Essay 026

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic: The amount of sport shown on television every week has increased significantly and this is having an impact on live sports events.   Do you think the benefits of having more televised sport are greater than the disadvantages? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. You should write at least 250 words. Televised sports, both recorded and live, have become a major form of entertainment for millions of sports lovers in the recent years.  It definitely has an impact on live sports events that are conducted in stadiums, both positively and negatively.  On the one hand, the thrill of watching a match with thousands of spectators can hardly be experienced in the privacy of one’s television screen.  For instance, people cheer their favourite teams, sing patriotic chants and dress up in fancy clothes during a match, whereas such euphoric experience of mass entertainment is absent in televised sports.  Moreover, many sports fans greatly cherish watching their favourite sports heroes in person.  Again, many accuse television sports to be addictive in nature, as many people, especially children waste long hours glued to television sets, without engaging in any productive activities. On the other hand, there are greater benefits to televised sports, which has made sports one of the most popular forms of entertainment of the present era.  Firstly, television has made sports accessible to millions of people across the globe, while sports venues are restricted to only a limited number of people.  For example, when the world cup football is held, millions of soccer fans all around the world watch it in the comfort of their homes.  If not televised, it would deny them the opportunity of enjoying such an important sports event.  Secondly, television has played a significant role in substantially increasing the popularity of many sports like cricket, badminton and hockey.  Thirdly, a televised sport is more appealing to many viewers because of the superior technological features like close up and slow motion visuals, expert commentaries and statistics, which make it very interesting.  Finally, the huge amount of revenue generated through television rights and advertisements has made sports an important economic activity, benefiting both the players and the organisers. In the final analysis, the increasing coverage given to sports on television has been greatly beneficial for sports in general, and its growing influence suggests that, its negative impacts are negligible.