The price of sport

Sport is based on performance and competition. It’s a great way for individuals, teams and countries to meet and compete against each other. Sport is healthy and wholesome, right? Wrong! The sports industry is now very heavily dependent on money. Recent estimates set the value of sports sponsorship at over sixty billion US dollars while the top three sports brands in the world make more than fifty billion US dollars each year. Coupled with this, top sports stars can receive salaries of over fifty million US dollars, and that sum is believed to be increased by millions more when endorsements and advertising fees are taken into account. There’s no getting away from the fact that we are talking about a very big business and there are genuine concerns that money is damaging the basic principles that originally lay at the heart of sport.

What is the public's view on all this? Is it acceptable and morally right that sports people can make such huge amounts of money just because they have a skill that makes them entertaining and exciting to watch? Does anyone actually need to earn that much money? Tim Dixon, a sixty-four-year-old market trader from London, and a big football fan, has grave doubts about it. ‘I remember the first footballer who was transferred for a fee of over £1,000,000 – Trevor Francis back in 1979. People found it difficult to accept that anyone could be worth that much money. But now clubs think nothing of transfer fees of up to £100 million. Frankly, the money would be better spent on helping the homeless, supporting charities and generally making the world a nicer place to live in.'

Louise Morgan, an ex-sports champion herself, has a different opinion. ‘Athletes work incredibly hard. They train for five or six hours every day and miss out on a normal family life because their sport takes over everything. Why shouldn’t they be rewarded highly for their work, like other top-level and hard-working professionals?' She also makes the point that as the career of many athletes is relatively short; for it to last them into old age, they need to make a lot of money quickly.

Nick, who runs a sports shop, was concerned about other issues. ‘Everyone knows about the massive expenditure involved in holding major sports events and how even wealthy countries can get into financial problems as a result, but I’ve seen disused stadiums that are slowly becoming ruins. It’s such a shame as they cost millions to build, but more importantly, what happened in them is often inspirational – I feel it can get forgotten.’ He backed up his argument by claiming that famous sports stars are role models for many young people – that sport, like films or music, is an industry where people struggle to work their way to the top, so they deserve to be paid well to reflect this. As an aside, he highlighted the injustice of a large difference in wages for male and female sports stars, as they all provide similar inspiration for others.

In all this debate, one thing stands out – there’s likely to be a lot of money in sports for a long time to come. It’s clear why companies readily pay huge amounts to sponsor sport, as the benefits to them are obvious. Football teams play in strips decorated with the name and logo of a company, and millions of people watch them. It’s an obvious strategy, and however many controls there may be in place, it could be seen as overly influential. There’s a flip side, however. Getting into a top-level sporting event can cost a lot, which seems unfair, but people would probably be paying even more if it weren’t for commercial sponsorship. That’s something often ignored. And underlying all this is the point that people love watching sport. If they didn’t, the money would dry up.

Read the article and choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

1 The writer begins the article by 

A explaining that competition isn't healthy.

B challenging the belief that sport is always a good thing.

C stating why it’s good for countries to compete against each other.

D saying how good sport is for individuals.

2 What does 'all this' refer to in line 17? 

A the salaries of top sports people

B the impact of major financial worries on sports

C the general influence of money in the world of sport

D the ways in which doing sport is no longer a healthy option

3 What does Tim Dixon say about the transfer fee for Trevor Francis? 

A People couldn't understand why the player needed the money.

B People had difficulty comprehending the amount of money involved.

C People were amazed that a sportsperson could have such a high value.

D People thought it was a fair price to pay for talent.

4 How does Louise Morgan justify high salaries for sportspeople? 

B They only have short careers.

C They have little time with their families.

D They do jobs as valuable as any professional.

5 What is Nick’s main concern?

A Lots of sports stadiums are empty these days.

B Major sports events are extremely expensive to hold.

C Sports people are not good as role models

D Sporting achievements are not always remembered afterwards.

6 What is the writer’s conclusion about the amount of money in sport? 

A It has hidden benefits for fans.

B It should be controlled more strictly.

C It is impossible to change it now

D It takes advantage of those who like sport.