ABSTRACT
As Chris Rojek (2013: vi) convincingly argued, events are not spontaneous or free expressions of power, they are ‘closely organized, schooled in the methods of exercising persuasion over human cognition by market research, rigorously planned and monitored in detail’. In a Debordian sense, they are, following this line of argument, a seductive ‘spectacle’ that fascinates the denizens of society and act to commercially direct behaviour, social practices and subjectivities (Debord 1990 [1988]). Events then, as spectacle, can deeply influence thought and action, acting as a tool of pacification and depoliticisation (cf. Kellner 2003, Andrews 2006a; 2009). Put slightly differently, in Rojek’s (2013: vi) terms, events may well be portrayed as ‘radiant, symbolic representations of civil society coming together’, yet, the realities of neoliberal market logics, surveillance, security and governance/gentrification (see Paton et al. 2012; also Masterman 2009) imperatives is suggestive of the imposition of ‘principles of hierarchical authority’ and keeping citizens at ‘arm’s length’. Within this chapter we focus on one exceptionally important component of sports events: the broadcaster.
