Why do people watch sports?

In My Humble Opinion
21

There is a degree of empathy and understanding, particularly for sports which I’ve participated in. For example, if someone scores a goal on an amazing shot, I know exactly how difficult that was.

There is the drama and artistry of the unfolding event, as mentioned by others here. There is a poetry of motion and atheleticism in many sports, not just ballet, gymnastics, etc. This often equates to a sort of “Wow” factor. My children were enthralled watching gymnastics, both men and women’s, in the last Olympics. It’s no different in that regard than watching a street performer do tricks that we can only imagine doing.

But they also got into the “Patriotic” angle. They’ll ask who is playing in a game or competing in an event. If it has some sort of tie to them (like Cincinnati playing in football last weekend, since they were both born there) then they are more apt to be interested in the score. This is a tie to they’re own very limited past. They cheer for the countries they know in the Olympics. I don’t ask them to do this, they just do.

I wouldn’t dismiss the connection that GorillaMan references. If you grew up in Pittsburgh then the storied football teams of the 1970s are drilled into your psyche. Ditto New Yorkers and the Yankees. There is a sense of association for most people from Boston and the Red Sox. Montreal hasn’t won a championship in years but they are synonymous with hockey. For the English it goes back more than a hundred years for most of their football clubs. Likewise many Cincinnatians still take the day off for MLB’s Opening Day. There is still a parade downtown to commemorate this.

There is also, for many people, a sort of “comfort” to sports. I grew up as a kid watching football with my father. A football game today still takes me back in a way to my own childhood. I had four brothers and sisters, and my father was often away from work or out late. So the some of the best times of my youth were spent tucked in at my father’s side as the Oakland Raiders played the Kansas City Chiefs in the late 60s and early 70s.

22

What I don’t understand is people that ask these “why do people watch/enjoy/etc” questions.

Why do people enjoy live theatre? Why do people enjoy listening to music? Why do people enjoy reading? Why do people enjoy sports and other competitive games?

Just about all of these things have been a part of humanity since we first began to establish civilized cultures (well, not so much reading, but consider it reading/storytelling.)

Why did the ancient greeks like the Olympic games? A lot of it was the sense of pride when a athlete from your city was triumphant over all others. And then a lot of it was just the thrill of the moment.

There’s always secondary reasons behind a lot of these forms of entertainment. For example some people enjoy music a great deal because they appreciate the skill and artistic merit of the performer or the composer. Some people enjoy television shows or movies because of the “escapist” aspects.

But ultimately the core answer to all of these things, as to why people consume entertainment is because they enjoy it, simple enough.

I think before you ask, “why would someone like XXX” ask yourself why you enjoy the things that you enjoy, and more than likely you can find similarities with whatever you’re asking about.

It’s one thing to wonder why human societies developed appreciation for sports, or for performance arts, or for the written word. And those are interesting questions.

But to say you just “can’t understand” why someone would like something is just kind of silly.

23

I was never a big sports fan in the past… well. Except for my kind of “football” - soccer. I’m a huge Chelsea fan, have been since before I can remember. I just really enjoyed playing soccer and watching it. It thrilled the hell out of me. Still does, really.

But I didn’t pay close attention to what was going on, sports, in general, just didn’t do much for me. I made fun of fans of American football, thinking it was the silliest “sport” in the world. I could give or take basketball, baseball, hockey, whatever. Big yawn.

And then I moved to Seattle.

My problem with sports, I think, was the fact that I never had a “home” team before. I’m from Nowhere, Nowheresville, Canada. Yeah, we have Canadian teams, but no Maritime teams. My father was a fan of all the Boston teams, and he loathes football. If we wanted to see a game in person, we had to drive eight hours and book a hotel room.

I moved here, and ten minutes away, there are two huge stadiums: Qwest Field and Safeco Field, not to mention KeyArena nearby where the Sonics play.

