spectator sport

Noun

spectator sport (plural spectator sports)

1. A sporting activity which has a relatively high ratio of watchers to direct participants.
   • Today harness racing is a $430 million-a-year business, the fastest-growing spectator sport in the U.S.1953 October 5, “Yonkers Doodle”, in Time
2. (idiomatic) Something, especially a process or activity, which is a popular object of observation; an activity which a person prefers to watch rather than to participate in.
   • Politics for me was strictly a spectator sport.1977, Muriel Clara Bradbrook, My Cambridge, →ISBN, page 120
   • The singer Britney Spears, whose descent into a personal abyss has become a ghoulish worldwide spectator sport, yesterday left a Los Angeles hospital.2008 January 6, David Randall, “Britney Spears, one-woman disaster zone, leaves hospital after two days”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 31 Aug 2009
3. (idiomatic) An activity which consists of watching or observing.
   • Thompson, who's the digest's publisher, says bird watching is a hobby, a pastime and a spectator sport that can be enjoyed anywhere.2007 June 1, Brian Dakss, “Expert Offers Basics On What Some Call Nation's No. 1 Spectator Sport”, in CBS News, retrieved 31 Aug 2009
   • Rubbernecking is only a spectator sport.2008, Andrew Savva, Trisomy 13, →ISBN, page 112