It’s been said that sports bring people together. Judging by attendance figures of major sports, it appears that adage has a large degree of truth to it, as spectator sports have never been so popular around the world as they are currently.

Maybe it’s a form of escapism. Attending a sporting event relieves one of the constant drone of politics or war-mongering or spews of hatred and cynicism on social media sites. Instead of tuning in to the latest round of propaganda, or lies, or just plain, ordinary BS, the opportunity to tune into a baseball game, a cricket match, or any of a dozen or so different athletic competitions - whatever the rationale - has broad appeal.

People have always loved their sports and their sports heroes. From the days of Roman gladiators to today’s modern futbol or American football, complete with intricacies of play-calling, zone defenses, run-pass options, and assorted sideshows, spectator sports offer the viewer - whether at home in front of a TV or at the stadium - the opportunity to cheer on their chosen teams or players and relish in the competition, the thrills and spills, and the ultimate victory or defeat without investing much in the way of mental capital.

Watching sports fuels the emotions. Ask anybody why they love, for instance, the Yankees, and hate the Dodgers, and you’re likely to get a myriad of responses, some steeped in history, others more passionate entreaties, none of which make as much sense as whether you prefer ketchup or mustard on your hot dog. People will root for whatever appeals to them. For some, it’s childhood memory grafted onto an adult psyche. For others, it may be the home team, a certain player, or something at once unrelated but also deeply emotional.

Whether sports in general is good or bad is not the issue. It’s hard to argue that competitions that have been presented as public spectacle for centuries are somehow rooted in an evil desire by elite rulers to placate the starving masses. Maybe that was the original intent, who knows? But, modern sports are rooted more in money, prestige, fame, and advertising today than any deep-seated resentment of common people.

Sport is good, whether attending or spectating or actually engaging in running, jumping, throwing, punching, kicking, trash-talking and all the rest that goes into a competitive environment. Sport brings out the best, and the beast. The desire to win, to excel, to be a champion in any endeavor is about as deeply human as breathing or bathing. Those who demean the importance of sports in a person’s life take for granted that their opinion matters when it actually doesn’t. Tell a guy or gal they’re wasting their time practicing three-pointers or watching their heroes play kids’ games and you’re likely to be ignored, or worse.

Maybe those people should spend more time playing or watching sports than criticizing others, or counting their money, or whatever those kinds of people do. For the rest of us, go away! We can’t be bothered with stock markets or global politics. There’s a game on, fools!

Presented below is a table showing the top spectator sports worldwide sorted by average attendance. Judging by the most recent numbers, the state of the sporting world seems to be in pretty good shape.