By virtue of the fact that sports such as baseball and football in the United States had begun to prove themselves enormously popular and profitable, the intrusion of sponsorship and advertisement as a regular element of the game had begun a century ago. However, the paired evolution of the sports market to the coverage of an enormous breadth of market contexts and categories and of the media channels through which sports are sold and broadcast have resulted in a clear opportunity for integration of the sports and marketing sectors. As Wenner indicates, "the production and staging of sport as commercial entertainment led to the emergence of entrepreneurial structures and practices that would slowly transform the relationships between sporting teams and the communities they ostensibly 'represent.'" (Wenner, 58)

Thus, the idea of associated stars of professional sports with products, or indeed commoditization the players themselves would become an early and important...
[ View Full Essay]