Elite sport [has] moved increasingly into a commercialised, highly scientised domain, where the basis for progress has [often] been associated with technological change (Miah & Eassom, 2002). With televised sport came broadcasting rights associated with the advertising revenue that broadcasters could attract.  With television coverage came sponsorship which was highly desirable to struggling sport organisations (Hoye et al., 2012).

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The media plays two important roles for sport:

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1. Information
2. Entertainment

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The breadth and depth of coverage that media organisations provide their professional sporting partners is of such significance that it has the capacity to influence the social and commercial practices of millions, if not billions of people. The scale and scope of the financial relationship they share generates a situation where they (professional sport and the media) are often regarded as interdependent.

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Whilst some of the media coverage of sport is provided as ‘news’ an increasingly significant component of broadcast coverage is provided through exclusive arrangements in which media organisations purchase the rights to broadcast an event or season. The relationship between sport and the media has reached a point where professional sport would not be able to survive in its current form without the media.

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At the heart of these arrangements is the concept of ‘return on investment.