For centuries, the act of watching sports has served as a collective ritual, an emotional escape, a form of social bonding, and a mirror for societal values. From the roaring crowds of the Roman Colosseum to today’s multi-billion-viewer events like the FIFA World Cup, sports have captivated the public’s imagination. Psychologists and sociologists alike have long argued that spectatorship offers more than entertainment; it provides a sense of identity, belonging, and even catharsis in a fast-moving, fragmented world.

In the modern era, the screen replaced the arena, and the attention of billions became a commodity. Today, 85 percent of global internet users regularly watch sports, with Latin America reporting an even higher rate at 90 percent, according to Global Web Index. Sports broadcasting has become one of the most profitable attention markets globally, with advertising integrated into every facet of the viewing experience, including camera frames, team jerseys, stadium displays, and digital streams; its influence continues to grow with the emergence of new advertising platforms.

Attention is power, and how it’s used matters.

As advertisers compete for influence in this emotionally charged space, it becomes crucial to ask: Are they selling products, or shaping norms? When soda companies align themselves with elite athletes, they aren’t just selling sugary drinks, they’re embedding those products into the aspirational narratives of health, strength, and success.

The reality, however, is far from the illusion: no high-performance athlete relies on soda to fuel their performance. And yet, millions of impressionable viewers, especially youth and young adults, are absorbing the message that soda is the beverage of champions.

This isn’t just misleading, It’s morally fraught. Many scientific papers state the damages of SSB (sugar sweetened beverages) like most sodas that fill stadium posters and online advertisements for major sporting events.

According to Vasanti S. Malik, most soda brands are SSB’s which promote weight gain through adding additional liquid calories to the diet, from hyperinsulinaemia induced by the rapid absorption of glucose, and possibly from activation of the dopaminergic reward system.

Not long ago advertisements for cigarette companies or alcohol companies were at large in sports like NASCARs, football or tennis. Had it not been for concerned professionals and their insistence on raising awareness and shifting the norm of advertising something that felt anti-health on activities that are so closely related to leading a healthy life.

Advertising thrives on attention, but societies thrive on ethics. As we continue to refine policies around harmful product placement (such as the restrictions placed on tobacco advertising decades ago), we must also begin scrutinizing the presence of soda and alcohol in sports marketing. The values we promote during our most cherished communal experiences, like watching sports, shape our collective future.

We must begin placing public health and integrity above profit margins, especially when the battleground is not just our screens, but our bodies and minds. Furthermore, the future generation’s values and aspirations are at the forefront.

This is what the “kick big soda out of sport” campaign is trying to accomplish, Launched on 7–8 July 2024, ahead of the Paris Summer Olympics, “Kick Big Soda Out of Sport” is a global movement opposing sugary drink sponsorships in sports, with an initial focus on Coca‑Cola’s nearly century‑long partnership with the IOC. The movement has sought to stop sportswashing of harmful products by associating them with either athletes or sports teams. It is a collective social responsibility to associate truth and scientific facts with messaging associated with worldwide media.

Contributed by Yosthena A. Abraha