Scoring on presentation makes it a judged performance rather than a sport

The argument

A second argument for this position concerns how cheerleading is evaluated. Proponents observe that routines are placed by panels assessing qualities such as synchronisation, showmanship, crowd effect, facial expression and the overall impression a performance makes. On this view an activity whose outcome depends on how a performance is received is a performing art, however athletic the people giving it. The distinguishing feature of a sport, they argue, is that the result is settled by something competitors do against each other or against a measure, with the ball across the line or the time on the clock independent of anyone's taste. Proponents anticipate the comparison with judged sports and try to draw the line more finely. In gymnastics or diving, they argue, judging is an attempt to measure the execution of defined elements against a published standard, with deductions for faults that can be pointed to, so the aesthetic element serves as a proxy for technical precision. Cheerleading scoring includes criteria that are frankly about appeal, such as energy, presentation and the reaction of the audience, which are not attempts to measure anything but assessments of whether the performance worked. That, on this account, is the difference between a judged sport and a competitive entertainment. Defenders of the position add that the activity's own conventions support the reading. Routines are choreographed to music, built around a theme, costumed and rehearsed for effect, and performers are expected to hold an expression throughout regardless of what the body is doing. These are the conventions of staged performance rather than of competition. On this account cheerleading is not a sport, because what determines success is how a performance is received rather than an outcome achieved independently of the audience.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Critics reply that this misdescribes competitive scoring, which in practice is built on difficulty values and deductions for specific faults in stunts and tumbling, with presentation a small component rather than the deciding one. They also argue that the line drawn between measuring execution and assessing appeal does not survive contact with figure skating or artistic gymnastics, where impression scores carry real weight and nobody concludes those are not sports. Others note that staging conventions are widespread in sport, from uniforms and music to choreographed routines, and that costume and showmanship tell you how an activity is presented rather than whether its outcome is contested.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Critics object that difficulty values and deductions for specific faults do most of the work in competitive scoring, with presentation a minor component. [Rejecting P2] They argue the distinction between measuring execution and assessing appeal collapses in figure skating and artistic gymnastics, which are sports regardless. [Rejecting P3] They reply that staging conventions describe how an activity is presented rather than whether its outcome is contested. [Rejecting C] They conclude that judged scoring does not remove an activity from sport, as the recognised judged sports show.