1. But perhaps the close association of sports and money is what brings sports to the next level. (Augustine)
1.1. Many of the world's top athletes come from improvised backgrounds. They came to identify that sports was the only way to break out of the poverty cycle hence they trained and practice extremely hard to land a contract with a professional club. All as a means to get a better life for themselves and their families
1.1.1. Manny Pac
1.1.1.1. He would wonder around his neighborhood looking for boxing matches for a reward of US$3 for the winner and US$2 for the loser and bring the money back to his mother to enjoy a good meal with his family. He kept on winning these fights and caught the attention of many boxing personalities. Manny then went on to the big city for fights and trained in a reputable gymnasium. Although the young Manny was a just a rookie, he trained like there was no tomorrow he would start the earliest and stop when all the other prized fighters were already resting. As a result, he collected 11 straight wins in his first year. He is now considered the best pound for pound fighter in the world holding 8 major boxing titles in many different divisions.
1.1.1.1.1. The close association of sport and money has enable many sportsman like Manny to achieve great things and in fact with the lure of large purses that makes a career in sports possible a large number of athletes would stop at school level to continue playing professionally. At the end of the day, we humans are pragmatic creatures, without the lure of monetary incentives that put food on the table and a roof over one's head a person would be less likely to put their heart and soul into training to break records and win honors without first satisfying their basic needs.
2. Yes, the amount of money that most sportsmen are earning right now are affecting how fans identify the sport. (Yingyi)
2.1. In the past, fans were able to identify with local teams as the players were mostly part of the community, however, due to the increasing commercialisation of sport, these sportsmen are being overpaid. They are no longer living on the same street as fans, they ride in limos.
2.1.1. David Beckham earns 27,000,000 anually and is the face of so many brands we almost forget he is merely a football player.
2.1.2. Due to the fact that most of them are being overpaid, they tend to spend the extra cash on vices. This spoils the idealistic view such as disciplined and order, that people have of sportsmen
2.1.2.1. Wayne Rooney was discovered that the young Manchester United star was a regular patron of a venerable Liverpudlian prostitute by the name of ‘Auld Slapper’ who satisfied the young player’s desire for a 48 year old woman dressed up as a cowgirl.
2.2. Campanies view successful commercialised sports as money making opportunities due to the massive audience figures which would equate to massive sales and huge amounts of money.
2.2.1. Sometimes people do not identify sportsmen with the sport they play but by the things they advertise and endorse. This is saddening as a sportsmen should be one that reminds people about the many commendable attributes that sports can help one to cultivate, such as mental toughness under pressure, ability to accept criticism and learn from mistakes.
2.2.1.1. New node
3. Ideas that sports hope to achieve is eroded away with money (Alesia)
3.1. The commercialization of sports ie beginning to kill the spirit of pure atheletics replacing it with the interests of a capitalist-consumer culture.
3.1.1. Sports stars are now the equivalent of celebrities as they have large fanbase etc. Eg. Maria Sharapova, Michael Jordan and David Beckham are all household names.
3.1.1.1. Sponsors use the huge fanbase that sports stars have to help promote their products. By wearing their brands during competitions or advertising for them on televisions and posters, it is hoped that the brands would sell better. In exchange for helping them endorse the brand, sports stars are being paid huge amounts of money.
3.1.1.1.1. In 2002, Tiger Woods earned US71 million from sponsorship deals from brands such as Nike.
3.1.1.1.2. Shaquille O Neal also earned US$120 million from endorsing brands such as Reebok.
3.1.1.2. Using their cult, sports stars are also trying to earn extra money for themselves.
3.1.1.2.1. Venus and Serena Williams have set up their own clothes line
3.2. Mixing money and sport has led to extreme competitiveness which has tainted the integrity of sport
3.2.1. Money has blinded people (Coaches, sponsors, clubs, etc) to the beauty of the sport.
3.2.1.1. They say money makes the world go round. This is true in the world of sports as money can help change everything. There have been history of bribes taken to change results of games. With the temptation of huge amounts of money, these sportsmen and sportswomen succumbed to it.
3.2.1.1.1. 1991 Black Sox Incident where 8 members were found to have taken bribes to underperform during the baseball season, giving the title to Cincinnati Reds.
3.2.1.1.2. The members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were accused of taking bribes from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) in 1998 to help Salt Lake City secure the right to Host the 2002 Winter Olympic Games
4. Sports is often linked to Gambling. (Xinping)
4.1. Due to the extreme popularity of sports nowadays, betting on sports such as soccer and horse-racing have been legalized in many countries.
4.1.1. This has further resulted in the creation of large gambling syndicates and problems of illegal betting.
4.1.1.1. An estimated $300 billion is bet illegally on sports each year in the U.S.
4.2. This has resulted in match-fixing such that we can no longer believe if the scores of games are actually true, calling the entire integrity of sportsmanship into question.
4.2.1. Players are attracted by the wealth from gambling and may thus be tempted to engage in match-fixing,
4.2.1.1. However, the desired results may not always happen and there may be disastrous consequences, especially if huge stakes are involved.
4.2.1.1.1. An example is the shooting of Andres Escobar, a Colombian national footballer who scored an own goal in the 1994 World Cup. As a result, Colombia was eliminated in the first round. It was widely believed that he was mudered as his own goal caused heavy gambling losses to several powerful drug lords.