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    Sports you've paid to watch

    So, what sports have you actually paid to watch? I'm ruling out freebies or it gets too nebulous too quickly.
    Football... 1,000 odd games at a guess, including one World Cup
    Gaelic football... a few dozen over the years
    Hurling.... a few dozen over the years including 6 or 7 All Ireland finals (my Dad is from the mighty Kilkenny)
    Rugby.... 1 (my uncle used to play for Malone in Belfast, a centenary match ther v an Ireland XV)
    Snooker.... 1 (Irish Open)
    Boxing.... 1 (2000 Olympics)
    Athletics.... 4 (2000 Olympics)
    Golf.... quite a few European tour events in Ireland with the old man
    F1.... Barcelona, Monza, Hangaroring with the missus who was a big fan back in the day
    Horses.... a couple of race meetings (and a few more of freebies)
    Greyhounds... suspect I may have paid in at least once during 3 or 4 nights out
    Hockey.... women's Euro champs (or maybe qualifiers) in Dublin a good few years back
    Ice Hockey... Belfast Giants once
    Last edited by seand; 03-04-2019, 12:52. Reason: ice hockey added

    #2
    Ray is going to dominate this one.

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      #3
      Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
      Ray is going to dominate this one.
      I think so; a separate Sports you haven't paid to watch thread might be easier on his typing fingers.

      Comment


        #4
        There are some sports you don't really need to pay to watch, of course. Road race cycling and the London marathon for example. I also used to go and watch the Boat Race, when I lived in London.

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          #5
          Indeed. The final stage of the Giro d'Italia passed repeatedly in front of our flat.

          Though one can pay for various varieties of "VIP seating" and/or "hospitality" at virtually all such events.

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            #6
            Originally posted by Rogin the Armchair fan View Post
            I also used to go and watch the Boat Race, when I lived in London.
            Going to watch the Boat Race by Hammersmith Bridge in the mid '90s is possibly my least favourite sporting experience ever, due to the size and demographic of the crowd. Having said that, I went last year and it was a lot less uncomfortable; there are now big screens and temporary bars to spread the crowd further along into Furnival Gardens rather than everyone coverging on The Rutland Arms and The Blue Anchor where the path is narrowest. Whether overall spectator numbers are down, I'm not sure.

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              #7
              Football - by far the most
              Tennis - clear second
              Hockey (including, but not limited to the Olympics)
              Rugby Union
              Cricket
              Squash
              Badminton (Olympic)
              Table Tennis (Olympic)
              Handball (Olympic)
              Greyhound racing

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                #8
                Roughly in declining order;

                Football (far and away the leader)
                Horse racing (2=)
                Rugby League (2=)
                Cricket
                Tennis
                Cycling
                Greyhound racing
                Rugby Union
                Baseball

                At the Olympics/Paralympics only;

                Athletics
                Dressage
                Handball
                Modern Pentathlon
                Archery
                Boccia
                Goalball
                Volleyball

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                  #9
                  OK, bear with me (and in no particular order) ;

                  Speedway
                  Cricket (Test/ODI/T20/County)
                  Field Hockey
                  Track Cycling
                  Road Cycling (not paid as such but ticketed/accredited)
                  Football
                  Rugby
                  Rugby Sevens
                  Boxing
                  Golf
                  Gridiron
                  Ice Hockey
                  Netball
                  Athletics
                  Para-athletics
                  Baseball
                  Basketball
                  Ice Speedway
                  Darts
                  Tennis
                  Greyhound racing
                  Horse racing
                  Gymnastics
                  Motor Racing
                  Swimming
                  Rowing
                  Taekwondo
                  Beach Volleyball
                  Goalball
                  Wheelchair Rugby
                  Archery
                  Shooting
                  Dressage

                  I'm racking my brains for anything else I may have seen decades ago but can't think of any more for the moment. Pretty sure I saw Stock Car/Banger Racing as a kid but will need to check
                  Last edited by Ray de Galles; 03-04-2019, 17:43.

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                    #10
                    Football
                    Cricket
                    Horse racing (once)
                    Rugby union (once)
                    Last edited by Sporting; 03-04-2019, 12:59. Reason: Adding rugger

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                      #11
                      No Gaelic Games?

                      I'm surprised.

                      The rather short list of those which would be on my list, but not yours, are Gaelic Football, Hurling, Bobsleigh, Speed Skating and Alpine Skiing.

                      I wonder if Motor Racing merits further categorisation.

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                        #12
                        Football (many, many times)
                        Rugby League (double figures)
                        Horse Racing (not double figures)
                        Cricket (ditto)
                        Vintage car racing (dunno,mainly when I was a child and didn't pay)
                        Rugby Union (a couple)
                        Wresting* (ditto)
                        Baseball (once)
                        Greyhound racing (ditto)

                        *Sport?

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                          No Gaelic Games?

                          I'm surprised.

                          The rather short list of those which would be on my list, but not yours, are Gaelic Football, Hurling, Bobsleigh, Speed Skating and Alpine Skiing.

                          I wonder if Motor Racing merits further categorisation.
                          It probably does but I wouldn't be the man to do so, such is my ignorance. I went to the Goodwood Revival meeting with my Dad, brothers, uncles and a cousin for the former's 75th birthday. It was old cars and motorbikes racing but I can't tell you any more than that.

                          Pretty sure I saw other motor racing as a kid as my Dad was a fan, I think we went to a few car rallys as he was a former participant (though I doubt they were paid for).

                          Never seen any Gaelic sports but would like to and will probably do so one day. Speed Skating the same but little chance to see it in Britain.
                          Last edited by Ray de Galles; 04-04-2019, 08:55.

