# A major sport totally dying out **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 14, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457 "2013-07-14T04:11:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/61 "2013-07-16T14:07:57Z")
There haven’t been any dance marathons since the Depression, have there? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/62 "2013-07-16T14:53:50Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > The OP talks about a major sport totally dying out. A fall in TV viewership of some pro events is a long way short of “totally dying out”, especially when participation and live viewership remain strong. And if we are cherry-picking data, the [US Open finals TV ratings in 2012](http://espn.go.com/tennis/usopen12/story/_/id/8367924/more-16-million-watch-andy-murray-us-open-win) were the highest for several years for both the men’s and women’s final. > > And from zap2it, for the recently completed Wimbledon: > > Slightly old data (as was yours), but [this](http://www.sfia.org/press/5_-The-American-Sports-Scene%3A-An-Analysis-of-Sports-Participation-in-the-U.S.) lists tennis as the 10th fastest growing participation sport from 2000 - 2007. I understand what the OP said, but the poster’s point about Tennis is that it is experiencing a serious decline in popularity. I assume he meant as a professional spectator sport. I don’t think there is any doubt that this is the case in the US. I didn’t cherrypick data, I showed the only list of comprenesive, long-term ratings that I could find on short notice. It was much more accurate than viewership for one match. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/63 "2013-07-16T15:02:12Z")
Harness racing is dying out even faster than thoroughbred racing. The few remaining events almost feel more like historical recreations than actual competitions. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/64 "2013-07-16T15:34:26Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **RTFirefly** has it right for boxing, though the time frame was a little later. In the 60s, all heavyweight championship fights were televised and you could follow a boxer’s career. This started ending in the 70s for the reasons he mentions: everything went to closed circuit and later pay-per-view. More money in the short run, but a disaster in the long run. > > It also didn’t help that there were more and more organizations sanctioning bouts and more and more champions and weight divisions. Back in the 60s, there were fewer divisions, and one champion in each (occasionally there were disputed championships, but they were resolved quickly). Now it’s hard to keep track of the champion since there’s usually two or three of them. The “governing” bodies are interested in having their own champions, since it brings them more money. I’m going to agree and disagree, sort of, with you here. With regards to your second point, I actually think this is the primary reason boxing is dying out in the USA (and much of the First World.) There is simply no clear system anymore - I don’t think it’s a matter of the number of divisions, really, it’s a matter of the number of boxing organizations. For much of boxing’s history there was, at any given time, one champion. In 1971, the heavyweight champion of the world was Joe Frazier. In 1954, it was Rocky Marciano. In 1940 it was Joe Louis. There was a consistency and a story you could follow. If someone held on to the championship for a long time, like Louis, that was amazing. If it was a one shot wonder like Lee Savold, that was part of the story, too. Today there are, by my count, three champions. I believe at one point a few years ago there were four or five; frankly, it’s hard to keep straight. The equivalent in, say, football, is if you had the NFL, USFL, WFL and a fourth football league all claiming their champion was the Super Bowl champion, and teams didn’t play consistently in one league but just scheduled around 16 games a year at their own leisure and the four leagues engaged in squabbles and shenanigans over who the champion was and what game was actually the Super Bowl, and at the end of the year two leagues say it’s the Ravens, one says it’s the Patriots, and one says it’s the 49ers and you have no clear idea why. Now, the argument that boxing was hurt by staying off broadcast TV is a very compelling one, but here’s my problem with it: **UFC isn’t on regular television either.** If not being on network TV killed boxing, why is mixed martial arts, which has essentially the same issue with free TV, exploding in popularity? When I look at MMA, the key difference between it and boxing is that there’s ONE major governing body, that being UFC. There are lesser organizations - there’s six or seven MMA organizations out there claiming to boast a champion - but there’s no doubt as to what the real championship is; UFC. The guy holding the UFC title is the man at the top in MMA. I don’t even follow MMA, but I know who Cain Velasquez, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva are. I actually heard about it when Silva was defeated. So why, despite the fact you can’t watch a UFC title bout on free TV, is MMA eating boxing’s popularity? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/65 "2013-07-16T15:36:17Z")
I think it’s even simpler than that. There’s no Muhammad Ali in the sport anymore. Back to the OP, I don’t even remember the last time I saw a gladiator take on a lion using only a short sword, do you? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/66 "2013-07-16T15:59:47Z")
Long before Ali, boxing was immensely popular. Every city had its gym and well-attended local fights. ---
