Major trends in the sport industry
André Richelieu
Abstract
Sport starts the conversation because of the emotions it triggers. But sport also means big business. This chapter lays down the foundations of the book International Sport Marketing by identifying and analyzing five major trends in sport: the globalization of the industry and the internationalization of sport actors; the “financiarization” and “vipization” of sport; the triumph of “sportainment;” the transition from broadcasting to streaming; as well as the emergence and growth of e-sport. One of them, “sportainment,” can be considered as both a megatrend and the actual reconfiguration of the boundaries of the sport industry. Indeed, sport and traditional actors (sport organizations and fans) find themselves interacting more and more often with nontraditional stakeholders (i.e. artists, celebrities, entertainment groups, movie theaters, software companies, video gamers, even politicians), as the latter are striving to capitalize on the leverage sport represents in order to reach out to a larger customer base. Moreover, sport managers need to find a balance between the product on the field, finances and marketing. It is at this condition that sport organizations will be able to maximize the utility of their fans, as well as their own financial performance.
Introduction—sport starts the conversation
Through the emotions it triggers, sport reaches a large public, usually very fragmented (Richelieu, 2013). Sport unites as much as it divides people. On the one hand, it can help develop a sense of belonging, pride and identification to a club, city, region or country: the recent victory of the French national football team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup is a good case in point. In this instance, sport becomes a powerful vector of socialization, as demonstrated by Holt (1995), following a study he conducted among fans of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. On the other hand, sport can lead to stigmatizing others, crystallizing tensions and fueling conflicts: this was highlighted by the football match between Red Star Belgrade and Dinamo Zagreb in 1990, whose riots preceded
and, to a certain extent, accelerated the five-year civil war and the break-up of Yugoslavia. In one way or another, sport starts the conversation.
Sport is about emotions, but it is also, as we shall see later on, an industry which faces huge transformations. The latter are provoked, among others, by technology, globalization, as well as, undoubtedly, money. In this chapter, our attention shall focus on these upheavals within the sport ecosystem, their causes and consequences. In this context, the first chapter will lay the foundations of our book and will introduce, in turn, the different topics that will be addressed throughout the book.
We will begin the discussion by highlighting some figures that reflect the importance of the sport industry. Afterwards, we will discuss five major trends that are indelibly marking the world of sport, now and for years to come. A conclusion shall help us synthesize the key points and transition towards the next topic.
A sizable and growing industry
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC, 2011), the sport industry worldwide was worth US$114 billion in 2010; by the end of 2015, the value of the industry was expected to reach US$145.3 billion. According to PwC (2011), this last figure is distributed as follows:
• US$45.3 billion in sponsorship revenues (31.2 percent of the industry);
• US$44.7 billion in ticket sales (30.8 percent);
• US$35.2 billion in TV rights (24.2 percent);
• US$20.1 billion in merchandising (13.8 percent).
By region, the sport industry was forecast for 2015 at (PwC, 2011):
• US$60.8 billion in North America (41.8 percent of the global sport industry; this number should reach US$73.5 billion by 2019; Heitner, 2015);
• US$49.5 billion in Europe, the Middle-East and Africa (34.1 percent);
• US$27.6 billion in Asia Pacific (19 percent); and
• US$7.4 billion in South America (5.1 percent).
Sizable and growing, sport feeds other industries, such as tourism, which is the most important industry worldwide, with yearly revenues in excess of US$2 trillion (Ibis World, 2018). Indeed, Roche et al. (2013) underscore that travel undertaken for the purpose of sport or physical activity is the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry. In Canada, sport tourism exceeded 6.5 billion Canadian dollars in 2015 (about US$5.2 billion1), a growth of 13 percent over the 2014 total of 5.8 billion (US$4.64 billion) (Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance, 2017).
While the world economy is still recovering after some difficult years, sport seems to be spared the precariousness. In fact, the sport industry benefits from massive investments, driven by the organization of major international competitions, such as the Olympic Games and the World Cup of football, where bidding wars appear to have become the norm in order for the host countries to impress the world for two weeks or a month of activities. The London 2012 Summer Olympics cost more than US$30 billion; the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, more than US$50 billion; those in Rio in 2016, nearly US$20 billion; and the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, a record-breaking US$15 billion (Guardian, 2012; RT News, 2013; Settimi, 2016; VOA News, 2018). As underlined by AT Kearney (2010), between 2000 and 2009, spending growth in sport accounted for 8.2 times the increase of Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP); 3.8 times that of Britain’s GDP; 3.5 times of Germany’s GDP; three times of Mexico’s GDP; 2.1 times of India’s GDP; 1.9 times of the USA’s GDP; and 1.6 times of China’s GDP.
The globalization and internationalization of sport actors (or stakeholders)
Not long ago, when cable, cellphones and satellite TV were not as widespread as today, or even nonexistent, sport had, with very few exceptions, a local reach. A sport match was comparable with the village circus or carnival. Nowadays, in an industry that is opening up to the world, thanks in part to technology, sport brands are conquering foreign markets. This is of course true for brands of organizations and players originating from so-called industrialized countries (Juventus (Turin), the National Basketball Association [NBA], Paris Saint-Germain, Roger Federer, Cristiano Ronaldo, New York Yankees, and so on); but also, more and more, for brands from emerging nations or powers whose role is shifting from spectators to actors (Richelieu, 2016).
On the one hand, it is true that some brands from industrialized countries are more dynamic than others in their quest for internationalization: the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the English Premier League are good examples. With tours featuring the best clubs and players in targeted countries, youth academies in foreign markets and new infrastructures built for local communities, these sport properties are getting closer to their fans. This helps crystallize the fans’ sense of belonging and allegiance, which translates into more television and Internet games being watched, as well as more licensed merchandise being purchased by international fans. And what better way to consolidate fan identification internationally than to recruit a player from a promising market? As such, the NBA has been able to integrate Argentine players, as well as Brazilian, Chinese, Croatian, Spanish, French, Greek, Russian and Serbian ones. It is no coincidence that the NBA is slowly but surely establishing itself as a world-renowned league, while is helping to make basketball an international sport2 (Richelieu, 2013, 2014).
On the other hand, the globalization of sport opens the door to both emerging nations and powers for the organization of international sporting events, such as the FIFA World Cup (South Africa in 2010, Brazil in 2014, Russia in 2018, Qatar in 2022), Olympic Games (Russia 2014, China in 2022), Formula 1 races (in Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, Malaysia, Singapore), and so on. This offers these countries an opportunity to (re-)define, position and promote themselves on the international scene through sport, as part of a place branding strategy (Leopkey and Parent, 2015; Nauright, 2013; Taks et al., 2016), which will be discussed in detail in Chapter 3.
But the international rise of emerging nations also materializes in the investments made by the new fortunes of jurisdictions such as China, Hong Kong, Qatar, Russia and the United Arab Emirates in Western sport clubs: these investments are done to meet the financial needs of Western teams; but the history of the phenomenon in Europe also shows that the acquisition of a sport club by those who are called the new rich from emerging countries is a path to the legitimization of these new fortunes and their acceptance by high society. It is a kind of royal symbol that denotes a dearly earned social status and whose circle is limited by the number of professional sports teams, especially the prestigious ones (Richelieu, 2014).
In their roles as either organizers or investors, emerging nations or powers are becoming influential stakeholders that are redefining the boundaries of the sport business ecosystem. China is a good case in point; the National Hockey League (NHL) is contemplating its next move in the “Middle Kingdom” (see Box 1.1).
Box 1.1 The National Hockey League (NHL) aims at conquering China
Until now, the NHL has been very hesitant and awkward in expanding worldwide; yet, going international is a key vector for the long-term growth of the league (or any sport league, for that matter).
What might help the NHL in the Chinese market is its brand reputation: the NHL can be considered the best hockey league in the world, which provides the NHL with much-needed credibility as it tries to enter a totally new and nontraditional hockey market with, among others, broadcasting and streaming deals, grassroots initiatives such as hockey academies and training camps for kids.
