Business calls the shots - Module 4B
B2 First · Gapped Text · First Expert Student's Resource Book, Pearson Education
You are going to read an article about commercial sponsorship in sport. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences (A-G) the one that fits each gap (1–6). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.
Business calls the shots
Sport has undoubtedly made huge financial gains from business sponsorship. But at what cost to the fans and players?
People also complain that sponsors have too much influence on the sport in return for their financial backing.
Many loyal local fans also believe that their needs are being ignored in favour of more profitable television audiences.
Although this may appear harmless, the pressures they face can be intolerable.
By 1992 this new business had an annual turnover of over £30 million.
But there is a downside: much is demanded of the top stars in return for their high earnings.
Increased public awareness of sports has, in turn, helped to stimulate demand for certain products.
It was only in the 1970s that they realised they could be charging the company for the privilege instead.
Many sporting organisations only began to understand how valuable commercial sponsorship might be in the last decades of the 20th century, when individual players and their agents started finding their own sponsors. The organisers of the famous Wimbledon Tennis Tournament, for example, had been paying the sports equipment manufacturer, Slazenger, to supply balls and equipment since 1902. Slazenger had been getting hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of free publicity from the live television coverage of the event but the organisers of the tennis tournament were getting nothing in return.
Wimbledon also began to put its name on a range of merchandise which it sold to fans, including clothing, towels, china and stationery.
Because of their increased overall income, the organisers of the tournament were able to donate millions to the British Lawn Tennis Association and so help develop the sport in the country where the tournament is held. Sporting agents believe that the injection of money and commercialism into sport from various sources has helped everybody. Players have gained financially, with earnings reflecting the true value of their abilities; sports administrators have cashed in on television's wish to broadcast major events; businesses have gained publicity for their products and found top sports stars willing to promote them and lastly, the public's desire to see top matches and wear a range of sporting goods has been satisfied.
Top tennis players have to play more and more events across the world. Three-times Wimbledon winner Boris Becker was referring to the top ten players at the end of one exhausting season when he said, 'Everyone is badly injured or is having a nervous breakdown.' Meanwhile, agents are now signing up potential stars at even earlier ages – some are as young as ten years old.
Child stars Andrea Jaeger and Tracy Austin were both forced out of the game after receiving permanent injuries while still in their teens. At least Ms Austin had earned $5 million before her injury.
A sportswear manufacturer might, say, insist that a player it sponsors competes in a minor tournament in its home town. Meanwhile, the demands of television often influence sporting decisions. The timing of major sporting events such as cup finals, key matches or Olympic events are set to coincide with peak viewing times or to avoid clashes with popular programmes. In 1994 the football World Cup was held in the USA because it was the country which offered the organisers the best commercial opportunities, even though it had no organised football league and the game was relatively unknown there. US television companies even discussed altering the length of the playing periods in order to get in more advertising. But whatever the arguments, commercialisation has given many sports a higher profile.
Sometimes, of course, the public finds that these goods are also the most expensive, so they end up paying for the sponsorship anyway. But then, as the saying goes, 'You pay your money, you take your choice.'
Many sporting organisations only began to understand how valuable commercial sponsorship might be in the last decades of the 20th century, when individual players and their agents started finding their own sponsors. The organisers of the famous Wimbledon Tennis Tournament, for example, had been paying the sports equipment manufacturer, Slazenger, to supply balls and equipment since 1902. Slazenger had been getting hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of free publicity from the live television coverage of the event but the organisers of the tennis tournament were getting nothing in return. ___ Wimbledon also began to put its name on a range of merchandise which it sold to fans, including clothing, towels, china and stationery. ___ Because of their increased overall income, the organisers of the tournament were able to donate millions to the British Lawn Tennis Association and so help develop the sport in the country where the tournament is held. Sporting agents believe that the injection of money and commercialism into sport from various sources has helped everybody. Players have gained financially, with earnings reflecting the true value of their abilities; sports administrators have cashed in on television's wish to broadcast major events; businesses have gained publicity for their products and found top sports stars willing to promote them and lastly, the public's desire to see top matches and wear a range of sporting goods has been satisfied. ___ Top tennis players have to play more and more events across the world. Three-times Wimbledon winner Boris Becker was referring to the top ten players at the end of one exhausting season when he said, 'Everyone is badly injured or is having a nervous breakdown.' Meanwhile, agents are now signing up potential stars at even earlier ages – some are as young as ten years old. ___ Child stars Andrea Jaeger and Tracy Austin were both forced out of the game after receiving permanent injuries while still in their teens. At least Ms Austin had earned $5 million before her injury. ___ A sportswear manufacturer might, say, insist that a player it sponsors competes in a minor tournament in its home town. Meanwhile, the demands of television often influence sporting decisions. The timing of major sporting events such as cup finals, key matches or Olympic events are set to coincide with peak viewing times or to avoid clashes with popular programmes. In 1994 the football World Cup was held in the USA because it was the country which offered the organisers the best commercial opportunities, even though it had no organised football league and the game was relatively unknown there. US television companies even discussed altering the length of the playing periods in order to get in more advertising. But whatever the arguments, commercialisation has given many sports a higher profile. ___ Sometimes, of course, the public finds that these goods are also the most expensive, so they end up paying for the sponsorship anyway. But then, as the saying goes, 'You pay your money, you take your choice.'
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