Actually, a lot! Baseball, football, basketball, and other sports are popular to play AND to watch. Thanks to continuing admiration of athletic heroes, extensive media coverage (some of it about the seamier aspects like performance drug abuse), and loads of advertising dollars, they have continued to attract more and more fans. But those fans would be a lot better off if they spent more time playing, and less watching (and often over-eating while they watch). They would be better off skipping a few games and spending some time on the dance floor.
Even for the players, there isn’t that much action. The Wall Street Journal [7/12/13] measured how much action occurs in a major league baseball game, and learned that 90% of the game is spent standing around. Major league football is even worse.
But in recent years baseball teams have learned what dancers have always known: Good songs with good tempos make the experience more productive and more fun. Actually, the practice of playing a special theme tune as each batter takes the plate started 20 years ago, and continues to be refined, according to the San Jose Mercury News [6/11/13]. Teams and players swear that using the right tunes (which might change over time depending on the players’ moods or batting averages) can boost their performances.
Baseball has been blessed since 1908 with the theme song “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”, which is actually played at a comfortable tempo for a Viennese (fast) waltz … though you likely won’t find many baseball fans who can waltz that fast.