OT: Your vote for best spectator sport that isn't mainstream U.S.
In an earlier life when sports existed, what were the best sports to watch that aren't typically viewed in the U.S.? Using such criteria, I would exclude:
- American football
- Soccer (the other football)
- Basketball
- Baseball
- Stockcar racing
- Golf
- Tennis
- Lacrosse
I suppose ice hockey also makes the list...barely.
If you're thinking of a sport that you only consider compelling during the Olympics (e.g., curling), then that doesn't count in my book.
Not that I've sampled a ton of sports from around the world, but I'll recommend Aussie Rules Football. I can't say I'm a connoisseur, but it always looks to me like rugby and American football had a baby and fed it cocaine.
Indycar is almost dead and doesn't deserve to be on the list. Nascar is tanking hard as well, but still has a large audience. In the US, F1 is not "mainstream". Tennis is on the edge. Most older people think back to Sampras-Agassi-Chang-Courier days. Those are long gone. As someone who follows the sport, TV coverage gets less every year. In person attendance in the US is pretty steady, but that's driven by sponsorships in a lot of cases. International events have empty stands for all but the grand slams.
IndyCar was dead at one point. NASCAR may not be as center stage as it once was but tanking hard? No.
Tennis is on the edge because of the lack of American dominance but I don’t know where you’re coming up with less coverage. You can watch far more qualifying and series tournaments than ever before.
Live attendance for all sports is struggling. TV, sponsors, cost, etc is killing most markets in this area. I don’t think you can correlate this with popularity though.
Indycar is not almost dead. It's not a major sport on par with basketball, but the "list" it belongs on depends on what you mean. It does have a national tv deal, which means it is more mainstream than Lacrosse, which is what I think the post is arguing.
Tennis no longer gets the national network coverage on NBC that it used to merit, but getting bumped to cable isn't exactly a death knell for coverage these days. College football and basketball have both seen their championships play on cable instead of network tv, and nobody thinks those sports are dying.
I'm not sure, but I think the argument you're making is different than the one you're arguing against. "Major" sports are a shrinking class, but the number of popular niche sports (including, IMO, auto racing, tennis, soccer in America, etc) is increasing as some sports stop being widely nationally known and others build strong niche fanbases.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:13 PM ^
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:50 PM ^
Handball is a good watch.
Are you talking team handball? I'd put that on the list.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:13 PM ^
Not the fastest sport, but I find the strategy and skill to play snooker fascinating.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:13 PM ^
Golf and stock car racing aren’t sports.
Aussie football is fun to watch. As are Fierljeppen, Sepak Tacraw, Kabaddi, Highland Games .... but Calico Storico is probably the most awesome.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:17 PM ^
College softball and volleyball are fantastic to me.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:18 PM ^
Aussie rules football might be the greatest sport ever invented
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:19 PM ^
I always stop at the lumberjack games and the worlds strongest man competition when I am flipping through channels
Just something about watching that log roll contest or a grown man pull a train with his teeth
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:31 PM ^
I've seen the Highland Games in LA, and while those folks don't really match up with WSG competitors, there's a palpable thrill in the air watching the antics.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:21 PM ^
Aussie Rules Football is a blast though I give my full recommendation to Rugby Sevens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9my67mIvBI
14 minutes of sprinting and multiple games a day over a weekend.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:23 PM ^
Celebrity Death Match.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:30 PM ^
No mention of eSports?
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:30 PM ^
DOUBLE KILL
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:31 PM ^
Curling
Since it's only on every 4 years, I have started taking time off of work to watch curling. The worst part is I have no idea why I like it so much. I mean, I have stood and cheered during curling matches. I think part of that could be the fact that my SO and I spend the weeks prior to curling making our own flavored vodkas, but who can say really.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:37 PM ^
MMA, easily. Once one understands bjj a bit, the parts of the whole add up, imo. I could personally do without some of the WWE theatrics, but you get that in boxing too.
Lax is fun to play, not to watch. I'd staple my eyelids shut before watching more than a few minutes of golf, tennis, or NASCAR. Hockey is definitely missing from the 'mainstream' list.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:46 PM ^
Hockey was listed, just not bulleted.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:40 PM ^
Arena Football
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:41 PM ^
No Spikeball? Stumbled upon a match airing on one of the ESPN channels pitting different college students against each other (seen it played in local parks a few times). If you're unfamiliar, reminds me of 4-square (?) we used to play on the playground as kids. I watched for a couple minutes, turned off the TV, and went into the other room to shed a few tears over the absence of real sports.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:41 PM ^
No fellow board riders-surf, snow, skate, wake- or adrenaline junkies on this board? I'll watch me some World Surf League on CBS Sports.
1) Surfing
Americans don't completely dominate like they once did. It's a pretty international leaderboard, but Brazilians are now the dominate force. Interesting to note in Surfing, Hawaiian Americans are seperate from North American Americans.
https://www.worldsurfleague.com/athletes/tour/mct?year=2020
2) Snowboarding & Skateboarding.
The tricks these guys now pull in all three of these board sports is just mind blowing. Incredible athleticism and acrobatics.
Watching these sports to me is similar to casually playing golf then watching pro golf. You just appreciate their talent level that much more when you know how incredibly difficult it is.
