- Maybe you have been criticized for watching too much sports and specifically football on television instead of doing them.
- In the absence of exerting yourself, watching athletes in full exercise increases the feeling of well-being.
- This activity, which can be practiced from your couch or the stands of a stadium, is good for mental health and also strengthens social interactions.
With the Olympic Games and Champions league, sports fans no longer have to feel guilty. Of course, watching sports events is often accompanied by bad behavior (sedentary lifestyle, consumption of alcohol and junk food, etc.), but watching athletes in full effort contributes to well-being.
And what’s more, fans don’t hold back, according to the survey (new window) conducted by Statista Consumer Insights among 4,500 French sports fans. Between April 2023 and March 2024, 72% of them watched football on television, 39% watched rugby and 36% watched tennis. If you are one of those who never miss a live match, don’t give up this good habit.
Why does watching sports give pleasure?
A Japanese study conducted in March 2024 by researchers at Waseda University explores the link between well-being and watching sports. This multidisciplinary approach combines data analysis on 20,000 Japanese residents, questionnaires on 208 participants and medical imaging techniques on fourteen able-bodied Japanese participants.
For Professor Shintaro Saton who led the study, the results are clear. “For those looking to improve their general well-being, regularly watching sports, especially popular sports, can be an effective remedy,” he says in a press release.
But why do some sports like football or baseball provide a feeling of fullness? The Japanese study has shed light on the role of watching on the brain. It activates the reward circuits, which explains the pleasure and happiness felt during this activity.
Thanks to medical imaging, researchers were able to see the impact of watching in the long term. People who are used to watching sports have a greater volume of gray matter in the regions of the brain associated with reward circuits.
Watching sports, a way to break your loneliness?
Beyond the clichés of the supporter, a packet of crisps or a beer in hand, watching athletes on television helps reduce the feeling of loneliness. A British study conducted in 2022 among 7,249 people showed the positive effects of watching. Watching people playing sports increases the feeling of general well-being in individuals, who then feel less alone. According to researchers, this positive impact on mental health is explained by the increase in social interactions during sporting events and the feeling of belonging, by being a fan of a club, for example.
Another British study (new window) conducted in 2022 among 2,000 sports fans corroborates these results. Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of the English sports company Better, it shows that supporting a team or a particular athlete does people good. 49% of respondents feel good about watching sporting events. For one in two people, it is a way to socialize with those around them. 35% use sport to belong to a community. Sport brings people together, but not only that. For a third of respondents, it is also an incentive to become more active.
Women can do half as much sport as men for greater health benefits
“When you practice regular sporting activity, you increase your life expectancy. Human beings strengthen their immune system, which reduces cardiovascular and cerebral risks,” says Arsène Djomo Nankap, sports coach. But with a similar effort, women benefit more quickly than men from the benefits of physical activity. This is the finding of a study published by the American College of Cardiology in February 2024, and conducted on more than 400,000 American adults.
And the figures are surprising. While for men, the maximum benefit in terms of life expectancy is achieved by doing five hours of brisk walking or cycling per week, women obtain the same gain for their health after only two and a half hours per week. Less sport for women, but also more benefits for their health. Regular physical activity reduces mortality by an average of 15% in men, compared to 24% in women.
