Australia’s progression from amateur to corporate sports emerged as a result of both domestic and international social, economical, and political factors. Australia’s multiethnic population, mixed economy, and international position within the capitalist world made it a prime candidate for corporate sponsors to profit greatly off sports. With the rise of corporate sports in Australia, such as surfing and football, came the opportunity for companies to pour exuberant amounts of money into sponsorships with the hope of profiting off of the spectators. However, the relationship between sports and corporate sponsorship has had some obstacles along the way. Unfortunately, there has been an unfair and underrepresentation of female athletes in sports which has been reflected through less media coverage and the hypersexualized images of female athletes portrayed in media and advertisements. Additionally, there has been much debate around the ethicality and effects of promoting controversial products and habits such as for alcohol, unhealthy foods, and gambling during major televised sporting events in Australia.
According to McKay and Miller, there have been three main factors that have influenced the professionalization and commodification of Australian sport. The first in 1977 when Kerry Packer commodified cricket with his creation of colored uniforms, night games, white balls, limited overs, and extra cameras. The second occasion was Australia’s noteworthy victory in the 1983 America’s Cup which generated a lot of traction by important business leaders, advertisers, politicians, the media, and sports personnel who saw the victory as an opportunity to commodify sports by promoting an image to drive sales. The third major event has been the integration of sport, leisure, and recreation into strategies for managing the fiscal and hegemonic crises of the state. This phenomenon was made possible through the implementation of corporate, nationalistic, and scientific policies by powerful Australian political and business people who invested considerable amount of time, efforts, and money. Overall, the transformation of Australian sports as a money making platform can be contributed to the globalization of consumerism and the political and cultural milieu of the nation.
Surfing undeniably plays an important role in Australian culture. Surf culture in Australia has transformed dramatically throughout history from its primary introduction during the surf life saving movement to a more leisurely activity with overlying negative connotation to a now legitimate and respectable mainstream sport. From when surfing was initially brought to Australia in 1915 by Hawaiian Surfer Duke Kahanamoku and up until the first organized surfing competition in 1964, surfing culture only seen as relatively relaxed way of living. Organized surfing competitions allowed surfers to develop a new and more acceptable public image and gain the respect as legitimate athletes. The maturation of the sport was widely publicized and recognized by Australian media. The was evident according to a Sydney newspaper that “declared that surfers had ‘matured’ since they had formed an official body and that they now had ‘the right to promote their sport.’” Once surfing was seen as an acceptable sport in Australian culture, marketers and investors began to emphasize it health benefits to the public. Promoting surfing as a clean and healthy sport was a key tactic used by advertisers and sponsors because it was fitting to the ideal target consumer. Through the use of television, sponsorships, and competitions, advertisers used the sex appeal of surfing to convey an attractive image of surfers. Projecting this new image of surfers as professional and structured was no easy task. A few leading figures in the surfing industry played critical roles in shifting public’s attitude on surfing. For instance, in 1973 Doug Warbrick and Brian Singer, owner-managers, of Rip Curl capitalized on the economic potential of surfing when they transformed the traditionally surfing amateur contest at Bells Beach (Victoria) into a professional event. Another noteworthy figure in the movement was Australian surfer and journalist Graham Cassidy who organized and promoted the Surfabout contest in Sydney with sponsorship from Coca-Cola and local radio station 2SM. Cassidy like many others expressed her concerns with shifting the image of surfing while still maintaining the authenticity and virtue that attracted her to the sport in the first place. However, remarkably the professionalism of Surfabout was a huge success and Australian mainstream media slowly began to accept this new image of surfing. While professionalism ensured surfing's respectability and profitability, the movement also generated a lot of backlash from professional surfers who felt that adhering to these new strict rules was in return taking away from the pleasure and leisurely aspect of the sport.
As previously alluded to above, the sports industry in Australia is a highly sophisticated business which has been globalized and commercialized to reach a larger audience, drive sales, and increase profits. However, within the industry there exist a lot of gender inequality. This can be seen through numerous accounts. Firstly, women’s sport is considerably undervalued in comparison to that of their male counterparts. Secondly, there has been significant research that has illustrated that both the sports and the associated images of sporting bodies that are frequently displayed in all media for the consumption of local and international audiences are heavily gendered. According to Stevenson, sport provides men the opportunity to affirm their identity and status as heterosexual males and their physical, symbolic, and economic dominance over women. Whereas the same effect cannot be said for women. This drastic difference between the sexes has been repeatedly illustrated by the considerable difficulty in which the media has endured when dealing with female athletes who challenge hegemonic ideas about femininity. Lastly, there is evidently a hypersexualized representation of female athletes by corporate sponsors and the media. Media coverage and advertisements overemphasize the athlete’s physical appearance rather than actual performance. However, according to Lundy there has been hope for more gender equality in sports given that the increasing commercialisation potential of women’s sport is slowly but surely becoming more recognized through better governance of national sporting organizations and representation of women in executive roles which will in effect support the membership growth of sports and the female participation rates in Australians. Hopefully, these reformative efforts will in effect promote a more positive and inclusive sporting culture both on and off the field.
Sport is commonly used as a vehicle for the promotion of a range of ‘risky consumption’ products such as alcohol, gambling, and unhealthy foods. Public health advocates health raise ethical concerns and questions around health policies in regards to the harmful impact of sports sponsorship promoting products that can negatively affect the wellbeing of potential consumers. Historically, alcohol sponsorship of sport has been very common in Australia and has been a subject of widespread debate for numerous reason. On one side, there has been significant effort by public health advocacy groups to spread public awareness of the negative impact of alcohol abuse on society. For instance, there have even been a few high-profile cases such as the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug abuse’s formal protest against Anheuser Busch’s sponsorship of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta increasing pressure to regulate alcohol sponsorship of sporting events. However, on the other side, sports are heavily dependent on alcohol sponsors given the magnitude and power of the alcohol industry, thus making it incredible difficult to simply rule out these money guzzling corporations. Overall, it is evident that the sport and alcohol industries in Australia have a mutually lucrative, yet contentious relationship.
Sponsorship of sport by commercial gambling operators is becoming a more common occurrence in Australia, and thus sport spectators are at a higher risk of exposure to the negative repercussions that come with the promotion of gambling. Intensive research has shown that vulnerable groups such as “children, young people, and problem gamblers, a may be adversely affected by this ‘gamblification’ of sport which may normalize and encourage gambling and soften gambling products to sports viewers.” Historically and at the moment, the two partnership between the two industries is highly contentious and has raised a plethora of concerns. The primary argument against the promotion of gambling is that the negative long-term impact drastically outweighs the economic gain from the sponsors. However, the two industries are highly dependent on one another, and if sport industry becomes too reliant on sponsorship from the gambling industry, they might jeopardize both their image and financial security.
In conclusion, Australian participation in sports has been a major part of the nation’s culture, and thus it is no secret that sport is big business in Australia. The commercialisation of Australian sports is directly linked to the cultural, social, economic, and political status of the nation. Likewise, Australian sport has been globalized and commercialised like that of its capitalist counterparts. The complexity of commercialising and placing a value on Australian sports can be demonstrated through the transformed image and professionalization of surfing in Australia. Additionally, the commercialization of sports has had its fair share of debate. One controversial aspect being the gender inequality faced by female athletes who are both underrepresented in media coverage and sponsorship and another heated debate is the ethicality behind promoting risky consumer products such as tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy foods. While there is currently no simple solution to these issues, it is important that, as spectators of sports, we act as informed consumers and take caution of the types of products that are being meticulously advertised to us.