The Media(izat)ion of Urban Leisure: Screening the Event

This chapter analyzes the ways in which, in the 21st century, event-based urban leisure has developed into a set of multiply mediated practices that is highly dependent on access to a multitude of screen devices and uses. It is argued that mediation has evolved through a progressive mediatization, whereby the event is shaped by the technologies and practices of its own representation. Therefore, media communication must now be understood not as a secondary process of relaying a primary event, but as an integral element of the urban event itself. Although any live performance is affected by these developments, we argue that they are most advanced in sporting contests, and several of the examples that we use draw on the experiences of mediated sport in urban environments.