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Comment by watertom | Hacker News Reader

I find all professional sports to be an incredible waste of time and resources.

The only benefit of professional sports is the enrichment of people who are already rich, the owners. Some athletes make money, but the vast majority don't really benefit, especially when considering the damage their bodies absorb.

Some people would argue that professional sports has entertainment value, but knowing the that ultimate goal is the enrichment of the owners at the expense of the health and well being of the players is not something I find entertaining.

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The median MLB salary is just under $4 million, and the NBA is about $3 million. The players choose to play sports professional, which was often a dream from childhood. There's probably quite a few bored office workers who wish they could have played in the pros. Sports also employs people working at arenas and in the media, and boosts sales near the arena.

There was a story a couple years ago about a professional tennis player, Noah Rubin, who was ranked in the top 200, and how it was difficult for a player outside the top 100 to make a living traveling around playing at smaller tournaments without being able to afford a coach or trainer. Noah started playing when he was 4 years old. It was his dream to play in grand slams and be successful, like hundreds of other top 1000 men and women's tennis players. There is no rich owner taking advantage of them.

The WNBA doesn't make the kind of money to enrich owners, but the professional women do want to play basketball for their careers. It's a bit lazy to just dismiss all of professional sports as enriching a few owners and top athletes.

The kind of men particularly predisposed to aggression need an outlet that is not war or tearing each other apart. That is not a waste of time and resources. Probably does a lot of good to unite nations by also providing the same kind of outlet

Sports fans would speak to the shared experiences and bonding moments with both strangers and loved-ones that comes from sports fandom. The cost-benefit analysis for them and you differs greatly, although many would agree with you that franchises exist to make owners money (cue all the Oakland A’s fans)

You could say the same for all of the chubster computer programmers with bad backs and heart problems.

How many people in the last decade sacrificed their youth and health to make it easier to sell some garbage mobile app or to help Amazon sell toothpaste?

Out of curiosity, can you list some of your leisure activities that involve other people...? Taken to extremes, most leisure activities have adverse effects on "professionals".

> especially when considering the damage their bodies absorb

Not all sports are football. Most professional sports don't damage bodies significantly.

Repetitive forceful motions cause damage too, such as pitching in baseball. Headers in soccer also cause CTE.

Extreme sports and mountain climbing are also known to cause damage. But ultimately, people are free to choose how they wish to live their lives.

I agree. Only change I would in US is to remove sports from academic schools. Especially ones known to damage the brain.

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