1. Pro: Yes, Sport merits the vast sums of money spent on it.
1.1. Social
1.1.1. Money from sports in the form of cash prizes promotes competition among sportsmen to strive for excellence
1.1.2. The large sums of money that sportsmen earn can inspire the common man
1.1.3. Allows the expansion of sports as a global phenomenon
1.2. Politics
1.2.1. Sports promotes unity across countries. Money should thus be spent on it to organise sporting events such as the Olympics to continuously emphasise the notion of peace and harmony
1.2.1.1. eg. Olympics brought together even feuding countries such as North and South Korea.
1.2.2. Sports promotes awareness of the state that countries are in. This ensures that the plight that was previously unknown will get to be known, so that other countries can help.
1.2.2.1. eg. World Cup 2010 brought to light the plight of the poorer people in Africa.
1.3. Economics
1.3.1. Investment in sports allows profiteering
1.3.1.1. Merchandise, ticketing fees for sports events, tourism
2. Sources of money
2.1. Media payments
2.2. Sponsorship
2.3. Government expenditure
2.4. Spectators/customers
3. Definitions
3.1. Merit
3.1.1. Worth doing, of value
3.2. Vast sums of money that are spent
3.2.1. massive budget
3.2.2. Prizes, trophies
3.3. Sport
3.3.1. Physical activity for recreation and/or competition
4. Cons: No, Sport does not merit the vast sums of money spent on it
4.1. Political
4.1.1. The government would place a large emphasis on sports if vast sums of money were to be spent on it. However, sports is meant as recreation and should not be embroiled in politics. Some countries may claim that they lose because of a lack of funds, and hence this can also encourage feuds.
4.2. Social
4.2.1. Over emphasis on the idea of sports and the concept of winners take all mentality may lead to degrading of the value of sports
4.2.1.1. The value of sports
4.2.1.1.1. The three Olympic Values: friendship respect excellence And four Paralympic Values: equality courage determination inspiration
4.3. Economic
4.3.1. Money funneled into Sports (Football clubs and franchises) does not benefit the rest of the economy
4.3.1.1. Football clubs invest money they earn into more sports activities to continue receiving the monetary support they enjoy.
4.3.1.1.1. Leads to more and more money being sunk into sports without a direct benefit to the economy