5 ms·

The NFL etc. are largely about watching sport, not participating in it. You'll find lots of countries that (i) have better publicly accessible sporting faciliti

by foldr 7y ago

The NFL etc. are largely about watching sport, not participating in it. You'll find lots of countries that (i) have better publicly accessible sporting facilities than the USA and (ii) spend far less public and university money on sports teams.

wasdfff 7y ago
Most of the big football programs make the universities money hand over fist, and keep alumni engaged.
- foldr 7y ago
  https://splc.org/2016/01/post-series-college-athletic-spending-records/ https://splc.org/2016/01/post-series-college-athletic-spendi...
  - StillBored 7y ago
    Was going to say something similar, but I guess in the early 2000's the articles were basically saying that all but a few of the top schools were losing money hand over fist on their athletic programs. Basically most of the sports don't pay for themselves, and if your a small school unable to make bank on TV/ticket/merchandising/etc deals for the football/basketball team its a giant amount of red ink to build those stadiums and pay for the exorbitant coaching, and support staff, equipment, etc.
- pbhjpbhj 7y ago
  Is it that the sort keeps alumni focussed, or that the Uni spends its effort on making alumni focus on it? Perhaps a focus of academic achievement would be equally engaging -- I know that's what engages me wrt my alma mater.
tghw 7y ago
Think about how a lot of fans speak about their teams. "How did the Bulls do last night?" "We won, but just barely." Part of being a fan is vicarious competition, both against the other team and the other teams' fans.
- foldr 7y ago
  Sure, but if people can enjoy vicarious competition, they can presumably enjoy the real thing too.
- pbhjpbhj 7y ago
  Last year there were reports out about how watching sport might be tricking us into thinking we've participated in such a way that it increases sedentary behaviour.
  - onlyrealcuzzo 7y ago
    Interesting. My friends that watch the most sports seem to be the most overweight. I expected this to be the opposite, but maybe this is normal. Probably just anecdotal.
    - mumblemumble 7y ago
      It's apparently been studied: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3890601/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3890601/ In a sentence, "Participants that watched sports every day were at higher risk of obesity [odds ratio = 1.39, 95% CI, 1.15, 1.68) after adjustment for age, sex, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, total TV time, disability, and self-rated health." Based on what they're controlling for, and assuming that the conclusions hold, my guess would be that watching sports on TV is also associated with increased snacking.

by foldr 7y ago

wasdfff 7y ago

Most of the big football programs make the universities money hand over fist, and keep alumni engaged.

foldr 7y ago
https://splc.org/2016/01/post-series-college-athletic-spending-records/ https://splc.org/2016/01/post-series-college-athletic-spendi...
- StillBored 7y ago
  Was going to say something similar, but I guess in the early 2000's the articles were basically saying that all but a few of the top schools were losing money hand over fist on their athletic programs. Basically most of the sports don't pay for themselves, and if your a small school unable to make bank on TV/ticket/merchandising/etc deals for the football/basketball team its a giant amount of red ink to build those stadiums and pay for the exorbitant coaching, and support staff, equipment, etc.
pbhjpbhj 7y ago
Is it that the sort keeps alumni focussed, or that the Uni spends its effort on making alumni focus on it? Perhaps a focus of academic achievement would be equally engaging -- I know that's what engages me wrt my alma mater.

tghw 7y ago

Think about how a lot of fans speak about their teams. "How did the Bulls do last night?" "We won, but just barely." Part of being a fan is vicarious competition, both against the other team and the other teams' fans.

foldr 7y ago
Sure, but if people can enjoy vicarious competition, they can presumably enjoy the real thing too.
pbhjpbhj 7y ago
Last year there were reports out about how watching sport might be tricking us into thinking we've participated in such a way that it increases sedentary behaviour.
- onlyrealcuzzo 7y ago
  Interesting. My friends that watch the most sports seem to be the most overweight. I expected this to be the opposite, but maybe this is normal. Probably just anecdotal.
  - mumblemumble 7y ago
    It's apparently been studied: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3890601/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3890601/ In a sentence, "Participants that watched sports every day were at higher risk of obesity [odds ratio = 1.39, 95% CI, 1.15, 1.68) after adjustment for age, sex, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, total TV time, disability, and self-rated health." Based on what they're controlling for, and assuming that the conclusions hold, my guess would be that watching sports on TV is also associated with increased snacking.