Sport stories and sports coverage are transforming the media. Live sports events are central to the success of new TV services based on subscription and pay-per-view. The antics of sports stars provide a rich source of 'human interest' for the global news and entertainment industry. Sport is big money and the media industries, including the new internet-based providers, are not slow to capitalise on its potential.

Rod Brookes argues that globalisation and commodification have changed the way in which sport is represented in the media and conversely, that the media themselves have played a major role within these processes. Drawing on a wide range of international examples, he shows that sport has historically played a major role in the construction of cultural and social identities and discusses the extent to which globalisation has transformed this role. Above all, media representations of sport raise
complex interrelated issues of nation, 'race' and 'gender' which ultimately have implications for society as a whole.