The sports industry in many ways has been impacted by Castells’ theory of the logic of networks. The uptake of new technologies, higher demand for technologies that enhance the viewing experience and the ever-widening spread of digital content crossing geographical and cultural boundaries is altering the processes, culture and flows of power and capital in this industry. I have chosen to focus on two shifts in particular; the move away from mainly consuming sports content in the physical world of stadiums and moving towards ‘real virtuality’ as space and time are bypassed for burgeoning digital content consuming audiences, and the greater accessibility to sportspeople as they move into our networks via social networking media.
The third characteristic of Castells' information age “refers to the networking logic of any system or set of relationships using these new technologies. The morphology of the network seems to be well adapted to increasing complexity of interaction and to unpredictable patterns of development arising from the creative power of such interaction.”
[1] Castells' explanation of network logic, a decade later, has been solidified with the infiltration of new technologies and online social networking sites into several facets of our lives. These online networks not only serve as immediate ways to connect with friends and like-minded peers, regardless of location but business and other institutions have joined the conversation.
Castells concedes that networks are nothing new; flows of power and capital are persuaded by the logic of networks in the information age just as they were in the industrial age. However, the mass uptake of new digital technologies and the spread of global information hubs means networks are connecting and manoeuvring information, power and commodities in a new atmosphere. In the information age the “[f]lows of capital, information, technology, organizational interaction, images, sounds and symbols go from one disjoint position to another and gradually replace a space of locales whose form, function and meaning are self-contained within the boundaries of physical contiguity.”
[2] Castells network enterprise provides a relevant scope of analysis of the sports industry, as it is influencing 'the internet-based, interactive, networked connection between producers, consumers, and service providers.”
[3]
The information age network logic encompasses “...new media characteristics of transcending time and place, to be called 'timeless time' and a 'space of flows' ... Capital and labour, global institutions and particular social movements live in different temporalities. The first ones in the instant time of computer networks and the second ones in the clock time of everyday life.
[4] Certainly some industries work with majority of practices occurring in the computer networks, or cyberspace, but the sports industry will always have clock-bound components as the very nature of the performances are determined by time; running the 100m sprint under 10 seconds, thirty minutes in each quarter and one match a week played in a fixed schedule. However, the way in which sport is being consumed by local and global audiences has changed. Consumers have more choice about how and when they access sport due to advancements in technology and new, geographically distanced, audiences are being created via broadening broadcast networks.
Sports broadcasting has emerged into a multi-million dollar business with service providers fighting to secure broadcast rights for major sporting events to profit from the sponsorships, cross-promotion and advertising spend that accompanies such broadcasts. They also control how the information is delivered and the platform in which they will be delivered. Similarly, the audiences become agents of their own consumption choosing how they receive the information and via their choice of platforms. Castells' fifth characteristic of this technological revolution is the “growing convergence of specific technologies into a highly integrated system, within which old, separate technological trajectories become literally indistinguishable.”
[5] Improved technologies, increasing global audience consumption and higher demand for the ultimate viewing experience has shifted the flow of power in this network as audience demand determines how, when and where sport is delivered.
Broadcast Australia recognises that:
“new digital platforms, such as digital terrestrial television (DTT) (including datacasting and multi-channelling), digital cable, IP/Internet technologies and mobile TV, have brought significant change to the way sport is both delivered and watched heralding a new era in sports broadcasting. Sports fans now have the luxury of viewing sport in high-definition widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, with multiple camera angles and super-slow-motion replays all on multiple viewing platforms.”[6]
Interactive functionality and
3D technology[7], released since Kepreotes' article, published in 2007, have introduced additional elements to the sports viewing experience. The 'new era in sports broadcasting' has impacted audiences in the stadiums, in lounge rooms and the audiences that choose to consume the information via the myriad of sources available both traditional and new.
The delivery of sporting events has emerged into the forms, services and devices we are using due to demand from audiences and higher expectations of the viewing experience. While the flow of capital still flows to the rights holder, content delivery is increasingly influenced by the expectations of the audiences. Audiences expect to choose how they receive their information and the trends of information consumption in the new information networks are true for sports content; “...we are seeing the convergence of these viewing technologies, with television services increasingly incorporating an interactive component.”
[8] Viewers determine their sports content tailored to their specific tastes in the same way they pull content from their other online networks, such as news.
