Why Do Some Sports Vanish and Some Sports Survive?

http://nautil.us/issue/39/sport/why-sports-die

by prostoalex • 10 years ago

40 27 10 years ago

nautil.us

mod• 10 years ago

I don't think the article answers the question it presents.

The only answer it seems to provide is "When cultures disappear, their sports disappear with them."

I think the answer to the question in the title would also answer a lot of similar questions:

"Why do some car makers vanish and some survive?"

"Why do some board games vanish and some survive?"

"Why do some X vanish and some survive?"

caminante• 10 years ago

I don't think the article answers the question it presents.

You sure? I didn't need to read further than this quote to answer "Why do sports die?":

  "In areas adjacent to their temples, young men engaged in 
  a ball game, known as ōllamaliztli, that concluded with 
  the bloody sacrifice of one of the players upon the temple’s 
  altar. Whether the sacrificed player was a winner or a loser 
  we shall never know."

I wouldn't try out for that sport ;-).

ythl• 10 years ago

Money. If the organization that governs your sport doesn't lobby the right people, your sport will stop getting coverage. Without coverage you generate no money. Read: wrestling and the olympics.

et-al• 10 years ago

I agree that money plays a part, but in terms of wrestling, it'll still do fine without the Olympics because of MMA. And as MMA becomes more mainstream, it will be more influential than a sporting event that's broadcasted once every four years.

Also, high school wrestling enrollment has been holding steady.

http://www.nwcaonline.com/nwcawebsite/savingwrestlinghome/fa... (click on the male participation pdf)

compiler-guy• 10 years ago

Lobby all you want, but if people don't like to watch the game or participate in it, lobbying won't help it stay alive.

In that sense, money is just a proxy for interest.

jessaustin• 10 years ago

I think wrestling is back on? But the broadcasts definitely should be improved. First they should hire someone like Joe Rogan for over-the-top commentary. If the problem is too many competitors, then start merging weight classes. There are definitely potential fans around for entertaining combat sports.

at-fates-hands• 10 years ago

> If the organization that governs your sport doesn't lobby the right people, your sport will stop getting coverage. Without coverage you generate no money.

Likewise if both of these things happen (getting money and coverage) there is still a huge chance nobody watches and you still lose

Read:

- US Soccer (NASL and the MLS)

- The NHL

- The X-Games

ColinCochrane• 10 years ago

MLS has been doing rather well. Attendance has been increasing steadily for the past decade[1].

The NHL, while certainly not as popular as the NFL or MLB, is pretty consistent as far as attendance numbers go, comparable to the NBA [2]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Soccer_attendance...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Soccer_attendance...

Spooky232• 10 years ago

Soccer and hockey have strong, motivated fan bases. They lack a great business model for TV.

Football is fucked long term. Liability is going to shut down the recruitment funnel, and the implosion of TV revenues will wipe out the big money.

prostoalex• 10 years ago

The money usually flows the other way - from broadcasters to the leagues/associations/federations for the broadcasting rights. And broadcasters will bid only if there's a reasonable assumption of unbundling that bid and reselling it to advertisers in 30-second increments with some margin. XFL is a good example of big money going into a new league with little to show https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XFL#End_of_season_and_failure

lists• 10 years ago

Wrestlers have been monetizing their skillset within MMA for years. They can literally walk into a cage and win matches early in their career because they have tons for formal training

cobbzilla• 10 years ago

While we're wondering why some sports fare better than others, anyone want to lay odds on the long-term survival chances of the wild and wacky game of Buzkashi? It's the sport where your team, on horseback, tries to get the goat carcass into your opponent's goal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzkashi

andygates• 10 years ago

Geographic spread seems to help with sports, so is this still a regional specialty, or are there buzkashi sides in the Afghan diaspora? Most importantly, have the blue blazers homologated a Standard Buzkashi Goat? /s

wppick• 10 years ago

What I find interesting is that the person who would design the game dynamics for a new sport and the game dynamics for a new video game, like call of duty, essentially have the same job description. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_design

What's even more interesting is how deep game design actually goes in human culture/history. Anything competitive between humans could potentially be modeled as a game. You could even think about war as a game (there are rules, teams). I could imagine ancient humans saw hunting as a game. Play is also super important for the proper development of children.

As for why some sports/games survive while others fail, I'd argue that it's the same reason anything designed lasts the test of time, gets replaced, or becomes obsolete

technotony• 10 years ago

If you are interested in taking this idea further, all life is game, I'd recommend the philosophy book 'finite and infinite games'. Can be applied to all kinds of aspects of human life, eg a startup is a game played by founders who win with a successful exit.

With this philosophy text, Carse demonstrates a way of looking at actions in life as being a part of at least two types of what he describes as "games", finite and infinite. Both games are played within rules, as agreed upon by the participants; however, the meaning of the rules is different for the two types of games. The book stresses a non-serious (or "playful") view of life on the part of "players", referring to their choices as "moves", and societal constructs and mores as "rules" and "boundaries".

In short, a finite game is played with the purpose of winning (thus ending the game), while an infinite game is played with the purpose of continuing the play.

agumonkey• 10 years ago

When thinking about games I have a feeling that it channels our survival / killing instincts into symbolic versions to gather the benefits (new strategies, pleasure, bonding, physical improvements).

astazangasta3• 10 years ago

I don't think all life is a game in this way; with a game we hold ourselves to the rules for their own sake - the pleasure we get from play is that of acting within the sandbox we've defined. It is a sketch of life, a model, a way to explore an idea. In the context of a game we might be adversaries, but I am intimately aware of the boundary, and that we are at play - our adversarial relationship is not "real". We often say, "It's just a game", and the just is crucial to the difference.

This is different from social mores, which are boundaries we respect because transgression has consequences we care about. There are real ends; it's NOT just a game. There is no space or context beyond what happens in life, as there is in a game (taking place within the shell of the true life).

The purpose of play, and playing games, is to prepare us for the actual contests with outcomes that we are invested in.

Of course we might USE play, and games, as tools in the course of achieving real ends (like the Olympics as a goal for furthering peace), but this is different from those ends (peace) being a game in themselves.

namaemuta• 10 years ago

A bit of off-topic but I've always wondered if e-sports could be perdurable as well since the interest of the developers goes towards making more money than making it better (improving its rules, adjusting times, etc.).

Why Do Some Sports Vanish and Some Sports Survive?

Related Stories