Globalization and Sports

 “As modern sport has become global in scope it has largely lost its playful character and its professional practice has become both a global media spectacle and a serious and financially significant global business,”  Barry Stuart

Sport’s purpose is no longer limited to entertainment, often intermingling with trade, business and politics. The most popular cultural products – whether books, food or sports – tend to require little culturally specific knowledge, have an “emotional, sensory or intellectual appeal” that transcends local concerns; and can be effectively marketed across borders, particularly via television or the internet.

In soccer, the entire English Premier League season is broadcast in more than 200 countries, reaching 643 million households.
To build fan bases and audiences, top leagues in various sports now schedule games outside their home countries.
Many of the world’s top soccer teams now routinely play preseason matches around the world. In the United States, those matches regularly sell out large American football stadiums and generate enough of an audience that Fox, ESPN and NBC have been enthusiastic bidders for U.S. rights to games. NBC recently signed a $250 million deal for three-year rights to show all Premier League matches in the United States, using its cable networks and Web sites.

Currently around the world unites to enjoy a number of games that unite us as a team and encourage that as humans we can enjoy beautiful moments.