ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors examine the changes that have occurred in Rugby League by adopting a Marxist-influenced political economy paradigm. They also describe rugby fans' resistance to these changes. Rugby League has been the major professional football code in two of the three states on the eastern coast of Australia. As a professional sport, it has always been associated with commodity value, but the acceleration of commercial involvement in the code over the past few decades has created significant change. The control of spectator sport both in Australia and internationally has increasingly moved away from sports administrators and toward media executives. The authors concur with David Rowe that value does not remain in a Marxist-influenced political economic approach that emphasizes the production and reproduction of power relations under capitalism, particularly given the continuing inroads into the realm of culture made by global corporate capital.
