Chapter 9 social class and sport

Athletic scholarships and occupational success

* The perceived number of full athletic scholarships is greatly exaggerated. • Only .33% of all students in NCAA universities receive full athletic scholarships. • Most athletic scholarships cover one-half or less of college expenses and are awarded year-to-year. • Social class and race/ethnicity is related to who receives scholarships in what sports. • Many students with athletic scholarships would attend college without such aid.

Social class, gender, & race/ethnicity

*Research shows that for some low-income, minority men, boxing is an alternative to the violence of the streets. • Boxing is a refuge from the violence, hopelessness, and indignity created by racism and poverty. • Many of these men know they would not be boxers if other opportunities existed

Class Relations in Action: The Cost of Attending Sport Events

*Young people in upper-middle-income households often have resources and safe places to play sports close to home—and they have many choices of what sports to play.

Sport - Social Class Relationship

- Career opportunities are limited and, for athletes, they are short-term - The odds of making big money as an athlete are very low - Opportunities for minority males and women are growing but they remain limited

Class and gender relations

- Girls and women in low-income households often face the greatest constraints to sport participation - Boys and girls from higher income families seldom face constraints that interfere with participation in after school and summer programs, camps, and leagues - Gender-related factors have a greater impact on sport participation patterns in lower income households

Economic inequality, class relations, and sports

- The meaning, organization, and purpose of sports are heavily influenced by money and economic power - Class relations in the US are based on an ideology in which economic success is equated with individual ability, worth, and character - Competitive power and performance sports reaffirm this ideology

Sport venues are sites for transferring public money to wealthy individuals and private corporations by

- Using sales taxes to build facilities controlled by team owners and private corporations. • Funding construction with tax-exempt bonds purchased by wealthy investors. • Discounting property tax rates for sport facilities and development around stadiums. • Granting tax deductions for tickets purchased for business purposes (nearly all luxury box and club seats are purchased this way).

Class ideology

- interrelated ideas and beliefs that people use to 1. Understand economic inequalities 2. Identify their class position 3. Evaluate the impact of economic inequalities on the organization of social worlds

Educational reality

- social class background determines length of stay in education and that determines IQ scores

Pleasure and Participation

-connections between people -ethic of express, enjoyment and health -inclusion -democratic -body = source of pleasure -compete with

Power and performance

-power used to push limits -pursuit of victory -body = tool and weapon -inclusion based on competence -hierarchical -compete against

gender stratification

1) Ideas about sports and masculinity vary by social class (i.e. Boys from lower income backgrounds often see sports participation as a means of obtaining 'respect' 2) Early, exclusive commitments to sports often are more likely among boys from lower income backgrounds 3) Research shows that for some low-income, minority men, boxing is an alternative to the violence of the streets 4) Boxing is a refuge from the violence, hopelessness, and indignity created by racism and poverty (I.E. Many low-income, minority men assert they would not be boxers if other opportunities had existed for them)

High standards of sports performance are equated with:

1) better equipment/facilities 2) better coaching/training/practice time 3) better attitudes towards and better awareness of, the benefits of sport (i.e. character building, health enhancing, socially desirable)

Former athletes might experience career benefits from playing sports if:

1) they learn interpersonal skills that carry over to jobs 2) people with power and influence define them as good job prospects because they were athletes 3) they can use their sports reputations to create the publicity needed to achieve career success 4) they are well-connected with others who can provide opportunities or advocate their interests

High standards of sports performance are equated with

1. Better equipment/tactics 2. Better coaching/training/practice time 3. Better attitudes and better awareness of the benefits of sport

Class ideology in the US is based on Belief in meritocracy:

A form of social organization in which rewards go to people who earn them due to their abilities and qualifications.

Class ideology in the US is based on The American Dream:

A hopeful vision of boundless opportunities for individuals to succeed economically and live a happy live based hard work and consumption

Social Class Differences

Affect most parts of peoples lives world wide

Education Myth

Do good in school, test high scores, length of stay in education, and future social class

Sports participation pyramid

Foundation, Participation, Performance, Elite

People in higher socioeconomic positions

Have more opportunities

myth of meritocracy

IQ score determines length of stay in education determines future social class

Masculinities and Class Relations

Ideas about sports and masculinity vary by social class. Working class boys often link sports participation with gaining "respect" as males. Middle-class boys link sports participation with social acceptance and time with male peers. Upper-class boys link sports participation with masculinity and learning to be leaders. Early, exclusive commitments to a single sport are more likely among boys from lower-income backgrounds—this is a reflection of life chances.

