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The business of football
The business of football

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1.3 Globalisation: a force for good in football?

So far you have explored how football has become a global industry and some of the factors that have played a part in this. The next question we will address is the extent to which this globalisation of football is good, bad or a bit of both.

Revisit the second half of the ‘Business of Football’ video which you watched in Week 1 (from 05:56 on the time display) in which ideas about the global spread of football broadcasting and the possibility of digital interconnections between fans are explored. A chairman of a Premiership club might view the globalisation of football broadcasting differently from a chairman of a Championship club due to the way broadcasting revenues are distributed.

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The business of football
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Now listen to a professor’s perspective [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] . Susan Segal Hall (former Professor of International Strategy with The Open University Business School) explores the arguments for and against globalisation being a good thing for business generally. As you are listening consider which of the points she raises would be relevant to the owner of a Championship club.

Is then the globalisation of football a good thing for the football industry? It’s now time to do your own research on this.

A photograph of a tribute to Nelson Mandela with a photo of him holding the world cup.
Figure 4 A moving tribute is held on stage during the FIFA 2014 World Cup Draw to Nelson Mandela, who believed ‘Sport has the power to change the world’.

Activity 3 Your own research

Timing: Allow about 40 minutes

Using the internet (putting ‘football globalisation’ into a search engine is a good place to start) see what you can find on this subject. Use your findings to inform your own ideas about the benefits and disadvantages of globalisation for the football industry.

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