The business of sports marketing has become both lucrative and influential in shaping sport in general and the individual athletes. The desire for endorsement offers and profitable media coverage has become a crucial facet of modern sport. With a selection of athletes making millions of dollars a year, outside of their sporting arena, it is obvious to see the impact of marketing and advertising on sport. In this essay I will examine the ways in which marketing effects the athletes and sport in general. Also, I will identify the characteristics of a marketable sporting "celebrity" and further look into African American athletes specifically and the way the African American community is marketed.

Sport has not always been covered in such feverish enthusiasm, now with coverage on television, radio, and internet. The real emergence of sport into everyday life began after World War II, when new heroes were needed...