Commercialization of football

The 21st century has been an era for the commercialization of sports. Sports are a leisure time activity or hobby for most people. However, it is increasingly established as a business in the recent past, in particular, football. And this can be attributed to the growing interest in football on the part of the media and economy. As a result of advancement in technology development, more people have become interested in the sport as a social event and as a media. Thus, new financial possibilities have been created, particularly in the areas of sponsoring and media exploitation. Further, the game attracts spectators, which ensures that players are compensated financially, and business practices are developed in the club. Thus, football has realized tremendous growth commercially, especially in the last few decades.

Consequently, the football industry has grown internationally, with international business professional competitions being established as players transfer from one club to the other worldwide. A lot of players are expected to transfer every season with huge prices which raise by the level of talent prayers posses. A good example is a player such as Paul Pogba, who was bought by Manchester United as a fee of 89 million pounds. Besides, nowadays we talk of super-agents such as Mino Raiola and Jorge Mendes, who manage the footballers and managers. They also play a significant role in the transfer process, for instance, in negotiating deals, transfer contracts, renewals, and commercials. All this involves the exchange of fees associated with the football club. Also, the clubs are concerned with commerce in that they buy players and sell them at a profit. Thus, money is a prerequisite for successful football and is seen to have the foremost priority in every activity in football.

Additionally, club football has become top media events with European Championship, English Premier League (EPL), and Fifa World Cup toping television broadcast worldly (Robinson & Clegg, 2018, p.153). Football is also said to be the most popular sport in the world. Although the current economy is challenging, the revenue in football is continuously growing, particularly with continued loyalty of supporters. As a result, the growth of sponsors and broadcasters. Business tycoons are running football clubs as businesses with efforts put in place to double maximize their revenues. However, fun is the primary concern of the clubs as most football industry as they have a significant influence on how the club is commercialized.

Moreover, professional club football finances have grown massively while the attitude has changed, and funs cultural organization has changed with some traditions lost with commercialization kicking in. The changes have sparked the development of football companies that generate revenue from pay-TV channels hat is created yearly. The companies are heavily investing while demanding the right of codetermination, thus influencing the pay-TV pathways to reflect on the fragmentation of match days. Here the companies can generate more revenue, especially with an increase in match days.

Commercial revenue for football clubs grows with the growth of the club as a brand; the more significant the club, the higher the football club can raise revenue. For instance, a club such as Manchester United is sponsored by companies such as Chevrolet and Adidas, and Chelsea deals with Nike with funding over a million dollars. Further, clubs try to attract more fans as much as they can by changing their perception of a professional one. Additionally, geographical locations are being used to improve markets based on fun, as clubs strive to increase positions in the market.

The problem of club with Ultras

Football is a sport for the people, and without which it is never-ending support would not be possible. Over the last few years, fan culture has provided its separate entity entertainment as much as the football game itself. Whether it’s dancing to beat or singing choruses of praise to their team melodically, there exist fascinating phenomenon football fanatics globally. Central to its absorption is the movement of ultras fan groups. Ultras are organized football support groups iconic for elaborate pageant bitter display for rivals. Traditionally, these people are referred to as the 12th man in a football match with every team all over the Middle East, Latin America, and Europe having their affiliate ultras.

Frequently, these people try to outdo each other through constant flag-waving, choreographies, colored smoke flares, and chanting. They are known to storm fields during matches or stay behind after a game burning tires and fighting each other or against the police. Additionally, they are prone to hooliganism, brutality, coordinated attacks, and vicious insults on rival ultras. A good example was the grim violence outside Anfield when Roma fans attacked their Liverpool counterparts who have been blamed for hooliganism. The volatility Ultras establish in a football match has long been a problem for numerous football clubs leading to a crackdown. Besides, many are an aid to be uneducated outsiders who cannot comprehend how or why a football is just but a game. But, in any part of the world, football is more than a match between colors with clubs symbolizing a way of life for other people.

