We are living in uncertain times. Liberal democracies are in crisis. Political and economic uncertainty in issues such as BREXIT and the US-China trade war created much instability in the latter years of the 2010s. The SportsWorld is not immune from its share of problems either. Recent issues surrounding a doping crisis in Russia, the future of policing world sport, lack of forthcoming bid cities for Olympic Games, scandals in world soccer around the governing body FIFA and World Cup bids, pay inequities between female and male soccer stars, and ongoing match-fixing problems are a few of the primary issues facing global sport as we near 2020. There are positive signs of course, such as the continuing popularity of leading soccer leagues in England, Germany, Spain, Italy, China and the USA in particular. However, this growth has centered in the hands of a small number of dominant clubs and nations. The moves towards gigantism in sport have led to crises at historic clubs no longer able to compete.
The world of global sports capitalism has enhanced debates about sport as a social enterprise or as a money- making machine. In one of our home towns access to the primary hospital is virtually impossible on a football game day as 106,000 fans head to the adjacent stadium. In the other, serious investment of $150 million in the main soccer club has created the possibility of sustaining a reasonable position in the main competition, yet this investment is still less than the value of the leading player in world soccer and success is certainly not guaranteed, but a gamble. Clubs like Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers have shown in recent times that exceptions are occasionally possible to the dominance of larger clubs. In the USA, the balance of competition is greater as revenue sharing among teams in leading leagues like the National Football League (NFL) ensure that even a dominant franchise like the New England Patriots do not win the Super Bowl every year. In most major soccer leagues it is easy to guess the top 2–4 teams before the season starts. Examining the distribution of champions in the Bundesliga, the Eriedivisie, La Liga or the Scottish League proves this point easily. The top six in the Premier League in England (EPL) (Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham) have value and performance that consistently outshines the rest of the teams. Other clubs who tried to spend their way to success such as Leeds United or Portsmouth ended up going bankrupt and facing massive penalties under financial fair play rules.
There are also fears about the long-term sustainability of English clubs outside of the money-making machine of the EPL, as in the summer of 2019 two historic clubs in Greater Manchester (just miles away from the two powerhouses of Manchester City and United) in Bolton Wanderers and Bury, whom both have over 100 years membership of the Football League have encountered serious financial issues resulting in administration, with the latter being expelled from the League, ending an association that began in 1894. The fallout of this crises has raised questions about the inequality between clubs in English professional football and fears about the structure of the English professional game based on 92 clubs, many of which are small in stature, but play a vital role in their communities which extends far beyond playing the game. Only time will tell if this is the beginning of the end for the structure of 92 professional League clubs, or it begins a new phase of fan involvement in administration and closer scrutiny of finances to protect clubs and their communities.
Despite the financial problems that some sports teams face, elite sport continues to expand, with new leagues, teams and events taking place in even-farther flung locations. In 2019, MLB played its first ever games in Europe, with London hosting a two-games series in June, undertaken with the desire to raise the Leagues profile and attract a new audience for America’s pastime. Regular season games also took place in the more familiar surroundings of Japan and Mexico, but with the same intention, to make MLB and its franchises more money. Europe’s top soccer teams regularly scour the globe every summer to do exactly the same, creating fears of player burn-out.
Many of America’s major leagues are continually expanding to new cities, perhaps most prominently the MLS, which has seen eleven new teams join this decade, with three more expected to join over the next two years. Perhaps no sport is changing more than cricket, with new franchise leagues primarily based on the T20 appearing in almost all of the major cricketing powers and even beyond thus and into nations such as Canada. These Leagues are shifting the balance away from the heartbeat of the sport; International Cricket and some players now choose the riches of a franchise League over the chance to represent their country. In England, the controversial ‘Hundred’ competition that will begin in 2020, promises riches to all of counties, but has the potential to disenfranchise whole regions of the cricket watching community by cutting the teams down from 18 to just 8. The one thing all of these sports have in common is a desire for revenue, principally coming from the lucrative television deals on offer.