However, establishing the NHL brand in China will be a slow and difficult process. Doing business in China requires building a strong bond of trust between two parties over a long period of time (“guanxi”). And at this point, the NHL and its managers have to show they can be trusted and that their interest in the Chinese market transcends the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. For example, the Chinese authorities wish to increase the number of new winter sport practitioners by 300 million people in the coming years (Ma, 2018). As such, China is looking for partners who are truly willing to accompany the country in achieving its longterm goals, including the development of some specific sports: hockey is one of them, but football (soccer) is another priority, with the aim to organize the FIFA
World Cup by 2050 and to win, or at the very least become a legitimate contender for, the World Cup by then. In this regard, Russia, with the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in the case of hockey, has a head start for political, historic and geographic reasons. This is not to say that the NHL will not succeed in China, but the challenges ahead are plentiful and the league will have to demonstrate an unambiguous commitment to China over the long haul. This will require substantial resources for an uncertain result—which is sometimes contrary to the shortterm-minded approach of American business endeavors. There is a significant cultural difference that has to be taken into account here.
Another point worth emphasizing is that China, though sometimes considered to be flying under the radar, is slowly but surely establishing itself as the next world superpower (before 2030, according to the economic projections; Fortune, 2017), by skillfully combining three “ingredients”: (1) commerce/business, (2) international diplomacy, and (3) sport. The ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, dubbed the new Silk Road,3 is a case in point, as was the last FIFA World Cup in Russia, where four out of the 12 major sponsors were Chinese: Wanda (entertainment, movie theaters), Vivo (technology), Hisense (electronics) and Mengniu (dairy milk products). Moreover, Huawei could also be added to this list, as it brilliantly tested its 5G technology alongside the Russian telecom operator MegaFon. It is part of what we call a place branding strategy (see Chapter 3 and Richelieu, 2018a), where sport occupies a major role in helping China reach both international (becoming the Middle Kingdom, the next world superpower) and domestic goals (for instance, inciting the population to practice sports; besides, China wants to completely eradicate poverty in the country in the next few years).
To cut a long story short, as attractive as the Chinese economic and sport markets have become (comparable, to a certain extent, with the US show business market for aspiring artists), it will take many years for any sport property, including the NHL, to reap the rewards of its investments, should that league be willing to seriously commit to China in the first place. But without the NHL players going to the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, the league might very well lose any chance to develop the Chinese market. This will leave the door wide open to Russia’s KHL. In addition, the decision to not send the best players to Beijing 2022 might be seen as an insult of international magnitude—and making people lose face in Asia, especially in China, is one of the worst things to do.
The “financiarization” and “vipization” of sport
Talking about investments, or simply money in sport, leads us to introduce two concepts that are closely related to two major trends in the industry: the “financiarization” and “vipization” of sport (Richelieu, 2016).
“Financiarization” translates into the desire of an organization or a sport actor to maximize the revenues and profits (financial performance), sometimes to the detriment of fans’ utility (i.e., the benefits the customer will get from the product, service or brand, in this instance, by offering a competitive product on the field that can aspire to win or, at the very least, provide hope to its supporters and satisfy your customers4) (Leach and Szymanski, 2015). Raising
the prices of tickets, food and souvenirs at the concession stands can be tolerated by fans. However, getting rid of the best players to cut salary expenses in order to increase profits, by offering a product of poorer quality to the fans, is a “financiarization” approach that eventually alienates the supporters and breaks the emotional bond with them. In fact, this approach is largely responsible for the relocation of the Montreal Expos baseball team to Washington, D.C., in 2004, and the relegation of Aston Villa Football Club to the second division of English football in 2016, where the club is still languishing. But what about the Ottawa Senators, who, in the spring of 2017, were one goal away from reaching the NHL Stanley Cup Final and now face a very uncertain future? Even the Guardian newspaper, based in England, where ice hockey is far from being a mainstream sport, dedicated a full article to what Horgan (2018) dubbed “pro sport’s biggest mess” (see Box 1.2).
Box 1.2 When the “financiarization” of sport can lead to the selfdestruction of a franchise: the case of the Ottawa Senators
This “financiarization” approach might spell the demise of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, following the trade of their captain and fan favorite, Erik Karlsson, in September 2018, as part of a so-called “rebuilding process”5 of the franchise. Suffice to say that this transaction, which was preceded by the trades of veteran leadership (Phaneuf, Thompson) and skillful players (Brassard, Hoffman, Turris) for juniors and minor leaguers, not to mention other trades that have not gone through yet (Duchene, Dzingel, Stone)6 in order to trim salaries, did not sit well with the Ottawa citizens. In fact, it crystallized the anger of Senators’ supporters towards the actual ownership and top management, first and foremost owner Eugene Melnyck (notwithstanding his accomplice, General Manager Pierre Dorion), who seems to believe that a good marketing tactic resides in insulting and threatening Ottawa hockey fans, live on national television (CBC News, 2017a)—to the point that both Ottawa’s mayor and former Senators’ captain, Daniel Alfredsson, were caught publicly wishing for a new owner to take over who would truly be committed to anchoring the team in the community (CBC News, 2018). Until this happens, fans have taken matters into their own hands in what can be referred to as an example of “consumer power” in action (The Economist, 2005), by renting billboards across the city of Ottawa asking unequivocally for the departure of the owner with the slogan “Melnyk Out!” As the 2018–2019 NHL season was under way, Ottawa Senators’ faithfuls found themselves reliving, at their own expense, the 1980s movie Major League, in which a malicious owner was replacing good players for mediocre ones in order to make the team lose games and fans, and subsequently relocate the franchise to another market. Senators’ fans might wish for a happy ending similar to the one in the movie, where players rallied against the owner and found a way, against all odds, to qualify for the playoffs. Ironically, though highly improbable because of the lack of proven talent and experience on their roster,7 that might just be a way to thumb their nose at management and keep the Ottawa Senators in Canada’s national capital.
But Canada’s national capital hockey team is not alone in the running for the “how to destroy a sport franchise” award category. Breaking the emotional bond with their fans is a definite risk the new owners of the Florida Marlins baseball team are exposing themselves to, though, sadly, they seem aloof to it. After acquiring, in the fall of 2017, the South Florida franchise at a cost of US$1.2 billion, the investors traded away the best players, despite the fact the latter were emotional anchors in the community, in order to repay the loans contracted for the purchase of the club (Jackson, 2017). This is another side of the “financiarization” of sport: buying teams as if business people were investing in real estate and then reselling the asset with a profit, in the same city or by relocating the franchise, without much concern about the product on the field or the emotional connection with your supporters. In line with this discussion, the “financiarization” of sport is reflected in the Forbes’ ranking of teams displaying the greatest financial value (Table 1.1).
At the players’ level, this “financiarization” is reflected in soaring salaries, as underlined by Gaines (2016; Table 1.2). In the NHL, the average salary was US$1.17 million in 1997–1998; it was US$2,916,316 in 2016 (Richelieu, 2018b). Thus, in less than 20 years, the average salary in the NHL had increased by over 149 percent, despite the introduction of a salary cap in 2005, which was supposed to help teams keep control of their wage expenses. And what about the arrival of Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain, in 2017, with a transfer fee of C222 million, with C30 million net per season paid to the player over five years (Louis, 2017)—enough to boost the average salary in Ligue 1 in the coming years! Apart from these figures, the SPL (Scotland) and the Canadian Football League (CFL), with their respective yearly average salary of US$193,907 and US$86,726, appear as blue-collar leagues in the world of professional sport (Table 1.2). But this is perhaps where we can still find a little bit of the sport spirit that sport business threatens to destroy, and, if we are not careful, alienate fans along the way … (Norval, 2018).
9
Source: Forbes (2018).
Table 1.1 Forbes ’ ranking of the ten most valuable sport teams’ brands in 2018
Table 1.2 Average players’ salary in the top 17 sport leagues worldwide in 2016 League
Average salary in US$
1 NBA (North America, basketball) 6,390,211
2 MLB (North America, baseball) 4,387,378
3 IPL (India, cricket) 3,879,339
4 EPL (Great Britain, football) 3,218,523
5 NHL (North America, hockey) 2,916,316
6 NFL (USA, American football) 2,439,574
7 La Liga (Spain, football) 1,635,869
8 Serie A (Italy, football) 1,459,436
9 Bundesliga (Germany, football) 1,372,610
10 Ligue 1 (France, football) 961,638
11 NPB (Japan, baseball) 800,530
12 CSL (China, football) 775,358
13 MLS (North America, football) 313,438
14 AFL (Australia, Australian football) 221,543
15 J-League (Japan, football) 211,880
16 SPL (Scotland, football) 193,907
17 CFL (Canada, Canadian football) 86,726
Sources: Gaines (2016); Sporting Intelligence (2016).
