Every 4 years (well, I guess 2) many of the athletes start talking about their specific sports and how they are working to get it be more popular (such as Michael Phelps and swimming). Inevitably, none of the sports gain traction. To me, if one looks at the more popular sports out there (football, basketball, baseball, hockey, golf, tennis, etc) they all have 2 things in common: the ability to easily play pickup and the ability for a game to last for a decent length of time.
By the ability to play pickup I mean that the sport does not require any judging, and the sport does not require any special equipment. While one could argue that swimming or skiing is a pickup sport, it really is not the way I am thinking of it. For a sport to be a true pickup sport you need the ability to quickly be able to start playing it in most locations, and the sport itself will be competitive when played. My theory is that thisability to play pickup allows people to better relate to a sport, and be more likely to watch it.
Secondly, the ability of a sport to last some length of time means that it can be a social event you sit down to enjoy for some length of time. The problem with many Olympic type events is that they are over in a minute or 2. While that minute is exciting, it is easy to miss or forget about and there is nothing to do after the minute is over.
The reason people like the Olympics is it solves both of these problems: By allowing the event to be the USA versus others, people relate to the sport. Since there are many sports going on at once, you can sit down for a few hours and watch many different 1 or 2 minute events.
Are there any other differences I am missing?
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