Introduction
In the current century, entertainment and sports go hand in hand. Sports has a larger portion in the entertainment industry with interrelations with different entertainment domains such as music, film and gaming. De-Santis & Morante (2022) define sports as any form of game or activity that requires physical energy or expertise to be played according to the rules and requirements for the particular games. Some sporting activities include football, basketball, Olympics, cyber sports, golf, world cup, yoga and tennis, among others. Both local and global sports have a greater sense of entertainment, and their impact on the entertainment industry cannot be ignored (Erhardt, Martin-Rios & Chan, 2019). The industry is designing entertainment-driven techniques for sporting activities internationally to attract more audiences. Sporting activities are greatly impacted by commercial implications, globalization, media, stars and celebrities and sustainability (Stoney, & Fletcher, 2021).In simpler terms, the sports are being reconfigured to align with the local and global sports market and use media, technology and innovation, which are course topics. Additionally, they are aligned to suit the vital role of sports stars and celebrities and for sustainability. The essay will mainly focus on the topic of sport as media, technology and innovation to respond to the statement; ‘For any contemporary sport to remain relevant, it must be entertaining. The two sporting activities to be considered are Olympic Games and wrestling. Basically, the essay will highlight a sports entertainment analysis of how sports as media, technology and innovation have influenced the aspects of contemporary sports entertainment in relation to Olympic Games and wrestling.
Sports entertainment analysis
According to Erhardt, Martin-Rios & Chan (2019), sports entertainment refers to sports that are done to attract and entertain the audience rather than being a competition between the participants only. In contemporary times, sports have been designed to attract and arouse the audience’s feelings due to excitement. Initially, stadiums were only filled with sports-obsessed individuals and fans who loved the games. However, the sporting events of the current ages welcome diverse individuals both male and female from different age groups. They mainly enjoy cheering on the winning team, which is a form of entertainment. Media, technology and innovation have played a major role in enhancing the entertainment aspect of a sports event (Kunz & Santomier, 2019). In most cases, people do not physically attend sporting events but watch them through media such as televisions, and others use the current technologies to stream them live. To better understand the contribution of media, technology and innovation in the sporting events and to understand that the sporting activities should be entertaining for the sports to remain relevant, the two sporting activities to be used are Olympic Games and wrestling. Various components will also be used to compare and contrast the Olympic Games and wrestling in relation to media, technology, innovation, and sports entertainment.
Olympic Games
Olympic Games are a chain of global athletic competitions carried out as distinct winter and summer activities in a different nation after every four years. Some examples of the sporting events played in the Olympics are aquatics, basketball, cycling and athletics (Yamamura, 2021). Since most individuals cannot afford to travel to the countries where the Olympic Games are held, media becomes the cheapest option. Some nations in which Olympic Games have been held are Tokyo, Rio, London, Beijing, Athens, Sydney, Atlanta and Barcelona. For example, the last Olympic Games were held in Tokyo in 2020, and a wider range of the population in the world watched it through television and live streams (Yamamura, 2021).
The Olympic Games have played a great role in entertaining the audience for various reasons. First, they are engaging to watch and help the audience to have a break from the economic and political ordeals (De-Santis& Morante, 2022). Their relative novelty is what makes them engaging. The games are usually pleasurable and connect different audiences from different nations. The novelty is based on the newness of the games that are played and having a live experience of all the happenings. Such games are only experienced once every four years; thus, the audiences are always eager to watch them. Normally, every person selects a favorite individual and team and focuses on them. When such teams win, people experience happiness and thus are entertained(Yamamura, 2021).
Secondly, the Olympics bring individuals together, thus developing a sense of social connectedness. Most people are connected through their favorite Olympic events. For example, your relatives, friends, colleagues or fellow citizens may cheer the same team as you, thus creating a greater sense of connectedness (Scheu, Preuß & Könecke, 2021). Third, the Olympics are fun, especially when your country has sent a team to represent it. Such cases create fun for the audience because they believe the selected individuals would represent them accordingly. Basically, every nation sends elite athletes to represent them and compete against each other. According to De-Santis& Morante (2022), the audience is entertained after their team wins and their national anthem is sung.
Media and technology have experienced great evolutions and innovations that play a major role in entertaining the audience. One of the innovations is engaging the audience with real-time data. The games greatly use artificial intelligence tools that provide a good viewing experience that the audience cannot ignore. Such tools include computer vision cameras that provide clear images with real-time data. The 4G network has also helped share the games through virtual reality. As Kassens-Noor & Fukushige (2018) highlight, this network has transformed the mobile industry and made way for the increased use of mobile devices. Therefore, people can easily stream the Olympics through various social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The 4G network has another benefit of lower latency. Lower latency means less delay in dispensing data over a network connection (Kassens-Noor & Fukushige, 2018). With the 4 G network, people can easily stream the data with fewer problems. The 5G network has also been introduced in some parts of the world, such as China and would be of great help in presenting real-time data virtually. Therefore, the entertaining nature of the Olympic Games has made them relevant in contemporary times, thus being enhanced through media, technology and innovation to make them more attractive and appealing to the audience.
