SPMT 319 UNIT 2 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
In the 70s Tv networks paid 50 million to show the NFL, in 2010 4 companies paid a
total of 2.9 B to have rights to the NFL games. - Answers- True
Theory of leisure class - Answers- Time is a major influence on all aspects of
economics, and we as individuals have a finite amount of time available each day.
Because of this, we must make decisions about how to use that time, and we typically
allocate our time to either labor or leisure activities. Thus, the way in which individuals
choose to spend their time determines the social status of individuals, and as a result
two distinct classes emerge: the leisure class (which is the superior pecuniary, or socio-
economic, class) and the laboring class (which is the inferior pecuniary, or socio-
economic, class). They both have to do with money and wealth.
EX: Rich guy playing golf in the middle of the workday with the most expensive
everything
How do people demonstrate their socioeconomic status? - Answers- actions,
behaviors, and material possessions
Do lower classes try to imitate those with higher socio-economic status? - Answers-
Yes they do, it is referenced as "pecuniary emulation" and "keeping up with the
Joneses"
Are buying pro sport teams considered Conspicuous consumption? - Answers- Yes
they are, Mark Cuban and Jerry Jones come to mind. They made their money in other
industries, and being a professional sport franchise owner is just a form of conspicuous
consumption and leisure....something for fun! We will talk more about the relationship
between sport and social class later in the course.
Commodification of sport/ Marxist critiques - Answers- As sport and rec become more
commercialized, there are more opportunities to spend money on sport as a leisure
activity
Veblen viewed labor and leisure class relations as one characterized by emulation,
Marxist theory views it more as inherently antagonistic
Commodification involves the transformation of goods, services, or relationships into
commodities that are bought and sold in market- oriented exchange
Are athletes participating in leisure activities when they are playing their sport? -
Answers- No it is classified as productive work since they are earning a wage
bourgeoisie - Answers- which is typically a member of the middle and upper classes
(leisure class), which serve as the ruling capitalist class that controls factors of
production/performance/output
, proletariat - Answers- comprises the workers who provide labor for them (the
producers/performers)
what is the goal of the bourgeoisie - Answers- the accumulation of wealth, and in order
for that to happen, new markets have to be created, and products distributed to those
markets and consumers. In these markets, the laborer (working class) exchanges labor,
or effort/energy/time, for wages (income)....and then exchanges that income for goods
and services which meet his or her leisure needs, and...
Commodification - Answers- which is the transformation of goods, services or
relationships into commodities which are then used in the market place.
In this sense, it takes time and
money to participate in sport, or watch sport...and therefore, time and money are
"commodities", which are needed in order to participate, or spectate. According to
Marxism, the "leisure class" has time and money, whereas the "labor class" does not
have as much time and money, which gives the leisure class control. In other words,
going back to earlier in the course, we have taken the "play" out of sport, and created a
society in which corporate sport (or sport as work) is viewed as the most important
segment of sport, because we place value on the commodities that come out of
corporate, or professional sport.
Does NCAA commodify sports? - Answers- Yes 100%
What is the NCAA's purpose? - Answers- "to initiate, stimulate, and improve
intercollegiate athletics programs for
student-athletes and to promote and develop educational leadership, physical fitness,
athletics excellence, and athletics participation as a recreational pursuit" (this is taken
from the NCAA handbook), so in other words, the NCAA oversees "amateur" athletics.
What is the big issue with NCAA? - Answers- Doesn't pay the players even though they
are responsible for billion dollar revenues
Are pro athletes exploited even though they are millionaires for playing a sport? -
Answers- Yes since the owners of the teams keep most of the revenue
Who compared playing in the NFL and NBA to slavery? - Answers- Adrian Peterson on
HBO "Real Sports"
Are pro athletes forced into playing pro sports or not paid at all? - Answers- No so the
comparison to slavery is insane
To view pro sport players upbringing from poverty to millionaires as something good
would be the opposite of whose ideology? - Answers- Marx