OT: "Why Do So Many Young Americans Hate Sports?"

[ashokan]

Interesting article about young people behind millennials actually "hating" sports (as opposed to just not being interested). The article goes in depth on the cultural contours, as well as why gambling is being used to pull young people in. It also goes into things like what baseball is doing to gain fans and how progress is going.


Why Do So Many Young Americans Hate Sports?

Market data paints a grim picture for the future of pro sports. In league offices around the country, the campaign to secure it is well underway.

"A new study reveals that just 23 percent of Generation Z — people born between 1992 and 2007, as the study defines the age group — consider themselves “avid” sports fans. That’s 19 percent lower than the Millennial mark of 42 percent. Roughly a third of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, meanwhile, identify as “avid” sports fans, about 10 points higher than members of Gen Z. Perhaps more tellingly, Gen Z folks say they “actively dislike” sports at a 27-percent clip. The correspondent rates for Millennials, Gen Xers and Boomers rate hovered between 5 and 7 percent.

This is not the first time data collectors have concluded that Gen Z is just not that into sports. In November 2020, Rich Luker, a social psychologist who founded his own sports polling organization, told the Washington Post that he’s observed sports fandom drop among young people for the past decade and a half, and has warned major sports leagues that a reckoning is on the horizon. "

Why Do So Many Young Americans Hate Sports?

Market data paints a grim picture for the future of pro sports. In league offices around the country, the campaign to secure it is well underway.

www.insidehook.com

 

[zappaa]

Because they’re pussies?

 

[MadRU]

Because sports video games aren’t as cool as shoot ‘‘em up video games.

Their pre diabetic bodies can’t adjust to outdoor activities.

 

[brgRC90]

A youth spent playing video games and watching youtube or tiktok. When they get older and need to exercise to get into healthier shape they will have nothing to fall back on.

 

[Plum Street]

Jesus , this county is becoming a joke .
Sports is a great learning experience in life . How to be part of a team . How to handle winning . Most importantly , how to handle losing because life is gonna knock you on your ass and you gotta get back up. No one yelled at me more than my high school football coach. So if I ever had a boss yell at me , I used to think “this is the best you got ?”

 

[RUTGERS95]

Because they’re pussies

bingo and most likely with soft parents who are liberal

 

[fsg2]

The article is about sports Fandom, not participation, but don't let that stop you guys from airing out your Bengay-scented canes.

 

[JDNB]

No expert here, but one of the reasons could be the emphasizing on travel teams, for a limited number of youths participating. Others get discouraged, and might be turned off on sports. Not much attention is given to rec programs, and they have limited schedules.

 

[fsg2]

No expert here, but one of the reasons could be the emphasizing on travel teams, for a limited number of youths participating. Others get discouraged, and might be turned off on sports. Not much attention is given to rec programs, and they have limited schedules.

Related in the article, pretty much directly refuting what the senior center is yelling about above:

"He also points out that kids today more often focus on a single discipline versus playing various sports year-round. This specialization has helped cultivate a rise in highly competitive and costly travel teams, which Lewis says pushes more youth “out of their sports career by the middle of grade school."

 

[sct1111]

Kids are fatter than ever. Fat people don't play sports because they're bad at it. They don't like watching it either.

 

[Barnaby&Neill]

The article is about sports Fandom, not participation, but don't let that stop you guys from airing out your Bengay-scented canes.

Agreed. I had a friend in grade school who had no interest in following sports as a hobby. However, he enjoyed playing some of them, even if they weren’t always the traditional team sports (he was more into track and field events).

 

[retired711]

I thought perhaps the most important part of the article was the statement at the end that young people crave community. What better way of being part of a community than to be, say, a Rutgers fan? The form in which young people enjoy sports will change -- it may well be that young people will want to see teams compete to see who can score best in the red zone, as opposed to three hour plus games --but it seems to me the drives that lead people to want to follow sports will continue. I think the biggest problem is that young people today do not play outside the way, say, that baby boomers did, and so they will not acquire the same feel for sports that older fans have. So esports may well become more prominent as time goes on, and the conventional sports less so.

 

[Plum Street]

The article is about sports Fandom, not participation, but don't let that stop you guys from airing out your Bengay-scented canes.

Everbody plays the fool sometimes. There is no exception the the rule. Here is a direct quote from the article

“The theory is a lot of people become fans because they played the sport, and so if we have fewer people playing, then we have fewer people interested in consuming [sports] in the future,” says Melissa Davies, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor of Sport Administration at Ohio University, who’s considered this issue in her research. “That’s another area of concern, to perhaps invest in youth sports and opportunities for people to experience the sport, hands on, before becoming fans.”

