Sports

Appeal

It is difficult to argue with the fact that newspaper readers often open first to the sports page. When asked why, a scientific answer is hard to find. One can only speculate on why people choose sports over the front page or some other section. A possible explanation is that there is always a triumph, something to celebrate (there is always also a tragedy, a loser) in the sports section, whereas the front page is often filled with tragedy. Some of these front-page stories are predictable, as if they were stories recycled from a year earlier, but most involve misery, loss, and embarrassment. While in the sports section for every winner there is a loser, the wins and losses do not typically involve senseless death or bloodshed. The winner and loser are familiar to the reader, and the conflict is well understood. Individuals identify with the athletes and can either emulate them through their own sports participation, vicariously revel in their successes, or empathize in their losses. In sport, as in most consumption, the creation of identity and the importance of social consequences of consumption are vital to understanding why and how individuals engage in sport.

Definitions

Sport consumption can mean one of three things: either participating in sport activity; attending a sporting event; or watching or reading about sport activity on television, in magazines, in newspapers, or on the Internet. The term participating regarding sports generally refers to active consumption, whereas the term passive consumption refers to watching, listening to, or reading about sport. Within the three categories, there are subcategories of consumption; for example, buying things with which to consume the sport—these activities are termed indirect consumption.

What defines a sport is often hotly disputed. While often thought of as an athletic activity requiring physical skill and a competitive nature, the definition also includes leisure, recreational diversion, or pleasant outdoor activities. Many definitions of sport highlight the pleasant nature of a sporting activity that amuses the participant using synonyms such as “play.” Others exclude the lighter nature of sport and focus on well-defined rules with paid referees or the requirement that monetary compensation be paid to the participants, especially the winner. Some sport researchers refuse to recognize motorized sports or any sport that has something more than a simple tool (such as a racket, wicket, or ball).

Some purists insist that to be a sport, scoring must be objective, which would exclude sports like platform diving or figure skating, or many of the extreme board sports such as “skate vert” (skateboard vertical). These purists might even exclude boxing (a quasi-subjectively scored sport). Some sport researchers include a physical exertion and [Page 863]skill requirement in their definitions of sport, ostensibly excluding chess and many coaching or managing positions.

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