Sport and Money

Sport and money go together hand in hand. This has never been more obvious than in the week just gone. The Cheltenham festival has just been and gone. It is a magnificent sporting occasion. It is also a huge gambling occasion with millions being spent on the track and on-line. However Cheltenham benefits from these bets it gives people a stake, it creates legends, stories and hero's not only of the horses but also the owners and gamblers. One of the great stories is of JP McManus the legendary Irish gambler walking into the betting ring with 50000 pounds and taking on the bookies in as though he was a cowboy walking into a gunfight at the OK Corral.

Cheltenham is an example where sport and money go hand in hand in a way that is beneficial for both. The problem is when sport sells itself its very soul for the elusive dollar. The most obvious example of this is the controversy surrounding cricket. Where the traditions of the game are being compromised by the headlong charge towards 20/20 cricket. However, many sports are even further down the road. There is talk of the English premiership having an extra game played abroad to capitalise on the future investment abroad, this is a mirror of the NFL agreeing to play a game at Wembley stadium. This is fine for generating profits but negates the history of the game. For example Manchester United is the biggest football club in the world but without the people who built the club from the city it would be nothing. The same with American football, why should a fan from London get to see a game which a season ticket holder from Tampa or Chicago will not.

The point of this blog is that all sports can take money and it often benefits the sport in numerous ways but so often sporting administrators forget the 'little people.' This is fine in times of economic plenty. We are now in a lean time where sporting sponsorship is getting harder to obtain corporate boxes are more difficult to sell. These clubs and sporting organisations are now trying to tempt the fans they lost back and to take their money again. Ironically the Cheltenham festival horse racing has made more money than ever. This is because it listened to its fans by extending the festival. Now other sports have to do the same.