Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations or teams can command large incomes. Professional sport is perhaps the only activity that defies the commercial norm whereby the media expect to be paid for carrying publicity for non-media organizations; in professional sport they are expected to pay for the privilege of doing so. As a result, more sportspeople can afford to make athleticism their primary career, devoting the training time necessary to increase skills, physical condition, and experience to modern levels of achievement. This profici