I was not sure what surprised me more, the agitated reaction of the public to the ban on the Mexican wave at the MCG, or the fact that the managers of the 'people’s ground' thought it necessary. At first sight the issue seems trivial. Yet the whole incident tells us something revealing about contemporary sport watching in Australia, and perhaps something about contemporary Australian cities.
Of course, like violence at soccer games, the Mexican wave at the cricket may just be a symptom of crowd boredom. But there is also a sense in which contemporary stadium design encourages concerted crowd activity. In the old days, when smaller stadiums had large amounts of standing room (or even at the MCG, which once had substantial standing room areas) the idea of the Mexican wave was superfluous.
At the MCG the wave always represented a confirmation of what, or so we are told, Australian sport is supposed to be about – a good natured assertion of equality and rejection of the privileges of class. As the wave swept around the outer, the refusal of the members to participate was greeted with loud boos – a ritual demonstration of the stuffiness of those who think themselves above the mass, but also precisely exposing the falsity of the claims that sport is a social leveller.
It is highly unlikely that the manager of the MCG decided to ban the wave to protect the members from embarrassment. But what did motivate the decision? It seems to me that the answer lies in the transformation of contemporary sport into something that is no longer just sport, but rather entertainment. It also reflects current trends in urban space.
Given that, more than ever before, sports supporters are encouraged to participate in the entertainment, not just watch it, the decision to ban the wave seems to embody an egregious double standard. Cricket in particular has developed the concept of sport as entertainment. One could be excused for confusing 20-20 cricket for a cricket match in a disco. Horse racing, notwithstanding its always problematic status as a real spectator sport, has been deliberately transformed into a large-scale fashion show/B&S Ball. Even during the AFL football season television stations and advertisers continually run promotional gimmicks to involve crowd members.
People are encouraged to see going to the football or cricket as a day out, an entertainment activity to rival going to