Go back
Non-Athletic sports

Non-Athletic sports

Sports

Vote Up
Vote Down

Chess and poker are both considered sports and are even featured on ESPN. Chess and poker players are considered "athletes".

Should this change? Perhaps the term "sport" should be reserved for events that require physical skill or exertion of some kind?

Vote Up
Vote Down

Vote Up
Vote Down

@vivify said
Chess and poker are both considered sports and are even featured on ESPN. Chess and poker players are considered "athletes".

Should this change? Perhaps the term "sport" should be reserved for events that require physical skill or exertion of some kind?
I'd take the other criteria.

A sport is something that
a. does not depend significantly on luck
b. has an objective way to determine the winner.

This means poker doesn't count under a., and figure skating doesn't count under b., but chess does.

Vote Up
Vote Down

@shallow-blue said
I'd take the other criteria.

A sport is something that
a. does not depend significantly on luck
b. has an objective way to determine the winner.

This means poker doesn't count under a., and figure skating doesn't count under b., but chess does.
I doubt there's anyone who'd agree Olympic gymnastics is not a sport just because there are judges.

You could argue judges in such sports are supposed to use objective criteria in their scores, and not subjective opinions, which would then fit your criteria.

Your definition would also make checkers a sport.

I wonder what criteria ESPN uses, since they consider poker a sport:

https://www.espn.com/espn/magazine/archives/news/story?page=magazine-20091102-article21

Vote Up
Vote Down

i've never thought of darts as a sport, a pub game for drunks


@vivify said
Chess and poker are both considered sports and are even featured on ESPN. Chess and poker players are considered "athletes".

Should this change? Perhaps the term "sport" should be reserved for events that require physical skill or exertion of some kind?
The debate about what is a sport and what is a pastime has been going on for years so I doubt we'll reach any agreement on here.
Personally,I've always considered a sport to be an activity that requires physical effort so I wouldn't include shuffleboard or bar billiards for example.
Snooker is widely regarded as a sport as is crown green bowls which I play but I think both of these are "borderline" sports shall we say.
I stress that these are only my opinions and accept that others will disagree.

Vote Up
Vote Down

@vivify said
Chess and poker are both considered sports and are even featured on ESPN. Chess and poker players are considered "athletes".

Should this change? Perhaps the term "sport" should be reserved for events that require physical skill or exertion of some kind?
Yeah, and what about
female mud wrestling?

Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More.