As per the “vipization” of sport, this occurs when an organization favors corporate fans (lounges, premium seats), even celebrities who are associated with it (see the case of Paris Saint-Germain, below). The organization sells tickets and subscriptions in priority to businesses, often at high prices, rather than to sport fans who are thus gradually economically excluded from the stadium, and redirected towards television and Internet platforms (i.e., streaming, which we shall discuss later on). For instance, the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens sell 75 percent of their season tickets to corporations; it is estimated that the Toronto Maple Leafs exceed in this category at 90 percent (Richelieu, 2014).
In this vein, since being acquired by Qatari investors, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) is a case in point of the “vipization” of sport, which not only translates into rising and prohibitive prices, but also the customer profile that is now associated with the club—industry executives, actors, singers, politicians and other celebrities. It is all the Parisian “gratin” that now meets at the Parc des Princes. This phenomenon is very much marked in some American cities, such as New York and Los Angeles. First, in the 1970s, the North American Soccer League’s (NASL) New York Cosmos capitalized on star players (Carlos Alberto, Pelé, Beckenbauer, Chinaglia, and so on) in order to promote soccer in the USA by, among others, gravitating around celebrities and the rich and famous, as well as the places where the latter were hanging out, such as the legendary Studio 54 discotheque in Manhattan. Second, when Wayne Gretzky was traded to the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings in 1988, the arena was suddenly “invaded” by Hollywood actors who had found an additional promotional showcase in the hockey games they were attending.
If this form of “vipization” can add to the aura and prestige of a team, it can also be seen by sport fans as a form of gentrification and lack of authenticity of both the organization and its brand. This double-edged sword can lead to a backlash, such as the one endured by the NFL’s New England Patriots and actor Marc Wahlberg, the latter having left the 2017 Super Bowl before the end of the game, because of the sickness of his youngest child. But as the Patriots were losing (badly), this was interpreted as a severe lack of allegiance on the part of the actor towards his supposedly beloved club (Shanahan, 2017).
Money is definitely an integral part of sport, and it is by no means our intention to neglect or discard the objectives of financial performance an organization should pursue. The challenge facing sport managers in the future is to find a balance between the product on the field, finances and marketing (Figure 1.1). It is this balance that shall enable sport organizations to maximize the utility of their fans, as well as their financial performance, while nurturing the emotional bond between the fans and the team—the latter being essential to the longterm sustainability of any sport club. This is a prerequisite that is too often overlooked, to the point that some sport teams’ or franchises’ managers prefer to master local customs in order to shrewdly communicate with their customers, and thus buy some time, instead of sincerely investing in the product—a situation that makes some observers compare sport organizations with political parties, including the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team since new ownership took over in 2015 (Kelly, 2018).
The triumph of “sportainment”
“We are living in the era of spectacle,” claims Gabriel (2012: 243). One could even say that the world has become a society of spectacle, where the representation of reality has replaced reality (Debord, 2002). In fact, what is now the case
Figure 1.1 Balancing marketing, finances and the on-field product.
Source: Adapted from Richelieu (2018b: 13).
for the world in general is also true for sport in particular, all the more so since, as discussed in the previous section, sport organizations are managed as enterprises that espouse “financiarization” and “vipization” as a way to improve their bottom line.
Indeed, we are transitioning from sport to “sportainment” (MacGregor, 2018; Richelieu, 2018a), which is the term that designates the merger of sport and entertainment, where the marketing of a unique set of experiences and emotions becomes the catalyst that helps sell a sporting event (Richelieu, 2016). With sometimes “bizarre” cases, such as the wedding held at center ice during a game of the now defunct NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers, in December 2010, with the Ice Girls as witnesses. Or the Legends Football League (LFL), the women’s version of American football in underwear, whose explosive expansion in the United States now spreads to both Canada and Australia by relying on a combination of voyeurism, a dose of adrenaline and a bit of sport (Stinson, 2017).
Hence, we are witnessing a transformation of the sport product and how it is managed: the content is wrapped in an entertainment package for broadcasting across multiple communication platforms, which is also accelerated by the explosion of streaming, a topic we shall discuss in the next section. This being said, the phenomenon in itself is not new. In fact, the Harlem Globetrotters raised “sportainment” to mainstream entertainment more than 90 years ago (1926), even before the term was coined. The Harlem Globetrotters have built their unique selling proposition (USP) around a basketball show where technical skills, often spectacular, antics and interactions with the audience are harmoniously combined. What has changed, though, is the magnitude and reach of the “sportainment” phenomenon and how it is contributing to transform the sport industry.
Moreover, “sportainment” is not always synonymous with entertainment for the sake of entertainment. From a strategic perspective, it is necessary for managers, on the one hand, to try to keep a balance between what is called the “core” of the sport product (i.e., the sport performance, the match), and the “auxiliary features” that relate to entertainment; on the other hand, managers need to integrate entertainment more harmoniously into the sport product in order to avoid completely distorting the latter. Entertainment in a sport arena is not an end in itself but rather a tool to embellish, support, promote or even enhance the sporting event, without replacing it. In this vein, the halftime shows that involve violinist André Rieu in European football stadiums are examples of a “sportainment” that fits neatly, even organically, into the script of the sporting event: spectators are entertained while getting involved, as football fans, in the co-creation of both the concert and choreography unfolding before their eyes. In Table 1.3 we offer a typology of certain actions that combine sport and “sportainment” at different levels.
Likewise, “sportainment” becomes potentially valuable in enlarging the customer base of a sport organization. This is the case of Major League Baseball (MLB), where the average age of a fan is 57 years old:
Table 1.3 Combining sport and “sportainment” to different degrees
“Sportainment” –(marginal role of entertainment & auxiliary features)
“Sportainment” + (important role given to entertainment & auxiliary features)
Sport + (high level or intensity of sport)
• Sport with a focus on the match (“core”), with a little bit or no entertainment at all during the game.
• For instance, until recently, some football (soccer) teams refused to show the replay of a goal on the giant screen in order to incite the spectators to focus on the game being played on the pitch.
• Rituals and anthems from supporters, before and during the games (see FC Köln 1 fans, in Germany, and those from Dinamo Riga, 2 in Latvia).
• Some events, such as the “Battle of the Sexes” between Billie Jean King and Bobbie Riggs, which took place in 1973.
• Harlem Globetrotters games.
• André Rieu’s concert at halftime of a football match, 3 during which sport fans take part in the choreography being displayed.
• Hockey games played outdoors in winter, such as the match between the USA and Canada at the Junior World Championship in Buffalo, New York, in December 2017; as well as the NHL Winter Classic, in January 2018.
• Interactive contests for fans that take place on mobile phones or tablets during the game and in relation with the match, at the stadium.
continued
Table 1.3 Continued
“Sportainment” –(marginal role of entertainment & auxiliary features)
“Sportainment” + (important role given to entertainment & auxiliary features)
Sport –(low or no sport content)
• Quasi nonexistent nowadays. Though we could mention certain types of entertainment, such as: ballet, opera, theater, most movies, croquet, chess, etc.
• Games of the Legends Football League (LFL), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
• “Bizarre” entertainment, such as a wedding celebrated on the field of play or a sausage race in a baseball stadium, in Wisconsin. 4
• Super Bowl halftime show with various celebrities (Justin Timberlake in 2018).
• Association between Bollywood artists and IPL (cricket) in India.
• Concert prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup with Will Smith and others.
• Poker tournaments held in Las Vegas.
• Collection of lifestyle clothing launched by different equipment makers in order to attract hip hop and urban fans (Adidas Originals).
Source: Adapted from Richelieu (2018b: 14).
Notes
1 www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRht0lvt6HI
2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fALmggaCNI
3 www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3i1-p4fP08
4 www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ_3uwAudwA
We never want to alienate that core fan base we have and always have had. […] As with every business, you need new customers. When you see things happening in the in-stadium experience that are a little different, that’s part of the clubs trying to be innovative to capture that new fan base, which is really important to the future of our sport.
(MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, cited in Sheinin, 2018: D3)
In fact, if we wanted to go a step further in our analysis, we could say that “sportainment” is not only a major trend of the sport industry but also a reflection of the reconfiguration of the industry into a broader mix of activities—an industry that is now increasingly “infiltrated” by nontraditional sport actors, such as, but far from being limited to:
• Walt Disney, with its sport properties and the US$71 billion purchase of Fox’s film, television and entertainment assets in July 2018 (Dang, 2018);
• Cirque du Soleil, with the Las Vegas Golden Knights shows it organizes (see NHL, 2017);
• MGM, with its recent exclusive agreement to manage NHL betting, starting with the 2019–2020 season;
• SAP through its collaboration with the NBA to develop an online statistics page that can handle thousands of users interacting with the technology at once (see SAP, 2017);
• The rapper Drake, as the global ambassador of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors;
• German phenomenon, and possible future international star performer, Helene Fischer, via her association with the German national football team and the German football cup final;
• Russian Singer Polina Gagarina for the theme song of the 2018 FIFA World Cup;
• Even a candy company, when it leads to the launch of a brand extension (“Sugarpova”8) for tennis player Maria Sharapova.
In a word, “sportainment” is stretching the boundaries of the sport industry and its ecosystem, while expanding the customer base of traditional and nontraditional stakeholders alike who can benefit from a positive image transfer thanks to their association with sport (Figure 1.2). From sport (game on the field; layer 1), we are moving towards sport plus entertainment, with traditional sport actors (sport teams, athletes and fans; layer 2), then to sport plus entertainment from traditional and nontraditional stakeholders (artists, celebrities, entertainment enterprises, movie theaters, software companies, e-sport events, poker tournaments, fantasy leagues, and so on; layer 3).
Str etching and re shaping of the boundaries of spor t into a “spor tainment” industr y
Layer 1: Sport
Layer 3: sport and enter tainment from traditional and nontraditional stakeholders
Layer 2: spor t and enter tainment from traditional spor t actors
Stretching and reshaping of the boundaries of spor t into a “spor tainment” industr y
Figure 1.2 The reconfiguration of the boundaries of the sport industry into “sportainment.”
Source: Developed by the author.
From broadcasting to streaming
As sport becomes increasingly commercially and financially driven, in addition to being a sought-after piece of content, a growing number of communication companies are taking control of, or are partnering closely with, sport organizations to maximize their revenues. Among others, we can mention Bell and Rogers in Canada, which are associated respectively with the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens and the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays, and not forgetting the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, which Bell and Rogers have jointly acquired; Orange, in France, with the Professional Football League (LFP), until 2017; T-Mobile, in Germany, with Bayern Munich, and so on. But these companies have remained, for a very long time, in a broadcasting mindset. In Canada, Rogers is paying an average of CAN$433 million over 12 years, and Quebecor CAN$100 million, solely for the rights to broadcast NHL games across the country (in English for Rogers and in French for Quebecor). Both companies were forced to resell regional game packages to their direct competitors (respectively TSN and RDS) just to stay afloat after overbidding for these rights (Shoalts, 2018).
Under the pressure of Twitter, Facebook and Alibaba (and its division Alisports), as well as some newcomers such as DAZN, the sport product is consumed, more and more, as a commodity (“commodification”) via the Internet on one’s computer, tablet or mobile phone. Thus, we are witnessing a transition from broadcasting to streaming that now seems irreversible, given the global reach of the Internet and consumers’ changing viewing habits. This should eventually lead to the coexistence of different platforms, such as television sets,
trends
sport industry 19 computers, tablets, mobile phones and any other devices that may emerge in the future. In fact, what is known as the “smart TV” already makes it possible to integrate cable television and Internet services into one device. We are currently witnessing a new type of convergence in the communication industry. According to Statista (2017), the content downloaded on a mobile phone worldwide in 2016 was:
• 185 minutes per day for millennials; • 110 minutes per day for members of Generation X; • 43 minutes per day for baby boomers.
Furthermore, according to CBC News (2017b), 220,000 Canadian households, out of a population of about 35 million people, unsubscribed from cable TV in 2016, compared with 190,000 in 2015; this drop was estimated at 247,000 in 2017. Moreover, globally, 61 percent of sport viewers follow sport online (Karr, 2017). In 2016, Twitter paid the National Football League (NFL) US$10 million for the streaming rights of Thursday night games, though Amazon outbid them in 2017 and paid US$50 million for the same package. Similar agreements have already been signed or will be signed soon with the NHL and the NBA, as well as with other leagues in North America and beyond. Amazon, which we just mentioned, will stream 20 English Premier League games a year over three years in the UK, starting with the 2019–2020 season. Amazon’s ambition is to take on traditional pay TV broadcasters such as Sky for sport rights. In fact, Amazon is building up a portfolio of sport games and events, including the NFL, the US Open (tennis) and ATP tournaments (Straits Times, 2018).
Alisports, for one, to which we referred earlier, already streams a series of sporting events via the Internet, not only in China but also internationally, in addition to entering into sponsorship agreements with entities such as World Rugby and the FIFA World Cup. For Alibaba and its Alisports division, this is part of a strategy where the company wishes to position itself as a leader in streaming, but also a champion of sport development in China (Bateman, 2017). In other words, Alibaba aims to become a giant of the Chinese and international sport industry, and streaming would be a way to achieve that goal. Speaking of China, the NBA is already six times more popular there than the three largest European football championships combined (England, Spain and Italy), with 190 million Chinese viewing the 2017 NBA finals online (Minter, 2017).
The question, then, is the following: are we on the verge of a massive overhaul of the business models of leagues, teams and communication companies involved in sport? Indeed, with streaming, the sport product becomes more available to a wider international audience and, therefore, it may well become, in a not so distant future, a mere commodity. Hence, the revenues derived from the diffusion of the sporting event in itself will probably be lower than in the
past; but advertising could be tailored and “glocalized” (i.e., adapted to the user’s habits and geographical location), and the derived revenues would gradually increase, which could eventually offset the loss of income in the case of sports that benefit from a high international profile, such as football (soccer), basketball, tennis, golf and motor sport, for instance. This streaming model is already the business paradigm espoused by Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Music Unlimited, Netflix (over 137 million subscribers worldwide, and counting, for the latter; CNN, 2018), Spotify and Stingray, among others. These stakeholders could eventually become a one-stop entertainment platform, including for sport, by taking advantage of a critical mass of consumers they already possess. Coming back to the question we asked at the beginning of this paragraph, streaming could end up being a Schumpeter-like creative destruction of both the communications and sport industry ecosystem, where entertainment generalist empires could emerge at a global scale, acquiring in the process incumbent sport TV stations or trimming the latter by attracting their traditional sport viewers:
Creative destruction refers to the incessant product and process innovation mechanism by which new production units replace outdated ones. This restructuring process permeates major aspects of macroeconomic performance, not only long-run growth but also economic fluctuations, structural adjustment and the functioning of factor markets.
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT], 2018: 1)
The emergence and growth of e- sport
Failing to do a lot of physical activity, young people, and not so young ones, are now devoutly engaged in video games of all kinds. This sub-industry is known as electronic sport, or “e-sport”, and encompasses the practice, usually on the Internet, of a video game individually or in a team, using a computer or a video game console (Business Insider, 2017).
Born in the 1990s and enjoying tremendous popularity in Asia, e-sport was estimated to represent globally, by the end of 2017, US$1.13 billion. Of this figure, US$839 million came from sponsorship and advertising (74 percent), US$102 million from awards (9 percent), US$57 million from bets and “fantasy leagues” (5 percent), US$52 million from ticket sales to attend tournaments (5 percent), as well as US$22 million from merchandising (2 percent) (Cooke, 2017). Asia still leads the pack, with US$406 million generated by the end of 2017 (36 percent of the industry), followed by North America with US$396 million (35 percent), and Europe with US$298 million (26 percent) (Cooke, 2017). At the end of 2017, the top four games were: League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter Strike and Hearthstone (JudgeHype, 2017). In addition, for the last Dota 2 tournament, the prizes awarded exceeded US$20 million (Business Insider, 2017).
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his disposal the poet enjoyed a rare, almost a unique advantage. The energy and softness of the Arabian language, its melodious character, the abundance and variety of its metaphors, render it peculiarly available as the vehicle of poetic sentiment. There is perhaps no idiom which lends itself with such facility to the construction of rhyme; for its very prose is frequently musical. The researches of modern philology have brought to the notice of Europe the complexity and perfection of its grammatical construction, the richness of its vocabulary, its boundless scope and graceful imagery. Most appropriately did the old philosopher, Mohammed-al-Damiri, referring to the native eloquence and exuberant diction of his countrymen, exclaim: “Wisdom hath lighted on three things,—the brain of the Franks, the hands of the Chinese, and the tongues of the Arabs.”
