In this day and age, it would be considered that the commercialization of sports has transformed it into a lucrative industry, benefiting both athletes and businesses involved. While this trend presents some merits such as motivating athletes and raising income for companies, it could also lead to fierce competition and unethical commercial practices. This development has both positive and negative impacts in equal measure which will be discussed in this essay.
On the one hand, there are some advantages associated with this trend. Firstly, sports stars could perform at peak condition and focus more on pursuing their careers thanks to the huge budgets from sponsors. The financial incentives could help sportsmen to have a decent income to support themselves and have access to state-of-the-art facilities and healthcare services accommodating their rigorous training. Additionally, many enterprises can reap benefits from sports celebrity endorsements reinforcing their brand awareness and loyalty. In particular, by making a 10-million-dollar contract with Ronaldo, one of the most renowned footballers in the world, to be the brand’s ambassador, a sportswear giant named Nike has significantly increased its sales, surging its takings ten times higher than before.
On the other hand, the emergence of sports financialization could be considered to be negative for several reasons. Firstly, high wages could lead to some athletes being tempted to cheat or engage in immoral behaviors. Placing excessive emphasis on financial gain could undermine sports players’ work ethic resulting in sports fraud and lack of sportsmanship. For example, some athletes have resorted to performance-enhancing drugs such as doping and anabolic steroids in order to boost their moods and enhance their physicality which could help them improve their chances of winning or secure profitable deals. In addition, this trend is exacerbated by the manipulation of betting companies helping increase their influx of income. Gambling companies could get involved in match-fixing and replace the final results of tournaments. If this course of action continues to thrive, a multitude of spectators could feel severely disappointed and even lose large amounts of money for making the wrong bet.
In conclusion, the increase in the income of sports stars and the involvement of entrepreneurs has some beneficial effects by fulfilling players’ financial and training needs as well as raising the company’s profile, whereas it also brings concerns regarding an unwholesome competing environment and the proliferation of immoral betting companies.