Sport is a global industry with tremendous financial clout. Whether it is through broadcasting, licensing, sponsorship or merchandise sales, sports are among the most valuable brands on the planet, and the world’s biggest market. The value is so great that the field of study that examines it is called sports economics (or sport and economics).
The term international sports refers to any competition between nations in any given sport, most commonly the Olympic Games or a FIFA World Cup. Competition may take place on neutral territory, like the Olympics, or in one nation’s stadium, such as Wembley in London for the England team in a match against South Africa last month. In addition to the major multi-sport events, there are also many individual sports played internationally.
At its inception in 1896, the modern Olympic Games were meant to unite the world through the sport of athletics. However, the Games have become more and more commercialized, with sponsors, athletes and even international politics influencing the results of the event. The Olympics are governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The IOC sets the Olympic policies and recognizes national Olympic committees, like the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
As the IOC and other international sports governing bodies set their rules and regulations, it is important to remember that they are not equalizers. The IOC, for instance, has no power to stop a government from executing an athlete, as Zohreh Abdollahkhani of the University of South-Eastern Norway recently reminded us. Hosting an international sporting event can benefit a country by, for example, bringing investments and easing visa red tape. But it can also exacerbate inequality when resources are funnelled into the hands of a few, rather than being distributed to the majority population.