Producing Allblacks.com: Cultural Intermediaries and the Policing of Electronic Spaces of Sporting Consumption

Abstract

Despite the rapid growth in new media technologies and interest from both sport organizations and corporations in interacting with premium consumers, very little research examines the cultural production and regulation of electronic sporting spaces of consumption. Drawing from interviews with the New Zealand Rugby Union’s (NZRU) cultural intermediaries, this article presents an investigation of the production of allblacks.com, the virtual home of the New Zealand All Blacks and the official website of the game’s governing body. Specifically, we employ a cultural-economic theoretical framework to illuminate the institutionalized codes of production and work routines of the rugby union’s cultural intermediaries who police and regulate what appears on the website to unashamedly promote an elective affinity that includes corporate sponsors, media organizations, players, and the NZRU.