The changing face of sport

Abstract

Sport has changed dramatically dnring the past 100 years. It was trans- formed from a leisure activity, which only caught the passing interest of a few politicians and governments, to a global phenomenon which captures the at- tention of politicians such as presidents, prime ministers and monarchs. In its development sport changed from an activity with an annual budget of a few hundred US dollars to a billion-dollar enterprise. This development was sub- stantially illustrated when the English football club, Manchester United, had reportedly been bought for $958 million by Rupert Mnrdoch's television empire BskyB in 1998.