Still, for the first year I was here, I teased my husband to death about loving football. He used to be a football player (HA! I never dreamed in my wildest dreams I’d fall for a jock! But here I am, and it’s good.) Sometime at the beginning of the season this past year, I sat down beside my husband while he made his Fantasy picks, and asked him many questions. (Think “Huh? Why? What’s that? How come? Who’s he? What does that one do? What’s that mean? Who’s that guy? Where does he go? Where’s he from? I like that guy’s name. Why did you pick him?”) Finally, he sat me down and made me watch a game with him, and he allowed me to ask all the questions I wanted. I began to learn. The more I learned, the more interested I got. I began to find myself mumbling, “Hey, that was a pretty good catch.” or “Nice throw, dude.” Eventually, I was saying out loud, “Oooh, good strategy.” These days, I scream at the top of my lungs, “KNOCK HIM DOWN! GET HIM! GET HIM!” I stomp, cheer, yell, roll on the floor. This shit is better than any drug. I feel euphoric when we win, and when we lose, oh god, what a let down. But what a damn ride! Worth every minute of it. And the closer the game, the better. I have a lot of respect for the teams that put up a damn good fight.

Naturally, this applies only to me, but to sum up: one of the reasons I like it and watch it (and attend games when I can), is because I found a home team, something I never had before.
The second reason is because I was ignorant of the game(s) before. Now that I’ve learned how they’re played, they make sense, and I understand the skill involved. I’m still learning… but what a year! Look at those Seahawks go!

But I do think it’s much like anything else you enjoy or don’t: sometimes learning more about something helps you enjoy it more. Sometimes it just doesn’t. I may never catch the excitement of underwater basket weaving in my lifetime. But I won’t knock it 'til I’ve tried it.

24

I always knew you were sexy, but a footie fan? Awesome. I don’t know if it will be televised (maybe FSC Canada?) but Canada and USA are playing a friendly in San Diego next Sunday… might be good to start an international rivalry with your hubby.

25

Why do people watch sports? They want to see:
(cue music…)

"The thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat! The human drama of athletic competition!"

:stuck_out_tongue:

26

Dammit, Martin - this is just what I wanted to say. Only better.

27

This question has been asked and answered on the SDMB at least five or six times.

Why do you watch movies?

28

I don’t like watching sports. Matter of fact, I hate it.

That being said, I watched my first football game some time ago, and I understood part of it. It wasn’t the game that was so important, at least for this group, it was the camradarie, and the joint yelling at one team and for another. It was an excuse to be together, and enjoy one another’s company, with a focus point.

I still don’t watch sports but I understand it now.

29

Ha, grasshopper! You only think you understand the attraction of competitive sports! People who watch sports for the communal effect? Pshaw!

Real fans watch because they CAN. Because the game is on television. They listen to the radio when it’s not on TV. They follow it on the internet when it’s not on the radio. And if it’s not even on the internet, they have a friend at the game text message them score updates!

IMHO Understanding can only be achieved when you’ve woken up in the middle of the night in a foreign country to go and listen to your team play on an internet feed while drinking a strange foreign liquour that you have acquired for that very moment mixed with Sprite

… and you were completely and utterly alone.

… and you screamed, and clapped, and chanted, and laughed, and cried.

… and you wore your team gear.

… and all the while, you searched the internet to see how your rival teams fared.

:smiley:

But yeah, I guess some people do it for the company and the camraderie. Hell, I watch women’s figure skating with my girlfriend for the camraderie. Well, that, and she steals the remote. And bribes me with cheetohs and beer.

TRIPLE LUTZ BABY! TRIPLE LUTZ!

  • Peter Wiggen
30

earlier today, I was trying to find one of the old ESPN commercials (“Without sports, there’d be no one to coach”). If you can find any of those - watch them.

Even with sports I don’t like - you’re watching people struggle to the best of their ability to complete a very clear task. And when they succeed, it’s amazing, and when they fail, it’s heartbreaking. It’s incredibly dramatic, just on it’s own.

