How do commercialisation and the media shape modern sport?
The golden triangle of sport, sponsorship and the media, and the positive and negative effects of commercialisation and media coverage on sport, performers and spectators.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on commercialisation and the media: the golden triangle linking sport, sponsorship and the media, the forms of media coverage, and the positive and negative effects of commercialisation and the media on the sport, the performer and the spectator.
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What this dot point is asking
OCR wants you to explain the golden triangle of sport, sponsorship and the media, describe the forms of media coverage, and evaluate the positive and negative effects of commercialisation and the media on the sport, the performer and the spectator.
The golden triangle
Forms of media coverage
Positive effects of commercialisation and the media
Negative effects of commercialisation and the media
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR 20194 marksExplain the golden triangle in sport and how the three parts depend on each other.Show worked answer →
A Component 03 Section B application question. Marks for identifying the three parts and explaining their interdependence.
Award marks for: the golden triangle is the mutually dependent relationship between sport, sponsorship (commerce) and the media. The media pays for the rights to broadcast sport and gains audiences and advertising revenue. Sport receives money from broadcasters and sponsors, which funds clubs, events, wages and facilities. Sponsors pay sport and the media to reach the large audiences the media delivers, gaining brand exposure. Each part funds and depends on the other two: the media needs sport for content, sport needs the media and sponsors for money, and sponsors need the media to reach the audience.
Markers reward naming sport, the media and sponsorship and explaining that each funds and relies on the other two.
OCR 20218 marksEvaluate the effects of commercialisation and the media on sport, performers and spectators.Show worked answer →
A Component 03 extended-response (levels of response) question. Markers reward positive and negative effects across the three groups (AO1 and AO2) and a reasoned judgement (AO3).
Award credit for: positive effects on the sport include more money for facilities, wages, grassroots development and a global profile, and on performers higher earnings, professionalism and full-time training, and on spectators more access, better coverage, replays and statistics. Negative effects on the sport include rule and format changes to suit broadcasters (timeouts, scheduling, shorter formats) and a focus on a few marketable sports, on performers loss of privacy, pressure to win, commitments to sponsors and the risk of being dropped, and on spectators higher ticket and subscription prices, matches moved to awkward times, and a more passive, consumerist experience. A reasoned answer judges that commercialisation has professionalised and enriched elite sport and improved access for armchair viewers, but at the cost of higher prices, schedule changes and pressure, so the benefits fall unevenly and favour the most marketable sports.
A top answer balances effects across sport, performers and spectators and concludes that the benefits are real but unevenly distributed.
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Sources & how we know this
- OCR A Level Physical Education (H555) specification — OCR (2016)