The “Golden Age” of Sports: Is It a Good or Bad Thing?

We hear it all the time.

You’ve had too much to eat, watched too much TV or been on the phone too long.

Is there ever such a thing as too much sports?

Twitter, Facebook, mobileapps, 24-hour sports networks—it is impossible to escape round-the-clock sports news.

Some might consider this a golden age of sports because information about any sports team is available at the touch of a button. No more waiting for the results of a game played halfway across the world or on the other side of the country.

But will modern technology lead to sports overload? Will we eventually get tired of living and breathing sports all day, every day?

For athletes, “burnout” is not uncommon. After devoting their entire waking lives to a sport, they suddenly find no joy in practicing or competing. It becomes a boring, thankless job.

We may be seeing signs of sports fan burnout. A sports fan can watch many sports  and multiple games simultaneously, but can he keep track of the teams he wants to win without a major time commitment?

In Major League Baseball there are 162 games in the regular season. Not 16 like football, but 162 games. Baseball can quickly lose its appeal. Casual fans don’t bother to even look at the standings before the last month of the season because of the revolving door first place standings.

Now, Bud Selig (the commissioner of baseball) is thinking about adding another wild card team to the mix, and the NFL is probably going to add two more games to the regular season. College Basketball is thinking about adding more teams to the tournament.

This is going overboard. For all of those sports, the end of the season will be less dramatic. Teams that are already in the playoffs will rest their starters, and in the playoffs, the opening round games will be blowouts.

Money is behind the addition of games.  The NCAA is adding teams to the basketball tournament to boost revenues. More teams equal more rounds and consequently more TV appearances.

Greed is a huge factor in sports, and it is making itself felt particularly strongly today, with two pending lockouts (the NBA and NFL).

The player/owner disputes are being fueled by technology. Each side makes its case publicly with instant news bites. Athletes use social media websites such as twitter to connect with fans and voice their opinion.

Does it really matter what athletes are doing or thinking? Am I supposed to care if they are going for a walk on the beach? They are human like the rest of us and I don’t need to know about every moment of their lives.

Making the front page is the goal for many athletes. For example, Chad Ochocinco (Johnson) made headlines by trying out for a soccer team and by riding a bull. Athletes are subscribing to the notion that there is no such thing as bad press.

In terms of the lockout disputes, both the owners and players know the media will always be ready to broadcast their views because the media feels obligated to report any and every story. Maybe if the public stopped paying attention and the news media stopped reporting on the minutia, deals would be struck.

There shouldn’t be a countdown for the number of days in the NFL lockout because it only gives the players and owners more attention.

Computers, televisions and even phones give fans great access to games, but they also could start undermining audience attendance, especially with the rising price of tickets.

Now, it is possible to watch replays of games, pause a game and watch the highlights the next day. In some cases, watching TV is better than watching in the stadium. Home seats could be more comfortable. There is no battling of the elements. The camera views are better than the view from most seats in the stadium. And best of all, the price is right: No entrance fee and no high-priced concession drinks.

Fan attendance has dropped in almost every baseball stadium this season, and it is a trend that will continue because the ticket prices have escalated too sharply and people are lazy. Games can be enjoyed in the privacy of one’s home, with no traffic-jammed drives to and from the stadium.

Technology is only going to get better. I see people growing tired of watching sports. This, however, leads to the question: What will be next for sports? Will a new spectator game emerge?