Name- George Alexander
Unit 12- Assignment 2
Task 1
Media has been developed over many years. There are many areas of media that have had an
influence on football. For example, television has meant that matches can allow people to watch the
games from home the comfort of their own home. Rule changes, timeouts (half time), local and
national press and the internet have also influenced football in many ways.
Television:
Satellite television is something that has had a huge effect on football. It has made the sport more
popular as it is now a sport that can be watched worldwide from the comfort of your own home (this
makes it more popular compared to when television wasn’t invented because if spectators wanted
to watch football matches they had to go to the game which wasn't possible for people in the lower
class). Media has helped increase participation because watching football on television increases the
number of spectators that watch the sport which leads to an increase in participation. Event
programming (schedules) affects football because if games are scheduled then fans will know when
the games are and when they can watch them. Advertising also has an effect on football because if
games are advertised on the television, more people might watch the games which means that the
teams playing are going to receive a share of the profits (from the coverage). This profit can than go
towards the development of facilities, equipment and other things that improve the overall quality
of the club.
In football, television often decides when matches are played. For example, television companies
such as Sky Sports and the BBC will televise games when they're best for the spectators, they will
also stagger games so more matches can be viewed which brings in more money. The problem with
this is it might not be suitable for players. This is because when a game is played at around 8pm
players might be starting to lose focus as they will have been up early to train for an evening so they
may be tired, this could affect performance in a negative way because the players might not have
the energy to perform to the best of their ability. Also, if a match is played in the evening players
might worry about the game and then when they finally play the match in the evening their high
levels of anxiety could cause them to have a poor performance.
Rule Changes:
There haven't been many rule changes in football that have been influenced by the media. However,
there is the pass back rule and golden goal. The pass back rule was brought in to stop time wasting
during the game, this has affected football because it has made the sport more interesting. The
reason it is more interesting is because players have to consider this rule and be careful when
, Name- George Alexander
passing back to the goalkeeper as they can’t pick the ball up. The golden goal rule comes into place
when the two teams go to extra time. Golden goal is basically next goal wins. This makes the game
more exciting because spectators will be on the edge of their seats waiting for the goal that will
ultimately win the game. The Football Association (FA) will be introducing temporary dismissals,
known as sin bins, to help tackle inappropriate behaviour in grassroots football games. Referees will
be able to send players off the pitch for 10 minutes as punishment for dissent. Dissent describes the
negative words or actions of players who disagree with a referee's decision making. The final rule
that has been affected by media is the use of VAR. This is spoken about later on in this document but
it is essentially the camera system that is used to intervene with referees if they have made an
important decision that is wrong such as offsides and foul play.
Timeouts (Half-Time):
In many sports that are televised, half-time offers the opportunity to advertise which can bring in a
big source of revenue for television companies. This means that clubs can get more money from
these sponsorships. For example, Gazprom is one of the official partners of the UEFA Champions
League. This sponsorship can affect football as a whole because it means that money from
sponsorship can be invested into the game which could affect teams who play in this tournament.
For example, the money could go towards bringing in new technology such as goal-line technology
and other things. Another example of how sport benefits from half time is the NFL. This is because
they have a lot of expensive adverts and very famous performers. The fact that artists don’t get paid
surprises many people. We’re used to seeing performers like Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Bruno Mars,
Maroon 5, and Coldplay command millions of dollars for their performances. However, the NFL’s
unique arrangement with performers does make sense from an economic perspective. For one, the
NFL’s agreement to cover all production costs is not trivial. Reports state these costs can exceed $10
million. Even if that figure is exaggerated, we’re still talking about a sizeable cost. Second, let’s not
forget that companies are lining up to shell out $5 million for a 30-second Super Bowl commercial.
Why? Because there’s value in having your product seen by tens of millions of viewers. Artists, who
generally perform between 12 and 15 minutes at halftime shows, receive about $24 million to $30
million worth of exposure, assuming the same rate of value as companies paying for commercial
time. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, artists still have direct financial incentives to perform.
Even if the NFL is not cutting them a check, artists, without exception, have seen a spike in record
sales following their Super Bowl halftime performances.
Local and National Press:
Gender imbalance is a problem in sport as men receive a lot more coverage making women's sport
less significant and less televised. On television there is rarely any coverage of women's football and
this is down to the lack of funding and the lack of interest (this could be down to the lack of
sponsorship and role models). In men's football there is a lot of televised matches and adverts
featuring professional footballers so with men's football there is more coverage.
