ABSTRACT
If ever there was a marriage made in heaven it was that of television and sport. The commercial success of each was almost directly attributable to the other. From the 1940s to the present sports have grown in proportion to tv. Not only have they grown in scale and popularity, but they have become modified into virtual theater. And television’s efforts at dragging sports toward the popular entertainment end of the market have paid off in terms of record-breaking viewing ratings. High-profile sports events draw audiences comparable with televisual phenomena, like the moon landing, the funeral of Princess Diana, or the finale of Friends which drew 52.5 million viewers in 2004 (advertisers were charged $2 million per 30 seconds).
