Sports Media and Sport Business Degrees

The presentation explores the growing consumption of overseas sports leagues in Australia and how this is impacting the domestic market.

Sledging, or 'trash talk' or 'chirping', as it's known in other parts of the world, has long been part of competitive sport. Often described as ‘gamesmanship’, quick witted athletes have provided numerous examples of spontaneous, creative and humorous banter as part of the play contest. Furthermore, it has largely been an accepted part of sport with some athletes even celebrated for their ability to distract opponents with well-timed barbs or relentless, ongoing sledges. However, more recent times have seen the issue of sledging, and its place in sport, debated with many athletes, fans and academics arguing that sledging has moved outside the notion of ‘sportsmanship’ and gone beyond light hearted, good natured banter. They argue it is now characterized as hurtful, insulting, offensive and intimidating - a tactic that has moved beyond fair play and, in many instances, no longer acceptable. This paper seeks to explore this issue in greater depth. In particular, this paper seeks to ask, ‘is sledging part of play, or is it a characteristic of play's corruption?’ In doing so, the notion of sledging, play and its corruption, will be explored in depth with examples used to illuminate the changing nature of both concepts. The argument proceeds by adopting a conception of play, grounded in the work of Johan Huizinga. While there have been significant developments in play theory since Huizinga wrote his most famous study of play, Homo Ludens, in 1938, the core aspects of his definition have continued relevance. Indeed, as will be outlined later in the paper, Huizinga’s key characteristics of play have been embraced and adopted by more modern play theorists. As such, the argument of sledging as play, or as a characteristic of its corruption, is made broadly within Huizinga’s conception of play. The insights of academics and scholars will be drawn on, as will the insights of surveyed sports fans and amateur athletes to highlight their views on sledging and its place in modern sport. By doing so, sledging's role in sport and its most dominant characteristics, according to those who watch professional sport and play at the community level, will be illuminated.

This theoretical paper aims to highlight how Dyer’s star theory can be used to understand the ways in which athlete stars can promote star attributes to cultivate their stardom by displaying modern values and presenting themselves as both “ordinary” and “extraordinary.”