Bowling

Lower class sports

Career Opportunities Are Limited:

Most pro athletes make less than teachers in the US. Many minor league baseball players do not even make minimum wage.

foundation (level)

PE and recreational sports - an introduction to the activity - Basic skill as are learnt - E.g. primary PE lessons

Do Money and Power Matter in Sports?

Resources in the form of money and power influence what sports you play and when, where, and how you play them.

The sports participation pyramid is a model of...

Sports development, it identifies the different groups of performers at each level giving them a clear pathway to the top.

social stratifications

Structured forms of economic inequalities that are part of the organization of everyday social life... these inequalities influence life chances.

Participation level

The individual exercises in his/her leisure time for a sport. Extra-curricular sports activities at the school or club level are an example of this level.

The most visible sports around the world revolve around

The meanings and orientations given priority by people with wealth and power.

Hunting

Upper class sport

Global inequities: The Olympics & Paralympics

Wealthy nations are the medal winners at the Olympic Games. Going into the 2012 Games in London 80 of the 204 participating nations had never won an Olympic medal 51 had won fewer than five medals in Olympic history Many nations had not won a medal for at least 40 years The United States, with its wealth and population size, had won 2,549 medals—many more than any other nation. Training for elite competition is now so expensive that about 80-percent of the global population has no realistic chance of winning a medal—unless they find a way to train in the U.S. or another wealthy nation. This pattern is even more pronounced in the Paralympics

Educational reality

What you bring to the institution, the length of stay in school, determines how well they do in school.

The most powerful people in sports

White men who control the resources that sponsor sports and represent sports in the media.

social class

category of people who share a similar socioeconomic position in society, based on their income wealth education and social connections.

Antonio Gramsci

cultural hegemony

Girls and women in low-income households

often face the greatest constraints to sport participation

Fans often are segregated by social class in stadiums;

people in luxury suites don't want "unity" and they pay to avoid it. People may cheer for the same team, but this does not mean that real social integration exists.

Life chances

similar odds for achieving economic success and power in society; they vary from one social class to another in the social stratification system.

Class ideology in the United States is organized around

the American Dream and a belief in meritocracy, a vision of boundless opportunities for individuals to succeed

class relations

the ways that social class is incorporated into the organization of our everyday lives

Fan cost index versus inflation in the United States, 1991 to 2019

• Between 1991 & 2019 ticket prices to major men's spectator sports increased nearly three times more than the rate of inflation

Social class and sports participation

• Social class and class relations influence who plays sports, watches sports, consumes information about sports, and determines much of the information that is widely available. • Generally, the higher the social class, the greater the involvement and influence...Sports participation occurs in the context of class-related lifestyles. •Young people in working class families often play sports in public places... They lack the support and consistency characterized by organized sports that are played by young people in upper- and upper-middle-class families.

Global inequalities and sports

• The gap between the richest and poorest people worldwide is growing wider, even as "extreme poverty" rates have declined. • Nearly 3.5 billion people, about 46% of the world population, lives on less than $5.50 per day and they struggle to maintain stability in their lives. • about 40 percent of all people in the world have few resources to use on anything beyond basic survival. They may play games, but they lack the resources needed to organize and play sports. • *Floyd Mayweather made $285 million in 2018, an amount equivalent to the annual living expenses of about 600,000 people in certain regions of the world. • Sports and sports participation are luxury items for over half the world's population

Class relations and power in sports:

• The most powerful people in sports are white men who control the resources that sponsor sports and re-present sports in the media. • The most visible sports around the world revolve around the meanings and orientations given priority by people with wealth and power.

Does a stadium & team create jobs and other employment opportunities?

• Yes, but at a price that far exceeds other forms of job creation. • A large department store or a university provides many more jobs than a pro sports team and stadium. • Most sports stadium jobs are seasonal and low paid. • Jobs from other areas may move to new businesses around the stadium, but the net increase in jobs is small.