 

[RUGuitarMan]

Both my sons are in that age group and are very avid sports fans. So are all of their friends, so the survey results don’t resonate with me. Actually my parents generation, people born back in the 30s and 20s seemed to be much less absorbed into being sports fans. The rise of sports as being a major form of entertainment greatly increased in the post WWll era. Prior to that, sports while somewhat popular, was no where near to today’s 24/7 obsession.

 

[fsg2]

Agreed. I had a friend in grade school who had no interest in following sports as a hobby. However, he enjoyed playing some of them, even if they weren’t always the traditional team sports (he was more into track and field events).

Good point, lot of non-traditional sports to participate in, too, some of which were not available 20+ years ago. Those don't necessarily translate so neatly into spectating.

 

[fsg2]

Everbody plays the fool sometimes. There is no exception the the rule. Here is a direct quote from the article

“The theory is a lot of people become fans because they played the sport, and so if we have fewer people playing, then we have fewer people interested in consuming [sports] in the future,” says Melissa Davies, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor of Sport Administration at Ohio University, who’s considered this issue in her research. “That’s another area of concern, to perhaps invest in youth sports and opportunities for people to experience the sport, hands on, before becoming fans.”

Yeah, that's one of like 10 reasons.

Again, the article is about Fandom, not participation. Looks like you got another one wrong.

 

[koleszar]

The article is about sports Fandom, not participation, but don't let that stop you guys from airing out your Bengay-scented canes.

We'll they're of the age where they would be able to play sports in grammar and High School. So if they don't like sports or aren't a fan do you really think they're playing them?

IMO these kids are just too coddled. They're not pushed to do anything extracurricular. My Mom made us either do extracurricular activities or a list of chores at home if we didn't. So me and my brother at an early age chose sports.

 

[Plum Street]

Yeah, that's one of like 10 reasons.

Again, the article is about Fandom, not participation. Looks like you got another one wrong.

Another one ? I am usually right

 

[fsg2]

Jesus , this county is becoming a joke .
Sports is a great learning experience in life . How to be part of a team . How to handle winning . Most importantly , how to handle losing because life is gonna knock you on your ass and you gotta get back up. No one yelled at me more than my high school football coach. So if I ever had a boss yell at me , I used to think “this is the best you got ?”

Cool story.

 

[Barnaby&Neill]

I thought perhaps the most important part of the article was the statement at the end that young people crave community. What better way of being part of a community than to be, say, a Rutgers fan? The form in which young people enjoy sports will change -- it may well be that young people will want to see teams compete to see who can score best in the red zone, as opposed to three hour plus games --but it seems to me the drives that lead people to want to follow sports will continue. I think the biggest problem is that young people today do not play outside the way, say, that baby boomers did, and so they will not acquire the same feel for sports that older fans have. So esports may well become more prominent as time goes on, and the conventional sports less so.

I read an obituary recently for Gary Paulsen — author of some novels I read as a kid. He was an avid outdoorsman, but apparently came to detest organized sports and called them a “perverse form of religion.”

So while we feel a sense of community around our teams, it can also be deeply divisive; that tribalism comes out when we trade barbs with PSU fans, for example.

 

[retired711]

The article is about sports Fandom, not participation, but don't let that stop you guys from airing out your Bengay-scented canes.

No, there's validity to what they're saying. One of the best ways of becoming a sports fan is to have participated in sports. That gives a kid a sense of what it's like to play the sport, and the kid gets to feel the excitement in the sport. If you've ever caught a touch football pass, you understand being a wide receiver.

 

[Plum Street]

Cool story.

I know.

 

[fsg2]

No, there's validity to what they're saying. One of the best ways of becoming a sports fan is to have participated in sports. That gives a kid a sense of what it's like to play the sport, and the kid gets to feel the excitement in the sport. If you've ever caught a touch football pass, you understand being a wide receiver.

No, not really.

Read the article before spouting off.

Just because you're not a fan of football, means you don't participate in anything? Get a clue.

 

[retired711]

I read an obituary recently for Gary Paulsen — author of some novels I read as a kid. He was an avid outdoorsman, but apparently came to detest organized sports and called them a “perverse form of religion.”

So while we feel a sense of community around our teams, it can also be deeply divisive; that tribalism comes out when we trade barbs with PSU fans, for example.

This is very true. Sports are a benign (or fairly benign) substitute for war. A fan feels a sense of identity, and part of having a identity is having someone to dislike. The difference is that we know in our hearts that ultimately Penn State fans and us are part of the same team -- Americans and human beings.

 

[retired711]

No, not really.

Read the article before spouting off.

Just because you're not a fan of football, means you don't participate in anything? Get a clue.

The article makes clear that part of the problem is that kids today do not participate in sports. Learn to read. Learn some manners too, internet tough guy.

 

[RUforester72]

A youth spent playing video games and watching youtube or tiktok. When they get older and need to exercise to get into healthier shape they will have nothing to fall back on.

