Watch out football, basketball, etc. If your viewership numbers drop too low, you will be demoted. No more sport title for you.
It would probably take a little more than that. But you raise a good point. Part of the reason sports like football, basketball, etc have such high viewership numbers is because people who don't play still watch. That simply does not happen with board games.
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" - somebody.
Gil-Scott Herron
I HATE CHESS.COM! I LOVE 😍 CHESSKID!!!!!!!!!!
then why are u here
sure bud
I have no doubt that some people were interested in the results. Or even followed commentators. But actually "watched" the games? No. Not many millions.
So you doubt it without even bothering to stop and think. It would probably surprise you that there were several online channels that broadcast the WC games online. Only on Youtube, only for the last game: Chessbase India with 4 million viewers, Chess24 with 1.5 million, FIDE with 650k and more. And these are only the English language broadcasts.
Sure, these numbers can't really compete with the Football World Cup or the NBA Finals or Formula-1 or stuff like that. But are there really millions of spectators who watch enthusiastically the world championship of sports like archery? I somehow doubt that.
I also doubt many people watch archery. BUT it's fair to say people who don't participate in archery will still watch it. Wouldn't you agree people who dont play chess will never watch it?
There are always going to be fans of any sport or game. But one of the defining differences between chess and sports is how it's viewed. Let's not take the high profile examples of the Super Bowl, World Series, or World Chess championship. Instead just an ordinary professional baseball or football game versus an ordinary professional chess tournament.
Which one will have viewers who have NEVER played the activity? You will see someone who has NEVER played football watch the entire non super bowl football game. Lots of people in fact. Maybe at home, maybe at a bar, etc. But how many people who have NEVER played chess watch an average chess tournament? I think you have to admit, it's pretty close to zero and most likely going to be zero alot more than not zero.
Watch out football, basketball, etc. If your viewership numbers drop too low, you will be demoted. No more sport title for you.
It would probably take a little more than that. But you raise a good point. Part of the reason sports like football, basketball, etc have such high viewership numbers is because people who don't play still watch. That simply does not happen with board games.
I'm sure poker have millions and millions of viewers.
I'll bet they do. But again, how many people watch poker who have NEVER played poker? Board games, card games, crossword puzzles, sudoku, Rubik's cube, etc. all have their fans. And those fans, although limited, will probably still watch competitions.
I think you probably see the point. There is no comparing the viewership of sports versus board games like chess or checkers.
Chess is not a spectator game. It's a participation game.
A little history lesson.
The whole reason Americans play chess is
Fischer vs. Spassky.
It was the biggest spectator event ever.
And it inspired millions of Americans to participate in the game.
It was the real life Rocky 4.
Fischer vs. Spassky was the biggest spectator event ever??
We've all come to expect some pretty "interesting" things from you but it almost looks like you sometimes get mad at yourself if you say something truthful.
In 1972 Miss America's prize was $50 K in scholarship money,
which was probably seen by everybody in America on TV.
Horse racing is as old as warfare itself.
In 1972, 1st place was $135 K, not bad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Preakness_Stakes
You know me and basketball. Put the ball into the basket.
AI Overview
In 1972, the average NBA player salary was approximately $90,000,
That's for a whole year.
I'll add to this.
Or rather, you add to this.
In 1972, what were the prize money for any individual contests?
Counting ONLY the individual contests and not team events the 1972 PGA tour had prize money amounts usually over 100k. A few were over 200k, The winner usually getting probably about 20 or so. I think Jack Nicklaus made about 320k that year playing golf.
I know it's easy to get sidetracked in these discussions. Someone may make a point then someone else says "but what about this other thing that's completely unrelated?"
Chess, and most other board games simply do not have the appeal, the viewership, the ratings, the money, the sponsors, the popularity, or the interest that sports do. The "chess is a sport" folks have become very silent when pressed on the issue about whether or not people who do NOT play will sit and watch an entire chess event. Because they know that just doesn't happen. It probably wouldn't happen with any other board game either.
But it happens very often with sports because, well, because they are sports. No doubt there have been big money chess events and a handful of spectators watching. But even the most enthusiastic chess fan will admit chess simply does not have the magnetism that sports do.
But even the most enthusiastic chess fan will admit chess simply does not have the magnetism that sports do.
Why do professional athletes pose as chess players?
And not the other way around?
That question is really self-answering. It's because everyone knows who the sports athlete is. Professional chess players do not pose as athletes because almost nobody knows who they are.
But even the most enthusiastic chess fan will admit chess simply does not have the magnetism that sports do.
Why do professional athletes pose as chess players?
And not the other way around?
That question is really self-answering. It's because everyone knows who the sports athlete is. Professional chess players do not pose as athletes because almost nobody knows who they are.
You must come from Bizzaro World.
Athletes pose as chess players because chess has more prestige.
Chess players don't pose as athletes because sports has less prestige.
I've never heard that one before. You do know what prestige means, right?
So if using chess as a prop for a NHL commercial indicate "prestige" then using a gecko for an insurance commercial also indicates prestige, right?
I play tennis.
And I don't pose as a tennis player.
Here's the logo of my tennis club.
You do pose as a tennis player as demonstrated by your repeated references to playing tennis and sharing your tennis club logo. You seem to have forgotten your point long ago and are now just typing whatever comes in to your mind at that specific moment. You seem to think everyone else in the world thinks and acts the same as you but that is not the case. Thankfully.
The "a sport is only a sport if people watch it" argument sounds sketchy. Not many in the USA watch Rugby or Cricket, but they are still sports. What's the critical amount of fans required to get the title?
Basing what is considered a sport on needing a majority share of the population approving of it seems like a slippery slope.
Though the Oxford dictionary defines it as "an activity involving physical exertion and skill". So if we are going off of that definition, chess isn't a sport. Maybe we can petition the dictionaries to add an entry similar to e-sports but for board games. B-sports?
Watch out football, basketball, etc. If your viewership numbers drop too low, you will be demoted. No more sport title for you.