Stadiums of commercial and social control: overlapping rationalities within European football’s transformation

The transformation of European football has been subjected to much scholarly attention over three decades. In analysing these changes, we may look towards one research trajectory emphasizing the role of commercial and neoliberal economic free-market forces. Another trajectory highlights how developments in the politics of risk and security shaped European-wide counter-hooligan policies which, again, had a transformational effect on European football. These supplementary insights share European football as a site of analysis and agree that the Heysel tragedy (1985) accelerated new eras of commercialism and social control that, respectively, marginalized supporters. Still, they are seldom drawn together to examine how economic and security rationalities overlap within European football. Filling this gap, this article contributes with an updated, Foucauldian understanding of the interplay between the pursuits of profit and control. As argued, these in tandem, have revolved around the creation of controlled stadiums and spaces that express economic and disciplinary power.