8 ms·

Being a former athlete (100/200 meters), the issue is that the top-tier sports (e.g., football, volleyball, basketball, etc.) capture the majority of money/valu

by braza 2y ago

Being a former athlete (100/200 meters), the issue is that the top-tier sports (e.g., football, volleyball, basketball, etc.) capture the majority of money/value, and if you are from javelin throwing, fencing, or racewalking, unless you have a great sponsor, it will definitely require personal sacrifices to make it to the games. In Brazil a very long time ago, there was a gigantic tug of war between the top-tier sports (especially volleyball and football) and the low-tier sports, and the issue is that from the prize pool, most went to the major sports. The partial solution for it was to incentivize the corporations to do the sponsorships, and the ones that made it got some tax benefits (sometimes in a 1:2).

insane_dreamer 2y ago
this is the same in sports in general. In almost every country, players from certain sports earn many times more what players in other sports make. I don't think there's any "fix" for this -- some sports will always be more popular than others, and those who play those particular sports will have more financial opportunities.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  Athletes get money in rough proportion to how many and how much fans are willing to pay to see them. It's as simple as that.
Melting_Harps 2y ago
> the issue is that the top-tier sports (e.g., football, volleyball, basketball, etc.) capture the majority of money/value This, I met the daughter of a colleague who was one of the UK Olympian rowers/crew and after I fed her and got her 2 drinks in she started telling me what her 'off-season' activities consisted of: her father as much as he tried could only afford to pay a fraction of her training costs and living expenses and they were well off land owners from Cornwall. She basically got her Captains lisc and took the affluent people from the City on everything from booze cruises, to hen nights in the English channel to France etc... The debauchery was obscene and made her witness some of the darkest aspects of humanity to pursue this dream she had, which was admirable in a way, but I knew that after a few years when she got really injured, or aged out or the money simply ran dry this would be her REAL life. OF wasn't a thing back then, but I wonder if given the choice she would prefer the choice of uploading anon sexy feet pics or babysitting people go into drunk or coke fueled stupors where she is psychically restraining people from falling into the water while heavily intoxicated causing her to lose her license, or livelihood or at best increase her insurance rates. Then again OF has the same problem where the top talent takes <90% of the money, and those are often managed and curated by agencies which have been dubbed the E-pimps of OF [0]. 0: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/magazine/e-pimps-onlyfans.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/magazine/e-pimps-onlyfans...
prmoustache 2y ago
Honestly it is the first time I read volleyball mentioned as a top-tier sport. This must be a regional thing because in most countries volleyball is totally anonymous.
- The_Colonel 2y ago
  Pretty much all sports (soccer might be a singular exception) are "regional" in this sense.
  - lmm 2y ago
    I don't think it's quite that limited. Basketball is pretty much worldwide, so is tennis (and golf, up to a point at least). Cricket is played in a minority of countries, but those countries are scattered across the world so it's not exactly "regional".
    - The_Colonel 2y ago
      > Basketball is pretty much worldwide Is it played worldwide? Sure, but so is volleyball. It's certainly not a culturally significant sport everywhere. I think my country has a basketball league, but I don't know literally anything about it. The only player I can recall the name of is Michael Jordan. > is tennis (and golf, up to a point at least) Both are sports for rich (countries) only. How many tennis players you know are from Africa? > Cricket is played in a minority of countries, but those countries are scattered across the world so it's not exactly "regional". You can think of the Commonwealth as a "logical region". Cricket is popular only in a couple of countries with common history.
      - lmm 2y ago
        > so is volleyball Is it? I've never played volleyball and I never met anyone who had until I moved to my current country. > Both are sports for rich (countries) only. How many tennis players you know are from Africa? Fair, but that's a little different from "regional".
jalapenos 2y ago
Fencing as done now looks legit stupid, so does racewalking. Javelin, while slightly more cool, is you throwing a stick. Mildly interesting for a few seconds. Football is a top tier sport because it's entertaining. People will pay to see it. Hence there's money to be earned. If someone wants to spend their time seeing how far they can throw a stick, cool, but they shouldn't be surprised they're waking up to an empty bank account every day.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  A contest between a man with a short sword and shield vs a man with a trident and a net would be very popular.
- wiether 2y ago
  Actually, most of the sports are boring to watch. Everything is about context. Football is more entertaining than fencing? Go to a Sunday local game against two amateur teams where the only attendance is you and one of the player's uncle and you have to stay standing up next to the field while its pouring rain. Then go to a fencing contest with 100+ people in attendance, music and a great speaker. Now tell me which one looks more entertaining? I used to think like you, until I watched big darts tournaments and curling with a great speaker. It went from "uh, who watches darts? it's stupid!" to "quiet, I'm watching darts!". That's also why, depending on the country, popular sports are not the same, because they developped a culture and know how to make it entertaining.
  - lupusreal 2y ago
    The local football team matches in my small town cause traffic jams. The local fencing contest doesn't exist. I have no idea why so many people in this thread are trying to deny obvious trends in relative popularity between sports.
- graemep 2y ago
  What looks stupid and cool is purely subjective. Fencing is hard to follow because its fast and movements are subtle. > If someone wants to spend their time seeing how far they can throw a stick, cool, but they shouldn't be surprised they're waking up to an empty bank account every day. But if someone wants to see how well they can kick a ball its somehow worth paying them? The biggest factor here is that team sports are brandable and build brand loyalty in a way individual sports cannot.
Neonlicht 2y ago
I think that the Olympics contrary to it's bullshit message of peace is in reality an arena where nation states compete against eachother. So athletes are basically diplomats.
- The_Colonel 2y ago
  The idea is exactly about channelling the competitive spirit to peaceful sport rather than war. Athletes are not like diplomats, they're like warriors, except there's no killing.

by braza 2y ago

insane_dreamer 2y ago

this is the same in sports in general. In almost every country, players from certain sports earn many times more what players in other sports make. I don't think there's any "fix" for this -- some sports will always be more popular than others, and those who play those particular sports will have more financial opportunities.