Plus, there are (for many of us) other stuff around sports. Friends and family and bonding. Hanging out in a small group of people you love (or even like), watching the game is a good feeling, and the memory comes back to you even when you’re watching a different game. Hanging out in a huge crowd of people the majority of whom are consumed by the same thing that has arrested your attention - is amazing.

31

Oh, and Anastasaeon, learn about baseball this year, and don’t move until at least next November.

32

I would imagine that sports are the earliest form of entertainment, which would probably explain why it’s such a central part of society. It kind of irks me though. Maybe I’m just bitter over all those pep rallies I was forced to attend in high school.

33

Plan on living here for the rest of my life. :wink:
And I am very interested in baseball - I went to a Mariners game this past summer on my FIL’s birthday (when they played the Yankees, he’s a Yankees fan, can you believe it? Gag! Hey, double bias for me, my father is a Bosox fan, of course I hates me some Yankees! :wink: )
Anyway, I was blown away by Ichiro, I love that guy. And I had great fun booing the hell out of A-Rod. Traitor. :mad:
Much fun. I will definitely learn more this year.

34

When you combine the poetry of the human body in motion with the drama of two teams or people in opposition giving their all, you have the greatness of sport. I think that’s as briefly as I can say it.

Also, if you’ve ever seen games from up close, it’s much more fun.

35

There is no other form of entertainment on TV or in person without a pre-determined outcome. That’s 90% of it for me.

A play, a movie, a TV show – it’s already been written and is just being performed for you according to a script.

36

Yeah, see, now these people are weird. :stuck_out_tongue: But I did say:

Only part. I am still a grasshopper.

37

Well the first two can be classified as sports I suppose, but are really boring to watch, for me anyway. Professional wrestling? You’ve got to be kidding.

Anyway, sports is the original reality TV. You watch an entire season to see who gets kicked off the island. In the end, one team remains. And if you’re really fortunate it will be your team. The team you’ve cheered for your whole life.

39 years and counting…

38

Cooking is fun if you’re good at it, but I have never understood how anybody can derive any entertainment value from watching other people cook.

I agree with this one.

Trivia is fun if you’re good at it, but I have never understood how anybody can derive any entertainment value from watching other people do trivia. (a la Jeopardy).

With Jeopardy! and other trivia game shows you can play along to see how much you know versus the contestants. There is no way to “play along” when watching sports.

Dating is fun if you’re good at it, but I have never understood how anybody can derive any entertainment value from watching other people date. (a la The Bachelor and its ilk).

I agree again. In fact, I can’t think of much of anything more boring and wasteful of my time to watch, except for sports.

Kareoke is fun if you’re good at it, but I have never understood how anybody can derive any entertainment value from watching other people do kareoke. (a la American Idol).

I haven’t watched American Idol myself, but it might be fun to watch people make complete jackasses of themselves.

Going to Garage Sales is fun if you’re good at it, but I have never understood how anybody can derive any entertainment value from watching other people go to garage sales. (Antique Roadshow anyone?)

Unless one has an appreciation for antiques I wouldn’t find this to have any entertainment value.

Living in an apartment in NYC with your 5 best friends is fun if you’re good at it, but I have never understood how anybody can derive any entertainment value from watching other people live in an apartment in NYC with their 5 best friends.

I’d rather clip my toenails for an hour than watch this type of drek (not that it would take me this long, mind you).

Being a cop is fun if you’re good at it, but I have never understood how anybody can derive any entertainment value from watching other people … actors even … be cops.

This is why I watch shows like “The New Detectives” and “The FBI Files” on Discovery. It’s not Hollywood fabrication, but based on real-life cases and it shows what the police have to do in order to hunt down murder suspects.

Winning awards is fun if you’re good at it, but I have never understood how anybody can derive any entertainment value from watching other people win awards.

I like to see which movies got the awards, but I’d rather see the results the next day than to sit through three hours of long-winded speeches from various celebrities, none of whom I am passionate enough about to really give a shit as to whether or not they receive an award.

