ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the topic of sport as a form of mass entertainment. As a spectacular form of mass entertainment sport has been a crucial element in constituting the imaginary communities of nationalism, and the development of sport in countries taking on a culture of mass entertainment is inextricably bound up with ideologies of national identity. The mixture of deep moral concerns practical matters concerned with staging and performance is characteristic of writing about sport; a sense of greater cultural significance is often signalled by reference to concepts of national character or mythic dimensions to sporting contests. The technologies of mass distribution provide for not only new cultural forms of entertainment, but also for a new framework for social identity for members of a mass public. The creation of audiences for sport is part of the consumerism inherent in a culture of mass entertainment, and with some notes on the interdependence of sport and mass communication.
