Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 February 2017
One could easily construct an argument that modern professional sports, played within the capitalistic atmosphere of competitive salaries and managerial techniques, provides the mass spectator with a sense of relief and adventure from the dull monotony and drudgery of our modern technological and urban environment. An extension of this argument would be that spectator sports by occupying the leisure time of the mass man dilutes his political consciousness and diffuses his feelings of rebellion. Within this framework sports could be considered one of the controlling instruments of our technological culture.
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