Sport

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A sport is an activity that involves skill and physical exertion and that is governed by a generally accepted set of rules and guidelines. Traditionally, the outcome of any such activity has a clear winner and loser as defined by the rules that govern that particular sport. The reasons that people engage in such activities vary but usually include a desire for competition, a wish to display one's skill and proficiency, and to engage in exercise.

As well as serving as a form of recreation for those engaged in the activity, sports are often a form of entertainment for far more spectators than participants, often run and promoted as a business. In these professional organizations, participants are paid for their participation in the sport. Spectators, in turn, pay for admission to view the event at an arena, stadium, or other such venue, as well as broadcasting the event on television or radio often with commentary. Also, further revenues are generated through advertising and sponsorship of different aspects of the game: individual players, teams, competitions and equipment. The Super Bowl in American football is a prime example: sponsorship of a thirty-second advertising slot during the game costs $2.6m. There is also a phenomena known as sports entertainment, such as professional wrestling, where the practices of sport are used to produce an entertaining show.

A sport may be either individual (as in Tennis) or in groups (e.g., two players may form a doubles team in Tennis) or as a Team (e.g., the Davis Cup in Tennis is played among nations where usually there are four singles matches and a doubles match between two teams. A typical team game is football.

There are games where a single player may play without another player. An example is Solitaire (American English)[1] or Patience (British English) played with cards. Requiring mental rather than physical exertion, such games are not usually referred to as "sports", but chess and similar games of strategy often are. A solitary physical activity without competition, such as jogging, may be called exercise or recreation rather than a "sport".

History

Training

References