Reading Passage 5
You should spend 20 minutes on questions 1-14, which are based on Reading Passage 5.
A
The recent global economic shift away from state-regulated economies and towards privatization has affected many areas of society. The sporting world is no exception to this, and football is a prime example. In fact, it can be argued that over the last 10 years, football clubs have become more focused on the commercial opportunities presented by international and league cup events than on their players' sporting prowess. In addition to this, football has become so powerful an economic force in some countries that its impact can be observed in political and government circles.
B
Over the years, football clubs have transcended their original function. No longer supporting their teams solely through membership contributions, they have transformed themselves into a highly lucrative industry. This change in the financial sponsorship model of professional football has been described by Andreff (2000) as a shift from the 'Spectators - Subsidies - Sponsors Local' model, which was prevalent in the 1970s, to the 'Media - Magnates Merchandising - Markets - Global' paradigm, which emerged in the 1980s.
C
Over the last 30 years, the growth of the broadcasting industry, and in particular its effectiveness as a channel for marketing and advertising, has increased the commercial profitability of football at national and international levels. This in turn has attracted a wide range of private investors, including individual billionaires, multi-national media companies, sports equipment suppliers and health product manufacturers. Some, but not all, of these are driven purely by an interest in monetary gain. Others are genuine fans, in the original sense of the word; that is, they are fanatical about football, investing in the game to satisfy their passion.
D
In order to maximize their profits, more commercially motivated investors have extended their interests beyond the boundaries of receiving income from ticket sales. Branding, which has become a highly successful income stream in the last few decades, is an example of this. Products of all kinds, ranging from clothing to tableware and from mascots to sports equipment are manufactured in factories in various countries and distributed through high street commercial outlets worldwide. For example, a T-shirt or a mug branded with the logo of a European premier league football club may be produced on a continent as far away as Asia. A further, and even more productive, source of income is the sale of broadcasting rights. For example, in 2010, the governing body of world football (FIFA), earned 2408 million US dollars from the sale of the television rights to the FIFA World Cup™™ in South Africa and 1072 million US dollars in marketing rights. Another profitable, but arguably dubious, commercial operation is the transfer of players from one football club to another. Although individual players receive astronomical fees as a result of these transfers, it is difficult to view the process as being very different from that of trading manufactured goods.
E
As well as raising specific ethical issues, the transfer of players for large sums of money highlights the tension between the social ideals on which many sporting associations are founded and commercial necessity. Although many sports clubs may still retain their original social aims, such as health, social interaction and physical development, the financial pressures of the modern competitive world of international business prevent them from attaining these aspirations.
F
These concerns were echoed some years ago by Bayle and Durand (in Rouvrais-Charron and Durand, 2009) who noted 'a growing gap between ethics and behaviour' amongst the governing bodies of international sport. It must be recognized that the challenge of balancing ideology, social responsibility and commercial viability is not unique to football. Nevertheless, it could be argued that if sport (and in this case, football) is based on the principle that it has a uniquely social function, this conflict between ideology and commercial pressure may be felt to be all the more acute.
Part 1
Questions 1-6
The reading passage has six paragraphs (A-F). Which paragraphs contain the following information?
1 different modes of sponsorship
1
2 the range of organizations that invest in football
2
3 reasons for investing in football
3
4 the development of football from a sport to an industry
4
5 examples of promotional goods
5
6 a change in the status of footballers
6
Questions 7-10
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
Write
| TRUE | if the statement agrees with the information in the passage. |
| FALSE | if the statement disagrees with the information in the passage. |
| NOT GIVEN | if the information is not mentioned in the passage. |
7 In the past, football was not a commercial venture.
7
8 FIFA earned more from marketing than from broadcasting rights to the FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa.
8
9 Sporting associations believe that they have a social responsibility.
9
10 Commercially motivated sponsors are not concerned with ethics.
10
Questions 11-14
Look at the following items (Questions 11-14) and the list of groups below. Match each item with the correct group. Write the letter A-C.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
|
A football clubs B sponsors C the players |
11 They use sport as a marketing tool.
11
12 They are becoming more controlled by private industry.
12
13 They are politically powerful.
13
14 They have been converted into merchandise.
14