# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/81 "2013-07-23T20:26:20Z")
**Hari** -Parents who a generation (even 10 years) ago who were encouraging their sons to play American football are redirecting them to lacrosse. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/82 "2013-07-23T20:57:43Z")
Tug-of-war was an event from 1900-1920 and is still in the… “World Games” ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/83 "2013-07-23T21:19:13Z")
I don’t know if it counts as a major sport, but judging by the America’s Cup yacht racing seems to be in a serious decline. In [2007 10 syndicates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Vuitton_Cup_2007)competed to challenge the cup holders. In [2010 there](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_America%27s_Cup)was only one challenger (due to yet another weird legal battle). [This year](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Louis_Vuitton_Cup)there are 3 challengers, one of which hasn’t finished a race yet (to be fair their first boat sank). The new boats are pretty awesome though - hitting 40 knots plus in racing. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/84 "2013-07-23T21:28:11Z")
Jousting. Sure, [it’s still around](http://www.nationaljousting.com/)[in some places](http://marylandjousting.com/) but it’s nowhere as big as it was 500 years ago. ---
**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, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/85 "2013-07-23T23:18:10Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > **Hari** -Parents who a generation (even 10 years) ago who were encouraging their sons to play American football are redirecting them to lacrosse. Not soccer? That’s what I see. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/86 "2013-07-24T01:48:36Z")
Canada actually has two official national sports, and unsurprisingly, one of them is hockey. There is actually a law that says this, to my amazement. > **[National Sports of Canada Act](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/N-16.7/page-1.html)** > > Federal laws of Canada ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/87 "2013-07-24T06:26:25Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Jousting. > > Sure, [it’s still around](http://www.nationaljousting.com/)[in some places](http://marylandjousting.com/) but it’s nowhere as big as it was 500 years ago. I think we have a winner. From the first website: “The object of this sport is to gallop your horse down the track and attempt to spear small rings with the use of a lance.” Well ok, you can _call_ that jousting but that seems a little different than [this kind](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jousting): “In France, the 1559 death of King Henry II of wounds suffered in a tournament led to the end of jousting as a sport.[14]” ## Progress! Dance marathons are apparently still done for charity at various colleges: [Dance marathon - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_marathon) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/88 "2013-07-24T16:35:57Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > **Hari** -Parents who a generation (even 10 years) ago who were encouraging their sons to play American football are redirecting them to lacrosse. Soccer is still much bigger than lacrosse, but I definitely see a LOT of boys, especially from upscale white families, playing lacrosse now. Just 20 years ago, I almost never saw or even heard of Texas kids playing lacrosse, but it’s very common now. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/89 "2013-07-25T05:15:17Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Is there still a pro indoor soccer league anymore? I’m a little late to this thread, but I didn’t see an answer to this. There are at least two leagues: The afore-mentioned [MISL](http://misl.uslsoccer.com/) and the [PASL](http://www.paslsoccer.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Willcross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Willcross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Willcross)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/90 "2013-07-25T07:43:35Z")
Boxing is doing fine, it just suffers from nostalgia. Always has. People always say the sport is in decline. Even in the Ali days people were saying it was in decline from the Joe Louis days. The Joe Louis days were nothing like the Dempsey days etc. Mayweather vs Canelo is in September. Many of you will say “boxing is dying, I haven’t even heard of Canelo” but the fact is, it will be a huge fight and may break the all time pay per view record. In my experience, the people watching MMA now, weren’t watching boxing before anyway. Is basketball stealing football fans? Both sports involve a tea of guys trying to move a ball down a playing field to a goal area. Players can run the ball themselves or pass it to a teammate. Etc etc. But like boxing and mma, while similar, they don’t compete for the same fan base. Very few ppl bought all the boxing ppv’s then stopped upon discovering mma in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/91 "2013-07-25T07:53:22Z")
**Will** -Hockey is the sport that basketball is more analogous to. ---
**Author:** ![Willcross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Willcross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Willcross)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/92 "2013-07-25T08:19:58Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > **Will** -Hockey is the sport that basketball is more analogous to. VERY true! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/93 "2015-01-06T01:51:41Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Yeah, not gonna plunk down five hundred bucks just to play the new Forza. Guess what I got for Christmas. 😃 ---
**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:** [January 6, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/94 "2015-01-06T20:26:21Z")
Define “major”. The only reasonably organized professional sport I have seen fall of the face of the earth pretty much completely is inline roller hockey. IIRC, inline skating of any sort is no longer even part of the X Games. You can make a case for roller derby, although (a) the most famous incarnations of it were staged like professional wrestling, and (b) legitimate versions still exist, albeit almost entirely with all-female teams. Arena football and “team tennis” are also both still around, even though both are shadows of their former selves. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/95 "2015-01-07T00:27:27Z")
Boxing is doing fine but it is not doing as well as it used to. MMA is gaining in popularity because of points mentioned above and because, frankly, it’s more entertaining. Much more happens and much more can happens (why be limited to just one form of offense)? I think baseball will decline over time. It’s not going to vanish by any means but I think it’s going to have a tougher and tougher time connection to new generations (then again, cricket is doing very well so who knows). ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/96 "2015-01-07T01:40:04Z")
Golf is a candidate for the not-too-distant future. It doesn’t appeal to anyone who doesn’t play it and the number of people who do is dropping rapidly. Golf courses are closing all over and manufacturers who were a cash machine are now hurting. People complain that football and baseball games take too long, but playing a round of golf takes at least six hours, including warm up and a beer afterwards. Try keeping a happy marriage these days by spending six hours away from the spouse and family every Saturday. It’s a really hard game to master and modern changes to family dynamics make it really difficult to spend the time needed to just get competent at it. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/97 "2015-01-09T03:42:23Z")
Apparently [competitive walking](http://onlyagame.wbur.org/2014/04/05/pedestriansism-matthew-algeo-commentary) was huge in the mid nineteenth century. Don’t see six day competitions any more, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/98 "2015-01-09T10:02:39Z")
[Straight pool](http://www.billiardsdigest.com/current_issue/aug_05/index.php) used to be one of the most common billiards games but is now virtually unheard of. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/99 "2015-01-09T15:07:21Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Apparently [competitive walking](http://onlyagame.wbur.org/2014/04/05/pedestriansism-matthew-algeo-commentary) was huge in the mid nineteenth century. > > Don’t see six day competitions any more, though. It’s not dead - still an [Olympic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racewalking#Olympics) sport. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457/100 "2015-01-09T15:29:30Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > ‘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. Another thing is, broadcast television was how everybody got their TV back in the 1950s and 1960s, and how most people did in the 1970s. Nowadays, 90% of TV watchers get their signal from a cable or a satellite dish. When postseason baseball games (for instance) are on ESPN but not on broadcast TV, that distinction is unimportant to most people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-major-sport-totally-dying-out/663457.md?page=6)