Wrestling
As Corteen (2018) highlights, wrestling is a sporting game involving physical competition of two or more individuals or competitors aiming to gain and maintain the leading position. Wrestling can be done professionally or by amateur wrestlers. It is the globe’s ancient competitive sport, with amateur wrestling being played in every Olympic Games. Wrestling comprises all the features of almost all the other entertainment mediums. It expresses action, drama and humor that makes most people glued to their televisions. Through wrestling, the competitors tell a particular story. They mainly feature superhero stories such as a good and bad individual fighting each other (Corteen, 2018). It also expresses themes such as cultural challenges like racism, gender differences and bullying. Therefore, most people are glued to their televisions and other social media platforms to learn the different stories displayed. The game also entertains the audience in case their team becomes the winning team in the game.
Media and technology have played a major role in promoting the wrestling game. The main nation where wrestling has been dominant is the Soviet Union and its past states. Other countries include the United States of America, Iran, Turkey, Japan and Mongolia. This means that most nations in the world have not adopted wrestling. For example, Africa has only seven countries that play wrestling (Quinn, 2019). Other nations view it through the traditional and current media. Televisions are the most used traditional media, while digital media are the main recent media. Through such technologies, the audience can have the wrestling experience in the comfort of their homes without physically attending to the actual venues where the sporting activities are taking place (De-Santis & Morante, 2022). The ability to watch the wrestling live has increased the audience, thus encouraging the wrestlers to engage more in the wrestling games.
The wrestling games have also evolved over time and have become more entertaining. Technological innovation has played a critical role in increasing the popularity of wrestling (Quinn, 2019). Initially, wrestling was only limited to television broadcasts for which the audience had to wait. However, there is a high rise in online streaming sites where the audience can receive wrestling content anytime, regardless of geographical location. Trakwrestling.com is an example of a primary digital platform that is being used in the United States of America to access all the data concerning wrestling in the nation. This makes wrestling more entertaining because they can easily acquire valuable information like tournament outcomes and player statistics (Quinn, 2019). Digital media has also eased the process of coaches recruiting potential players. Obtaining the best players would make wrestling more entertaining and more fun, thus attracting a wider audience. Therefore, the wrestling game’s entertaining nature attracts more audiences to it. This means that its relevance is based on its entertaining nature and the contribution of media, technology and innovation.
The comparison of the wrestling and Olympic Games is that both games are entertaining and have evolved through continuous technological innovations. These games are international and have both local and international audiences. They mainly use televisions and live streams to watch these games in the comfort of their homes. These games entertain the audience because they are engaging and fun to watch (Stoney & Fletcher, 2021). Therefore, the entertaining nature of the sporting activities contributes greatly to their relevance. They raise various emotions such as happiness when the team one is supporting wins and sadness when the team loses. Like other forms of entertainment in the entertainment industry, both games use drama and actions that attract the audience. Technological innovation has increased the quality of the live videos and photos to the audience, thus increasing the love of sporting activities. The audience can virtually achieve real-time data through the media (De-Santis & Morante, 2022).
The contrast is that various experts feel that wrestling should be banned for children, whereas Olympic Games can be watched by everyone regardless of gender and age. Wrestling is physically demanding, and sometimes the children may not understand that it is done for fun. Therefore, the entertainment nature may not always work for the children but may act as a way of promoting violence (Corteen, 2018). Additionally, Olympic Games are played after every four years and hosted in a different country. This means that they entertain the audiences only after a defined period. On the other hand, wrestling can be accessed on digital media at any time anywhere.
Conclusion
Sports play a major role in the entertainment industry. Most sporting activities are designed for fun for both the audience and players. This essay supports the statement ‘For any contemporary sport to remain relevant, it must be entertaining. Media, technology and innovation are the choice of topic, with the two selected games being Olympic Games and Wrestling. The main reason the games are relevant and people watching them is their entertaining nature. Olympic Games are carried after every four years in a different nation. They entertain the audience by engaging them, creating social connectedness and fun. Wrestling entertains the audience through the drama, action and humor the two competing teams apply while passing across a certain story. Media and technology have played a major role in promoting these sporting activities because the audience can easily access them on their mobile devices in the comfort of their homes. Technological innovations have increased the attractiveness of the games by presenting real-time data through virtual pictures and videos. Real-time data, artificial intelligence tools, and the 4G network have contributed significantly to promoting the sport for the Olympic Games. In wrestling, there is a high rise in online streaming sites where the audience can receive the wrestling content anytime, regardless of geographical location. This means that the audience no longer needs to wait for the times’ TV broadcasts. The two games are similar in that they entertain the audience and have been promoted by media, technology and innovations. The contrast is that Olympic Games can be watched by all and are held after every four years while wrestling is not suitable for children according to experts and can be watched at any time.
References
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