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                            #14
                            One can get really technical, but the more obvious splits would be cars vs motorbikes, rallies vs track races, and oval/tri-oval tracks vs "road circuits".

                            Americans tend to distinguish "open wheel" (F1, Indy, etc) from other forms (particularly NASCAR).

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                              #15
                              If we are splitting Sevens from Rugby, then I've got both of those.

                              And I'll do my usual sub-category of sports where the participants were female, either an all-women's match or competition or a mixed event or session where Women were competing on (essentially) the same basis as Men.

                              For me, that reduces it to:-
                              Football
                              Tennis - both Mixed and Women-only sessions (Wimbledon Semis) and also female-only tournaments
                              Hockey
                              Squash - Mixed session
                              Badminton - Mixed session
                              Table Tennis - Mixed session

                              and presumably also Greyhounds, though I don't know their rules on this sort of thing and obviously this distinction works much less well for animal sports. [edit - and motorsports as well]

                              In the free-to-watch category, I've seen both Men's and Women's cycle races go past, special effort required to do so for either gender.

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                                #16
                                Sevens feels different from XV-a-side to me in a way that the shorter forms of cricket don't compared to Test/county matches. It's a bit arbitrary, I'll admit.

                                I did ponder listing where I'd seen womens and mens versions of a sport but the list was long enough anyway.

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                                  #17
                                  A short list, in descending order:
                                  Basketball
                                  Football
                                  American Football
                                  Cricket
                                  Tennis
                                  Roller Derby

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                                    #18
                                    To me, Sevens is more distinct from Union than League is, in part because there is a rather large population of forwards that simply can't play Sevens to the required standard.

                                    That is much less the case with T20, indoor soccer, arena football or 3 on 3 basketball.

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                                      #19
                                      In descending order and including someone else paying:

                                      Football (clear first)
                                      Rugby League (clear second)
                                      Ice Hockey
                                      Baseball
                                      Cricket
                                      Athletics
                                      Horse Racing
                                      American Football (3x NCAA, 2x NFL, 1x high school)
                                      Speedway (3 or 4 times, long ago)
                                      Rugby Union (three times, only paid myself once)
                                      Snooker (twice - one exhibition and one Sky TV league thing)
                                      Basketball (twice, 1x NBA and 1x BBL)
                                      Australian Rules (once, Brisbane v Carlton)
                                      Tennis (once, Cincinnati Masters)
                                      Boxing (once, some world title bouts at Newcastle)
                                      Wrestling (once, long ago)

                                      Notable nils - Golf, Darts, Motor Sports other than Speedway

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                                        #20
                                        Football (in the 1000s)
                                        Gaelic football (100s)
                                        Hurling (about 50)
                                        Horse racing (maybe 12 times)
                                        Also
                                        Greyhounds
                                        Basketball
                                        Cycling (tour de France final stage 1989 and prologue and opening stage 1998)
                                        Motor racing when it used to be on for free in the Phoenix park.

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post

                                          It probably does but I wouldn't be the man to do so, such is my ignorance. I went to the Goodwood Revival meeting with my Dad, brothers, uncles and a cousin for the former's 75th birthday. It was old cars and motorbikes racing but I can't tell you any more than that.

                                          Pretty sure I saw other motor racing as a kid as my Dad was a fan, I think we went to a few car rallys as my dad was a former participant (though I doubt they were paid for).

                                          Never seen any Gaelic sports but would like to and will probably do so one day. Speed Skating the same but little chance to see it in Britain.
                                          Ray, London GAA play in Ruislip, don't know what that's like for you travel wise, the footballers play in the Connaught championship and open the season at home against Galway on Sunday 5th May, they'll get hammered but you'd get to see a decent Galway team and apparently there's always a great atmosphere at those games.

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                                            #22
                                            I'll watch almost any sport in the flesh, at least once or twice.

                                            Football
                                            Cricket
                                            Rugby Union
                                            Baseball
                                            Indoor soccer
                                            American football
                                            Tennis
                                            Athletics/track and field
                                            Polo
                                            Roller Derby
                                            Basketball
                                            Ice Hockey
                                            Field Hockey
                                            Greyhounds
                                            Horse racing
                                            Golf
                                            Dressage

                                            Plus Olympic's only:

                                            Water polo
                                            Modern pentathlon
                                            Beach volleyball
                                            Rowing
                                            Archery

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                                              #23
                                              This reminds me of the giddy moment when I applied for virtually every sport at the 2012 Olympics, and then I got tickets for the athletics on Bolt's 100m night, but lost out on stuff like the archery and swimming. I wasn't ... upset.

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                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by elguapo4 View Post

                                                Ray, London GAA play in Ruislip, don't know what that's like for you travel wise, the footballers play in the Connaught championship and open the season at home against Galway on Sunday 5th May, they'll get hammered but you'd get to see a decent Galway team and apparently there's always a great atmosphere at those games.
                                                Yes, I've been past their ground as I think there's a non-league club right next to it. I've pondered making the trip but really fancy seeing it in Ireland.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Football (loads)
                                                  Cricket (a lot)
                                                  Tennis (a bit)
                                                  Rugby union (a couple of times)
                                                  Rugby league (a bit, when I lived in Leeds)
                                                  Athletics
                                                  Darts
                                                  Baseball (in Cuba and the US)
                                                  Horse racing (a fair few times)
                                                  Greyhound racing (before they knocked the Stow down)
                                                  Cycling (unpaid – an hour or so of the Tour de France 2014)
                                                  Hurling
                                                  Last edited by E10 Rifle; 04-04-2019, 14:03.

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