Tag: Purpose of Professional Sports

Key Search Terms – Seat Size, Playing Time, Pro Sports

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It is a common practice to use website tracking tools to identify search terms that drive people to a website or blog. Such an analysis was completed for this site as part of a move from a previous service provider.

The terms were grouped into categories and the top three search term concepts were:

  • Equal playing time.
  • The purpose of professional sports.
  • The size of stadium seats.

These search terms may not be representative of the beliefs of society as a whole; however, they are clearly issues that are relevant to society. The irony is that only a small portion of articles on this site address these topics.

Equal playing time has been a hot button for a number of years. Some parents feel equal playing time is necessary so their children, and all kids, can have an equal opportunity to improve. At the same time equal playing time prevents better and more dedicated athletes from getting the playing time they have earned though hard work. Parents are interested in understanding the arguments that can be made for and against equal playing time.

The purpose of professional sports is questioned by society every day. A look at attendance and revenue figures for professional sports teams shows that Americans love sports, yet they have become concerned about the purpose of sports because there is never ending media coverage of issues such as substance abuse, the concussion epidemic, compensation that seems to be exorbitant, cheating, scandals, and poor sportsmanship. It is difficult for some to come to terms with the fact that professional sports are the ultimate form of entertainment.

Seat size is obviously a major topic for the owners of arenas, stadiums, and event centers. Over time the weight of average Americans has increased significantly and stadium seats have been made wider to accommodate spectators. Has this gain in weight and the accompanying increase in the size of American derrieres caused a greater interest in the size of seats at local sports arenas?

It is understandable why the first two topics were included as hot topics in website searches; however, the volume of searches for seat size is more puzzling.

What search terms/concepts are going to be at the top of the list during the next year?

Stay tuned. It should be interesting.

What’s the Purpose of Professional Sports – Provide Entertainment or Determine a Winner?

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Ted Ligety is a great skier and a vocal proponent for increasing the visibility of ski racing. This can be seen in the comments that follow.

“I’ve always believed ski racing is presented and formatted poorly. I can’t think of any successful sports that have a 3-hour half time and fans only see their favorite athlete twice for a max of 4 minutes. I can’t imagine going to a basketball game to watch Lebron James play for 1 minute then wait 3-hours to see him play for another minute. It would not make sense for TV or the fans. Yet this is how a ski race is run. I race at 9am for 1 minute 20 then wait until 1:30pm to do my second run. How is a fan supposed to get into that, live or on TV?”

“Along with formatting changes, every GS and SL should be held at night. That way most tourists near the area of the race (significant number in most winter resort areas) would come to the race for evening entertainment, instead of now most skiers prefer to ski during the day, so the race misses a huge number of spectators at the venue and on TV because people are skiing. (As they should be). This would also create a party atmosphere since there could be a band playing (like Rockfest) which would draw more than just hardcore ski fans, which should be the goal.”

Legity’s comments raise a number of questions, some of which are listed below.

• What is the purpose of professional sports – to determine a winner or entertain a crowd?
• Does the fact that skiing is a winter sport limit its appeal as a spectator sport – no matter the format?
• By proprosing these changes, what is Legity ultimately trying to market?
• Would Legity’s proposed format increase sponsorship, viewership, onsite attendance, and prize money? If so, by how much?
• How would the new format benefit the sport? Would it increase participation, equipment sales, and lesson activity?
• Would the new format give an advantage to a different group of skiers, for example, those who can see better at night?
• Is there other technology that could be used to cover or make the current format more interesting?
• Using Legity’s logic, should Wimbledon be reduced from a two-week tournament to a fast serve contest so that fans could see all their favorites in action in a shorter period of time?

Legity has provided food for thought about skiing and other sports.  Do his ideas have merit or not?