......."they will have nothing to fall back on."

Except for their very fat asses.

 

[Plum Street]

No, not really.

Read the article before spouting off.

Just because you're not a fan of football, means you don't participate in anything? Get a clue.

Yeah , but who in their right mind is not a fan of football ? It’s so cool!

 

[fsg2]

The article makes clear that part of the problem is that kids today do not participate in sports. Learn to read. Learn some manners too, internet tough guy.

GFY, geriatric.

Wasn't the point of the article at all. Your reading is worse than your editing.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Most didn't have exposure as children because it was so damn expensive for their parents to take the family to a game.

 

[Rufaninga]

What a bunch of freaking baby arse whiners.

Just because kids aren't like you, you think they are less than you?

GtF over yourselves FFS.

The world is diverse, not everyone is exactly like you Snowflake! Doesn't mean the next generation won't surpass you and your outdated thinking.

 

[rutger80]

bingo and most likely with soft parents who are liberal

Wrong and you can take your feeble attempt at political commentary to the CE board.

 

[brgRC90]

Except for their very fat asses.

But it's not their fault. The parents are to blame.

 

[koleszar]

What a bunch of freaking baby arse whiners.
Just because kids aren't like you, you think they are less than you?
The world is diverse, not everyone is exactly like you Snowflake! Doesn't mean the next generation won't surpass you and your outdated thinking.

So than, you see no value in sports for kids? A 19% drop from the previous generation is quite surprising. That's only 23% of Generation Z who do play sports. Unless you think these kids who aren't fans of sports actually play sports, which I find highly unlikely. Diversity has nothing to do with kids playing sports, playing sports and being active does however have a direct correlation to obesity. We're raising an even larger population of future obese people.

 

[zappaa]

GFY, geriatric.

Wasn't the point of the article at all. Your reading is worse than your editing.

F’k U with your geriatric horse shit

 

[mildone]

Pretty typical generational misunderstanding taking place in this thread. Old folks judging younger folks through a culturally biased lens. Seems every generation does it.

No, @zappaa, kids today are not pussies. They have vastly different cultural norms and sensitivities and interests than we did. The ratio of macho he men to “pussies” is probably exactly the same in today’s generation, as it was a hundred years ago.

Probably the biggest difference between our generation and our children’s generation, especially males, is that, when we were growing up, there was little to do with our free time except go outside and compete in some way. And there were also far fewer entertainment options on TV (and no internet at all). So televised sports had far, far less competition than it does today.

Female interest is apparently not much different then and now. Which can probably be explained by there being far less female televised competitions when we were kids as compared to today. Women’s sports, outside the Olympics, have been growing steadily from then until now. So there wasn’t the same level of interest as males to start with, and growing interest compensated for the cultural changes affecting males.

Add in that kids today have far less patience to sit through the commercials that pervade pro and college sports. Whereas, when we were young and forming viewing habits, commercials took up a lot less of the overall viewing time during televised games.

Another factor is likely that our generation was free to go out and play in a largely self-directed way, free of the nutty helicoptering parental insistence on over organizing every last detail of their kid’s free time today. Which would cause lots of kids to shy away from doing it. Which is the fault of our generstion, not our kids’.

All of my kids loved participating in sports throughout their childhood. And all are, as young adults today, fitness fanatics who love exercise and, when they have time, playing sports. But none of them are die hard sports fans at all.

And I see the same thing among many of the young people I’ve know, many of whom I coached. None of them are “pussies”. They just have other interests because they have ten times the entertainment options we had.

 

[Rufaninga]

Sports has value, but not the only thing to add value. Things change over generations.

Some think things have to be exactly as it always was to be correct and that's just narrow minded.

 

[fsg2]

FU with your geriatric horse shit

Lol. Look who's the pussy now.

Gtfo, coattails.

You're actually the worst of the bunch. I remember you starting some bs thread about how kids never play outdoors anymore. It was a week after Xmas so I asked you what exactly you bought for your kids, grandkids, whatever to encourage them to get outside. Crickets. Strong work.

 

[mildone]

What a bunch of freaking baby arse whiners.

Just because kids aren't like you, you think they are less than you?

GtF over yourselves FFS.

The world is diverse, not everyone is exactly like you Snowflake! Doesn't mean the next generation won't surpass you and your outdated thinking.

Perhaps not the most diplomatic way to make your point, but true nonetheless. 😀

 

[mdk01]

Because they’re pussies

This is not directed at you personally, but what about helicopter, youth sports travel team parents? I look back at my youth and I see youth sports have since become less and less kid oriented and more and more parent oriented. So by the time they reach 18+ they prefer something of their own, which is not sports.

 

[rutgersdave]

Supposely more than half the board gave up watching the NFL or NBA and only the real old people care about baseball so there’s a lot of old people that hate sports.