ABSTRACT
Introduction As the previous chapter illustrated, the contemporary world we inhabit is saturated with media sport, where both commercial industries engage in symbiotic relationship of mutual benefit. McChesney (1989) suggested that this concept of symbiosis is not only a way of interpreting the present, but is also an ideal lens through which we might view the history of the relationship between sport and the media. In writing specifically about the sport media nexus in the United States of America, McChesney (1989:49) argued that ‘virtually every surge in the popularity of sport has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in the coverage provided sport by the media’. Furthermore, he also argued that this symbiotic relationship is not one of chance, but rather is defined by the way both institutions have operated as commercial entities. In other words, the history of the sport media nexus is characterized by organizations driven together in search of greater profits, audiences and resources.
