ABSTRACT
Whilst the effort we expend in keeping fit, working out, or producing the matchwinning serve on the municipal tennis court may have little of the innocently playful about it, for most of us-even those who are into ‘serious leisure’—for most of the time, sport is a form of recreation or play. For a prominent, and growing, minority of people in Britain sport is also paid work. Over 450,000 people are employed in the provision of sports clothing, publicity, ground and club maintenance and other activities associated with sport. It has been estimated that £9,750 million is spent on sport annually in Britain (Central Office of Information, 1994:3) and employment in sport-related occupations is above that in agriculture and the chemicals industry. The main focus of this
chapter, however, is the relatively smaller number of professional sportsmen and sportswomen.