**Author:** ![eltro102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@eltro102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eltro102)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/67 "2013-07-16T16:11:23Z")
most of the major manufactures championships in racing are dead (as in, the car is more important than the driver), F1 being the only one remotely close and that too is being turned into a drivers race for reasons unknown imo it’s a lot more exciting to have multi-millon pound cars with active magic aero and super-sculpted profiles with the bleeding edge of technology than what is there current (example: F1 management told Pirelli to build worse tyres since their current ones were too good) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/68 "2013-07-16T16:24:01Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **RTFirefly** has it right for boxing, though the time frame was a little later. In the 60s, all heavyweight championship fights were televised and you could follow a boxer’s career. Google “ali liston closed circuit.” The championship fights between the two were shown on closed-circuit TV, which was when I initially became aware that there was such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/69 "2013-07-16T16:29:49Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Now, the argument that boxing was hurt by staying off broadcast TV is a very compelling one, but here’s my problem with it: > > **UFC isn’t on regular television either.** > > If not being on network TV killed boxing, why is mixed martial arts, which has essentially the same issue with free TV, exploding in popularity? ‘Exploding in popularity’ at what level? Something can go from a small niche following to a large niche following without being on regular television. I’m saying that a major sport would have a tough time remaining a major sport if cut off from regular television for nearly two decades. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/70 "2013-07-16T19:15:41Z")
The largest sport I have seen “die out” is inline roller skating - especially hockey. I remember when there was a reasonably professional inline hockey league; now, inline skating (of any type) isn’t even part of the X Games.. > [@RickJay](#): > > **UFC isn’t on regular television either.** Fox airs it on occasion, on Saturday nights. (However, between its baseball and college football contracts, the next “UFC on Fox” event will probably be in mid-December, unless it gets moved to Fox Sports 1.) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/71 "2013-07-16T21:32:08Z")
[Chunkey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chunkey) was a game that Native Americans were still playing at the time of European contact, but it was already in decline. Today lacrosse is far more famous, but back in the day chunkey was the dominant sport in what is now the U.S. As far as I know, the game is now completely extinct. Shuffleboard was immensely popular in colonial New England, despite being condemned by Puritan leaders. I used to play as a kid, but I haven’t even seen a court since the 1980s. It’s still being played, but I wonder if it’s on the way out. I also wonder about horseshoes. My uncles and their friends used to play, but I haven’t seen a horseshoe pitch since Bush The First left the White House in 1993. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/72 "2013-07-16T23:30:27Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I think it’s even simpler than that. There’s no Muhammad Ali in the sport anymore. I would also lay some blame on those mid-late 80’s Mike Tyson fights. People felt ripped off at shelling out money for a bunch of PPV fights lasting 2-3 rounds and began to think it may be as fixed as pro wrestling. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/73 "2013-07-17T22:22:05Z")
> [@Quintas](#): > > I would also lay some blame on those mid-late 80’s Mike Tyson fights. People felt ripped off at shelling out money for a bunch of PPV fights lasting 2-3 rounds and began to think it may be as fixed as pro wrestling. My grandfather paid good money for the Tyson-Spinks fight, which lasted 91 seconds. Believe me, it wasn’t fixed. But it was still pretty disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/74 "2013-07-18T00:41:33Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > Motorbike speedway would be a prominent example from the UK, I would guess you have / had that in the US also. Basically short course motorbike racing round a dirt track - the riders skid through the turns dramatically, I think because the bikes don’t use brakes. > > Used to draw huge crowds way back in the day, pre-war, with all major cities having a speedway track. Had a bit of a revival here in the 70s, I can remember seeing it televised when I was a kid. Since then it’s disappeared as a mainstream spectator sport, I have no idea who many tracks are left in the UK or where you might go to watch it. It’s still big in the Midlands. I lived in Birmingham in the early nineties and there were three kids in my year who competed in juniors. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/75 "2013-07-18T12:38:33Z")
Side hacking. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/76 "2013-07-18T13:52:23Z")
> [@eltro102](#): > > most of the major manufactures championships in racing are dead (as in, the car is more important than the driver), F1 being the only one remotely close and that too is being turned into a drivers race for reasons unknown > imo it’s a lot more exciting to have multi-millon pound cars with active magic aero and super-sculpted profiles with the bleeding edge of technology than what is there current (example: F1 management told Pirelli to build worse tyres since their current ones were too good) The problem is that the more technology you stuff into the cars, the smaller the tolerances get and the less interesting the racing becomes. If you’re old enough to remember the 1992 and 1993 seasons you’ll know exactly what I mean: they were some of the most boring races of all time, only briefly enlivened by Senna driving the balls off a succession of underpowered McLarens. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/77 "2013-07-18T14:31:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The problem is that the more technology you stuff into the cars, the smaller the tolerances get and the less interesting the racing becomes. If you’re old enough to remember the 1992 and 1993 seasons you’ll know exactly what I mean: they were some of the most boring races of all time, only briefly enlivened by Senna driving the balls off a succession of underpowered McLarens. The last time I found F1 interesting was in the Lauda era. It’s become a soulless prove-out of the computer projections. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/78 "2013-07-18T15:09:08Z")
It was interesting to me in the late nineties because of the whole Prost/Senna “fuck you!” angle, but the racing itself was pretty boring. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/79 "2013-07-18T17:36:15Z")
A big factor in F1 races being interesting or boring seems to me to be the track. Very generally, an older track will give an exciting race, and one designed by Tilke won’t. And Monaco tends to be a bit of a procession, but is not always. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/80 "2013-07-23T16:04:31Z")
How many people know what the official Canadian national sport is? Lacrosse. It apparently grew too violent. NHL, beware. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457.md?page=5)