On a larger scale, the International Olympic Committee recognised the need to appeal to the expectations of global audiences and in the mid-1980's decided an independent broadcaster should be awarded the broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games, rather than the host nation. Rights holding broadcasters:
"were awarded geographical coverage rights for the Olympic Games through a bidding process. This strategy was immediately successful, as the unbiased coverage rated extremely highly and attracted unprecedented levels of sponsorship and advertising dollars. Broadcasters now bid for the Olympic Games television rights and the rating benefits and commercial revenues that accompany them.”[9]
As audiences become more accustomed to choosing how they receive their sports content and consume it more so in the digital networks the focus on real virtuality and the interactive viewing spectacular will increase. To offer this virtual experience that strives to provide a first-person 'real' viewing experience broadcasters will inevitably need to intrude into the realms previously untouchable; first person perspectives from the players and officials during the action.
Channel Nine
'miked-up' the umpires for the first time in Australian cricket history[10] in 2003 for a domestic one-day match in New South Wales. Gradually the technology has become more wide-spread; seven years on FOX SPORTS proclaims that they are the ‘
official television and online broadcaster’[11] for the ICC World Twenty20 competition. FOX SPORTS interviews players during breaks and 'mike them up' during the Twenty20 domestic and international matches; competitions in which millions of dollars in prize money are at stake. Cricket, and baseballs, uptake of miking-up payers can be attributed to the stop-start nature of the sport; innings breaks and lapses in action in the outfields allows players to comment while maintaining focus on the game. However, audience demand will determine whether similar technology is used in other sports; perhaps we will hear from the full-forward in Australian Rules football when the play is at the other end of the oval; certainly
Channel Seven proposed it in 2007[12]. As we see the flow of power flows increasingly from the audiences, the broadcaster that can offer this technology and experience will be the one that wins the broadcasting rights, both traditional and online, and ultimately the flow of capital.
Just as we have seen the flows of powers in the sports industry between broadcasters and audiences altered; the pull effect of content consumption has affected the way audiences receive sports news. No longer do they have to wait for tomorrow’s paper to get the latest from their favourite sports team or player; the increasing number of social platforms “like Twitter, facebook etc, means that fans of the game now have direct access to players’ thoughts and/or views on the game. They can also interact with them, and if lucky, enough get direct responses in real time.”
[13] These feeds can be sorted into a personal feed of selected information bites delivered instantly. Consequently, two trends have emerged; the public and private spheres of the sports industry have been blurred significantly allowing fans into the private lives of their sporting heroes, distorting the pre-existing logic of networks that contained clear boundaries, and “[they] who control the content and the flow of information controls the brand.”
[14]
Sporting organizations, and increasingly individual sportspeople, are choosing to promote their brand using social networking tools. It is logical, and in some ways expected, that they choose to promote their organizations and brand in the networks that their target audiences are active in. We have always followed our sports heroes from afar, cheering from the sidelines and only ever getting personal insights from sound bites on the radio or filtered through restrained press conferences. The desire to follow our heroes has translated seamlessly into the realm of the digital networks; where they go, we follow.
Sportspeople have become the advocates of their own brand through these networks, “they are the talent. They are the kings of the content. It has massive implications.”
[15] It is now more valuable for sportspeople to not only be active in these networks but to generate clout through the cultivation of social capital. In twitter, social capital is measured by the number of followers a person or brand has. Influential tweeters in the sports industry include
Shaquille O'Neil (3,237,190 followers)
[16],
Lance Armstrong (2,656,467)
[17],
Tony Hawk (2,208,207)
[18],
Kaka (2,041,114)
[19] and
Serena Williams (1,789,702)
[20]. The popularity of this format has transcended sporting codes and cultural boundaries creating digital networks that support Castells' theory that the networked systems are able to adapt to the increasing complexity of interaction and unforeseen developments in such interaction. In an attempt to deal with the unforeseen developments caused by the rapid uptake of this technology, Ted Johnson, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communication at the NBA team the Minnesota Timberwolves, explains his approach:
"of really embracing [the athlete's] interest in being involved. We've tried to educate them so they can avoid some of the pitfalls... to be educated to the idea that they have a responsibility as a role model, they have a personal brand to build and protect the integrity of it, it makes them more self-aware... [So] with brands to protect and promote via direct links to the fans; and therefore circumnavigating traditional media types... it is the athlete that holds all the cards.”[21]
When used successfully social media networks can greatly enhance a sportsperson's career and generate a highly profitable brand. However, there are the pitfalls that Johnson alluded to; numerous reports are constantly emerging that depict how things can go wrong. Sportspeople sharing their private thoughts have back-fired causing negative attention and in some cases, the loss of sponsorship and contract deals. Recently, Australian Olympic swimmer, Stephanie Rice suffered negative back-lash for using the word 'faggot' in a tweet. '
The tweet that sank Stephanie Rice[22],' saw her dropped from her
sponsorship with Jaguar[23] and caused bad publicity for her other sponsors Davenport, SunRice and Seven.
