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Noah Clark

Ms. Pavlovska

English IV

30 August 2022

Is Football too Dangerous for Fans to Watch?

Some may say that American Football is too dangerous for the players, and fans should not be

allowed to watch the sport. Although football is a dangerous sport, the players understand the

dangers of playing the sport. This should not omit fans from watching their favorite sport.

Since its creation back in September of 1920, American Football has grown to be the

most popular sport in the U.S., and over time has grown more popular than other common sports

in America. “Today, football is more popular than baseball. Over 40% of people list it as their

favorite sport to watch.” (Sports Viewership). Now allowing fans to watch their favorite sport

would drastically change a few things, including popularity, team revenue, and broadcasting

network revenue. Stats show that in 2020, the year of Coronavirus, the NFL lost 4 billion dollars

in revenue due to fans not being allowed to watch the game in person. This affected the teams as

well, losing them about $100 million per team. Surely this also affected the players, not having

fans at the game to cheer them on.

Due to fans not being able to attend games in person, televised networks broadcasted the

games with 15.4 million viewers a day. This gave these networks a skyrocket in the money that

they were making. One of the NFL’s most popular players today stated that “I don’t see how you

could play a game without the fans,” Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald told reporters. “I feel
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like that takes the excitement and the fun out of the game.” (Schwab, Edholm, 2020). Others

have told them it is a “strange” environment without people cheering them on from the stands.

Fans not being present at the game could lead players not enjoying the game as much, and

potentially, the teams start to play worse.

Another good thing about watching football is that it can bring people together. Fans of

the same team could form a friendship just by liking the same team. “Watching football games

also means you’ll be spending more time with friends and loved ones. Most people will admit

it’s much better to watch matches with others than spending that time alone.” (Benefits of

Watching Football). Watching your favorite team win can also boost your confidence levels and

higher your mood.

Now imagine taking away the option to watch football games. Fans would be distraught

not to be able to watch their favorite teams and sports. Watching and playing football is fun for

the ones who enjoy the sport. Many organizations would also lose lots of money due to this.

Overall, football would not be the same without the fans watching the games, and supporting

their favorite team throughout the season.

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Works Cited

“23 Sport Viewership Statistics to Keep You Watching in 2022.” PlayToday.co, PlayToday.co, 29

July 2022, playtoday.co/blog/sport-viewership-statistics/.

“Benefits of Watching Football and Live Sporting Events.” Firsttouchonline.com, First Touch,

www.firsttouchonline.com/benefits-of-watching-football-and-live-sporting-events/.

Schwab, Frank, and Eric Edholm. “How Would NFL Games Change If There Are No Fans?

Players Offer Their Perspective and Guesses.” Yahoo!, Yahoo!, 4 June 2020,

www.yahoo.com/entertainment/how-would-nfl-games-change-if-there-are-no-fans-player

s-offer-their-perspective-and-guesses-130032539.html.