The sporting culture penetrated our quotidian as a major reference. Even if it is difficult to define, sports is known by everybody and is omnipresent. Today, sports profit from a positive image (to be well, healthy). It occupies an important place in the media (newspapers, TV, sporting press, sports channels). The sports competition success with 32,000 participants registered for the Paris marathon, 9,000,000 spectators for Tour de France and more than 250,000,000 for the last Superbowl are examples of the importance given to sports in these modern times. The image of the champion is used much in publicity, the sportsmen of high levels are models and make sales.
Everyone knows this famous sentence of Miles in the movie "Cliffhanger": "I like it extreme" when he is speaking about the bad conditions (weather) before making his jump (with a parachute).
These last years, extreme sports has been with the modern life mode. The figures show that extreme sports are especially the prerogative of young people from the upper social class, it is an evidence easy to make: tennis is annoying and other similar sports are becoming boring. The traditional sports are not any more fun, we need more!
As time goes by, the notion of "Extreme Sports" has evolved. Between the 1970s and the 1980s, sports considered as "Extremes" were only the ones with risks of fatal accidents in case of error. From 1990s, auto-proclamation of extreme sports became common, with the aim of valuing the activity.
Since the 2000s, the definition has considerably become supple, and is classified in this category of sports which offers wild sports. It is also a variation of classic sports which initially were without dangers and now are more hard, more complex and unsafe.
People are now looking for new experiences, looking for thrills, looking for sensations, they want to surpass themselves.
The extreme sports' popularity has created a lot of new businesses; many companies indulge in extreme sports for their growth.
Tourism is taking advantage of these new kinds of activities and creates various offers including the practice of extreme sports.
The objective of this paper is to define how extreme sports has become an industry in France, so all the first parts of this section are dedicated to the French market. Nevertheless, as it is a relatively new segment of the sports market in France, we will also find out other results from different countries.
The section will focus on the sports industry with a global overview of the situation in France (the market, the customer). Secondly, we will find out the situation of extreme sports in the general sports industry.
In order to show how much importance it takes, we will present you an example of the extreme sports market: the case of USA and an example of the new opportunity: the case of the UK with the Extreme Sports Channel.
To finish this part, I will highlight on the sudden rise in using the word "extreme" and why it is impacting on other markets.
[...] Extreme Motor Sports: Extreme Motor Sports include different types such as exciting options like the Mountain Biking and Adventure racing. Mountain Biking Tip Mountain biking tip involves vigorous cycling across the countryside or on mountain terrain and requires a high level of stamina and fitness. There are bikes manufactured which are particularly suited to the rigors of this sport. This sport can be practiced in regions, which are rugged but surmountable. Adventure Racing Adventure Racing is a non-stop expedition style competition carried out through a designed course. [...]
[...] Sensations are extreme because they correlate a double component of traction; one horizontal for displacement and the other being vertical for the jumps. The kitesurf can thus take off with twenty meters and reach a speed that comes very close to forty nodes, i.e. nearly 70 km/h. It should be noted that one powerful boat reaches the 35 nodes. The kite surf is marked by two disciplines: Freestyle which is the most extreme combination of jumping in free style, and is used for the French championships. [...]
[...] They are entirely different and have their specificities Specialized mass-market (hypermarket) Specialized mass-market (GSS: grandes surfaces spécialsées) such as Decathlon or Go Sport developed a branch in their stores for the slides sports (surf, windsurf, kitesurf). For the study, the researcher went in one of these stores in order to get a better understanding of this phenomenon. Indeed, the entire hypermarket has a part in their store specialized to water sports with dedicated salesmen who are specialized in this kind of sport and know all the innovations of the market and are equipped with the latest technology. [...]
[...] The aim of this section is to explain the research methodology undertaken to provide relevant information to cover research objectives and to answer the research question: How sports has led to extreme sports? Research approach Deductive or inductive approach When dealing with a research problem, two different ways of approaches exist: the deductive and the inductive. According to Saunders (2002), the deductive approach necessitates a high quantity of quantitative data for the researcher to be able to generalize its results. [...]
[...] Charles Dredans, during an interview, said that for him practice of extreme sports is a strong drug, it procures in him a kind of dependence. Consequently, extreme sports give an enormous pleasure and when people begin to like it, they cannot stop. c. Admiration Extreme skiing followed the standard evolution of the activity with risk, passing from a simple activity of passionate people to a sport very popular with a large audience, from the stage of amateurism to the professionalism level. [...]
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