ABSTRACT
This chapter considers some aspects of the genesis of law and popular culture as a sub-discipline of socio-legal studies. In particular, it puts into context the fledgling area of sports law which, although present in the North America and the Australian law curriculum for some years, has only recently flourished more widely in the United Kingdom. This trend has complemented the international burgeoning of the sociology of sport, sport history and leisure studies since the late 1970s. The chapter highlights the theoretical impact, on such a disciplinary change, of cultural studies and related intellectual developments. The cultural study of popular culture, I want to argue, is the starting point for any analysis of sport and law in contemporary society. It is a necessary, if insufficient, condition for moving the subject forward.
