It's no secret that in the 21st century sports have expanded enormously due to television and more recently internet and social media. And while such an expansions was needed in most cases as it felt we needed to fill more of our time with that entertainment, in the end organisations have put no limit on that expansion and it's starting to show its consequences.

Maybe those of you in 'Murica haven't noticed it, you have tons of high-level competitions happening almost entirely within the US, but in sports which cross oceans time and time again throughout the season this expansions has brought tremendous joy for the fans, tremendous revenues for organisers, and tremendous headaches as well as real injuries to athletes. And the part of the athletes is starting to affect fans, for they hate to see their idolized stars fall injured or needing a break from all the high-packed action they endure week after week. But it's not affecting organisers, in fact they keep the expansions going and even dare to put penalties on those who not show up at certain events. As you can see, a highly explosive mix we're shaking here, and it looks like it's very close to violently blow out.

One month ago, the facelifted 2025 FIFA Club World Cup kicked off. Usually this competition had only seven participants, but in an attempt to expand the sport the format was greatly expanded to include 32 teams now, and it went from lasting 10 days to a full month and playing in different venues. Plus, it was slotted when regular seasons had ended worldwide, meaning a full month of relax was taken out of the participating teams. Taking into account they participated in 4-5 competitions throughout the year (regular season, regular cup, continental cup and others, which have had their own expansions to last longer and having more matches) this puts a massive load of strain in the teams.

I'm aware this tournament will not be held again until 2029 due to how it's been scripted, but even without it the time to relax is very scarce. Don't forget there are also national team competitions both for seniors and juniors (under 23, under 20 and more) which must also be slotted at times where regular season for clubs allow for it. And with national team competitions having been expanded as well, this puts too much strain on the athletes regardless of their age. And while I'd normally say they need to exert themselves for being paid such filthy high amounts of money, it's true that they barely get any rest after travelling the whole continent and even more (and those of us not friendly with the sport would also like some rest from seeing it at TV everywhere).

Club presidents are starting to seriously consider taking legal action against organisers because of calendar constraints, while many athletes have voiced out their disgust over how the calendar is so overpopulated. Some are even considering retirement, they barely get out of injuries before being forced to play again because their team needs someone to play in whatever competition they're in. And remember there are penalties for those who refuse to show up, so basically organisers are saying they care below zero for the athletes' wellbeing and only care about earning more and more money WHICHEVER THE COST MAY BE.

The same can be seen in other sports. Tennis has also expanded manifold, with tournaments that lasted a single week to now last two, expanding in-season competitions like the Laver Cup, Davis Cup and others... And also taking into account the game's own changes: a ton of tournaments are played on the more physically-demanding hard courts and this has affected the game towards more resilient players which maintain long and heavy exchanges, thus spending more time on court and also physically exerting themselves further. Many are falling injured, criticising organization, changes in surfaces and balls (there's also a tough discussion there)... But again, the power of money keeps the expansions going even if top players can't afford playing all the top-level competitions.

In motorsports happens too. F1 went from having 17 races a year (6 outside Europe, the continent where all teams are based) in 2001 to a grandiose total of 24 races this year (14 of them outside Europe). They change continents more than ten times throughout the season, a ton of flight hours which also prevent having several double or even triple headers, thus meaning the season lasts a lot considering the rules set a mandatory summer break. And with more circuits wanting to be in the calendar, this means a constant on and off for some hosts as teams and personnel are absolutely against the idea to increase the calendar even more (because organisers would do so undoubtedly, driven by their insatiable thirst for monetary revenue).

In MotoGP things are even more tense. The addition of Sprint races run at half the distance the previous day of the big grand prix has put a big strain on riders, who now get injured more frequently and debatably of more serious injuries due to strain. It has also expanded from 16 races at the start of the century to 22 presently (the overseas races haven't changed all that much, 6 in the past to 8 nowadays). However, MotoGP does have high regards for their riders and thus the example is more moderate in this sport compared to what we've seen previously.

I'm sure the same is happening to all sports who have some notoriety in television. Basketball could be one of those, though I don't foolow it so I can't confirm, but the news I see around it highly glimpse towards another example like the ones seen so far. Who knows what other sports and/or categories could be experiencing the same, buried below the limitless greed of organisers and their life-dependant need of more and more money.