The poetry of the Arabs is even more obscure in its origin than the primitive history of their race. Without the assistance of writing, no literature, however popular, can maintain its integrity for even a single generation. Even the phenomenal memory of that people—a gift so universal as not to elicit comment among them, and which was strengthened by the daily rehearsal of favorite compositions— could only imperfectly supply the place of permanent and authentic records. The matter of the Arabian poems was therefore constantly changing, while the subjects and versification remained the same. Their form was generally that of the dramatic pastoral; sometimes the elegiac ode, which offered an opportunity for the enumeration of the virtues of the deceased and, incidentally, of the achievements of his tribe, was adopted. The genius of the pre-Islamitic poet never attempted the epic, which so often profits by the inexhaustible resources of the fabulous; and, although surrounded by an atmosphere eminently favorable to the inspiration of such productions, it does not seem to have had an adequate conception of them. Its representations exhibited to the enraptured listener the stirring events of his adventurous life, which his pride taught him to regard as vastly superior, in all that promotes the dignity of humanity, to the corrupt and inert existence of civilization. The universal possession of the poetic faculty was one of the peculiarities of the Arab nation. Old and young alike seemed gifted with it. The rules of
prosody, and even the simplest canons of metrical composition, were unknown. Yet such was the instinctive perception of rhythmical correctness, that the versification of the most humble was characterized by propriety and elegance, qualities which tended to enhance the fierce enthusiasm, the sublimity of thought, the touching pathos, the burning passion, which pervade the noble poems of the Desert. Many of the latter bear a striking resemblance to the Song of Solomon; some are remarkable for their rhapsodies; others for their weighty and sententious wisdom; others again for their sparkling wit and pointed epigrams. The seven poems called Moallakat, “The Suspended,”—a word of doubtful significance so far as its relation to these productions is concerned—have always been considered the masterpieces of the ancient Arabs, and form the principal source from which our ideas of their attainments in the art of poetry must be derived. Popular credulity ascribed the name of these compositions to their presumed suspension in the Kaaba as evidence of the triumphs of their authors over all competitors; the more rational conjecture, however, connects the title of Moallakat with a necklace or pendant, of which each poem formed a jewel, a figurative mode of designating literary works among Orientals, and one especially affected by poets and historians. The entire body of tradition, combined with facts accumulated by subsequent writers of every race and creed, does not afford such a thorough insight into the public and domestic life, the prevailing sentiments and prejudices, the habits and customs of the inhabitants of the Peninsula, as do the Moallakat. They enable us partially to reconstruct the political and religious systems of the early Arabians, and to establish, by comparison, their identity with the conditions of modern existence, in localities where the sword of Islam has never been able to exterminate the detested practice of idolatry. They place before us, in all its impressiveness, the silent majesty of the Desert, its dazzling sky, its waves of quivering vapor, its interminable waste of sand; they pass in review the indolent life of the camp, varied only by a nocturnal alarm or by some daring intrigue; they relate the exciting scenes of the foray; they delineate with erotic freedom the charms of the lovely Bedouin maid; they describe the fate of the female prisoner whose captivity was often the result of artifice or barter; they
rehearse the midnight march under the starry firmament, which in the florid language of the East “appeared like the folds of a silken sash variously decked with gems.” Nor is the excellence of the Moallakat confined to mere description. The proud boast of exploits not unworthy of the Age of Chivalry, which, in fact, received its inspiration from this source; the sacred duties of a lavish hospitality; the rare qualities of a favorite horse or camel; the absorbing passion of love, its perils and its pleasures; the Herculean feats of virile manhood,—these were the chosen themes of the Arab poet. His verses abound in moral precepts and philosophical apothegms, conveying lessons of worldly wisdom which recall, in both their phraseology and their profound acquaintance with human nature, the Suras of the Koran and the Proverbs of Solomon. In addition to maxims of a moral tone, scattered through these productions, they exhibit, on the other hand, much that is repulsive, cruel, and barbarous. Epicureanism is, however, the prominent characteristic of the Moallakat, as, indeed, it is of all primitive Arabic poems which have descended to us. The charms of wine and women, and an indulgence in the pleasures of the banquet to the extreme limit of bacchanalian revelry, are everywhere celebrated with a license worthy of the grossest couplets of Catullus and Martial. In the relation of scenes of intrigue and midnight assignation, often laid in the camp of a hostile tribe, where discovery would have led to instant death, the adventurous spirit of the lover is deemed worthy to rank with that which sustains the hero in the front of battle. The most fulsome adulation characterizes the homage tendered by the ardent lover to the object of his idolatry. Modern fastidiousness would not tolerate the descriptions given by the poet of the physical perfections of his lady-love in all their circumstantial details; though translations exist, they are mere paraphrases; and the voluptuous images of the poet’s fancy still remain discreetly hidden in the obscurity of the original idiom.
There is much similarity and repetition in Arab poetry, which the interpolations and substitutions inevitable among a people dependent for the preservation of their literature upon oral tradition will hardly account for.
The existence of the Bedouin was bounded by a narrow horizon, the Desert was his world. Its familiar objects and localities, which never changed; the deeds which they recalled; the hopes which they inspired; the memory of ancestral renown with which they were associated, suggested the topics of his song. The haughtiness which was one of his most offensive characteristics, and forbade his permanent alliance or his intermarriage with other races, strengthened the feelings of reserve which had been a national peculiarity for countless generations. His ideas, his aspirations, his joys, his sorrows, evoked by the monotonous circumstances of his environment, were little subject to deviation during the course of centuries. While his religion was a compound of all degrees of fetichism, idolatry, and astral worship, his poetry was original, pure, artless, and natural. His aptitude for versification was disclosed by the most trivial occurrences of life. A rhyming stanza, which set forth an appropriate sentiment, was often the reply to an ordinary question. Where allusion was made to an historical incident, the speaker was often challenged to confirm his statement by the recitation of an original verse, or by an apt poetical quotation, as the most reliable authority. The quick perception of the Arab was shown by his ability to finish instantly a couplet corresponding in sense and measure with a line repeated by a competitor. Its general similarity to all others renders the assignment of any Arabic poem to a certain epoch impossible, for the natural taste has never varied, and a composition that was popular three hundred years before the Hegira would be equally acceptable to-day to the mountain tribes of Central Arabia.
In the opening lines of most Arabic poems, and in those of the Moallakat especially, there is a dearth of individuality, and a common resemblance which would almost suggest that they had been written by the same person. The purity of style which characterizes the latter was, however, universally admitted; they were the recognized standards of grammatical correctness; they were consulted whenever a dispute arose concerning the meaning of a word or the construction of a sentence in later authors was in doubt; and among Mohammedans the authority of those Pagan compositions was never entirely superseded even by that of the Koran, whose
sublimity of thought and elegance of diction were reverently ascribed to the direct inspiration of God.
We owe the survival of the Moallakat to the capricious taste of some self-appointed critic, who selected them from a number of poems with which he was familiar; and, through his arbitrary choice, we are deprived of the opportunity of forming an opinion of the others which his rejection has tacitly pronounced inferior. We know nothing of his qualifications for such a task, and are even ignorant of his name; but, from the remaining fragments of these productions, we may safely conclude that some of them, at least, were as fully entitled to preservation as the seven more fortunate ones which have descended to posterity.
It is a remarkable fact that no Arabic poem shows traces of Hebrew influence or contains ideas borrowed from either the Scriptures or the Talmud. The wealth and political power of the Jews; their intimate association with the nomadic tribes of the Peninsula; a close similarity of traditions, customs, and language, produced no perceptible effect upon the prehistoric literature of the Arabs. The Hebrews of Arabia, nevertheless, had their poets, whose productions, on the other hand, exhibit a marked coincidence of thought and style with those of their Arab kinsmen. Their sentiments are lofty and admirable, their language pure, and their merit, while inferior to that of the Moallakat, is still far from contemptible. The Book of Job, which has no apparent connection with the rest of the Scriptures, has been pronounced by competent critics a translation of an Arabic poem.
