In the Handbook of Sports and Media Joseph Maguire states, “The concept of globalization is subject to intense political, ideological, and social scientific debate” (436). He further goes on and talking about other issues that go in the idea of globalization in sports. Over the years globalization in sports has grown to an extreme. Games can be shown in over 100 hundred countries at a time. LeBron James is a perfect example. A game played by him shown on ESPN can viewed in many different countries. There are many more examples in different sports. One factor that plays a big role in globalization is the amount of foreign or international players coming to America to play the sport professionally.
One article I found briefly talked about how Yao Ming is the reason why Chinese people watch the game of basketball. http://sportsprof.blogspot.com/2005/09/globalization-and-sports.html This article also talked about other sports, such as, soccer, and baseball. After reading this article it showed me how the international and foreign players have an effect on the game. I believe the international players bring a lot of the money for the sport.
Maguire also states “The sport and leisure-wear industry can be used to highlight how consumption of cultural goods is bound up with globalization” (436). I believe star athletes being represented by big name brands play a big role in globalization in sports. Sports gear is being brought all over the world due to the companies’ big name star athletes. For example, Nike has LeBron James and Michael Jordan, Addidas has Kevin Garnett and David Beckham. Young children in other countries want the gear that the star players wear.
Over the years more and more athletes from other countries have came to America to play the sport the love. In today’s society it is uncommon not to have an international player on your hometown’s professional team. Which sport do you think is most globalized? Who do you think has the most influence on their sport’s globalization?
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I think that most of the sports in the United States have done a good job on globalization. Hockey has always been a sport where people from other nations have played and where we have played in Canada. (6 teams are located there) Over the years, baseball has had more players coming to America from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Japan, which are just a few to name. Basketball has also done a tremendous job of globalizing, as they have players from all over the world and the sports has seem to spread like wildfire through Europe and other parts of the world.
ReplyDeleteThe media has played a big role in the globalization of sport. Without the media, those fans in China who follow Yao Ming wouldn't see highlights or know about the games he has played in. Same goes for Ichiro in Japan and hockey players that have come from Russia. In the Handbook, Joseph Maguire calls this "media flow" as he writes, "the media flow entails the movement of images and information between countries, produced and distributed by newspapers, magazines, radio, film, television, and video." (437)
With this globalization of sports has also brought more nationalism to sports. People around the world have always been passionate about their country's athletics teams. Over the past several years, this has become even more mainstream with the advent of events like the World Baseball Classic. Also, the loss by the U.S. men's Basketball team at the 2004 Olympics opened the door for other countries to take more pride in their basketball ability. It should be interesting to see how the sports in America continue to globalize themselves in the future.
Well that's a tough act to follow.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the formation of the Olympic Games has allowed sports to transcend across national and natural boundaries. Football is world’s game hands down! The first World Cup was held in 1930, and its formation can be attributed to the success of the sport in the Olympic Games. As stated in Wenner’s text “ a major international sporting event, such as the Olympic Games or the soccer World Cup, without comprehensive media coverage, national flags flying, national anthems playing, politicians involved in the ceremonies, military displays, tables comparing national standings, athletes competing in national uniforms – and no men – is almost inconceivable. Such sporting spectacles, beamed across the globe to competing countries and many others, are almost impossible to decode without recognizing these nationalistic signs and interpretations,” (120).
Both competitions allowed cultures to spread and gave way to the globalization of the world as we know it. The 1936 Olympics also serves as a major milestone in the evolution and dispersion of sport. The foundation of globalization in sports must be accredited to these events and I believe that soccer has been the main influence. Other sports may have started the process on a larger scale in the United States but our country is also considered a melting pot. Isn’t it ironic how football or soccer, as we call it stateside, isn’t really taken serious by our mainstream culture? The majority of Americans consider the sport second rate. Nonetheless, Pele’ has my vote for having the most influence on his sports globalization.
I definitely agree that hockey, baseball, and basketball are the sports with the most foreign players. The US has benefited from this and done a great job on globalization. The reason I do not watch hockey like that is because most of the players are from another country. Basketball in Europe has become real big and that is because of the media and players who are talented enough from Europe to play in the NBA. This is even happening in high school, foreign players come from all over the world to go to high school in the united states in hopes to get a scholarship.
