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, 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. 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.
Roller derby was presented as a popular form of sports entertainment in the 1970s, though modern versions are legitimate competition. 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. 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==