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Deeper Meanings behind Famous Sporting Events
For most of large-scale sporting events, in closely-connected societies, are not only about the level of athletes but also about cultures, nations or spirit of the times.
Sport, defined by SportAccord, should
Have an element of competition.
Be in no way harmful to any living creature.
Not rely on equipment provided by a single supplier (excluding proprietary games such as arena football).
Not rely on any "luck" element specifically designed into the sport.
As for the most famous sporting events, there are big marathon events around the world, such as Boston Marathon, Olympics Games, FIFA world cup, super bowl, NBA Finals and so on. These competitions bring a huge amount of attention around the whole world. For example, there are 3,400,000 times attendance in 2014 FIFA World Cup and 8,200,000 in 2012 London Olympics and the 2018 winter olympics had 19.2 million viewers across platforms. With respect to the budget of these games, they are usually paid by the international organisation of the game and taxpayers. The 2016 Rio Olympics cost $13.1 billion, close to the cost of the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics, which was at $14.6 billion. The price is a bargain next to Beijing’s $42 billion 2008 Olympics.
Sponsorship & Charity
The influence of digital technology and growing social media is set to dominate the rapidly evolving landscape of Sports Sponsorship. It can be summarized in five trends.
Social influencers to play a bigger role
Shirt sponsorship to explode in US
Live experiences to become richer
Data to be used more effectively
Technology to drive more sponsorship activity
However, there are also some bad sponsorship of major sporting events, such as McDonald's.
A few weeks ago, there was a half marathon held in Brighton and Hove. Although it is a half marathon, a huge amount of people took part in every year.
Sporting competitions are massively effective in fundraising, a good example of this is The London Marathon. Under the Golden Bond scheme, charities can buy places for £300 each and runners who take one of these places pledge to raise a four-figure sum. The Multiple Sclerosis Society for example asks runners to raise at least £2000 and pay a £50 entry fee, while Breast Cancer Care asks a minimum sponsorship of £1,750, including a £50 entry fee. This scheme now includes more than 750 British charities with a total of 15,000 guaranteed places.
Sporting events for individuals are a chance to get into a passionate and be inspired. It is not only ourselves that can benefit from sports but also sports can be seen as a way to contribute to the improvement of all mankind. Additionally, by taking part in large sporting events as either we are participating in charity, such as helping HIV patients or help poverty.
Sports and Spirituality
According to sports psychologist, Dr. Mark Nesti, in order to understand the relationship between sports and spirituality, it’s important for us to first look past all the commercial hype that surrounds large sporting events, such as the Olympics and the Super Bowl. Instead, he says, we need to focus on the lives of athletes who make enormous sacrifices for a miniscule chance of victory. These athletes aren’t solely motivated by the gold medal; rather, their motivations have more to do with the meaning of participation and personal growth, says Nesti. He adds that many philosophers and psychologists have noted that when we’re playing, we’re in love with what we’re doing, and this means that sports are more important to individuals than merely learning the skills associated with it.
Below, we share an excerpt from one of Sadhguru’s talks, where he sheds light on the relationship between sports and spirituality:
“Being a sport means you are willing to play. Willing to play means you are involved or alive to the situation in which you exist, and that is the essence of life. If there is anything that is truly close to a spiritual process, in the normal course of life, that is sports. Swami Vivekananda went to the extent of saying, “In kicking a ball or playing a game, you are much closer to the Divine than you will ever be in prayer.” You can pray with life.