By Jack Elliot, CU Boulder
In recent years, television viewing has greatly increased. The reason for this escalation of watching sports was sparked by more cable and streaming platforms offering special live sports packages for their customers. According to one article, about 36.5 million viewed sports via some sort of television platform in the year of 2020 (eMarketer Editors). This choice to watch sports via television platforms has created an adamant debate. That debate questions whether watching sports on TV is as good or better than the experience you get when actually attending a game.
I will start by talking about my own experiences with attending games in person. To me, being in the environment of a NFL or NBA game is something unlike anything else. You can truly feel the energy of the fans vibrating throughout the entire stadium. For example, I grew up in Los Angeles and was a frequent visitor of the Staples Center. Watching the Clippers, Lakers, and Kings play in the same arena was truly fascinating to me as a child. Being that close to the athletes always gave me butterflies when I was young and I always enjoyed it very much.
“Being that close to the athletes always gave me butterflies when I was young and I always enjoyed it very much. “
However, as tickets get more and more expensive for every sport I find that it is much more difficult to want to attend these games in person. This leads me to my opinion on watching sports from the comfort of your home. As a college student who has an extremely busy schedule, I have found it much more enjoyable to stay home and watch sports games rather than driving to Denver to watch a Nuggets game.
“Watching games from home has never been easier and is starting to be preferred by many people
Being in the comfort and easy accessibility of your own home is a great upside to staying home for games as well. Going to a game in person is great, however, it definitely requires much more planning than watching a game at your house. With sports packages such as Red Zone for the NFL, the access to games is unlike it has ever been before. Watching games from home has never been easier and is starting to be preferred by many people.
I’m not writing this to say not to go to games in person. This is more to say that both options are good and the decision you make depends on what your schedule is like. If you and your family are figuring out what to do on the weekend, by all means take your Sunday to go to a Broncos game. However, if you are pressed for time because of work and other commitments, the better option is ordering some food in and watching the game at home. Knowing that we have this option is super convenient and makes it much easier to keep up with sports.
References
Editors, eM. (2020, May 29). In the US, people are switching to digital for live sports viewing. Insider Intelligence. Retrieved March 2, 2022, from https://www.emarketer.com/content/in-the-us-people-are-switching-to-digital-for-live-sports-viewing
University of Colorado Athletics. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2022, from https://cubuffs.com/facilities/folsom-field/1
