Task 1: Watch the Introductory Video to this Unit (5 minutes)

Task 2: Review the provided images, videos and attached links for Sports during the 1980's (15 minutes)

Task 3: Identifying Examples of Pop Culture (30 minutes)

• Research Sports Stars from the 1980's

• Identify which Sports Stars of the decade are widely recognizable and invoke similar imagery

  • Explore beyond the examples provided on this page

• Select the THREE (3) Sports Stars you think best represents a moment in Pop Culture in the 1980's

• Create an infographic highlighting you selection for the top THREE (3) Sports Stars that are a good representation of Pop Culture

  • Your graphic should include at least ONE (1) image or chart and two sentences for each selection explaining the song/show/technology and why it is a good representation of Pop Culture in the decade

  • You can use Canva Infographic or any other program or platform you would like

• Compare and discuss with a classmate your selections 

Task 4: Submit your infographic on GOOGLE CLASSROOM 

 By the 1980s the hours of televised sports had doubled in comparison to ten years before. The rights to telecast professional and college sports along with the Olympics were driven to incredible amounts of money. Sports were packaged to be more appealing to television, in effect compromising the nature of the games (Rader, 1984).

The leagues and teams are bringing in millions of dollars from television contracts. The television networks pay for these contracts with the money they receive from advertisers paying for airtime on their telecasts of these sporting events.  To accommodate for television, sports have had to adjust schedules, the pace of games, and the locations. Professional baseball went from a sport played mostly in the afternoon to a game that is mostly seen now in the evening under artificial lights. Basketball, hockey, and football have added television timeouts to break for commercials. (Klattell& Marcus, 1988).  Television's influence has brought upon on-site banners, logo, and sponsor tie-ins. Arenas and stadiums are covered with billboards. The networks sell ad space for such things as the halftime report, or the official beer of the event (Klatell& Marcus, 1988).  (http://people.wcsu.edu/mccarneyh/acad/Mendes.html )

With access to a gigantic TV audience they couldn’t find anywhere else, advertisers realized the Super Bowl presented a unique opportunity to sell their products and brands. As the commercials became more ubiquitous, so too did the Super Bowl, feeding off each other in a tornado of corporatism.  In 1978, the NFL moved the Super Bowl to prime time in the US eastern time zone for the first time, in part to please the growing number of advertisers seeking the valuable ad space. The result was the most-watched Super Bowl broadcast to date, jumping 27% in total viewers from the year prior—by far the largest year-to-year increase in the game’s history. That was perhaps the year the Super Bowl went from an already enormous event into a permanent staple of American culture.  Super Bowl ads may have reached a creative apex in 1984, when Apple introduced the Macintosh computer to the world. Directed by Ridley Scott, the high-concept Apple ad became a phenomenon, still considered today to be one of the greatest commercials of all time. (https://qz.com/1794113/how-the-nfl-super-bowl-became-a-cultural-phenomenon/ )