should recognize their social role and strive to improve relationships with supporters and local groups.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    35 views4 pages

    CS - Day 2 - Prateek Chhillar - 040A

    Uploaded by

    f1rsak3n
    The document discusses how football/soccer has grown into a global industry and cultural phenomenon. Some key statistics are provided showing the massive scale of the sport globally in terms of players, clubs, and countries involved. It is noted that football fandom can create a sense of community and identity beyond national borders. The text then analyzes how commercialization and the flow of money and players internationally has transformed the sport. It explores how clubs are developing local communities and the social benefits this provides. In conclusion, it argues that football clubs should recognize their social role and strive to improve relationships with supporters and local groups.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 4

    Cultural Studies Day Wise Report Prateek Chhillar 040A

    Sports creating discourses of an


    imagined community

    Some statistics

    • Total players 265 million

    • Female players as % of male world population 8%

    • Registered players 38 million

    • Referees and officials 5 million

    • Number of clubs 301.000

    • Top-20 countries with most registered players in 2006: Germany (> 6 million), USA (>

    4 million), Brazil (> 2 million), France, Italy, England, South-Africa, Netherlands, Japan

    (> 1 million), Canada, Russian Federation, People’s Republic of China, Ukraine, Czech

    Republic, Poland, Spain, Austria, Sweden, Chile and Iran (> 0,4 million)

    The statistics above are perhaps greater than a few countries on the UN list and cannot be

    ignored as they represent a part of the world which is bound by similar passions and can be

    expressed as a nation beyond borders and perhaps a citizenship acquired via the love of the

    game.

    1
    Cultural Studies Day Wise Report Prateek Chhillar 040A

    Introduction

    Football has changed from a popular sport into a global industry with an increasing

    economic impact at the top and important social functions at lower levels. Football can serve

    not only as a source of income for many people, but also as a tool for local economic

    development, social cohesion, education, personal development and the transmission of

    human and cultural values.

    Analysis

    The professional football market has undergone an accentuated growth due to a process of

    Commercialisation since the beginning of the 1990‟s. Money invested in football surged

    mainly as result from increases in television rights and corporate sponsorship.

    Simultaneously, the labour market for professional football players had experienced

    unprecedented globalisation – with more and more football players contracted by teams

    outside their country and transfer payments of astounding dimensions. Transfers are carried

    out all over the world. The cross border money flows that are involved may largely fall

    outside the control of national and supranational football organisations, giving opportunities

    to move and launder money. At the same time money from private investors is pouring into

    football clubs to keep them operating and can give the investor long term returns in terms

    of media rights, ticket sales, proceeds of sales of players and merchandising.

    The worlds‟ best players, both from within and outside the EU, are contracted by the richest

    2
    Cultural Studies Day Wise Report Prateek Chhillar 040A

    European leagues. On the supply side, Brazil has long been a big exporter of footballers not

    only to Europe but also to Asia. In the course of the last few years, Africa has emerged as a

    less expensive source of new talent. Talented players from the former European East Bloc

    also gravitate towards rich clubs elsewhere in the world.

    In the current day and age, the biggest football clubs across the world are read, listened,

    watched and followed by millions of people across the globe. Usually these are people who

    barely know the culture of the country to which the club belongs or much about the culture

    of the countries to which these players belong. Club owners are usually rich powerful

    individuals who themselves might not belong to the country of the club. The players who are

    playing are from various countries and usually are the cream of the talent of their respective

    nations and yet they are rarely playing in their own country, primarily because of the lack of

    funds and infrastructure and development of the game in their own country. Perhaps the

    only authentic sense of belonging is accorded to the supporters who are within the

    geographic vicinity of the club and can afford the time, space and money to afford such

    forms of entertainment.

    Football developing a community

    There are a range of ways in which clubs might commit to having a positive impact in their

    communities – many, at all levels, do some of them already. They include developing local

    transport plans, environmental best practice, supporter volunteering schemes, opening club

    facilities to disadvantaged groups, operating preferential local employment and purchasing

    schemes, and pricing match tickets at levels that "recognise economic exclusion".

    3
    Cultural Studies Day Wise Report Prateek Chhillar 040A

    Also included is "broadening ownership structures", and this is a key element of the report,

    setting out the social value of clubs incorporating some democratic form of ownership by

    supporters. The chief executives of clubs that were mutuals or feature large stakes held by

    supporters argued that their model delivered "clear social benefits", including the promotion

    of democracy, keeping the club linked to the community, creating stability, and even a

    business advantage, because of improved working relationships with the local authority.

    To the extent that in most British football clubs these days during the winter period when the

    sporting fixtures are hit due to extreme cold and snow there have been instances of

    supporters and locals coming to help the club authorities in making the areas surrounding

    the stadiums feasible to operate around and thus ensuring that the games go on despite the

    weather. This is another example of how football tends to impact society first at a local level.

    The next example would be of football fans across the globe who stay awake or wake up at

    extreme hours just so that they can watch the live game of their respective club and thus be

    up to date about any discussion pertaining to the club. The need to know what is going on

    at their club is another instance of football breaching individual concerns.

    Summary

    Football clubs should formally recognise their social role and adopt it as one of their core

    purposes, honestly examine how well they are meeting that aim, and strive continually to

    improve their relationships with supporters, local authorities, residents and businesses.

    Thus various business and social models are required to be conjured so as to ensure that the

    love of the game can also inculcate a love for society in the individual, as it is evident we

    have so much more to learn from the game than that which is visible to the bare eye.

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