ReplyDeleteThe Media also has an influence on people from other countries wanting to come to the united states for sports and to better themselves espcially to wear the NIKE shoes, because some countries are so poor, and cant afford them. In the handbook, Maguire says "Though its headquarters are located in Oregon, the range of subcontractors involved straddles the globe" meaning that the advitisement via media is shown all over the globe.
The United States is not as dominant in sports like it has been because the rest of the world is slowly but surely catching up. Other countries start to take pride in sports not just to compete but to be the best. Globalization in America is good because it shows that the rest world is just as passionate in sports.
Over the course of the past few decades, globalization of the sports world, especially sports played in America, has taken a huge step forward. We have seen a large number of athletes come from all over the world in order to play one sport or another here in America. In baseball in particular, a large number of star players come from some Latin American country or Asia. The World Baseball Classic is a perfect example of this globalization. The WBC features 16 different international teams, many of whom feature at least a few players that play here in America.
ReplyDeleteLike baseball, many American sports have begun to attempt to globalize. The NFL attempted to set up a league in Europe, but unfortunately it didn’t go as well as many had hoped. The NFL hasn’t given up, however, and has scheduled a few games over in Europe in the upcoming years. Joseph Maguire states, “those sports which initially appeared in the West do appear to have some universal significance and value…but it is also clear that these sports have indigenized, acquiring local and particular meanings” (441). Like many Western sports, the NFL is most significant here in American, no matter how big it gets overseas.
Basketball, which has been played around the world for years, has seen a different kind of globalization than the NFL. We have seen a growing number of international players in the NBA in the past few years, most notably Yao Ming for the ratings he alone has generate because so many Chinese citizens want to watch him play. We have also started to see a few Americans go overseas to countries like Greece in order to play. For instance, Brandon Jennings, who wasn’t old enough to play in the NBA, decided to go overseas and play there. There was also some speculation that Lebron James might play in Greece, but that obviously has yet to come true.
Great post Big Game James. First and foremost, I think that globalization of sports is a great thing, I truly do. It's great for people of other countries to see the likes of a Lebron James or Tiger Woods. Americans shouldnt be the only ones allowed to witness greatness.
ReplyDeleteIt is true what you say that it is uncommon for international players not to be on a professional team these days. But that's what makes sports so great. Diversity is a great thing. Clearly, the media plays a big role in this. According to the Handbook, "the media-sport complex projects images of individual sports labor migrants, leisure forms, and specific cultural messages to global audiences" (437). The book mentions MJ as an example.
Although baseball is very diverse, as is the NHL, I really do feel that the globalization of athletes has the biggest influence in the NBA. Maybe that's my biased, but if you look at marketing of players, the NBA clearly does the best job of marketing international players. Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, the list goes on and on and on. These players mean so much to their respectful countries, and the NBA does a great job of taking advantage of that. The NBA clearly attracts many international players, and they have a huge influence on the sports globalization. These players love playing for their countries in the Olympics, and people recognize them because of their popularity in the NBA. Although it's still a game consisting of more Americans, more and more international players are coming over to play the game. Eventually, there will be a team or two, or even a league overseas. That's the next plan of the NBA, once the economy picks up and things get back to somewhat normal.
As Americans, when we discuss the globalization of sports we tend to think of how many international players we have drawn in and how it makes America have this global playing field. When it comes to the globalization of sports I think its important to note that truly globalized sports are those that can be successful from country to country without players having to come to america in order to be successful and make money at what they do.
ReplyDeleteWhile soccer isn’t one of the most watched sports in America, it tends to be very popular throughout the rest of the world, especially in Europe where teams and leagues are able to draw in a lot of spectators and fans. The Wenner text states: “...the most truly international team activity. Soccer styles itself as “the world game” and is probably watched and played by more people than any other sport yet it occupies a highly variable position in the structure of culture of different nations” (130).
It is interesting to look at a player like David Beckham. He got paid a lot of money to come over to America in attempts to draw more attention to the sport here, however he is practically on his way back to europe. This time, bringing in the international star of the sport, hasn’t helped it to progress more in America.
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