How Does Satellite Television Effect Elite Sports?

With the increasing development of satellite television and the mass audience it attracts,
professional and elite sports have simultaneously had a boost in popularity and capital, with both the
sports and broadcaster benefits from.
Satellite television has given sports more
opportunities to advertise themselves to a wider
audience which doesn't only increase support for it,
it also leads to an increase in ticket and
merchandise sells. But just the television coverage
by it self is a major income for most elite sport
teams.
Television Contracts
The English Premier League, which was introduced in 1992, has satellite television to thank for its
global success and for its wealth of riches. In 2007, The Guardian's James Robinson highlighted that
the UK contract alone for the coverage of the Premier League is worth over 1.7 billion. The
capital is shared between the 20 clubs depending on how many of their games are shown live on
satellite TV.
With the increase of television coverage, sports' broadcasting has become worldwide and this raises
the commercial interest within the sport which means more companies will want to associate their
brands with that sport. Robinson's research in 2007 showed that the Premier League had a
worldwide audience of 2.6 billion people with 1670 hours of coverage a week, 55% of this was in
Asia.
Advertising
Sport can now reach new markets from all around the
world and this means there are more markets for
commercialisation. American football is a good example
of this as the Super Bowl is the most watched sporting
event in the world as it attracts an audience of 175
million people. Companies know that it attracts a mass audience and therefore they want their
product advertised during the big game. But the NFL are also well aware of this and they can
therefore charge huge amounts, up to $3 million, just for a 30 second advert.
The media also gains a lot from elite sports, not only money from the advertising of goods, but
during big events, they can charge subscription fees for pay-per-view events. Sky now has over nine
million subscribers, with each person paying between 20 and 60 a month. Many argue that the
success and vast income coming into the company is due to the mass sport coverage they offer.
Influence of Satellite TV
Due to Sky's high influence over sports, they
can control times and dates of matches and
this is most evident with rugby league. Before
the creation of the Super League in 1996,
rugby league used to be a winter sport, but
since Sky didn't want it to class with the
football season, they moved it to a summer
sport. This shows the impact media has on
sport and due to the money involved; it can
alter an entire season.
It can therefore be seen that satellite television and elite sport do share a symbiotic relationship.
Sport relies on the media for coverage to boost popularity and for valuable income which is essential
for elite sport clubs. The media also needs sport as without it, Sky television and other satellite
companies would not have grown and been as successful as they are today.