While engaged in the most boring part of my gym workout, the TV monitor in front of me was broadcasting the 8th inning drama of a tied Major League Baseball playoff game that would decide who would advance to the 2016 World Series. When the camera panned to the dugout of the team that was at bat I discovered a bunch of guys who were apparently more bored than I was with their current activity/lot in life. The absence of any apparent excitement, interest, or even a pulse in that group of highly paid flat-liners was only broken when one older hillbilly-looking auxiliary support guy actually semi-leaned away from the wall he was lounging against, and… spit.
Although only slightly more riveting than the professional darts game from the day before (and the pro gambling tour final I was served up the day before that), that awesome display of mediocrity did inspire me to go inside the numbers to come up with the following ranking of major spectator sports using what I’m going to call the Flotscrum Spectator Sport Watchability Index.
As some of these sports may be relatively unknown to those of you that spend one or two hours per match cheering on your preferred automobile, beer, accident insurance and soft-drink commercials, feel free to mouse-click on any of the events to access a YouTube video of highlights from that sport’s most recent season.
| Rk | Sport | Official Playing time (minutes) | Average Ball in Play BiP time per match (minutes) | Average length of match | BiP as % of overall event (BiP/length Avg Game game) | Action Index (BiP% /100) | Elements Index (Competes in Rain Y= 10; n/a = 5; N= 0 | Time Factor (Is there a clock? Y=10; N=0) | Full on Contact Factor (Full = 10) (Incidental = 5) | Endurance factor (Calories burned per hour activity / 100) | Animation Factor (Miles covered by avg player per match) | Overall Intensity (Excitement) Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hurling | 70 | 50 | 1hr30min | 55% | 5.50 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9.85 | 4.98 | 9.07 |
| 2 | Australian Rules Football | 80 | 55 | 2hr32min | 36% | 3.59 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10.00 | 6.21 | 8.72 |
| 3 | Boxing | 36 | 36 | 48min | 75% | 7.50 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 9.81 | 3.84 | 8.46 |
| 4 | Lacross | 60 | 60 | 1hr 45min | 57% | 5.71 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 6.54 | 4.00 | 8.45 |
| 5 | MMA | 25 | 25 | 30min | 83% | 8.33 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 8.17 | n/a | 8.30 |
| 6 | Rugby | 80 | 35 | 1hr50min | 32% | 3.20 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8.17 | 4.97 | 8.27 |
| 7 | Wrestling | 6 | 6 | 6.5min | 92% | 9.23 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 4.90 | n/a | 7.83 |
| 8 | American Football | 60 | 12 | 3hr 12 min | 6% | 0.63 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7.35 | 1.25 | 7.60 |
| 9 | Handball | 60 | 50 | 1hr 12min | 70% | 7.00 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 9.81 | 1.10 | 7.36 |
| 10 | Ice Hockey | 60 | 60 | 2hr 20min | 43% | 4.29 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 6.54 | 5.00 | 7.17 |
| 11 | Basketball | 48 | 48 | 2hr 18min | 35% | 3.48 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 6.54 | 2.55 | 7.00 |
| 12 | Soccer/Football | 90 | 58 | 2hr 10min | 44% | 4.43 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 8.17 | 7.00 | 6.52 |
| 13 | Field Hockey | 70 | 52 | 1hr30min | 58% | 5.80 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 6.54 | 5.59 | 5.46 |
| 14 | Volleyball | ~ | 16 | 1hr 55 min | 14% | 1.39 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6.54 | 1.21 | 2.59 |
| 15 | Table Tennis | ~ | 6 | 34.5min | 19% | 1.85 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3.27 | 1.55 | 2.02 |
| 16 | Baseball | ~ | 18 | 2hr 56min | 10% | 1.02 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4.09 | 0.04 | 2.02 |
| 17 | Cricket | 2400 | 5 days | 0.00 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4.09 | 6.84 | 2.02 | ||
| 18 | Tennis | ~ | 26 | 2hrs 41min | 16% | 1.62 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.54 | 3.00 | 1.63 |
| 19 | Badminton | ~ | 20 | 45min | 44% | 4.44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.68 | 1.25 | 1.62 |
| 20 | Golf | ~ | 24 | 4 hours | 10% | 0.99 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.51 | 5.25 | 0.90 |
Some surprises. I struggled with Hurling at number 1 until I realized that that is exactly what I would be doing if I was peddling my bike with the same level of intensity for any length of time, so why the heck not. Golf sitting at rock bottom should surprise no-one (especially given that, unlike all of the other sports, the best golfers have always been the ones who come up with the lowest score).
Conclusion? My gym will never be sued by the families of stationary bikers who die of cardiac complications induced by what they are broadcasting on their big screens.
Methodology: Flotscrum scoured the internet for reputable sources of the various statistics used in the table. Where none could be found, a stopwatch and/or some extrapolation was used on the most recent championship (preferably playoff) game that could be found – e.g. Golf Ball in Play (BiP) times were extrapolated based on a stopwatch study of the 3 hour TV broadcast of day 4 of the 2017 Honda Classic.
The overall excitement/intensity index is the average of the following five factors:
Action Index: Percentage of time the ball (or body) is actually in play over the course of the time you spend watching the game/broadcast (divided by 100 adjust to scale of 10).
On Cricket: Someday, someone, somewhere will perhaps provide a BiP number for Cricket. Until then I will leave it in a dead heat with baseball on the assumption that any sport that requires scheduled “tea” breaks for its athletes is, at best, not in the best interests of the viewing public; and, at worst, guilty of support for a performance enhancing drug.
Full On Contact: Player vs Player. 10 for full contact; 5 for incidental contact. 0 for no contact (and/or if the fans are more likely to be hurt than the athletes).
Endurance Factor: Player vs Himself. Calories burned per hour of play (divided by 100 to adjust to a scale of 10).
Note: The animation factor is displayed for information only because: 1) it would be redundant beside the action (calories burned per hour) index; and 2) I would rather run a marathon than spend 5 minutes in a ring with a wrestler, boxer or Mixed Martial Arts fighter.
Elements Index: Player vs Nature. Are players and game-plans required to adapt to random acts of Mother Nature. 10 if played in rain. 5 if not applicable (indoor game).
Time Factor: Player vs Time. Degree that time is a factor (for both the players and the audience). 10 if there is a clock; otherwise 0.