I’ve tried to get into watching sports a number of times before. I do enjoy the athleticism and strategy needed to play and win, but I think you picked out the bug bears I also had fairly well.

I’ve found playing sports much more rewarding than watching them.

You hit the nail on the head. The enshittification is real.

I’m a diehard Astros fan. Game tickets are still pretty affordable but everything else is expensive af. When I was living in Austin where Astros games weren’t really syndicated on TV, I still couldn’t watch them even if I subscribed to MLB.TV because I was in their blackout area. They make it a pain in the ass to even watch games and then they wonder why MLB attendance is down.

I’m still a big fan of all my teams but I really only casually follow sports at this time. You can still be a sports fan while not taking it super seriously.

I have my favorite teams and sometimes I liken sports as a form of escapism. But, I do not ever religiously watch sports shows, listen to a lot of sports networks and actively follow anything closely. I am only there when the World Series, NBA Finals and the Super Bowl happens.

Can’t say I’ve ever attended a game, paid a ticket, bought any merch and whatnot. All of that just sound like money sinks to me. I am as minimal effort as they come when it comes to sports.

I think quite frankly, that athletes are simply overpaid. I always often wonder as to how much of their salaried contracts could go to better things than just dumping multi-millions into a few year long contract. And trust me, I get it, it’s a lot of hard work for an athlete to be in shape, remain in shape and deal with the grueling travel and schedules of some leagues. But, still, we’re talking millions to people who’re all set for life, regardless unless they turn out to be trainwrecks of human beings.

I normally watch some motorsports and things haven’t been too bad. I’ve loved watching F1 but I don’t want to sign up for AppleTV just to watch next year. I haven’t decided if I’m going to bother watching on pirate sites or just remove it from the list of motorsports I follow.

I do watch the occasional ball sports game with my dad, or a hockey game with my wife if she wants to, and oh my god the ads ads ads. They’re constant and it’s unbearable. Especially all the gambling ads, it makes me have a pit in my stomach thinking about all the money they’re taking from people by preying on addicts.

Capitalism has a price and enshittification is the consequence.

The PWHL (as viewed in the states) so far has been very refreshing since you can just watch on youtube with the only real advertising being specific sponsored elements (power plays are sponsored, maybe something else too?), and the stuff on the boards— which they don’t (as best as I can remember) digitally animate and change all the time during the game, any ad breaks on the US youtube broadcast just get a “we’ll be right back” screen and/or a few team “ads”

Sportsball.

So much wasted money and effort.

Play your games but stop acting like they’re the most important things on the planet.

Mostly that gridiron football is a public health crisis and should be treated as such

I understand the need for entertainment. I just think the current value of watching live sports is little to none. In the NFL’s case, why would you buy a cable subscription to watch a program that’s only 11% the actual game I want to watch(source: trust me bro). That’s like asking if someone would want to watch a show that’s 90% filler.

I want you to do a little thought experiment with me…

Sports make a shit ton of money. They have advertisements crammed anywhere they can. When you go to a stadium, the shots of crowds are almost always pre-recorded, or actors, so they can package the emotions they want to convey without risking a genuine moment from genuine fans not going exactly how they want it to.

They gouge you with ticket prices, they gouge you with food/drink prices, the gouge you for parking. If you’re watching at home, you have to subscribe to their specific streaming platform, and even then it doesn’t guarantee you’ll be able to see the game they want.

They recruit kids in high school and college and use them knowing full well that less than 1% will have anything resembling success. They spend millions upon millions exploiting these kids.

They give quasi-legal performance enhancing drugs to their athletes. Ones that are labeled as supplements and aren’t technically against the rules, but do the exact same thing.

They hide studies that say their sport causes long-term injuries. They bribe local officials to get huge tax breaks on building new stadiums. They have teams of lawyers and PR personnel to cover up all but the most extreme controversies from their players. They have people working night and day to find new ways to keep people’s attention and have them consume more. They found a way to make gambling legal again and have been pushing HARD for it.

Now I want you to look at all these underhanded and slimy tactics they use, and really ask yourself: “Are the games themselves rigged?”. If your immediate answer is “No, of course not! They would never mess with the integrity of the game itself!” why do you feel that way? Why do you trust organizations, that have shown they hold nothing sacred if it means more money, to NOT mess with the game itself? You know they would if they could get away with it; and with the state of the world today, do you really think they COULDN’T get away with it?

Would it be weird to say that I don’t feel anything about it at all?

Same way I’ve always felt about professional sports. Do what you want, have fun, but you’re taking a game way too seriously.

I hate how gambling is everywhere so I refuse to put money into it but I still watch football every sunday.

I find the amount of gambling present outright obscene

It used to be that they’d put baseball games on broadcast TV.

Now you basically need a subscription to watch the team in my area. It’s like they don’t want anyone to see the games.