Rhetorical Analysis on “Is There Room for Sports to Get Even More Commercialized?

by Joe Pinsker

Jaydon Arslanian

2nd Period

Dr. Haslam

English 1010

12/21/20

Link: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/06/future-corporate-sports-

sponsorhip/486569/

The article “Is There Room for Sports to Get Even More Commercialized?” by Joe

Pinsker was published June 13th, 2016. In his article he talks about how there is no more room

for advertisements in sports because there are already plenty of advertisements that take over

sports, from commercials and billboards, to patches on jerseys and tickers in arenas. Pinsker

discusses how anytime you watch a game, it is covered with advertisements as soon as you turn

the game on. “Welcome to ____ Arena/Stadium” “This game is sponsored by ____”. It is

extremely hard to miss an advertisement. Pinsker discusses in his article how it makes sense how

one of the last possible places for an ad in sports is a jersey. In 2016, the Philadelphia 76ers

agreed to place a “Stubhub!” logo on the upper left hand corner of their jerseys. Pinsker talks

about how other teams across sports are,”likely not far behind.” Pinsker wonders what sports will

look like in the future and compares them with possibly resembling NASCAR jerseys, crowded

with logos and slogans of companies. I really liked this article because it talks about sports, and I

love sports. It also talked about the elements behind sports, which I enjoyed as well. I also like
this article because throughout the article, Pinkser uses strategies like ethos, to show not just his

credibility, but his sources as well. He incorporates pathos and logos as well to show that

advertising in sports is paramount (because it gives us sports) and will continue to evolve and

expand for years to come.

Pinkser continuously talks about the evolution of advertising in sports. He begins by

talking about Wrigley Field and the first players to get sponsorships. He then goes on telling

about how it has changed over the years. He discusses the first sponsor of a game on the radio.

Pinsker explains how this was a turning point in sponsorships and things began to “take off”. The

reason he discusses the history so much in his article is because it is what gives us games to

watch. Sponsorships were established in the 20th century because, “Professional sports leagues

needed money, so companies gave it to them,” says Pinsker. This is important because he

reasoned it is what supplies our sports today and without these sponsorships, we wouldn’t have

any sports to enjoy. This applies to the pathos of this article by playing on the reader’s emotions

of being without sports, so we need sponsorships. Throughout his article he also mentions

sources who are experienced in the field of sports marketing so it makes his article more

credible, which is ethos. He continues on by saying that to improve the game, they have to

become part of the game, “Not just a static sign on the scoreboard,” Advertisements should be

moving and popping and bringing attention. He gives examples such as teams implementing

their name into the game, like sponsored half-court shots and games. The purpose of Pinsker’s

article is to point out the importance of sponsorships because it is what provides us with sports.

He ends his article by saying even though the jersey might be the last place to go for

advertisements, marketers could still find a way to get their product shown to fans.
 In summary, Pinsker’s article is about how advertising in sports has changed so much

over the years and what it could look like later. He begins with an example of advertising now.

He does this to build on his topic as he goes on in the story. He then asks the reader questions

about what the future will resemble and then proceeds to contrast that and talk about the origin of

it all. He builds by saying how it has evolved over the years with technology and gives examples

as he is discussing this, just to instill his point even more. He goes on to compare different types

of advertising in all the major sports in the U.S. He finishes his article by displaying some

skepticism about even more advertising in sports, but then counters that by saying he wouldn’t

be surprised if marketers found another method.

A strategy that Pinkser establishes very well in his article is pathos. Pinsker includes

phrases that contain pathos to evoke emotion out of the reader. He uses these phrases to make the

reader feel grateful and realize that sponsors really are necessary, which causes them to lean

more toward Pinsker’s side. He does this by saying things such as “Without sponsors—‘This

game is brought to you by…’—we wouldn’t have games to watch,” Pinsker using this quote also

adds to the effectiveness of his article, making it a lot stronger by using pathos. It is also

important to include humor throughout an article, just to make it lighthearted. Pinsker does this,

while also getting his point across too. In this example, for instance, he states, “there is always

the possibility that someday, we will all be Corned Beef Cowboys fans.” This quote is significant

also because he is hinting at the possible future of sports advertising.

The next rhetorical device Pinsker uses is logos, which he does an exceptional job of

using. Pinsker begins his article by introducing the reader to his article to establish a baseline of

what it is going to be about, so he can then build on it. He begins by saying, “Last month, for the

price of $5 million, the Philadelphia 76ers agreed to place a small patch with StubHub’s logo on
its jerseys,” He also does this to establish credibility early in the article so the reader can know

that he means business. Another strategy within logos that Pinsker uses is giving reasons as to

why and how sponsorships have influenced sports using examples from the past. He gives

examples multiple times throughout his article. For example,”The Chicago White Sox bumped

the starting time of their weeknight home games, 7:07, back four minutes at the behest of a

sponsor. At the time, 7-Eleven’s spokesperson told ESPN, ‘Every time the media announces the

game's start time it will be a gentle reminder of our sponsorship.” He also gives examples of Hall

of Famer Ty Cobb and how he was one of the first to have a sponsorship. This evolved into not

only players getting sponsors, but arenas/stadiums themselves. The reason Pinsker uses examples

in his article is to argue his point better and to make it solid. He also does this to continue to

build on his argument and make it compelling.

Lastly, Pinsker plays a lot with ethos to show that the sources he interviewed were

credible. He listed the professions of the people he interviewed, which is crucial to showing the

reader that you know your topic and went to the right places for your information. Pinsker met

with experts on his issue to make sure he knew what he was talking about. Listing the

professions also shows the reader that you went to the right places for your information and

confident enough to stand behind it. Pinsker says, “a professor of sport and entertainment

management at the University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business.” and “a professor

of retail marketing at Baylor University.” This helps to also strengthen his argument and shows

that the author has authority and credibility. Doing this also shows that the author puts in the

effort to find the right sources for their article.

Pinsker does a great job of using many different strategies to make the reader evoke

emotions like gratitude, awareness, and shock. He uses specific examples and statistics to show
how advertisements have impacted us over the decades. He also brushes over how ads could look

in the future. So really, Pinsker does a remarkable job at covering every part of this topic.

Pinsker’s article makes the reader realize just how much advertising has impacted sports, even

when you don’t notice it. Pinsker also answers the question to the title of his article: Is There

Room for Sports to Get Even More Commercialized? by saying that, yes, there is an infinite

amount of room and marketers will find a way to fit their ads somewhere. Pinsker brought a

topic to the reader that people need to pay more attention to, and used specific instances to get

some emotion out of the reader. He did this to make the reader want to show gratitude because

they supply us with games like the Super Bowl, World Series, and so many more. Pinsker ends

his article with the big idea that the reader should get used to seeing advertisements in sports

because they will continue to evolve and continue to supply us with the breathtaking games we

see today.

Word Count: 1498

Works Cited

Ball, E. (2017, September 12). Advertising and Sports. Retrieved November 09, 2020, from

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/230603-advertising-and-sports

Pinsker, J. (2016, June 13). Is There Room for Sports to Get Even More Commercialized?

Retrieved November 09, 2020, from

 https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/06/future-corporate-sports-

sponsorhip/486569/

Turley, L., & Shannon, J. (2000, July 01). The impact and effectiveness of advertisements

in a sports arena. Retrieved November 09, 2020, from

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/08876040010334547/full/html