Improvisation, a talent possessed only by those endowed with unusual readiness of perception, a lively imagination, and an inexhaustible command of language, was practised with great success by the itinerant poets of Arabia. From their auditors, a couplet happily applied, by the inspiration of the moment, to some well-known event, elicited far more applause than efforts, however meritorious, which had cost days of arduous labor. This art of extemporaneous composition, which, when thoroughly developed, implies the possession of extraordinary mental ability, carried into Europe by the Moslems, and long employed by the troubadours, now
survives only among the lowest class of the Italian peasantry It is, in our day, most difficult to determine what degree of authenticity may properly be ascribed to the poetry of the ancient Arabs, none of which ascends to a higher antiquity than two hundred years before the Hegira. The unreliability of oral tradition, the variety of dialects, the frequent substitutions of modern phraseology, the bad faith, interpolations, and mistakes of unscrupulous commentators, the corruption and suppression of passages through tribal prejudice—all of these causes have had their share in effecting the gradual deterioration of the grand and stirring poems of Arabia.
It is impossible for us to appreciate the influence exercised by those who had attained to eminence in the poetic art over their imaginative and passionate countrymen. The Arab bard was without exception the most important personage of his tribe. Wealth, rank, beauty, personal popularity, military distinction alike paid tribute to his genius. To his talent for improvisation and versification, he often united the threefold character of statesman, warrior, and knighterrant, and thus became the model of his associates, the idol of the fair sex, and the terror of his enemies, who were as sensitive to the poisoned shafts of his satire as to the keenness of his sword. The most famous of these rhyming paladins, and the author of one of the Moallakat, whose life and achievements have been made the subject of a romance which approaches more nearly to the nature of an epic than any other production in the Arabic language, was Antar. By instinct and training a Bedouin, he was, however, of Arab blood only on his father’s side, his mother having been an Abyssinian slave. According to the custom of his country, he shared her lot until his bravery in battle induced his father to emancipate him. His amatory exploits, as well as his daring enterprises against the enemy, made him the admiration of the fiery Arabian youth. It was the regret of Mohammed, often expressed, that he had never seen this knighterrant of the Desert, who shrank from no danger, however appalling, who redressed the wrongs of woman, who restored the property of the plundered, and whose favorite maxim was, “Bear not malice, for of malice good never came.”
The unbridled license of the Arabian poet offers a curious commentary on national manners. The most exalted dignity, the sacred attributes of the gods, the pride of opulence, the delicacy of the sex, were not exempt from the attacks of his venom and sarcasm. He exposed with relentless severity the frailties of the wife and daughters of the sheik. He boasted of his own intrigues with a shameless audacity which, under more refined social conditions, could only be atoned for with blood. The immunity he enjoyed was one of the prerogatives of his calling. A certain sacredness of character was believed to attach to the latter by reason of the demoniac possession to which was popularly attributed the inspiration of the poetic faculty. His verses abounded in chivalrous sentiments, but uniformly ignored the claims of religion to the veneration of mankind. No beautiful mythology, like that of ancient Greece, was at hand to prompt the efforts of his muse. The maxims of the luxurious Epicurean were those that exerted the greatest power over his imagination and his life. An idea may be formed of the influence of poetry. on the public mind when we remember that the Koreish in vain attempted to bribe the pagan bard Ascha to deliver a panegyric on Mohammed at the commencement of the latter’s career, and, unable to secure his compliance, succeeded with much difficulty in purchasing his neutrality and silence at the expense of a hundred camels. The Prophet was so sensitive to the keen thrusts of the satirist, that when Mecca was captured and a general amnesty proclaimed, one of the four unfortunates whom he expressly excluded from this act of clemency was an obscure poet, Habbar-Ibn-Aswad by name, who had published a lampoon against him. The Arabian bard, like his literary descendant the troubadour, was attended by minstrels who chanted his verses, often to the accompaniment of musical instruments. The latter vocation, regarded as degrading by the Bedouin, was always exercised by a slave.
Islamism, while in other directions it zealously promoted the intellectual development of its adherents, fell like a blight upon the poetic taste and genius of Arabia The dreams of the poet disappeared before the stern fanaticism of the soldier, who had no
time for rhapsodies, and cared for nothing save indulgence in rapine, the acquisition of empire, and the extension of the Faith.
It is now generally admitted that the literary contests said to have taken place during the annual fair at Okhad, where, from poems read before an immense concourse, the one to be suspended in the Kaaba was selected, are apocryphal. Tribes of vagrant robbers who passed ten months of the year in plundering their neighbors would hardly consent to spend the other two in an orderly assembly, composed mainly of their enemies, in determining by a popular vote the comparative merit of their respective poets. The settlement of such rival claims for intellectual precedency by the voice of the people implies a degree of culture and critical acumen certainly not possessed by the Arabs of that age. This idle tale has doubtless been suggested by the literary exhibitions of the Olympian games, and is perhaps indebted to the imagination of some garrulous and mendacious Greek for its origin. It is, however, unquestionable that the poet, as well as the story-teller—that other important personage in the East—was in high favor at all the fairs and assemblies of Arabia. The mixed multitude which, impelled by motives partly mercenary, partly religious, collected on these occasions, and in its hours of leisure listened to the verses of the poet, constantly promoted his inspiration and refined his lays by the hope of applause, the fear of censure, the collision with foreigners, and the powerful influence of tribal emulation.
The later history of the Arabs is decked with all the gorgeous imagery of the East. The fascinations of romance invest and embellish it. With the commonplace facts incident to the various stages of national progress are interwoven narratives of indisputable truth, but which, in their demands upon human credulity, almost surpass the fabulous legends of chivalry or the enchanting tales of Scheherezade. The primitive life of the Arabian people previous to the advent of Mohammed offered no indication of their extraordinary capability for improvement. Commercial intercourse with other nations for ages had, however, enlarged their experience, expanded their faculties, and aroused their ambition. The caravan winding amidst the lonely sand-hills of the Desert—the precursor of those
great expeditions which subsequently interchanged the commodities of Asia Minor, Egypt, Andalusia, and India—was also the more important agent of science, of refinement, of civilization. It increased the sum of geographical and historical knowledge. It familiarized the trader and his customers with the manners, the laws, the social systems, the mechanical skill, the arts, and the inventions of the most enterprising nations of the globe. These associations assisted in no small degree to generate the practical utility which, the most important feature of Arab learning, afterwards conferred such substantial blessings on mankind. The phenomenal advance of the race to maturity, impossible without previous preparation, was stimulated by perpetual wars and excitement. Less than one hundred and twenty years intervened between the vagabondage and ignorance of the Desert and the stability and intellectual culture of the great Abbaside and Ommeyade capitals. The career of the Arab was too rapid to be permanent. In four generations it had covered the ground ordinarily traversed in twenty. Its delusive splendor concealed the decay which was coincident with the era of its greatest prosperity. The same causes which facilitated the foundation and advancement of his power and culture were active during their decline, and contributed to their ultimate destruction.
The statement may appear paradoxical, in view of the acknowledged influence of mercantile associations upon the faculties of the human mind; but a certain degree of isolation seems to be necessary, at least in tropical and semi-tropical regions, for the complete development of the arts of civilization; and these arts have usually attained their highest perfection among nations which inhabit peninsulas. Egypt and China, whose reliance was entirely upon their own resources, were the most exclusive of nations in the ancient world, as were Mexico and Peru in the modern. The vast majority of the populations of India, Japan, and Spain had but little intercourse with those outside their boundaries, which were defended by stormy and mysterious seas. In no other countries have the powers of the human intellect, in the creation of all that is grand and imposing, of all that is beautiful, of all that is artistic, of all that contributes to the benefit, the cultivation, and the material improvement of mankind, been manifested as in Greece and Italy. And Arabia, although denied
by Nature the advantages of soil and climate enjoyed by more favored lands, yet possessed what, in the crisis of her fate, rendered her superior to all her adversaries,—a race of bold and hardy warriors inured to hardship by the privations of an abstemious life, and by habit and inclination capable of the most arduous and desperate enterprises. Their experience with the surrounding effeminate nations had taught them not only the weakness of the latter, but also how their coveted wealth might be obtained; and at a propitious moment, under the guidance of an impassioned enthusiast, a horde of outlaws, driven from their homes by their scandalized neighbors, became the nucleus of victorious armies the fame of whose gallantry filled the world. And yet, while glorying in the deeds of martial heroism which insured the establishment and maintenance of her Prophet’s faith, she was conscious of the instability of an empire sustained by arms alone, and labored to raise upon more substantial and enduring foundations the splendid fabric of her greatness. The same fervid impulse which prompted and carried to a successful issue the conquest or extermination of those designated by the comprehensive term of infidel was able to adapt itself with singular facility to all the conditions of peace, and to enable the posterity of the half-naked banditti that swarmed around the banner of Mohammed to accomplish results worthy of the most exalted genius, and in every department of knowledge to ascend to the highest rank of those celebrated for their literary and scientific attainments in the most polished communities of Asia and Europe.
