The Sport Star: Modern Sport and the Cultural Economy of Sporting Celebrity

by Barry Smart

Why are sport stars central to celebrity culture? What are the implications of their fame?

Proceeding from a broadly based discussion of heroism, fame and celebrity, Smart addresses a number of prominent modern sports and sport stars, including Michael Jordan (basketball), David Beckham (football), Tiger Woods (golf), Anna Kournikova and the Williams sisters (tennis).

He analyses the development of modern sport in the UK and USA, demonstrating the key economic and cultural factors that have contributed to the popularity of sport stars, while examining issues such as race and gender, the impact of professionalization, growing media coverage, the role of agents and the increasing presence of commercial corporations providing sponsorship and endorsement contracts.

This book situates the sport star as the embodiment of the various tensions of age, class, race, gender and culture. It argues that sporting figures possess an increasingly rare quality of authenticity that gives them the capacity to lift and inspire people. The book is a major contribution to the sociology and culture of sport and celebrity.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

The place of the athlete in the world of interdependent professional sport, corporate sponsorship and television is a complex one. In this careful unpacking of the contemporary sport celebrity Barry Smart quite convincingly makes the case that what they offer is authenticity – the sense of the real that does not seem to exist in other areas. It is a telling indication of the rate of change in the area that some of the key case studies (MIchael Jordan & Anna Kournikova especially) have disappeared from UK sporting presence. I'm uncomfortable with some of his sports history which seem simplistic (linking 'folk' football in what appears to be a simple and straightforward way to modern association football – alas that remains the way in much sociology) – but this is a relatively minor gripe in what is, at least once it gets into the contemporary, an important contribution to our understanding of a major contemporary cultural industry.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was assigned to read this book for a sociology class about popular culture. It was very informative, covering the history of various sports, sport stars and their relationship with the media. The topic in and of itself was interesting, but the style of writing made it almost unbearable to get through. The first few chapters were very dry, slightly confusing, and in general I wasn't a fan of Smart's writing style. On the up side, the last few chapters were a little better, in terms of cohesion and readability.