As for sports, they just don’t interest me, period. I can see why some people might enjoy watching people play them. What galls me is the level of fanaticism that some people exhibit, as if their entire lives revolve around the performance level of their favorite teams, where the outcome of a single game dictates the quality of their lives. This is something I just don’t get and probably never will.

39

I agree with most of BG’s original post, and with LHoD. I really don’t see the point in watching sports, to the point where I don’t even watch the Super Bowl or the Olympics. I don’t even like watching the sports that I do participate in, despite the fact that I know what’s going on/can appreciate the unstated details/can pick up something useful for my own game. Ain’t interested in watching someone else do it – I’d rather do it myself. (I’m not terribly interested in porn, for the same reason)

40

Well, dwc1970, I think we’ve made it clear it comes down to taste. With those examples I was just trying to point out that you can question why people like any form of entertainment on television. Some people like gardens, some people like American Idol, and some people like sports. But as to your post:

Oh yeah? Football: 3rd and 14. Pass it! PASS IT! PASS IT YOU FREAKING IDIOT! You can guess plays to see how many you can get right. Heck, sometimes you even know where a play is going and who it’s going to! Basketball: In that last 20 seconds, there are so many strategic decisions: fouling, driving the lane and hoping for a foul, setting up the three-pointer. I would argue that, if you know what’s going on, you’re playing along just as much as with Jeopardy.

You must not have seen the Virginia Tech bowl game where Marcus Vick stomped on another player. Jackass! You ruined your college eligibility! Or the Colts-Steelers game just last weekend where the kicker MISSED THE FIELD GOAL! Jackass! It’s your job to make that kick!

That’s why I watch Sports! They’re not Hollywood fabrication, they’re real-life. (with the possible exception of some boxing matches, the 1919 World Series (or is it 1918 I forget), and professional wrestling). Sports ARE reality.

It’s a shame your daddy never taught you how to read the box score in the newspaper the next day! A 6-4-2 double play in the 9th?!!?!?!?! You might be a passionate Braves fan at this point. Or (gak) a Red Sox fan! Or (God help us) a Yankees fan!

Yeah, there’s really no good way to explain why someone gets so invested in something he/she can’t really control. Why do people cry when soap opera actors get killed off? Why was it such a big deal when Seinfeld or Friends ended? Or Who’s the Boss for that matter? Why were people upset that Clay Aiken got second place?

But just because it’s hard to explain, doesn’t mean that it’s “bad” or “wrong” or “insane.” Like almost everything in life, there is an element of risk/reward. It takes risk to devote yourself entirely to a sports team, because when they lose you feel like shit. Your friends know you are devoted and they either console you or mock you mercilessly. But… when your team wins? Especially a monstrous game, an upset or the like, then you are on CLOUD NINE BABY.

It’s the same thing when a Boy Scout builds a Soapbox Racer. When his Racer wins, he is ecstatic! He is the king of the world! When the wheels fall off, and the Racer flips over, and the other kids laugh at him, it SUCKS.

Investing yourself emotionally in a sports team is precisely like that - you build a Soapbox Racer of emotional attachment, devotion, and fanaticism. Then you hope like hell the wheels don’t fall off. Some people are not able, or just do not care, to make this emotional investment.

…

And CalMeacham, on preview I caught you - and look THAT’S FINE. You don’t like to watch sports. But there’s no use in saying “I really don’t see the point in watching sports.” Tell ya what - list some things that you like to do. And SOMEBODY ON THIS BOARD WILL BE ABLE TO SAY “I REALLY DON’T SEE THE POINT IN DOING __________!”

Like reconfiguring your Linux kernel? Meh, what’s the freaking point. Buy a mac.

Like reading comic books? What’s the point? What do you get out of it? It’s all just make-believe.

Like gardening? Why, what’s the point? The plants are just gonna die.

Etc., etc., etc.

  • Peter Wiggen