Football clubs and new ways to produce sports information

Abstract

The football industry has grown economically, leading to a rationalization process of football clubs that professionalizes management and seeks specialized labour. In parallel, digitization has led to major changes in the sports media market, increasing the content offer and making room for new actors. Football clubs have created their own media channels, employing professionals with training and experience in journalism to produce contents. This paper analyses 3 clubs (Benfica, Botafogo and PSG), chosen due to their innovation in the field (Benfica launched Portugal’s first football club TV, Botafogo TV was critically acclaimed, PSG created a WebTV). We will reflect on the changes in the field of journalism and in their professional practice. The results show that the production of information follows a sport’s logic and, at the same time, undergoes broader pressures common to other parts of the journalism field.