By: Ryan Wolfe
It doesn’t matter if it’s baseball, hockey, football, basketball, or soccer. Thousands of people come together to pack into stadiums to root for their favorite team as they collectively cheer as one unified front for a team they cherish. This has gone on for decades around the world, and it’san ever-growing phenomenon. The FIFA World Cup continues to accumulate millions of viewers globally every 4 years, and the NFL is continuing to expand its international presence by playing games in the UK, Germany, and now Brazil.
Youth sports have been an easy medium for kids to make friends and learn social skills. Interaction as a child is a crucial part of their cognitive development. There are over 60 million youth participants in sports programs around the country, and about 81% agree that sports are an important institution. Some setbacks have hit youth programs due to the pandemic when there was a 37% decrease in young participants, and while some sports like soccer and baseball have rebounded in the last couple of years, birth rates have also been down, so youth sports in the future could be in jeopardy. That shouldn’t be discouraging to the public as five of the major sports leagues in North America made a combined $51.3 billion dollars in 2023. People will always stay invested in sports because of the drama, competitiveness and the profit that can be made from it.
Social media and YouTubers have added to the sports world in the past decade. Most people don’t have to rely on typical sports networks like ESPN or FS1 like they used to, now they can enjoy their favorite sports podcaster or YouTuber from anywhere, at any time. One sports YouTuber I would like to highlight is Tom Grossi. He’s a football YouTuber based in New York, and he has a large catalog of videos that range from comedic skits to analysis of different NFL teams and their matchups. Grossi’s skits can bring more engagement to the NFL because people will want to see the results of each matchup and see what the next skit will be like.
Grossi won the NFL Fan of the Year award back in 2023 due to his incredibly generous acts. In June 2023, Tom visited all 30 NFL stadiums to raise money for St. Jude Children’s hospital. He would create benchmarks and if the donations hit a certain milestone, he would have to do that task. Some of the milestone tasks he performed were jumping onto a table in Buffalo – a Bills fans tradition – going into a haunted mansion in New Orleans, and many other challenges. During his journey to every stadium across the country, his fundraiser for St. Jude raised around $500,000. This year, Grossi decided to go to every international stadium that the NFL has played at, which includes the UK, Germany, Spain, Brazil, and Mexico. He continues to do charity events on his channel by doing live events with special guests from across all sports and entertainment. Tom and his fan base are just one example of people coming together to bring positive change and be a welcoming event. He goes by the motto that they’re doing “chaotic good” for the world. Grossi is truly an inspirational figure to so many people out there and his charitable work is helping so many lives.
Sports are a place of excitement, fandom, and all out joy. It can be a place to escape from all the stresses of the world and be united in one place. Millions of people come together every 4 years for the Olympics with the opening ceremony as a symbol of what the world could be if we all came together and worked with one another. Nationalism is put aside for 3 weeks as the world’s best athletes showcase their amazing abilities on the field, court, track, or whatever plane they’reon. Over 200 countries were represented in the Olympics this past year in France, and nations like Saint Lucia and Guatemala won their first ever gold medals. It’s a tear-jerking sensation as we all lean and cheer for our favorite athletes. The ultimate underdog story, we see that individual within ourselves as they accomplish their goals. The crowd waited as Swedish American pole-vaulter Mondo Duplantis beat the world record on his final attempt in the Olympics, the crowd erupted in absolute shock and excitement. That’s the beauty of sports, a moment that we can all enjoy together. A moment we could remember forever, and a moment to motivate us to do better in the end.