# What do you consider a "major sport"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 11, 2020, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262 "2020-03-11T12:05:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/41 "2020-03-13T01:59:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > A 100 mile ultramarathon and a 5k are both clearly sports, but I’m not sure I would say that they’re the same sport. There will be almost no overlap between those who are good at one and those good at the other. By that logic, American, Canadian, and flag football are all different sports. I suppose it depends on how you define a particular sport. Every footrace, from the six-day, 156 mile Marathon du Sable to a 50 meter sprint, has the same winning condition: cross a specified distance, faster than anyone else. And in the same manner - on foot, moving your legs as rapidly as you can.\* Me, I’d call that the same sport, just as I’d call rugby league, rugby union, and rugby sevens the same sport. Also, most ultrarunners start out by running track, some of them quite well. Sage Canaday won the 2008 Ivy League 10,000 meter championship before switching to ultras. Since then, he’s won the Tarawara 100K, the USATF 100K championship, the Lake Sonoma 50K, and a handful of others. Jim Walmsley, who holds the course record for the Western States Endurance Run, made it to the NCAA nationals in the 3000 meter steeplechase while at the Air Force Academy. Your argument that there’s not much overlap between track and distance runners holds more water if you look at sprinters and middle-distance runners, but there are plenty of 5,000 and 10,000 meter runners who’ve successfully jumped up to marathon and ultra marathon races. \*Yes, I know there are some time races, where the goal is to complete the most miles in a set time. Nitpick. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/42 "2020-03-13T07:20:07Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Every footrace, from the six-day, 156 mile Marathon du Sable to a 50 meter sprint, has the same winning condition: cross a specified distance, faster than anyone else. And in the same manner - on foot, moving your legs as rapidly as you can.\* Me, I’d call that the same sport, just as I’d call rugby league, rugby union, and rugby sevens the same sport. I don’t know about the rugbies you mention, but I’m comfortable calling the footraces of vastly different lengths different sports because the training is completely different for a sprinter than it is for a marathoner. So different it’s almost like they’re completely different sports. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/43 "2020-03-13T07:23:27Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Most motorsports go to great lengths to make sure there is no difference in the equipment. Drivers are on a much more level playing field than, say, horse jockeys. This depends heavily on the series. I prefer the ones that DO allow engineering innovation. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/44 "2020-03-13T07:26:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Certainly, being a race car driver involves certain skills, that the pros have developed to a much greater degree than most of us have. And maybe those skills are, at least in part, athletic. But it’s still not primarily an athletic contest. If some guys are shooting a cheap, generic basketball on a public-playground court, and Lebron James suddenly shows up for a pick-up game, he’s still going to absolutely dominate, even with the cheap equipment. But put a top race driver in a cheap beat-up car, he’s not going to be able to do anything near what he can do in a top-end precision-engineered race car. The equipment makes a huge difference. This whole post is pointless garbage. And in no way discounts motorSPORTS as a sport. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/45 "2020-03-13T07:47:11Z")
We can debate if motorsports is “major” or not if you like (f1 is 2nd globally only to soccer) but to not count it as a sport at all is completely ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Xonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/3be4f8/32.png) [@Xonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xonix)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/46 "2020-03-13T11:34:43Z")
I consider the main sport to be watching various sports, such as [https://odds.am/](https://odds.am/) and bookmakers. Always interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/47 "2020-03-13T14:01:20Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I don’t know about the rugbies you mention, but I’m comfortable calling the footraces of vastly different lengths different sports because the training is completely different for a sprinter than it is for a marathoner. So different it’s almost like they’re completely different sports. Well, _ish_. I mean, sprinters still do roadwork, to build up aerobic fitness. Distance runners, including ultramarathoners, do speed workouts on the track. This isn’t a hill on which I’m prepared to die, but, as I said in my last post, I’d call ultras and sprints the same sport – or, better, variations on the same sport, just as NFL and CFL football are variations on the same game – since they have the same fundamental aim: cover a distance, on foot, faster than anyone else. If you want to get down to the nitty gritty, you could argue that there’s a fundamental difference in that ultrarunners don’t run the entire course – they do have to power hike. Still, they’re running the majority of the race. Again, it depends on how broadly you define a “sport”. Your Mileage May Vary seems especially apropos, in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/48 "2020-03-13T14:55:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **snfaulkner** : > > This whole post is pointless garbage. Then it should be easy to refute, right? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/49 "2020-03-13T15:18:46Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > This whole post is pointless garbage. And in no way discounts motorSPORTS as a sport. I voted for NASCAR, but capitalizing SPORTS in motorsports doesn’t really support your point. You can argue including the word sports like eSports is showing they’re not really sports. NASCAR is every bit a sport as Golf. It takes a special skill, that requires a lot of training to make top levels. The biggest difference between NASCAR & eSports, is that eSports hasn’t been around all that long and isn’t really well established yet. If we want to make criteria of physical strength, skill & agility for true sports, it will eliminate a lot of sports. I think major just implies a really large audience. So NASCAR yes, Golf yes, eSports, not yet. Boxing slipping, Horse racing slipping, MMA not quite there. Pro Wrestling has the audience, but admits to not being a sport. It is staged. The Wrestlers still need to be in good shape and get hurt often, but not a sport. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/50 "2020-03-13T15:42:49Z")
