Watchingallsports.com

This page is a header for the various professional sports covered on WatchingAllSports. Please use the menu at the top of the page to select a specific sport.

The difference between professional sports and Olympic sports has slimmed as more and more athletes have accepted more and more endorsements from corporations. Furthermore, one of the Olympics’ founding principles – that competitors should be gentleman amateurs, who played sports enthusiastically but casually – is no longer a popular idea. Thus, the idea that the Olympics should restrict themselves to only allow amateur athletes (who are invariably at a disadvantage compared to their specialized counterparts) was no longer valid.

Of course, allowing professional athletes to compete also means allowing professional sponsors to advertise, which is another compelling factor. You can read a bit further at this link.