Surfing rules: even just watching the rhythm and motion of the waves on the broadcast is great and makes for good watchin'. But it always makes me want to jump in which of course is never an option.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:47 PM ^
I like tennis a lot. I know it is on your list and it definitely becomes mainstream when Nadal, Federer, or Djokovic are facing each other deep in a tournament. Which I love those matches as much as anyone but I'll even watch qualifying matches or random ATP250 matches in tournaments that have no big names in them.
Back in the mid 2000s, I was really into the Arena Football League. The AFL had deals with NBC and then ABC and ESPN which made it accessible to the average person. It is tough for a spring league to last but this is by far the most successful one.
Not a sport but I enjoy watching poker which can be found on sports channels.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
Fair enough. No one here is watching non-majors for tennis.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:48 PM ^
this one may be out there for most folks but WRC (World Rally Championship) racing is as good as it gets. The thrill of seeing those cars going by within spitting distance from you at insane speeds, jumps, varying road conditions, it's amazing. Dangerous but amazing.
I've gotten into rallying in the last year or so, and went to a couple last year. Can't beat the admission price. WRC is a good example of a niche-level sport that benefits from digital, as the all-live package is available and if you're a fan that will spend a lot of time watching the rallies it's a good deal.
I’m a big fan of motocross. Off road, motorcycles totally dust cars, particularly if the terrain is difficult.
I personally would not stand that close to a car going that fast, but maybe I am getting old...
Rallies are actually pretty specific about where to stand and where not to stand. The inside of a corner like this is pretty safe (though nothing is 100% safe, of course) and rally cars are not travelling 200 mph. One of the appeals of the sport is that it's possible to get quite close to the action.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:53 PM ^
Why are you excluding hockey? NHL actually has very robust attendance.
ESPN ignores the NHL. But that is just because they do not have a big slate of NHL games on ESPN. ESPN mostly talks about the leagues they broadcast a ton.
Hockey was not excluded. In fact, it was called out special.
hurr hurr OP. Taking a random shot at hockey but including lacrosse? Also a little amusing to take a shot at hockey for only being 'compelling during the Olympics' when most of the US doesn't pay attention to soccer other than the World Cup (for the record, I'm not trying to belittle lacrosse or soccer. Just calling out OP's dumb shot at hockey)
I'll echo a comment above- college softball and volleyball are surprisingly entertaining. I always find indoor / box lacrosse interesting as well. High scoring, barely any rules that I can gather
Good thing you called out the dumb shot at hockey, otherwise no one would have noticed!
Supercross and snocross racing
Soccer is a mainstream spectator sport in the USA? I’d say Ice Hockey is more main stream in North America than is Soccer.
easy answer is MMA/UFC then boxing.
April 22nd, 2020 at 10:48 PM ^
Over the last decade soccer has completely passed hockey in popularity, attendance, spectators, etc.
The ironic part is it's European soccer - English Premier League, UEFA Champions leage, etc-- that draws the television viewers.
MLS has higher attendance than NHL.
You also are neglecting to realize how many Latino Americans and Immigrants there are this country who are obsessive soccer fans.
Strongman. So stoked that World's Strongest Man comp is happening 15 mins from my house this year!
Also, tune in on May 2nd to ESPN for the attempted heaviest deadlift of all time, by Hafthor Bjornsson @ 501kg (1,102.2lbs) - at least, might go heavier.
April 23rd, 2020 at 10:48 AM ^
Happy to see a fellow strongman fan. If you ever get the chance after the Rona, you should try to get to an international comp in Europe. Giants Live was the best atmosphere I've ever seen for a strongman show, it was electric. Like 11k people crammed in to watch the monsters go haha.
On the note of Hafthor, you think he's got the 501? I sure do. That 470 was a damn speed rep o.o
My friend suggested sepak takraw to me. Think volleyball without being able to use your hands, but using the rest of your body.
I was unaware of this. Looks amazing.
I follow MotoGP (two wheel F1 equivalent) closely (have an online race subscription) and occasionally check out other types of motorcycle racing from time to time.
I ran myself, so I watch track and field sporadically, not just in Olympic years. I mostly focus on long sprints/middle distance (400-1500), but definitely catch the sprints and will watch anything in between
I enjoy the World's Strongest Man, but mostly reruns of the old school days.
Track and Field. 400m and down, hurdles included.
The men's 4x400m is the greatest event in track and field.
Horse racing: Keeneland and Saratoga are a great time. Obviously, the Derby and triple crown series is fun to watch. Plenty of over seas bucket list events like Royal Ascot, Melbourne Cup, Prix De l’Arc de Triumphe, Dubai World Cup, and Sha tin.
Darts is worth a watch...I would love to go see it live.
I freaking love watching rugby whenever I see it on TV. I don’t fully understand the rules, but it’s just so fast, mean and fun to watch. Australian rules football is pretty damn cool too.
Agreed... never used to get into rugby until there was a showing on ESPN2 or some other channel. They actually explained the rules, and I thought it was pretty darn fun to watch!
Still don't understand the rules though... officiating is rather loose.
Based on the list you have as exclusions, I would have to go with volleyball. Although I am a bit of a purist and can't stand the point a serve garbage they go with now. Also, ball control for the setters isn't nearly as rigorous as when I was playing a lot of beach 2 man in the 80s
Squash
One of those sports that looks so easy if you're just watching the pros do it. Get on the court and you can really appreciate the skill and conditioning of the dudes on the tour.