Upper and middle-class children did mostly non-competitive actives like dancing and music lessons. College students focused on sports like boating, and some older Americans played unorganized games of baseball or cricket.
Although the first baseball game was played as early as , neither competitive sports nor spectator sports were common in America during this time.
Between , and until Mississippi became the last state to pass a compulsory education law in , sports were becoming more popular with children of all classes, and correspondingly more popular with colleges and older Americans as well. This left children of all classes not just the low-income immigrants from the cities needing to be organized and supervised while their parents worked. By giving children organized competitive activities to do schools could encourage children to build school spirit and participate in productive activities rather than to simply go off and get in trouble.
The college elite began focusing on competitive sports starting with rowing at Yale in In , The Fair Labor Standards Act decreased the amount of child labor in America, created the 40 hour work week, established a minimum wage, and established overtime wages. This helped to free up time and money for working class American families. Now that America had flood lighting, free time, money, and a taste for games the newly invented basketball , football , and baseball the big arena competitive spectator sports of today could take root.
The last major factors to impact sports popularity were probably WWII and the rise of mass media. Today Sunday football is an American tradition that has only grown in popularity with the help of shows like NFL today and their classic mid-seventies to mid-eighties lineup.
A clip of NFL Today from More Americans now than ever enjoy sports since the emergence of widespread sports betting and the ease with which people can use internet and technology to experience sports in new ways.
Technology and worker rights are largely responsible for the popularity of sports in America today. Arena sports stadiums and attendance in early U. Fact Myth. Myth Competitive sports have always been popular in the United States of America. They enjoy tremendous popularity but more important they are vehicles for transmitting such values as justice, fair play, and teamwork. Sports have contributed to racial and social integration and over history have been a "social glue" bonding the country together.
Early Americans like Benjamin Franklin and President Thomas Jefferson stressed the need for exercise and fitness promoting for example running and swimming. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy continued to encourage physical activity. President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded the President's Council on Youth Fitness in to encourage America's youth to make fitness a priority.
The Council later became the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, including people of all ages and abilities and promoting fitness through sports and games. Today, the Council continues to play an important role in promoting fitness and healthy living in America. News, press releases, letters to the editor: augustafreepress2 gmail.
The documented history of sports goes back at least 3, years. In the beginning, sports often involved the preparation for war or training as a hunter, which explains why so many early games involved the throwing of spears, stakes, and rocks, and sparring one-on-one with opponents. The first written records of the ancient Olympic Games date to B.
However, it is generally believed that the Games had been going on for many years by that time. Sports are played all over the world, whether as hobbies, careers or as a part of fitness regimens. Various games have grown in popularity to amass a huge following across the world. The rules and characteristics of these games are dynamic and are governed by international bodies.
Most of these sports are included in the Olympic Games, where different countries from all around the world compete against each other. The sports are also lucrative industries, generating billions of dollars in revenues, especially in developed countries. This is partly due to the fact that there were many similar games played long ago which might resemble soccer but are totally not alike.
Records trace the history of soccer back more than 2, years ago to ancient China. Now: The NHL has been up and down thanks to seemingly endless labor strife, but it's hit a high note of late. In fact, in the Harris Poll asking fans to identify their favorite sport, the only sport with more growth over the past 25 years than hockey is pro football. The downside is hockey still ranks sixth, falling behind football pro and college , baseball, basketball and auto racing.
In 25 years: I find it hard to believe hockey will ever become one of the big four sports again, even though it's commonly lumped in that category.
Hockey has a strong base of hardcore fans, but to take the next step, the sport needs to attract the middle-ground fans, which will be difficult to do. Hockey will continue to hover in the middle. It will always be relevant, but never become elite.
In , Major League Soccer was created. In , the United States hosted the World Cup. And that's when things started to change. But if you trace back to , soccer was as relevant as bowling, track and field and swimming. Now: Soccer is relevant in the United States, which isn't something you could always say. The growth in the MLS the past two decades has been tremendous. More American fans are interested in the English Premier League than ever before.
While some sports have faded i. In 25 years: There's no doubt it's growing. But how quickly? Interestingly, the same percent of the U. Every World Cup, you hear about how soccer is going to explode in the U. That's not happening, but consistent growth will occur. Soccer is on the way up. But it's going to be a slow ascent. Golf started to decline right around this period, and while Tiger Woods helped revive the sport during his prime, it's mostly been a downhill fall over the past four decades.
Now: Mired in a slump. Woods lifted golf to new ground in the s when he was must-watch TV. But following his personal scandal and litany of injuries, the sport has struggled.
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