Therefore, it becomes difficult for clubs to control the groups due to their belief and their strong faction affiliation to the club. However, clubs are blamed for ultras action as they are affiliated with them, which destroys their image. The perpetuation of theft and violence and insults scares away other teams, which makes it difficult for them to arrange for matches with opponents. Thus, the club may experience, mainly if their primary source of revenue is based on the games they participate in. Further, Ultras, who are extreme with battle and destruction, often pose a security threat to real football fans. They are the same people who are used to execute attacks on other people by terrorist groups using bomber jackets. All these pose an extreme problem for clubs as they are responsible for the safety of the people in a match.

Further, these behaviors make it difficult to work with ultras, as in many cases, their real motives are not well precedented. Besides, many of the extremists are politically aligned proceeding the turbulent years by decades, which become almost impossible to alter believes of such people. Consequently, it becomes difficult to work with the ultras as their motives, and that of the club does not align. Still, many extremists claim that they do not care about football as a game, and they are all about territory defense, and this mentality is difficult to deal with them. It is challenging to change an attitude that is already set and believes that an individual is challenging to change, although not entirely impossible, REF. According to REF, if you ask am ultra who has been in a game who scored a goal, they will either laugh at you and call you naïve as they weren’t watching or players shift teams too often that they are unable to keep up with their name.

Further, in recent days ultras have joined the lefties and populist groups, which have made them even stronger than before. A good example was during the Egyptian upspring when opposing clubs stood out in the fight against state security, which leads to the fall of the Mubarak regime. They were at the forefront of numerous street battles with police defending the vulnerable protesters in riots resisting any attempt to disperse them forcibly. Such activities make it difficult even for clubs to deal with Ultras as they are beyond the control even from the authorities. Besides, the assistance they receive for the involved political affiliation makes them attachable due to funding and weapon provision.

Sanctions against clubs and Ultras

Substantial measures to ban violent ultra groups from football are underway with clubs that continue to either directly or indirectly support such groups facing relegation or deduction of points. UEFA sanctions are amongst the toughest in sports, especially for ultra groups and clubs that fail to take action against such groups. Many football bodies are now committed to reform in football through implementing legislation to cover the move to eliminate extremism in football. The legislations are made to ensure that ultras groups are punished if they commit they are involved in any criminal activities, thus discouraging such events in the future. Moreover, they are put in place to encourage clubs and stadium owners to put appropriate measures to take deal with ultra groups before they cause harm to other people.

In most cases, football bodies are responsible for drafting and implementing sanctions. The organizations include FIFA, UEFA, CAF, CONCACAF, and OFC, among others. In most cases, the clubs are punished with fines and stadium burns paltry of severe offenses that occur during their matches. For example, in October 2018, Romania was handed a stadium ban and fined $4900 by UEFA for racist remarks by an ultras group during their National League draw with Serbia. However, a great deal of sensitivity is required when issuing stadium bans as this measure is considered a great punishment, and the people concerned could be in more danger. However, the introduction of the DFN in 2005 allows the club and police to lift a stadium ban subject to compliance of certain conditions. Still, owners of stadiums hold the right to execute persons who cause any danger to the safety in connection to a football match. It is made so to ensure that owners of the household rights to a pitch put in place measures to prevent any mischief by ultras groups. Failure to perform this duty is met by fines from the relevant authority and the club in general.

Sanctions and fines already have considerable success and are adopted and accepted by ultras groups. These measures are inevitable in the fight against violence and riots in football matches. Besides, financial fines are also prominent, especially with the implementation of Financial Fair Play Legislation, which enables football bodies to best clubs with huge finance as a punishment for ultras extreme actions of violence. A good example is a paltry fine against QPR in 2013-14 season, where they were hammered with a $49 million fine that was estimated to be half their wage bill. For these reasons, clubs are now cautious of the actions of their funs as they would want to avoid any type of punishment on them or the stadium. It also encourages them to undertake all the necessary measures to ensure that ultras groups are managed at their level best and avoid any type of distraction to other fans or their opponents.

Although clubs are willing to comply with fines and sanctions, the ultras group does not respond well. They try to fight back the authorities by fostering even more abstraction to football matches. Some of them react by exposing rough and almost violent banners in resistance of bans and sanctions. Thus, it makes it challenging to deal with this group. Nonetheless, clubs react by increasing police presence in football games as a transformative measure against ultra scenes. Consequently, the ultras groups perceive the risk of apprehension and severe punishment, which discourages their involvement in criminal activities (Perryman, 2017, p.167). It has seen the reduction of violent activities in matches, as was witnessed in the past.

