“Spend time and money on” from a spectating standpoint vs participatory vs instructional…
My first and largest expenditure from a spectation standpoint would be college basketball. If one put a mid range season ticket package in front of my for a team I wouldn’t normally care about, vs the same dollar value for any other sport for a team I wouldn’t normally care about, I’d pick college basketball- EIGHT days per week (there’s your “twice on Sunday.” But I won’t spend more than one night a month playing hoops (just got worse with Covid)…
Then: College football, followed by MLB, then at roughly the same rate MLS, non-revenue college sports; NBA playoffs… I might try to find a mens’ league to kick the soccer ball around, but as a big dude, with an aggressive life-view, I’m hesitant to even do that.
But from a cable subscription perspective, I’ll gladly pay NBCGold Cycling Pass, and maybe eventually GCN AND FLOBIKES because those subscriptions cost about what a single ticket to a good college basketball game would cost.
I don’t mind downhill skiing , but since my wife is (way) better at it than me, and still hates its (something about temps under 64F…) I won’t spend significant money on it.
I’ve never played much golf, but since I’ve managed to hold my own (with the total novice disclaimer) during the few rounds I have played, I figure I can show up and not embarrass myself, and still enjoy myself.
My new thing is walking down one side of the street until I see a person coming my direction not wearing a mask, and then I cross the street. Repeat until exhausted, infected, or run over by a car…
Soccer and tennis. I used to be a tennis fanatic. Playing team tennis, tournaments, practicing several times a week. I still enjoy the sport, but I started having issues with my knees and feet due to the impact and the constant stops and starts.
I’ve cut out singles and play doubles occasionally.
Funny thing is cycling really helps my knees feel great.
Cycling. Golf. Alpine Skiing. In any season, I can only focus on two of the sports per season if you count indoor cycling. Each is expensive but I geek out more about bikes and cycling gear than skis or golf clubs. I am competent but entirely mediocre at each sport.
If you want an all body workout then try caving (spelunking) - around this time of year with the bad weather we used to head over to the Yorkshire Dales on a fairly regular basis. A few hours crawling and squirming around underground was pretty knackering - and that’s from someone who ran, climbed, went to the gym AND worked on a construction site during the day!
MotoGymkhana and motorcycles in general. Swimming when there is time. Some full body workout in gym. Love to shoot guns - just as a part of my job description, too much money and time consuming regarding my other hobbies.
I enjoyed cricket from being a very small kid until my early 30s. I just can’t spare a whole day at a weekend to play now I’m a parent.
I enjoy watching cricket, boxing, athletics and rugby. Not a fan of football (soccer, for the US guys) - never have been. I’m afraid basketball leaves me cold, whereas NFL leaves me bewildered.
Not quite a sport, but I played poker professionally for a number of years in another life.
I live in Michigan and am pretty close to casinos so I still play occasionally, although not since Covid. Michigan did finally legalize poker last year and it’s supposed to launch by the end of the year, so I’m really excited about that. Unfortunately the player-base is limited to only other MI residents for now.
I played baseball and american football growing up. I still have a love for baseball, but bar league softball is more about the drink than the sport. Football is responsible for almost every nagging injury I have, and I haven’t played since high school.
I fell away from sport for about a decade, and my only competitive hobby was drinking. I finally figured out that it was killing me, quit drinking and started running. I got into cycling a few years ago, and fell completely in love.
My other pastime is woodworking.
40 years in Triathlon, so not much time for other things. I often combine travel with triathlon to make it more interesting before and after the race. No time or money for other sports, though it’s really interesting to see others interest. Thanks for the thread.
I did wheelchair racing (sprint distances) from -94 to 2012, and I was a member of the Finnish national team from -97 onwards. I also played wheelchair basketball until 2002, when I had to make a decision about which sport to concentrate on.