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Why hasn't there been a new major sports league?

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Re: Why hasn't there been a new major sports league?

#41
post #37

I think F1 got significantly more popular in the past few years with Drive to Survive on Netflix, and then most recently with the F1 movie on Apple TV. It’s a sports league with history and has been around for a while, but I think significant popular mindshare only happened in the last 5 years.

Popular mindshare in the US in the last 5 years - outside the US it has been huge for decades

Re: Why hasn't there been a new major sports league?

#42

The popularity of the English Premier League in the US is a factor not considered anywhere in the piece.

Probably because it’s not a “US league?” I might consider F1 in that case as it has gained in popularity a lot, and technically it’s owned by a U.S. company, but I’d never think of it as a U.S. league.

I think OP’s point is that the demand is being met elsewhere. The Premier League has exploded in popularity in the US because of accesible TV. It is easier than ever to watch foreign sports and you do not have to deal with local blackout garbage.

Re: Why hasn't there been a new major sports league?

#44
3 of the listed leagues were created in the 90s (MLS, UFC and WNBA), even though they are from the previous century I would categorize them much closer to modern times. 30 years difference is not that big of a gap. UFC in specific just got real attention in the last 15 years or so

Re: Why hasn't there been a new major sports league?

#45
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you can place bets on WWE games: https://www.sbo.net/wwe/ If they are not 100% transparent about it, then it's matchfixing.

yea, betting on the script. Like betting on the content of a new book coming out.

I suppose there's an X-factor in wrestling in the live physicality of it. There could be planned story events that can't be delivered due to injury or physical error. If a wrestler breaks a leg or seriously dislocates something mid-performance, it's going to be difficult to justify slapping a belt around them at the end.

With "One Life To Live", that sort of surprise is less likely, and they can reshoot it if necessary.

Re: Why hasn't there been a new major sports league?

#46
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All sports are entertainment. No one watches the Jets expecting them to win.

I assume you’re being facetious, but just to be clear: WWE is scripted, while the Jets have a fair chance to win any given game.

Only moderately so.

The Jets are not favored to win many of their games. The expectation is that they lose.

There are multiple teams where mediocrity would be seen as an improvement.

However, people buy the jerseys, go to games, etc.

Things like the Combine and draft are becoming events on their own. The games are only there to provide the structure for why we should care about one group over another.

Sports are entertainment.

Re: Why hasn't there been a new major sports league?

#48
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All sports are entertainment. No one watches the Jets expecting them to win.

I assume you’re being facetious, but just to be clear: WWE is scripted, while the Jets have a fair chance to win any given game.

There's an enormous amount of money commanded by F1 racing. There are only three, or maybe four, teams that have any chance of winning a race. The other six or seven teams battle to just end up in the points because that determines how the revenue gets shared with the teams.

Re: Why hasn't there been a new major sports league?

#49
post #37

I think F1 got significantly more popular in the past few years with Drive to Survive on Netflix, and then most recently with the F1 movie on Apple TV. It’s a sports league with history and has been around for a while, but I think significant popular mindshare only happened in the last 5 years.

I think that heavily depends on regions. In Germany it peaked with Michael Schumacher. Later drivers like Vettel were successful, but didn't attract the same mainstream attention.

But in global terms F1 tried to grow it's reach to China and US. (Which then turned to "night time races" for their traditional European audience.

Re: Why hasn't there been a new major sports league?

#50

There has been, the esports leagues. The viewership on the LoL championship game had a larger viewership than then Super Bowl. Edit: Got caught not reading the article, sorry. I’ll leave this up as a monument to my shame.

Tfa directly addresses LoL. > LoL Esports: loses hundreds of millions of dollars annually, exists solely as a marketing mechanism to get people to play the actual game

If viewership is high, does that matter? Football loses hundreds of millions of dollars for Proctor and Gamble, if you look at it a certain way.
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