Methodical investigation

The purpose of the study was to examine the extent of extreme funs in football and ways to deal with them in professional football. A qualitative data analysis method was adopted to try and understand the complexity of the hypothesis. Data collection was done systematically through interviews, both oral and written. The qualitative data can also be all sought of recorded communication such as documentation, videotapes, protocol, discourses, and transcripts of interviews. Then the qualitative content analysis method based on the marrying principle was adopted that consisted of a bundle of techniques for systematic text analysis. Thus, it was possible to comprehend the complexity of the issue at hand through a proper content analysis through the use of the replicable and valid method of making specific interfaces from text to other states of its source.

Two interviews were conducted, the first with ultras of Hamburger sportverein and the second with the fan representative of the HSV. The meeting was held, particularly from one association, to get different opinions on the same association. The topics to be discussed in the interviews were deliberated in advance, which helped in having the correct wording for questions allowing the respondents to comprehend and respond to the query quickly. It was also conducted in-person where direct answers were recorded while enabling them to skip personal questions. It lasted for one to two hours, which allowed the interviewee to have enough time to reflect on the issues in detail, and as a result, certain information was obtained. The respondent agreed to the publication of the article with data, and this was confirmed with a signature on a consent form.

Recommendation for action

The ultras culture consists of a young person with great admiration for football clubs, and their primary goal is to support the association. Indeed their support is impressive as it attracts more people to the club stadium. However, they draw attention through violent behavior, thus damaging the image of the club. Still, it is difficult for clubs to deem them incorrect as they also have a positive side. Therefore, it is recommended that ultras are considered as part of the fans even if they are controversial at times. But, the club should increase police presence, especially in areas where the extremists are highly concentrated, which acts as a precautionary measure for any type of distraction that might occur during a match. Police presence will also discourage them from causing any trouble for fear of the consequences of such actions.

Further, it is difficult to deal with ultras groups individually and appropriately due to the heterogeneous nature of the group where everyone has their views. Although they are a minority in a stadium, they intensively identify with the club, especially on match day and in most cases in everyday life. It is thus easy for them to get involved in violence as they perceive it as a defense measure for their culture. It is therefore recommended that the club should include the ultras in mediation with the association, and their interest should be put first in the interest of all other parties. By doing this, they will have a sense of belonging and will feel relevant to a club, and therefore they will have no reason to cause conflict or violence in a football match due to their loyalty to the club.

It is also recommended that the ultras be made aware of the club and police and their ability to bun them from stadiums and its surrounding. Making them aware of the strength of the policy will impact a sense of fear in them as they do wasn’t to lose their privilege of attending matches and cheering for their clubs. They should be warned that causing any trouble for the beam will see them prohibited from the stadium, which will be the end of their culture. Thus, peace and stability in matches can be realized, and although the ultras will be present inside the stadium, they will get only fun and not a threat to the security.

Further, it is recommended for everyone to join hands in the fight against extreme football from the administrators, players, fans, coaches, the government, political parties, and NGOs. All should wedge war against anyone who seeks to destroy the excellent spirit of football. Everyone should encourage a positive impact on a game and should not cause any harm to any individual regardless of the side they are on. These people should also work together through the provision of the necessary information to assist in cubing any activity that may cause distraction of peace by the ultras group. They should also be encouraged to spread the news on the importance of having a peaceful game without any disturbance, which is the primary objective of any football match.

Funs are the livelihood of any sport, and without stands filled with men and women cheering for their favorite team, the match will not be lively. However, other people fix themselves in one area and seem to be interested in causing trouble more than cheering for the game. It is recommended that every stadium and football club should have an emergency evacuating team whose job will be sporting such people and evacuating them from the stadium before they can cause any harm to other people. The advance in technology has made it even more, more comfortable for officials to monitor thousands of people using cameras and other digital devices. Thus, the process is made swift, and the response to any criminal activity by extreme fans can be responded to in real-time hence avoiding the distraction of any kind.