Sports versus the arts, a common debate of popularity.

While both draw large crowds and cost quite a bit to run each performance, it is quite clear both from how funding appears to be distributed and the way each program runs, which is of higher popularity with the students and schools.

Sports programs such as football, basketball, soccer, and so on are thriving – they receive plenty of funding to keep the equipment in top shape, travel to different stadiums and championships, and send various projectiles hurtling towards one another (in most cases). These funds are mostly supplied by the school or district, in order to keep selling tickets to games, which in turn pay out even more.

Art programs, on the other hand, are suffering. Although participating in courses as involved as theatre can take even more time out of student and instructor lives than many sports do, they seem to receive less funding, being forced to use fundraisers just to replace basic equipment like lights and wires. This may sound simple enough, but such equipment can cost upwards of $100 each, depending on its specialization, which can stretch the given budget very thin at times.

Clearly, this perceived difference in funding should be fixed. Although arts promote deeper thinking and creativity, many of the students who are involved in these courses feel that the department’s funds are lacking. Sports, on the other hand, receive massive funding because more people are interested in them – because they are promoted much more than the arts, and can become a quick and easy way to fame through strength rather than creativity.

Plus, despite the intellectual advantage of choosing to participate in various art programs, nearly every high school and college promotes their sports programs much more than their art programs. Why? Because the majority of Americans find it much more enjoyable to watch people participate in sports than to watch a play or take even a vague interest in visual art.

Even if sports are more profitable, they do not contribute as much long-term. While they may be mostly entertainment, art courses can lead to various high-skill careers and contribute to engineering, architecture, product design, construction trades, and so on.

Simply put, arts are much more necessary to the continuation and advancement of society while sports are simply more popular for pure entertainment. Therefore, because of their importance, art programs should receive much more funding than they currently do.