There remains much discussion about the inequalities between women and men, but women’s sport continues to make strides forward. The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup held in France did much to highlight women’s sport, demonstrating the quality of the matches which have been unfairly maligned by some, often by making comparisons to the men’s game. Despite the strides forward, questions remain about the inequality between the prize money given in comparison to the Men’s equivalent and also the difference in standards between teams competing in the tournament, highlighted by the United States 13-0 demolition of Thailand. These are issues faced not just by women’s soccer, but endemic of many women’s elite sports.
Seemingly there appears to be more opportunity than ever for women to compete in elite sports, with recently released plans indicating that the 2022 Commonwealth Games will have more places for female athletes than their male counterparts for the first time.
Gender and the nature of gender has become a prevalent issue in 2019, particularly following the controversial ruling that South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya would be required to take testosterone-reducing medication in order to compete in this summer’s IAAF World Championships. This landmark case is at the center of the debates around gender and physicality in women’s sports, surrounding principally Transgender athletes. It appears that more sporting governing bodies will have to make judgements on Transgender athletes’ ability to compete in women’s events during the future.
In this issue of SportsWorld our authors explore several cases where sports policy, adaptation and crises have challenged traditional norms and practices. Lawton and Nauright examine the traditional sport of Okinowan karate which spread throughout Japan before being sportized for the modern Olympic movement. Their work builds on that in a previous issue by Yuko Ueda which discusses the similar process in judo. As John Bale has outlined, the sportization process continues as sports become more and more routinized and sanitized for a global audience.
The imperialist and neo-imperialist SportsWorld continues to be dominated by Western values as changes in martial arts formats demonstrates. Delashut examines the long history of Jim Thorpe’s Olympic medals which was a near century long saga as has been the entire issue of Native American protest and abuses in and through sports. Gender equality is another area whereby marginalization of half of the human population has taken decades to begin to address appropriately as De Soysa and Zipp discuss. Jonathan Edwards and Julie Stevens further explore high performance women’s ice hockey in Canada in the context of institutional maintenance. The recent collapse the Canadian women’s league confirms the still precarious nature of women’s professional leagues even as participation and financial support increases.
The marginalization of soccer and the depiction of the sport as ‘wogball’ or an immigrant’s game in Australia has shifted over time as the Australian government has realized the significance of the sport to the country and world as Andy Harper explores. The realization by countries such as Australia and the USA that soccer is the most significant way to connect to the SportsWorld has led to massive opportunities for the sport in those new markets. In Major League Soccer in the USA, the Atlanta United team now has an average attendance in the top 5–6 of all global teams including a recent record of over 70,000 fans at its home matches. New markets, particularly in China and the USA have occupied the major soccer leagues in Europe with the Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga in particular achieving great successes.
Doping remains a hot-button issue around the world. With recent doping allegations against athletes from countries who have pointed fingers at others such as Australia, with the Russian doping crisis of the past several years, and with changes to the governance and policing of doping, it remains to be seen what outcomes can best manage doping in sport long-term. Altukhov et al. explore the decline of WADA’s monopoly in policing doping in sport and examine collective arrangements which are in the process of establishing new models for anti-doping.
Finally, two articles explore legacies and experiences of mega-events, namely the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2012 London Olympic Games. In the case of 2010, Kamilla Swart led a team of researchers who examined experiences of spectators and tourists at the time of the event. Now some eight to nine years later we are beginning to understand more fully the long-term impact and legacy of the event. Taking stock of volunteer satisfaction at the London Olympics, Minhong Kim and his collaborators explore further the nature and significance of volunteers to events and events to volunteers.
The SportsWorld like the rest of the contemporary world is moving at a rapid pace where immediacy and expediency can get in the way of long-term planning and thinking. Taking stock of key issues is important to making wise decisions on future policy and in planning for future growth and sustainability. We do not know if we are at a tipping point or at a point where further consolidation of high-profile brands and events will hurt grassroots events and participation. Our hope is that readers take these case studies and apply them and others to rigorous debate about who sport serves, who sport could and should serve, and what models of sport around the world create sustainable sporting cultures that benefit public health and wellbeing while providing escape and passion for supporters and hopes for future generations of players and managers.