The relationship between sport and the media is both reciprocal and dynamic, with sport reflecting and reproducing social trends, as well as providing a potential site of resistance against them. It is, to use a sociological term, an ongoing process, in which sport and the media influence each other. This ‘Exam focus’ explains the development of the sporting media, from its role in the rationalisation of sport to its growth into various forms and the impact of contemporary technology on sport more widely.
Alongside a number of other significant sociocultural factors (e.g. the role of public schools, the Oxbridge melting pot, government legislation and the formation of national governing bodies), the prevalent form of media at the time (the printed press), played an influential role in the rationalisation of sport after the Industrial Revolution. Sporting coverage initially focused on horse racing, boxing and other gambling-related events, but its scope soon widened:
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