Sports, Branding & Control of the Modern Gladiator

Modern athletics have roots in pagan celebrations and war preparations. In ancient Rome, sports would acquire the commercial and entertainment value that we recognize today, as spectacular events and deaths became an effective way to defuse social, political and economic tensions amongst the people. Today, sports help regulate leisure, but they also promote the integration of people from diverse backgrounds into a national system of values so vital to the discipline and sense of meritocracy found in our social institutions and the workforce. This Matrix Map will provide opportunities for you to explore how sports continue to reflect the problems of the larger society and create the action dramas that often play out in subsidized stadiums as well as classrooms, court rooms, bedrooms, boardrooms and emergency rooms. Also, it reveals how physical prowess and fame deify sports stars and why their star power makes them icons for selling products, culture and simulations.