CHAPTER II
THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND INFLUENCE OF ISLAM
614–712
Comparative Religion, its Interest as a Study The Benefits of Islam Arabia at the Birth of Mohammed—Condition of Christendom and the Byzantine Empire—Popular Idea of the Prophet—His Family —His Early Life—The First Revelation—Persecution of the New Sect The Hegira Growing Prosperity of Islam Character of Mohammed Causes of His Success Polygamy The Koran Its Arrangement, its Legends, its Sublime Maxims, its Absurdities Its Obligations to other Creeds The Kiblah The Pilgrimage and its Ceremonies Reforms accomplished by Islam Universal Worship of Force Corruption of the Religion of Mohammed Its Wonderful Achievements Mohammed the Apostle of God.
The study of Comparative Religion is one of the most fascinating, but at the same time one of the most unsatisfactory, of human employments. In historical research, in mathematical calculation, in chemical analysis, in the investigation of natural phenomena, either absolute certainty or an approximate degree of accuracy is attainable. This, however, is obviously impossible in the consideration of questions with which the eternal happiness or misery of mankind may be concerned. Who is competent to determine the relative value of the various religious systems,— always mutually antagonistic, often irreconcilable,—yet all alleged to have proceeded alike from the fiat of Almighty God? Who is to judge of the peculiar qualifications of those who have arrogated to themselves the important office of passing upon their respective merits? Why should certain doctrines be accepted and others repudiated by zealous but uncritical sectaries?, Where does this presumed inspiration begin and end? To use the words of the Koran, “What is the infallible? And who shall cause thee to understand what the infallible is?” Who, in short, possesses the touchstone of truth?
The experience of all ages, the history of all nations, have established the melancholy fact that systems of religion are, like institutions of human origin, subject to the ordinary incidents of mortality. They have their age of youthful vigor and enthusiasm; their stationary epoch, when their principles have lost their expansive power; their period of degeneracy and decay. Their duration, like that of created beings, corresponds to the degree of vitality which they may possess; their vitality is in proportion to the intrinsic merit of their doctrines, and their adaptability to the moral nature of man. As omniscience is denied to him, his estimate of the value of a divine revelation must necessarily be speculative and uncertain, largely dependent upon his intellectual capacity, and colored by the influences to which he has been exposed. On the other hand, many learned metaphysicians have argued with transcendent ability that faith is not accidental, and merely derived from volition and association, but is a matter of inexorable necessity, in which the will is absolutely powerless. As a result of inherited prejudice, the principles of every religion always appear heterodox, false, and absurd to sincere believers in other forms of faith. Of all theological dogmas, none have suffered more from the effects of ignorance and injustice than those of Islamism. The name of its founder has for thirteen centuries been a synonym of imposture. His motives have been impugned, his sincerity denied. His character has been branded with every vice which degrades or afflicts mankind. The greatest absurdities, the grossest inhumanity, have been attributed to his teachings. Ecclesiastical malice has exhausted its resources in efforts to blacken his memory. Even in our day, comparatively few persons are even superficially conversant with the doctrines which, in less than a century, were able to usurp the spiritual and temporal dominion of a considerable portion of the habitable globe.
The love of novelty which reigns supreme in the human breast is nowhere more striking in its manifestations than in the facility with which men adopt a fresh revelation. No new religion ever lacks proselytes. Imagination, sentiment, hope, fear, interest, combine to induce its acceptance, notwithstanding the obscurity which may invest its doctrines or the illiteracy which often is the most prominent characteristic of its interpreters; and if the conditions which attend its
promulgation are not decidedly unpropitious, it is morally certain of success.
Some embrace it through curiosity, others from conviction, many from motives of selfishness. Its power is frequently in a direct proportion to the awe with which it inspires its votaries. As military glory is most admired by the populace, great prestige must of necessity attach to a creed which proselytes by conquest. On the other hand, apotheosis was considered the highest distinction attainable by the heroes and sovereigns of Pagan antiquity. Individuals whose genius had conferred great benefits upon the human race were assigned by public gratitude to a place among the gods. All the Roman emperors from Cæsar to Constantine were deified. An atmosphere of peculiar sanctity invested the eagles grouped in the post of honor in the camp of the legion. The crucifix and the reliquary were borne in the van of crusading armies. A more or less intimate association has thus always existed between the sacerdotal and the military professions. The latter has repeatedly furthered the projects of the former. The priest has rarely refused to absolve the offences of the orthodox soldier. Most religions have, in fact, been established or maintained by force. When we recall the overthrow of Paganism, the successive attempts to recover the Holy Sepulchre, the reconquest of Spain, the Inquisition, the atrocities attending the subjugation of the New World, the utter devastation of Provence and Languedoc, the religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we should certainly not subject to invidious scrutiny the polity of Mohammed, whose history is free from the reproach of persecution, and whose supremacy was only partially established by arms.
The examination and criticism of a religion whose canons have been honored with the implicit and reverent obedience of millions of men; whose dogmas have been recognized by the devout of many diverse races as inspirations of the wisdom of Almighty God; a religion which, by the weapons of argument or by the resistless force of enthusiasm, subverted the power and absorbed the leading principles of other creeds whose traditions had hitherto enthralled the world, and which, despite the degeneracy of its practice, the
divisions and consequent antagonism of its sectaries, the vicissitudes of many centuries, and the inevitable accidents of war, persecution, and treason, still manifests an astonishing and, to all appearances, an inexhaustible vitality, is a great and arduous undertaking. The story of Islam, by whose influence the natives of the East and West, heretofore hostile, were joined in a bond of fraternal union and guided through a marvellous career of prosperity and glory, is the realization of what would have ordinarily appeared a most extravagant dream of conquest and dominion, and is without parallel in the annals of humanity In the moral as in the material world, the most perfect and durable forms and systems usually arrive slowly, and by almost imperceptible gradations, at ultimate maturity. But to this rule Islam was a striking exception. It attained the summit of its greatness, and raised the Arabians to an exalted rank in the family of nations, in a shorter period of time than is generally occupied by a people in passing through the primitive stages of their intellectual development.
It refuted the familiar maxim of the Romans, whose foreign policy was based upon the fomenting of dissensions and the subsequent discomfiture of their enemies, and, assailing its adversaries simultaneously on every side, won its way by a series of victories surpassing, in momentous results, the most renowned triumphs of the consuls and the Cæsars. In the traditions relating to the genealogy and history of its Prophet there is much that is enigmatical and much that is romantic. The latter deduced his origin from Ishmael, whom, with his unfortunate mother, Abraham, the acknowledged head of God’s chosen people, had inhumanly abandoned in the Desert to starve.
But in the seventy-one generations which separated Mohammed and Ishmael, a radical change of circumstances had befallen the rival branches of the house of Abraham. The descendants of Isaac, who had been promised the earth for an inheritance, now enslaved or exiled, and proverbial for bad faith, had become reviled and contemned of all men. On the other hand, from Ishmael the vagabond, deserted by his father and renounced by his kindred, had sprung a noble, valiant, and hospitable race, whose destiny was the
promotion of civilization and the extension of empire. And in due time the latter, having obtained possession of the opulent regions of the East, tolerated the despised Hebrew only upon payment of tribute, and restricted him to a distinctive costume as a symbol of his degradation. He was compelled, in token of respect, to remove his slippers whenever he passed a mosque, and under penalty of the lash to kneel abjectly in the dust before the haughty Ishmaelite; while the capital of the land from which he had been banished, endeared to him by the memory of his sovereigns and the traditions of his faith, was in the power of his hereditary enemies, whose sacrilegious hands had raised the gilded dome of one of their proudest fanes upon the very spot long consecrated by the most revered associations of his race and his religion. The law of compensation, which controls the fate of man, was at last fulfilled, and retribution, if long delayed, was then exacted with relentless severity.
