The influence of television on sports cannot be overestimated. The influence is based on the insatiable appetite of the public for sporting events. This vast market can be reached at one time only by radio and television, and television is by far the preferred medium. Prior to the advent of television, professional athletes on baseball and the occasional boxing match were the main attractions available to a large public. No one, for example, would have listened to a professional athlete doing golf or a bowling tournament. The visual impact of the television has brought hours of every known sport, from arm wrestling to yachting, into the living rooms of million viewers.

The influence of television derives from its visual immediacy, but its power over sports is based on money. The money comes from commercial sponsors, who buy broadcast time from the television companies. The television stations and the networks then must pay the professional leagues or other organizations for the right to broadcast the events. Do you ever wonder the difference between amateur sports to the professional one? It is because professional athletes get paid and appears on commercials. Television stations are part of that paying body that pays the professional athletes for their profession. They entertain the people thus having more pay-outs to the television networks itself. What they are doing is part of the "give and take" process.

The power of television to create and sustain viewing markets has allowed it to influence the playing of the games. In some cases the rules have been changed to accommodate programming. Changes such as the 20-second rule and the three point basket in the basketball have not necessarily been mandated by television, but they have been adopted to speed up the game and make it more appealing to viewers. In the case of professional golf, a different scoring system and the sudden-death play-off were added to stimulate interest in the game. The tie breaker that was introduced to shorten televised tennis match was soon adopted by professional athletes in a regular tournament play.

Television has also been responsible for changes in the scheduling the games. Because of television marketing, baseball has become largely a night game. So if you’re wondering why your favorite professional athletes have been playing nighttime then blame TV. Most World Series games, except for those who played on weekends, are broadcast at night. The introduction of color TV prompted team owners to make uniforms more colorful, and stadiums too were repainted to appear more attractive to home viewers. Such changes have benefited professional athletes especially in football. Games that were once played at the same time are now spaced out to hold viewers. Watching sports is definitely having a different feel compare to the past.

Television definitely changed the rules for sports. And we are not complaining but instead we are rejoicing because through TV our favorite teams and also our preferred professional athletes will be much closer to us, just a tip of our fingers. The era of sports has changed through time and we thank television for speeding it up.