Sporting events and changes are influenced by the current economic, social and political situations. In sociology we have the following approaches to the study of sport - Functionalism, Marxism, Social action and Interactionism. Each has a different view on society, the place of sport in society and the changes in sport over time

Medieval period (1200 - 1485)
•People had little time or energy for recreational activities
•Leisure time activities were confined to feast days
•Games were local in nature, each village having its own traditional activities
•From time to time the government would ban these traditional activities in favour of archery training

Tudor and Stuart period (1485 - 1714)
•Traditional folk games and activities flourished in Tudor times
•Puritanism greatly reduced the opportunities to play and types of activity allowed
•After the restoration in 1660, traditional activities were revived
•Sport moved away from its link with merrymaking

Hanoverian period (1714 - 1790)
•Play and sport were largely ignored by the government
•People of all classes enjoyed their leisure to the full
•Increasing industrialisation demanded regular working patterns
•There was some pressure for Sunday to be a day of rest
•Large gatherings for sport often meant social disorder
•Regular, organised, rule-governed sport on a national scale emerged

Changing times (1790 -1830)
•Traditional sport was under attack from all sides
•Factory owners wanted a regular working week
•Property owners feared the damage caused by large crowds
•Churches criticised idleness, drunkenness and slack morality
•Commercialisation of sport developed, especially in horse racing, cricket and prize fightin

Victorian Sport (1830 - 1901)
•Sport developed in the context of industrial capitalism and class inequality
•Sport became linked to a moral code defined by the middle classes:
◦it was accepted that sport developed character and morality
◦competition had to be fair and rule-governed with similar conditions for all players
◦sport was to be played, not for reward, but for its own sake
•Nationwide sport developed through the influence of technology, the public schools and the national governing bodies
•For the masses, Saturday afternoon free from work was the turning point, enabling them to play and spectate
•Amateur and professional sport became increasingly separated
•Working class sport in school was limited largely to drill and therapeutic gymnastics

Have a look at the different types of sports and some of the examples.
Physical sports – Under physical sports, there is archery, air sports like hand gliding, parachuting, ballooning, bowling, mountain climbing, rope climbing, relay, marathon, hurdles, fast walking, jumping like long jump, high jump, discus throwing, javelin shot put, weightlifting etc.
Cycle and motor sports – This is inclusive of formula racing, kart racing, dirt track racing cycling like BMX freestyle, BMX racing, road bicycle racing, grand prix motorcycle racing, MotoGP racing etc.
Water sports – Wakeboarding, surfing, snowboarding, kayaking, canoeing, boat racing, rafting, rowing, sailing, water skiing, windsurfing, water polo, swimming which includes freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly stroke.
Combat sports – Under combat sports, there is sumo wrestling, judo, wrestling. Combat sports with weapons include fencing, kung fu, sword fighting. Striking sports includes boxing, kickboxing, taekwondo, karate.
Cue sports – Carom, billiards, snooker and pool games all come under cue sports.
Dance – Dance forms are also considered sports. This includes ballroom, salsa, tango, flamenco, lyrical hip-hop, jazz and the likes.
Animal sports – This includes horse racing, fishing, horse polo, elephant polo. Under animal sports, there is cock fighting, bull fighting, dog racing etc.
Ball games – This includes football, soccer, rugby, handball, water polo, hockey which also includes ice hockey, basketball, cricket, baseball, netball, volleyball etc.
Gymnastics – Vaulting, bar gymnastics, group gymnastics, trampoline jumping are all different forms of gymnastics.
Other games – Other games include kho-kho, kabaddi, hide and seek, sac race, lemon and spoon race.
Racquet sports – This includes table tennis, squash, tennis, badminton.
Mind sports – Card games like rummy, bridge, board games like mahjong, Chinese checkers, snakes and ladders are all mind games.

There are several forms of each type of sport. For e.g. in cricket, you have the T20, one-day international and the test format.