Industrialization and Sport

This chapter considers three main aspects of sport and industrialization. First, it challenges the conventional wisdom that the British Industrial Revolution was the catalyst for the development of modern sport in Britain and that subsequently Britain’s industrialization led to the cultural export of sport to the rest of the world. In doing so it critiques Guttmann’s theory of modernization in sport; unravels the various influences of industrialization, urbanization, and commercialization; and notes several different models of sport development that emerged around the world. Second, it examines the economic history of sport becoming an industry itself, looking at equipment manufacture, gate-money spectator sport, the role of the professional player, and the various objectives of the entrepreneurs involved. Finally, it considers sport in the industrial workplace, particularly the motives of employers who provided sports facilities for their workers. It emphasizes that sport was often offered to both male and female employees.