Levelling the Playing Field : The problem with sport and what can be done about it

This book takes readers below sport’s glossy surface to expose an ugly underbelly. While sport can attract players, draw an audience, and build social cohesion, its ability to make society a better place has been greatly overstated, with the harm it delivers being cleverly hidden from the public gaze. Sport needs radical reform.

This book is a blueprint for the reinvention of sport and its reclamation as a vital activity for improving the quality of life. It begins by taking a broad view of sport, where its meaning and essence are examined, its international scope is addressed, and the divide between community and big-time sport examined. It then digs deep into the detail of sport by identifying the benefits and costs that follow in its wake. It does this by revisiting landmark research studies and distilling the findings into a taxonomy of outcomes, positive and negative. While confirming sport’s public value and capital building capability, this study also reveals significant problems in the way it is organised, promoted and consumed. Sport is frequently unsafe and the risk of harm may be high. The book ends with a call for a new direction built around internal re-organization and a bold approach to external regulation; thus an end game of adding value to society by increasing the wellbeing of citizens.