Sport has become one of the most powerful forms of global culture. Arguably, it is the most successful penetrative form of Western ‘soft power’, from colonisation through to globalisation. This chapter explores the cultural and economic prominence and appeal of sport, particularly looking at sporting figures who have acquired a global presence in capitalist society (for example, Lebron James, Serena Williams and Tiger Woods), together with a discussion of the loss of Huizinga’s idea of the authentic ‘play spirit’ with the intrusion of the cultural industry. The importance of sport has long been recognised, both as an industry and as a significant marker of cultural identity. However, the rise of the mass media in the twentieth century has turned sports figures into celebrities and, sometimes, global ‘icons’. It is argued that such global sports figures have become ‘floating signifiers’, both in the sense that Whannel conceptualised David Beckham (with regards to branding and consumerism) as well as in terms of dominant capitalist markers of ‘success’ and achievement. The chapter ends by considering the potential for some localised forms of play and sport to remain ‘authentic’ despite the intrusion of the market in such cultural activities.