WalterBright 2y ago
Athletes get money in rough proportion to how many and how much fans are willing to pay to see them. It's as simple as that.

Melting_Harps 2y ago

> the issue is that the top-tier sports (e.g., football, volleyball, basketball, etc.) capture the majority of money/value This, I met the daughter of a colleague who was one of the UK Olympian rowers/crew and after I fed her and got her 2 drinks in she started telling me what her 'off-season' activities consisted of: her father as much as he tried could only afford to pay a fraction of her training costs and living expenses and they were well off land owners from Cornwall. She basically got her Captains lisc and took the affluent people from the City on everything from booze cruises, to hen nights in the English channel to France etc... The debauchery was obscene and made her witness some of the darkest aspects of humanity to pursue this dream she had, which was admirable in a way, but I knew that after a few years when she got really injured, or aged out or the money simply ran dry this would be her REAL life. OF wasn't a thing back then, but I wonder if given the choice she would prefer the choice of uploading anon sexy feet pics or babysitting people go into drunk or coke fueled stupors where she is psychically restraining people from falling into the water while heavily intoxicated causing her to lose her license, or livelihood or at best increase her insurance rates. Then again OF has the same problem where the top talent takes <90% of the money, and those are often managed and curated by agencies which have been dubbed the E-pimps of OF [0]. 0: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/magazine/e-pimps-onlyfans.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/magazine/e-pimps-onlyfans...

prmoustache 2y ago

Honestly it is the first time I read volleyball mentioned as a top-tier sport. This must be a regional thing because in most countries volleyball is totally anonymous.

The_Colonel 2y ago
Pretty much all sports (soccer might be a singular exception) are "regional" in this sense.
- lmm 2y ago
  I don't think it's quite that limited. Basketball is pretty much worldwide, so is tennis (and golf, up to a point at least). Cricket is played in a minority of countries, but those countries are scattered across the world so it's not exactly "regional".
  - The_Colonel 2y ago
    > Basketball is pretty much worldwide Is it played worldwide? Sure, but so is volleyball. It's certainly not a culturally significant sport everywhere. I think my country has a basketball league, but I don't know literally anything about it. The only player I can recall the name of is Michael Jordan. > is tennis (and golf, up to a point at least) Both are sports for rich (countries) only. How many tennis players you know are from Africa? > Cricket is played in a minority of countries, but those countries are scattered across the world so it's not exactly "regional". You can think of the Commonwealth as a "logical region". Cricket is popular only in a couple of countries with common history.
    - lmm 2y ago
      > so is volleyball Is it? I've never played volleyball and I never met anyone who had until I moved to my current country. > Both are sports for rich (countries) only. How many tennis players you know are from Africa? Fair, but that's a little different from "regional".

jalapenos 2y ago

Fencing as done now looks legit stupid, so does racewalking. Javelin, while slightly more cool, is you throwing a stick. Mildly interesting for a few seconds. Football is a top tier sport because it's entertaining. People will pay to see it. Hence there's money to be earned. If someone wants to spend their time seeing how far they can throw a stick, cool, but they shouldn't be surprised they're waking up to an empty bank account every day.

WalterBright 2y ago
A contest between a man with a short sword and shield vs a man with a trident and a net would be very popular.
wiether 2y ago
Actually, most of the sports are boring to watch. Everything is about context. Football is more entertaining than fencing? Go to a Sunday local game against two amateur teams where the only attendance is you and one of the player's uncle and you have to stay standing up next to the field while its pouring rain. Then go to a fencing contest with 100+ people in attendance, music and a great speaker. Now tell me which one looks more entertaining? I used to think like you, until I watched big darts tournaments and curling with a great speaker. It went from "uh, who watches darts? it's stupid!" to "quiet, I'm watching darts!". That's also why, depending on the country, popular sports are not the same, because they developped a culture and know how to make it entertaining.
- lupusreal 2y ago
  The local football team matches in my small town cause traffic jams. The local fencing contest doesn't exist. I have no idea why so many people in this thread are trying to deny obvious trends in relative popularity between sports.
graemep 2y ago
What looks stupid and cool is purely subjective. Fencing is hard to follow because its fast and movements are subtle. > If someone wants to spend their time seeing how far they can throw a stick, cool, but they shouldn't be surprised they're waking up to an empty bank account every day. But if someone wants to see how well they can kick a ball its somehow worth paying them? The biggest factor here is that team sports are brandable and build brand loyalty in a way individual sports cannot.

Neonlicht 2y ago

I think that the Olympics contrary to it's bullshit message of peace is in reality an arena where nation states compete against eachother. So athletes are basically diplomats.

The_Colonel 2y ago
The idea is exactly about channelling the competitive spirit to peaceful sport rather than war. Athletes are not like diplomats, they're like warriors, except there's no killing.