The benefits wrought by Mohammedans—especially during the Middle Ages—have, until the end of the last century, been silently ignored or studiously depreciated by historians; in some instances through want of information, but, for the most part, because the phenomenal progress of Islam, when compared with the apathetic condition of other religions, suggested a formidable rivalry. But in this age, insatiable of knowledge and equipped with every means of obtaining it, it is no longer possible for clerical intolerance to obscure the splendid achievements of Moslem science. The day has long since past when the labors of astronomers like Ibn-Junis, of historians like Al-Makkari, of philosophers like Averroes, of physicians like Avicenna, and of botanists like Ibn-Beithar, can be treated with obloquy because they were not authorized by the decree of an Ecumenical Council or approved by a bull of his Holiness the Pope.
The history of a religion, the exposition of a form of faith, is not infrequently the memoir of an individual and the chronicle of a race. As a rule, the union of the offices of Prophet and Lawgiver in a single personage deeply impresses the individuality of that personage upon the character of his nation. The annals of the Hebrews are indissolubly bound up with the Holy Scriptures and the precepts of
Mosaic law The mention of ancient Persia suggests at once the texts of the Zendavesta and the ordinances of Zoroaster. The Koran is practically the biography of Mohammed, the tale of his sorrows, his aspirations, his failures, and his triumphs. And what more noble monument could Arabia boast than the proud distinction of having been the home of a prophet and the cradle of a faith for centuries identified with religious toleration, with princely munificence, with scientific investigation, with literary merit,—all intimately associated with her name and with the varying fortunes of her children? The latter, from the first, devoted themselves to the interests of civilization. They settled colonies of skilled artisans in the wake of their armies. They promoted manufactures, encouraged commerce, and in every department of industrial occupation stimulated the efforts of mechanical ingenuity. They developed the science of astronomy. To them chemistry and pharmacy owe their origin. While persevering botanists explored the flora of many lands, the mathematician, in his secluded retreat, expanded and perfected the science of algebra. When a new region was subjected to their rule, all fruits, plants, and herbs, which examination or experience had found to be either edible or curative, were inscribed upon the lists of tribute, and their importation and distribution became compulsory. They branded idleness with contempt; they ennobled labor; and even royalty did not disdain to follow the example of the Prophet, who, with his own hands, assisted in the erection of the mosque of Medina, the first temple of Islam. They translated and preserved for the pleasure and instruction of posterity the immortal productions of the sages of Greece and Rome. They fostered learning, and encouraged its pursuit by maxim, reward, and example, until it became a matter of popular belief, as firmly grounded as the most sacred tradition, that the diligent cultivation of the mental faculties was an imperative religious duty.
In ancient times, to compel the observance of a salutary law, it was connected with public worship and directly sanctioned by the precepts of religion. In this way, hallowed by divine authority, it acquired a force not obtainable by human enactment, and conclusively indicated the wisdom of the sovereign or lawgiver who promulgated it. It was thus with circumcision among the Jews, with
the cultivation of the soil in Mesopotamia, and with irrigation in Egypt, where the Nile was deified as the creator and preserver of the harvests and the source of the material prosperity of the nation. Mohammed was not blind to the advantages to be secured by this theocratic supervision of the affairs of mortals, and, by recourse to it, enforced the adoption and practice of many healthful customs and profitable employments whose effects upon the subjects of his successors were of the greatest importance.
The contagion of superstition, the impression produced by the grandeur of scenery, and the periodical recurrence of mysterious natural phenomena must always be attentively considered in determining the philosophical belief and religious tendencies of a people. Intimate relations with Egypt, sustained for a vast but unknown period of time, have left ineffaceable traces upon the traditions of Arabia. In the religious system of the former country there was one Supreme Being. All other divinities were but manifestations of his majesty and omnipotence concealed under different names. From him emanated the multifarious triads, the personification of the Nile, the countless array of gods to whom the days, the months, and even the very productions of the earth, were sacred. The great secret that these inferior deities were mere abstractions proceeding from a common Essence, to be eventually absorbed into it,—a fate to which even the soul of man, after divers transmigrations, was subject,—was jealously guarded by the Egyptian priesthood, and was the chief of its famous mysteries. The Sabeans of Yemen, instructed through their mercantile relations with the inhabitants of the Valley of the Nile, had long been familiar with the idea of a Supreme God and the personified attributes of His power and dignity. This doctrine had spread from the South, and, at the date of the advent of Mohammed, underlay the idolatrous worship of which Mecca was the centre, and whose ramifications extended in every direction to the borders of the Peninsula. A considerable number of the more intelligent Arabs who professed adherence to the religion of Abraham, yet, in fact, knew nothing of that religion except that it was monotheistic, repudiated all forms of idolatry, and styled themselves Hanifs—a word variously defined as “Incliners” and “Heretics.” The Manichean conception of the Spirit of
Darkness—or, in other words, that important and enterprising personage the Persian devil, without whose presence no modern creed would seem to be complete—was also unknown to the ancient inhabitants of Arabia. As the idea was imported,—no branch of the Semitic race having been originally acquainted with it,—it probably travelled in the train of Cambyses when he invaded the Desert; although Iblis, the Arabic name by which this spirit is popularly designated, is evidently of European derivation and a corruption of the Greek Διάβολος.
Nor have the physical features of the landscape less to do with the formation of man’s moral impressions, and the direction of his impulses, than the reciprocal interchange of the ideas of contiguous nations. This is apparent in even a greater degree than the influence of soil and climate in the modification of his physical aspect and temperament. The more imposing those features, the more profound the emotions they excite; and, partly for this reason, Asia, which Nature has endowed with the most stupendous manifestations of her energy, has been prolific of those superstitions which have exercised the most extensive and lasting dominion over the human mind.
For more than a century before the birth of Mohammed, the most deplorable ignorance had obscured the face of the Christian world. The gentleness and beauty of the religion of Jesus had been supplanted by the direst fanaticism; its altars had been profaned by heathen sacrifices and the adoration of images; its priesthood had become inconceivably corrupt and immoral. The countless sects evoked by the machinations and worldly ambition of the clergy had, by mutual recrimination, revolting crimes, relentless persecution of their adversaries, and obstinate refusal to listen to any plan of reconciliation, almost destroyed the faith of reasonable men in every religion. Each of these sects had a leader who was regarded by his followers as endowed, to a greater or less degree, with that mysterious power conferred by divine inspiration. Disputes, frequently settled by massacre, were constantly maintained upon abstruse and frivolous questions in their very nature unanswerable; the precepts of justice and the laws of morality were contemptuously disregarded; and the sacerdotal class, instead of setting an example
of piety and moderation to its congregations, was conspicuous in the daily saturnalia of rapine, lust, and murder. The Church had long since departed from the simplicity and purity of its original institution. For a century only after the death of the Saviour it had remained free from the influence of schismatic doctrines. While in comparative obscurity and acknowledged weakness, it offered no inducements to the disturbing spirit of fanatical innovators or to the selfish schemes of political aggrandizement and ecclesiastical ambition. In the beginning, divided into a number of federated republics practically independent, yet bound together by a common interest, governed by their own laws, relying upon their own resources, guided by the wisdom of their own ministers, their thoroughly organized polity, their obstinacy, their claims to superior holiness, naturally excited the odium of the Pagan populace, and frequently provoked the wrath and the interference of Imperial authority. From a condition of meekness, humility, and self-abnegation, the Church had become the prey of hostile factions, and was already tainted with scandal. Its synods were polluted with the blood of contending sectaries. Its councils resounded with the unseemly disputes and mutual recriminations of prelates more ambitious for the attainment of supreme power than for the discovery of divine truth. The Trinitarian controversy had nourished prejudices which centuries of apparent tranquillity had failed to eradicate. The spirit of persecution, incomprehensible to the polytheists, the essence of whose creed was universal toleration, and who could not appreciate the motives impelling the Christian to the employment of force to establish his doctrines, had early begun to manifest itself. Monasticism, synonymous with ignorance and intolerance, represented the sentiments and hopes of the most degraded of the populace in every community of the Empire. At Alexandria and Nicea it had forced, by weight of numbers and by turbulent demonstrations of violence, the adoption of some of the most important articles of Christian faith. In every ecclesiastical feud it had invariably espoused the cause of bigotry and imposture. The monk of the sixth century united in his character the inconsistent attributes of the priest and the politician, the saint and the demagogue. His retreat in the solitude of the desert was visited by thousands of weeping penitents, suppliants for the
