The privatisation of sport

This chapter examines the privatisation of sport which, at first glance, might appear counter-intuitive given sport overwhelmingly is run by private entities. However, this perspective is too superficial. Sport inherently is a hybrid public-private good. However, its public elements are being withdrawn from the public sphere by private money and interests – which is the essence of privatisation broadly understood. While some of the impacts and implications of sports’ privatisation are positive; others are deeply troubling. This has led to calls for governments to play a more prominent and assertive role mediating sports’ private and public interests to protect sport from private money’s dark side. The result is likely to be a fundamental change in how sports are governed in the future.