Leisure and spors

IMPACT OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS UPON MODERN DAY LEISURE LIFE
Professional sports have impacted upon the modern day leisure life in a variety of ways. Firstly, professional football has led to people visiting clubs and the local pubs to watch football along with other fans. According to the Mintel database which provides data on the consumer market in the UK and the leisure trends, most people choose to go to the pubs to watch football activities on weekends. Many of the British people love sports and visiting the pubs to watch football is an important part of their life. Sports have therefore transformed pubs to become social institutions which cater for diverse ethnic groups who meet to share the same interest. The pub has thus become Britain’s most envied and imperfectly imitated institution as sports lovers gather on neutral grounds and enjoy their leisure time watching football. Most of the football fans would visit clubs and pubs to watch popular matches such as a match between West Ham United vs Manchester United.
Secondly, sports have led to people queuing outside Wimbledon events, world’s most prestigious tennis tournament, to watch matches between the best tennis players ever witnessed in history. People could choose to queue outside Wimbledon events to watch England’s defending champion Raphael Nadal beat Andy Murray. According to Coakley & Pike, Since its inception in 1877, wimbledon has become a famous tennis tournament globally with players from over 60 countries and is widely watched by millions of fans worldwide. In the UK, tickets for Wimbledon are always on demand. Given the fierce demand by spectators to watch wimbledon events, the club now operates on a lottery for advanced sales. The ticket prices normally range at £29-£100 and sell out months in advance. The long queues for Wimbledon events represent a predominant form of leisure behaviour in the Britain.
Thirdly, among the most prominent professional sports in the UK is rugby football which is quite popular in winter pastime and is widely watched in. It is divided into two categories, namely: the rugby union and rugby league. Rugby union is confined to amateur clubs and is often exclusively a public school influenced game. In 1995, it became more professional and now covers a wider social spectrum. On the other hand, rugby league comprise of professional teams and extends to a working class sport. A vast number of Britons are seen booking for tickets at Wembley delight for only £10 to watch popular matches. Over the weekends, these Britons would book to watch popular matches such as Warrington VS Wigan. This shows that professional sport is quickly impacting on modern day leisure life with a large number booking for tickets to watch rugby games.
Cricket is also popular in the Great Britain. It is a summer sport in Britain and is both a professional and amateur sport. The professional sport is largely confined to welsh and English county sides of the country. Some of the Britons spend their leisure time watching cricket either at a local pub, restaurant, or club. Others prefer attending cricket matches at the stadium where they book for tickets in advance.