{{short description|Theatrical entertainment mimicking competitive sport}} {{about|the term coined by Vince McMahon|the sixth category of the Hollywood Walk of Fame|Hollywood Walk of Fame#Categorization}} '''Sports entertainment''' is a type of spectacle which presents an ostensibly competitive event using a high level of theatrical flourish and extravagant presentation, with the purpose of entertaining an audience. Unlike typical sports and games, which are conducted for competition, sportsmanship, physical exercise or personal recreation, the primary product of sports entertainment is performance for an audience's benefit. Commonly, but not in all cases, the outcomes are predetermined; as this is an open secret, it is not considered to be match fixing.
==History== {{Professional wrestling sidebar}} The term "sports entertainment" was coined by the former World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) chairman Vince McMahon during the 1980s as a marketing term to describe the industry of professional wrestling, primarily to potential advertisers,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/stephanie-mcmahon-explains-sports-entertainment-was-created-advertisers|title=Stephanie McMahon Explains "Sports Entertainment" Was Created For Advertisers | Fightful News|website=www.fightful.com}}</ref> although precursors date back to February 1935, when ''Toronto Star'' sports editor Lou Marsh described professional wrestling as "sportive entertainment". In 1989, the WWF used the phrase in a case it made to the New Jersey Senate for classifying professional wrestling as "sports entertainment" and thus not subject to regulation like a directly competitive sport.
Some sports entertainment events represent variants of actual sports, such as exhibition basketball with the Harlem Globetrotters or baseball with the Savannah Bananas.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-03-11 |title=The Whistle and Harlem Globetrotters Sign Comprehensive Partnership Agreement {{!}} Reuters |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS252220+09-Aug-2012+BW20120809 |access-date=2025-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311183006/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS252220+09-Aug-2012+BW20120809 |archive-date=2016-03-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Savannah Bananas: using innovative thinking to make sports fun |url=https://www.infront.sport/blog/sports-technology/savannah-bananas-make-sports-fun |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.infront.sport |language=en}}</ref> Others modify sport for entertainment purposes: many types of professional wrestling (which derived from traditional wrestling), and more recently many of the various mascot races held at numerous Major League Baseball games in-between innings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10170/1066854-63.stm |title=Out at the plate: Pirates dump outspoken pierogi |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=June 19, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621133216/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10170/1066854-63.stm | archive-date=June 21, 2010 | url-status=dead |author=Dan Majors}}</ref> Roller derby was presented as a popular form of sports entertainment in the 1970s, though modern versions are legitimate competition.<ref>{{cite web|quote=Forget everything you thought you knew about roller derby. This is not the sports entertainment version that was televised in the '70s and '80s with predetermined winners. |url=http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201104/tough-cookies-rollicking-resurgence-roller-derby |title=Tough Cookies: The Rollicking Resurgence Of Roller Derby |first=Adam |last=Watson |website=ThePostGame.com |date=May 1, 2011 |access-date=February 2, 2019}}</ref>
Whether monster truck shows are a form of motorsport, a form of sports entertainment, or a mix of the two has been subject to debate. Generally, the competitive events at shows are unscripted and not predetermined, and feature legitimate rules and safety and performance requirements for trucks to compete at events. However, shows also feature elements of sports entertainment such as a focus on stunts, flashy truck designs, driver personalities, and theatrical production over pure competition. In addition skills competition such as freestyle at many shows are generally focused on performing for judges and entertaining the crowd and thus the result of the competition is subject to greater subjectivity than other sports.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-14 |title=Why Monster Jam Is America’s Most Underrated Motorsports Series. No, Really. |url=https://www.motortrend.com/features/what-is-monster-jam-all-about-monster-truck-racing |access-date=2026-03-29 |website=MotorTrend |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Team |first=Kidding Around |date=2026-02-05 |title=Everything You Need to Know About Monster Jam (Review) 2025 |url=https://kiddingaroundgreenville.com/monster-jam-review |access-date=2026-03-29 |website=Kidding Around Greenville |language=en-US}}</ref>
Similar to athletes in competitive sports, many sport entertainment performers may process high athleticism, undergo significant athletic training, and face high physical demands, including injuries, though the outcomes of their performance is more subjective and based on the reaction of the crowd and the commercial success of an entertainment product the than on objective results.
==Perceptions== Sports entertainment has a stigma of being mindless, low-level pop culture, in some cases glorifying violence for the sake of entertainment,<ref>{{cite web|title=Pro-fane|url=http://www.americanpopularculture.com/archive/tv/pro_wrestling.htm|work=Americana|access-date=9 June 2013|date=April 2001}}</ref> and has been criticized as such in popular media, often through lampooning.
==See also== * Barnstorm (sports) * Exhibition game * Kayfabe
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Sport}}
Category:Sports entertainment Category:Genres Category:Professional wrestling genres