The European Super League, Commercializing Sport, and Gatekeeping
As of 04/18/2021 top European football clubs have attempted to break away into their own isolated league: The European Super League. The reason being to secure the futures of these clubs and to free themselves from the debt caused by previous financial decisions (looking at you Barca, Real Madrid, Juve). But much of the money-grubbing is antithetical to sport and tradition, and instead related to entertainment. It begs the question — how sacred are sports from private enterprises?
In his 1979 book, The Culture of Narcissism, Christopher Lasch evaluates American history drawing from psychological, social and cultural lenses, and diagnoses the collective American zeitgeist as suffering from narcissistic personality disorder. The book is relentless in its criticism of capitalism and consumer culture, yet feels fresh and oddly comforting at times. The book is over forty years old, but many of the commentaries ring true. A chapter of the book concerns the “degradation” of sport. In the chapter, Lasch simultaneously defends sports from it’s “left-wing” critics of the time while equating much of the degradation of sport as symptomatic of narcissistic personality disorder. According to Lasch, these critics of sport trivialize the nature of sport and play down the spirit to win, yet cannot distinguish between work and play. Work which seems to be equated to generating profits and benefiting corporations is different from play: the absurd game that is being played, defined by its own rules and traditions. Because there are rules, and stakes involved in any game there must be risks involved. Gladiators represented the ultimate risk, and their allure is still alive to many. Winners and losers are necessary for games and the triumphs and rewards that come with winning must be mirrored with an equal loss of losing. But as Lasch states this trivialization of sport has led to a culture were no one is a winner, but more importantly no one is a loser.
Furthermore, the commercialization of sports has amplified this fear of loss as it would put owners in a precarious position. Rather than experiencing the highs and the lows of sport, owners and shareholders would rather tepidly maintain a favourable position and maintain profits from fans, too aware of the money to be made and disregarding the play that is the game, relegating sport to just entertainment. The issue is that the core traditions involved in sport are antithetical to maintaining a good commercial enterprise. People must lose for others to win is the core defining feature of all games and anyone can win or lose. But when the stakes are taken away and games are just a nobody loses spectacle, it loses its importance and the escape to a well-defined world that is sports with clear rules and traditions. The attempted European Super League shows this conflict, equating sports to just entertainment and a fear of losing and uncertainty, when the best sports moments all involve an element of uncertainty which is perceived to be missing from everyday life.
The perception that watching sports or games is solely entertainment is often levied by those who have never played said sport or game thus cannot comprehend the rules, traditions and rituals behind the game. Only those who have played golf can understand how difficult it is to perform certain shots. Watching the sport or game (we can include e-sports, chess and other games) allows spectators to tap into a realm of fantasy confined to its own rules and watch as athletes perform amazing feats. The spectators of a sport are essential and needed as witnesses who understand to an extent the gravity and difficulty of the game. This is why the burden must also lie in spectators and the idea that sports should be for everyone to watch is antithetical. Spectators must understand and uphold the traditions and rituals involved in sport and understand the rules and difficulties involved in the sport, not cry out and complain how absurd or pointless it is. Spectators themselves function as arbiters of the game, seeking to understand it more and upholding its values. However, often spectators downplay this responsibility and care too much about the sensationalist nature of sport, and believe too much that it is only entertainment. Sports being equated to entertainment is beneficial to the giant enterprises involved as now sport can be more of a spectacle with lengthy half-time shows and press tours all which gradually mean less to the sport.
The phenomenon of gatekeeping: when a person or group decides what is acceptable to be a part of a community, is often frowned upon by many. The term is often used pertaining to communities of art, sport and other leisure activities and is often spoken about in a negative light. However, gatekeeping is used in many institutions to insulate themselves from external influences, that are at odds with the traditions of these institutions. Without gatekeeping a set of standards are not maintained. The vilifying of gatekeeping evokes a sense that these traditions are really not that important and participants do not have a duty to uphold these traditions, trivializing these activities. Gatekeeping is important in the realm of sports as the spectators themselves are participants. They are the observers of the ritual, and they must symbiotically uphold these values. To be a part of a community you must respect its values. Sport should remain closer to tradition than entertainment, a ritual rather than a spectacle, and most fans and players exist to maintain this relationship.
The commercialization of sport is a tricky subject. I became engaging in spectating sport at a young age watching the Champions League after watching Barcelona (the club pf my then favourite player Ronaldinho) play against Chelsea. I had no attachment to Chelsea and no reason to support them, but I was young and decided I would support them after how they played in that game. If it were not for watching these games and being exposed to sports many would not be supporters and engaged in sports. That being said football and most sports are far from obscure. It seems as long as football has existed its commercialization and remodelling has alienated some, but not nearly as much as now. The reason being that now commercialization seeks to expand sports in general without maintaining its integrity. It does not matter to these enterprises whether their customers maintain the values of the sport, which is why rigorous gatekeeping is common and needed to maintain traditions and values.