Rice's tearful public apology[24] was not the first time a sportsperson has been bitten by voicing personal opinions, however flippant they thought they were at the time.
NFL Washington Redskins player, Larry Johnson also came under fire for his tweet containing the word 'fag;' and a string of offensive tweets saw Johnson suspended for one game ‘(at a cost of approximately $213,000) [and] marked the beginning of the end of Johnson’s career in Kansas City.’
[25] Cricket legend, Imran Khan “originally joined the website [twitter] because he thought it would be a good way to interact with his audience on a personal level, but he appears to have changed his opinion recently. A friend of the actor said that Imran’s reason for quitting Twitter was its ‘intrusive’ nature.”
[26] Scarred by
ball-tampering scandals[27] in the past, perhaps Khan is more adverse to the risky business of personal, open to the public and media, social networking profiles. Sportspeople may feel comfortable making personal statements behind a computer screen or via their blackberry but the consequences can be more far-reaching and exaggerated than if they had announced it at a press conference.
Although sportspeople continue to tweet potential public relations disasters, seemingly without thought of the consequences; they will get stung, and the more they get stung the more cautious they, or those that mind them, will become. As Khan exercises caution with social networking technologies, and English cricketer Kevin Pietersen warns his players of the consequences after he was caught
complaining about being dropped from the international squad[28], players are constantly told to think twice before they tweet. In fact, the English Cricket Board may impose ‘a new rule... banning centrally contracted players from using social media on the Ashes tour this winter.
[29] The NBA has already imposed restrictions; they prohibit players from utilising social media in the 40 minutes before and after a game.
[30] Other organisations have also implemented restrictive social media policies; The University of North Carolina:
“has updated its 2010-11 Student Athlete Handbook to stipulate that 'each team must identify at least one coach or administrator who is responsible for having access to and regularly monitor the content of team members social networking sites and postings'... and if any of an athlete’s online content violates the law or NCAA, University or athletic department policies, sanctions could range from removal of the posting to dismissal from the team.”[31]
As more sportspeople get caught out by their use of social media technologies we may see organisations and brands impose stricter regulations determining what athletes, if at all, can tweet or post on their social networking site. They will also have the authority to hand down harsher penalties if the sportspeople deliver content that causes bad publicity. Likewise, a damaged online brand for an athlete will have monetary and career limiting consequences; the less bankable and more unpredictable a sportsperson is, their chances of being offered contracts and sponsorship deals diminishes. The flow of power, and ultimately capital, in these networks works both ways; a well promoted personal brand can have mass benefits, but releasing controversial content can be career damaging.
I have only talked about two aspects of the changing atmosphere of the network of logics in the sports industry and the impact that new technology is having. The reality, however, is that almost all aspects of the industry are being changed, and some are adapting better than others. For example, the funding given by the federal government in Australia to improve high performance technology provides Australian athletes with some of the best training technologies and techniques in the world. Better performance ultimately means greater capital as Australia secures a world-class sporting reputation, bigger sporting events and consequently, a boost in tourism. Traditional media has had to adapt to the new relationships created by new technology; news content is increasingly delivered electronically to global networks via the internet and fans expect it immediately. Australia’s ingrained cultural ties with sports is also demonstrated by how hard the sportspeople fall when they slip up; the long perceived notion of the Australian sporting hero is being challenged by the increased level of scrutiny new technology is placing them under. We are only seeing the beginnings of these shifts and it will be very interesting to see how the industry works to adapt to these significant changes.
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