gryffron wrote:dealtn wrote:What would that leave then?
Most of the rest. Athletics, swimming, sailing...
What else has "bigger" events (in terms of money/viewers) than the olympics? Probably only boxing to add to my previous list. Maybe baseball & basketball, although these are pretty minority in most of the world.
Gryff
Ah, you are ranking them then on money/viewers, rather than on how they are perceived in the sport themselves.
Athletics International events plenty of prize money, Olympics none.
Swimming World Championships 76 events >$100k prize money for winning, Olympics 37 events no prize money.
Sailing America's Cup money is astronomical
Rowing more events in World Championship regatta than the Olympics
With many sports having "no money", and only shown as part of a bigger, and more viewable event like the Olympics, it isn't surprising on your metric the Olympics is that sport's peak. Our judgement on your original suggestion "bigger international competitions of their own" would be different.
Then again I don't agree on your elimination of the higher profile events anyway. That would diminish the remainder in itself.