Why do so many people watch professional sports? Why are so many people passionate about sport teams?

A couple reasons I can think of:   1) The lack of a pre-destined outcome. If you watch a movie or a TV show, it is interesting, but it is also static. Once you've seen it once, you know what is going to happen; watching it again will yield the same outcome. Even a lot of video games involve a fairly set story that you have to play within. A sporting event is going to be different and potentially unexpected every time. Even if you put the same teams back on the field a second time, the game may play out drastically differently.   2) The most popular spectator sports tend to be ones we played as kids/grew up on. Depending on how much time you invested in a sport, you make take a deeper interest in the strategy side, but even if not, the games serve as a link to those younger days. OK, maybe not NASCAR because kids can't drive, but other than that...   3) Particularly with the elite athletes, it comes down to pure physical spectacle. The chance to see someone do something that 99.9999etc% of the population can't do. I am usually bored watching golf on TV, but when Tiger Woods destroyed the Masters field in 1997, I watched almost the entire final round. Jordan. Gretzky. Bo Jackson was getting there for a brief period before he got hurt. Possibly LeBron. Pedro Martinez during his peak.   4) To play off Mike Morgan, it's low-hanging fruit, socially speaking -- something that people can socialize over that's usually a pretty "safe" conversation topic. Politics and religion leads to arguments, maybe you don't want to share your family history, but you can always talk about the game.   5) coughgotmoneyonthegamecough. Or these days, add rooting interest in fantasy sports to the mix.

Glen puts it very well and concisely.  It's drama. I find that watching a sport (I only watch soccer) is very much like watching a story unfold.  They sometimes call the playing field the Theatre of Dreams.  Not unlike the Valley, you are watching superstars in their element doing what they do best with a solid goal of becoming champions.  Not unlike ourselves in the Valley. Each player is a character with their own story of success, failure, falling off, getting back on, etc.  I find this phenomenon to be far more appealing in soccer because you can see the players' faces and style, as opposed to most other sports where the players identities are covered by equipment.

Why do people have national pride? Why do motorcyclists wave to each-other on the road (most do)? Why such strong product allegiance (apple/Microsoft)? Belonging & Self-attribution Belonging - People desperately want to be apart of something. It's for the high-fives with the random stranger, talk over the cooler and the sense of purpose. Most people don't want to be left out. Self-Attribution - Fans ride on the success of their players and attribute that success to themselves. For instance, when Michael Phelps wins a Gold Medal at the Olympics, Americans now get to somehow claim that they are better than everyone else because Michael Phelps is American. Likened to the patented "That's my son" (which is actually justifiable self-attribution), fans are essentially saying "That's my country" "That's my team" "That's my college"  

Same reason why the Romans watched the gladiators.  Because they can. I do think there is some social value to be derived from it, so it's not a complete waste of time -- particularly if you actually play a sport. What I don't like is that many people follow sports but don't understand key political issues and global challenges in our world.  That is embarrassing in an age where information is so easy to consume. It's like video games -- something to take your mind off things and enjoy -- but when abused it is just a distraction and a means for escapism.

There are several reasons one might start supporting a team, it could be passed on from a father to son, or it could be developed out of one's own interest (possibly to fill the voids in one's life). For whatever reason it happens, one usually invests a lot of time and pride in it. Excerpts from this brilliant article: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/05/19/fanboyism-and-brand-loyalty/ "Add this sort of loyalty to something expensive, or a hobby which demands a large investment of time and money, and you get a fanboy. They defend their favorite stuff and ridicule the competition, ignoring facts if they contradict their emotional connection." So you started supporting a team, you spent so much your time following their games, you spent your money buying their expensive jersey, you lobbied for your team in front of friends, you attached your pride with the team. Don't you think you've a lot riding on that team ? "Sunk Cost can creep up on you too. Maybe you’ve been a subscriber to something for a long time and you realize it costs too much, but you don’t end your subscription because of all the money you’ve invested in the service so far." This can explain what happens when your team isn't performing well, but you still can't let go of it. You had to put on a brave face and go down with it, since you're not a hoochie who jumps the ship as it goes down, you go down with it. There's some kind of a masochistic pride in it. Finally, I don't think its related to just sports teams, fanboyism can happen for anything (like iphone vs android), provided one invests sufficiently into it.

Drama - Sporting events are part theater as well as part athletic competition.  There are heroes, villians, back stories, winners, losers, favorites, underdogs, etc.

Sports, games in some way civilization's alternate to killing. Killing is primal to humans and having chosen, evolved now to not kill and co-exist, we have taken to sports. Of-course watching something is like imagining yourself as playing. This is like getting the fun and excitement of playing without the dirt and sweat accompanied. Its for entertainment, so to speak. Isnt this why people watch movies. Watching Tom Cruise kill the world criminals in Mission Impossible makes us feel like we are like him.

Entertainment : We see sports professionals exhibit and master a particular skill and are entertained. Brings people together: It is one of those events which brings people together, and creates a party atmosphere Inspiration: We see sports professionals come out from jaws of defeat to being victorious, or those who never give up. It inspires us to may be follow that in our real life. Belonging: Teams or players create a sense of belonging which is a natural necessity for us, humans. And the reason i specifically love sports is Unscripted: There is a saying that - Truth is some times stranger than fiction. Unlike most movies and books, you never know what could happen on a given day. Manchester city could score 2 goals in the dying minutes of a premier league season to win it, or Brazil could get beaten by Germany 7-1 or you could get a scoreline like 70-68 in the final set of a tennis match. The possibilities are infinite and endless, just like life.

Personally for me, its identifying myself with the principles, winning mentality, familiarity & some of the behavior like never say die attitude these teams showed. Both English Premier League and Formula 1 were somewhat alien or did not have much coverage during the late 90s here in India. Having played football during schooldays and winning something in the last year school despite being good team performers the choice was unanimously one team - Arsenal :) and this since 1998. They play best football (#willIgettrolledforthis :), their philosophy, principles, the way they broke the dominance of ManU, the players like Henry, Bergkamp and Kanu (the guy with the hole in his heart) etc it all adds up. The very few things I try not to miss on TV are when Arsenal are playing. I have similar interests in Formula 1 with allegiance towards McLaren. Their history, the drivers, fairness to drivers, no team orders, innovation etc Probably a lot of it were influenced during college days too when we could brag about our favorite teams and the bonding it brought among the similar minded folks...