As you can see, it's a very serious issue happening at so many levels. Fans and athletes disgusted at the organisations while their profits keep on rising as their test bout our (fans) and their (athletes) patience. Soccer is the first one to consider legal action, others have seen serious attempts at splitting the sport due to athletes/clubs/teams joining forces and creating their own organisations out of disgust for their welbeing. And as things keep escalating, so will the actions of those most affected by it.

I'd like to know what do you guys think of it. Are there any other slaughterous examples I've missed? Do you think organisations should put some limit to their ambition and take a bit more into consideration the athletes' opinion? Or does the solution come through another means many fail to realize?

I think it has become a huge problem. I am not familiar with other sports. But here in the States I like American Football and Major League Baseball.

It used to be bad in Major League Baseball. First baseball is a long season with 162 regular season games then the playoffs. Before the last bargaining agreement it was not uncommon for a team to play the east coast then go to the west the coast the next day and have a game that evening. Players were getting less than 4 hours of sleep. As you can imagine some teams did not have off days until after 12 games. This lead to players getting hurt. Thankfully, Major League Baseball realized that players needed a day off part of the new agreement is teams get off days (travel days) built in to try and help the players.

In my opinion the NFL it is worse. Due to revenue on TV, streaming and ticket sells the NFL expanded the season to 17 games and now there is talk of going to 18. Here in America the top two sports that grossed the most amount of money was NFL and MLB a close second.

In the NLF because of revenue a lot of teams are not getting off. Two years ago one team played two times in one week. They played on Thursday Night and then again on Sunday. Football is a very physical sports so off days are important. While the extra expansion in the season is popular due to revenue and ticket sells. The players are paying a price. In the NFL injuries are a given. Last year a lot of players got hurt. I saw more players get injured than previous years.

So yeah, I think its a huge problem that needs to be addressed. At least MLB is trying to solve their problem. The other sports it seems to be more about the money than the players well being. College Football also appears to be getting that way especially since players can be paid to play for teams and teams are now getting extra revenue.

Connor Hellebuyck came back from IR a few weeks ago at least a week ahead of schedule (he was supposed to be out four to six weeks) and we were all afraid that something was going to get reaggravated. He hasn't but the Jets are still having problems this season, and regrettably so. Hopefully he doesn't hurt himself since he was added to the US Olympic team

tornadocam : There is certainly a rise in injuries within the NFL and I don't think the change in schedules are helping AT ALL.

Some anecdotal experience; I play Rugby Union in a local club, high impact sport, some similarities in that aspect to football. This past season there was a change in scheduling so we ended up with an earlier start and a longer season. Even just with that there was an increase in injuries among our team, or so it seemed to me. It was looking bleak by the end of the season. This isn't even for money, we pay to play, but I think there is something to be said about inadequate recovery time.

Honestly, American Football is on a whole other level though, hits are far harder. I played Canadian rules back in the day and the head trauma alone is very serious and that can't always be caught, or maybe not even reported in a professional space... it's always money.

In some cases I agree. They keep adding games/events/teams etc to different leagues and what not and in a lot of cases these seem to be mainly a cash grab.

More teams mean more games and more games mean more money. In theory. Except that the quality of most leagues seem watered down now in my opinion.

However, in the case of basketball (which you didn't seem familiar with) I actually think the opposite is true. Instead of playing 80 games a season regularly many athletes are taking breaks between games and it seems to be increasing the injury rates instead of decreasing.

The explanation I heard for this was that instead of their body being game ready every 2-3 days they are sometimes taking a week off which actually makes their body not ready for the next game risking injury even more than if they had kept playing.

I'm not talking about playing through an injury but just playing game if you are able to. Not sure how true it is but I found it interesting.

I do agree though that instead of making sports better we are just making the "more". More leagues, more games, more teams, etc etc and it all seems to only be in the name of making more money.

And.... you add sports betting on top of that and it's even worse. Not sure how prevalent that is outside of the North American leagues but it has basically taken over in North America and now I don't trust the results of games. Did a ref or player tip someone off that a game was likely going a certain way? We'll likely never know but the ease of sports betting makes the sport even less of a sport than it was and I don't like that.