Sport is part of a rapidly changing world in which new pressures from politics, society, the media, and new technologies play a significant role. This book shows how sport and its culture are being transformed by wider forces of change. The post-9/11 era has brought the occupation of Iraq and American imperial foreign policy, overt attempts toward dismantling public education and affirmative action, marketing of patriotic narratives, and the framing of national identity around conservative cultural politics. Detailed case studies focus on such events as the hypercommercialism of NASCAR auto racing, Nike advertising, the 2002 and 2004 Olympic Games, the politics of race surrounding the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and emerging narratives in youth sport. The book will be a must-read for those interested in the complex ways sport is sutured into the national consciousness.