I would classify E-sports, auto racing, and golf as games but not games that are sports. Boxing I would just call a barbaric competition, like duelling, neither game nor sport, because the ultimate goal is to physically assault another human being until E is unable to stand. I don’t know much about MMA, but if a goal is to knock the other person senseless, then I’d classify it like boxing. Competitive (amateur?) wrestling is a sport. Professional wrestling is a performance, kind of like Blue Man or Cirque, not a sport or a game, because the outcome is decided in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/51 "2020-03-13T20:41:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > NASCAR might be an engineering contest, but engineering contests aren’t sports. It’s an endurance contest and test of timing for the drivers. I’d call it a sport, and a ‘major’ sport if we’re speaking of Formula One. Major sport is tricky. Is it determined by TV ratings? Then women’s Olympic Figure Skating and Gymnastics qualify. Boxing used to qualify, if wiki is believed: [List of most-watched television broadcasts - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-watched_television_broadcasts) Association Football, obviously, but the Cricket World Cup had some silly numbers—1 billion, India v. Pakistan—per the above link. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/52 "2020-03-14T03:19:17Z")
Depends on the country, of course. In the U.S. it’s my personal opinion that football (“gridiron”) pretty much leaves all other sports in its dust. Certainly that’s the case for me. Soccer is obviously very popular in many places. Rugby and ice hockey are pretty popular but each in only a fraction of the countries that soccer is. Curling is really popular in Canada (or so I’ve been led to believe) and I get the impression that it’s also popular in places like Norway and Sweden. Wrestling (not “pro”) is pretty popular in many countries. How 'bout water polo? That’s something that Hungarians take pretty seriously. My understanding is that they used to have a huge rivalry with, I think, Yugoslavia in the Olympics over that sport. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/53 "2020-03-14T14:47:38Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > We can debate if motorsports is “major” or not if you like (f1 is 2nd globally only to soccer) but to not count it as a sport at all is completely ridiculous. By what measure is F1 the second biggest sport in the world? > [@racepug](#): > > Curling is really popular in Canada (or so I’ve been led to believe) Curling is a popular participation sport, and people do like watching it on TV when a big thing is on, but in terms of spectator importance it’s not a major sport by any measure, perhaps as obviously evidenced by the fact that there isn’t much in the way of professional curling. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/54 "2020-03-15T01:17:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Then it should be easy to refute, right? Sure is. plural noun: sports 1. an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/55 "2020-03-15T01:22:04Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > By what measure is F1 the second biggest sport in the world? > … Good question. You usually hear it spouted by the talking heads during a race weekend. But here is an article that puts it 7th based on a lot of factors. [https://www.totalsportek.com/most-popular-sports/](https://www.totalsportek.com/most-popular-sports/) 2nd or 7th, the fact that it is included at all definitely means they consider it a sport. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/56 "2020-03-15T01:26:35Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I voted for NASCAR, but capitalizing SPORTS in motorsports doesn’t really support your point. You can argue including the word sports like eSports is showing they’re not really sports. I would absolutely call eSports a sport, but not quite major…yet. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/57 "2020-03-15T12:34:07Z")
OK, is a cooking competition a sport? It involves skill and physical exertion, too. I would say that it’s not, because a sport needs to be based _primarily_ on physical exertion, and under that definition, neither cooking nor car racing qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![BlueInfinity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BlueInfinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueInfinity)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/58 "2020-03-15T13:35:40Z")
Does the sport have stadiums named after companies that bought the naming rights? If yes, it’s a major sport. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/59 "2020-03-15T14:21:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, is a cooking competition a sport? It involves skill and physical exertion, too. I would say that it’s not, because a sport needs to be based _primarily_ on physical exertion, and under that definition, neither cooking nor car racing qualifies. Auto racing is a sport simply because it has been accepted as a sport for decades, hell over 100 years now. Horse Racing, the same. Someday eSports will be accepted too it looks like. Though I’ll probably disagree. Also, not just “physical exertion” but also hand/eye coordination or agility make a sport too. Thus Auto Racing, Darts, Billiards, Bowling, Golf etc. You can’t just make your own definition of what a sport is, neither can I. It is up to the general consensus. But if you’re going to try, I would suggest avoiding narrowing it too much. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262/60 "2020-03-16T01:51:48Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Auto racing is a sport simply because it has been accepted as a sport for decades, hell over 100 years now. Horse Racing, the same. Someday eSports will be accepted too it looks like. Though I’ll probably disagree. Also, not just “physical exertion” but also hand/eye coordination or agility make a sport too. Thus Auto Racing, Darts, Billiards, Bowling, Golf etc. > > You can’t just make your own definition of what a sport is, neither can I. It is up to the general consensus. But if you’re going to try, I would suggest avoiding narrowing it too much. Now that you mention it, I think I do remember back in the days of ESPN broadcasting billiards, and if the announcer made reference to “one of the best in the sport” or something like that it wouldn’t have sounded wrong to me. It is weird to think of darts and pool as sports, though. Even bowling, which is much more sport-like but still kind of feels like something unathletic people do for fun, and thus not really fitting neatly into my personal definition of sports. For me, I think of sports as competitive athletics. I do concede your point, though, and it’s not a hill I’d die on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-a-major-sport/849262.md?page=4)