I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
Thomas Edison
Commercialization or the lack of it has its own plus points and minus points.
Advantages:
1. Without commercialization, you would still be holding you pocket transistor to your ears for the running commentary. And the din of the spectators in the stadium would dominate the commentators' voice. There would have been no telecast of the sports.
2. Without the commercialization, the sport bodies would not have survived at all, with just their gate collections.
3. The commercialization of the sports has benefited the sports persons too. Now, they earn so much that the Income Tax authorities have a field day each day.
4. The statistics and the other finer points of the game are shown to the spectators in a lucid and crystal clear manner.
5. The advertising agencies spend a lot on the sport and reap benefits befitting their investment in ads.
6. You yourself could become a sponsor for your business and earn billions in the process or you can yourself become a sports person and earn in such a manner that your are your neighbor's envy.
7. There would have been only two umpires in cricket. Now, there is a third umpire and a match referee.
8. The misconduct of the players could clearly be seen by the crowd and they can judge for themselves. And the crowd can see the lapses, be it inadvertent, incompetent or deliberate.
Disadvantages:
1. By chance you become a sports person of fame, you would not like to leave it even after you become a senior citizen.
2. You block the entry of the younger sports persons and long to earn more billions of bucks and loads of fame.
3. The din of the crowd that dominates the commentators' voice has its own pleasant sound. That we miss now.
4. Witnessing a game live on the ground has become laborious, because of the telecast. You miss that fun.
5. Despite the match referees and third umpires, the misconduct of the players is more rampant now than