The Global Spread of US Sports

When you think of global sports, football is the one that naturally comes to mind.

Also known as ‘The World’s Game’, the sport is truly international, with 1.5 billion people tuning in to watch Lionel Messi’s Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup Final.

While football remains the most widespread, US sports are also on the rise.

Whether it’s the deep-rooted basketball culture of Lithuania or the major venues the NFL has taken over worldwide, traditionally American sports are becoming more and more popular outside of the US. This globalisation is part of what makes the sports industry the ninth largest in the world, with revenues of up to $2.65 trillion.

Basketball: The Dominance of the NBA

Since James Harden in 2018, no American has won the NBA’s MVP (Most Valuable Player) award. Before that, the award had been won by an American on all but four occasions since its creation in 1955. With this in mind, it is clear that the game of basketball is on an upwards trajectory internationally.

This is especially true for the NBA, with 75% of the league’s social media followers coming from outside the US, and the league’s marketing and fan engagement strategy is considered some of the best in the sporting world.

Recent years have seen this growth recognised by the competition, including investment in the Basketball Africa League, which has been the biggest professional basketball league on the continent since its launch in 2021.

Basketball is also the most popular sport in China, with NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum saying over 300 million people play the game.

This spread is truly global, and there have even been rumours of a new league in Europe, where the NBA also holds regular-season games. Including the UK, Germany, and France, live NBA games have drawn new crowds and boosted interest worldwide, as fans can see their favourite players live for the first time.

Conversely, the continent also offers competitions such as EuroLeague and the FIBA Champions League, including Europe’s best teams such as Real Madrid and Fenerbahce. While fewer resources and less marketable players mean these competitions have less viewership than the NBA, they often have far superior atmospheres and fan culture.

This is especially true for Eastern European sides, where basketball culture is prominent. Lithuania is a standout and is frequently labelled as the Baltic country’s ‘second religion’.

Dating back to the 1920s, basketball in Lithuania is incredibly popular, with the 2015 EuroBasket Final between Lithuania and Spain being the country’s most-watched event of the 21st century.

This extends across the continent, with Serbia, Turkey, and Spain all home to passionate fanbases and noisy arenas that give European basketball a unique selling point compared to its American counterpart.

NFL: Selling Out in the World’s Largest Stadiums

A descendant of 19th-century football and rugby, American football has grown into a global phenomenon.

The Super Bowl is becoming increasingly popular in particular, and was watched by a record 127 million people in the US alone earlier this year. Outside Europe, the game reached a further 62.5 million viewers, also outside the US, marking a 10% increase from the year before.

Similar to the NBA, one of the most important contributors to American football’s increase in popularity overseas has been the regular-season games that are played abroad.

This started in 2007 after the dissolution of NFL Europa, when the New York Giants played the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium, marking the first time a regular-season game was played outside North America.

Since then, 39 NFL games have been played in London, most recently including the Jacksonville Jaguars taking on the New England Patriots in front of 86,000, also at Wembley Stadium.

Other countries are also welcoming the competition, with Spain set to host its first game in November, as well as Brazil and Australia being among the list of future hosts.

Germany is another, and is a nation with a particularly passionate NFL fanbase. Home to Europe’s oldest American football league, the GFL, the country has hosted several sellout NFL games. It also adds significant numbers to the Super Bowl’s viewership figures, with up to two million tuning in despite the game often being played into the early hours of the morning.

A key to the NFL’s worldwide expansion, marketing the sport overseas has proved extremely effective, with some experts foreseeing the possibility of an international NFL franchise in the coming years.

Baseball: America’s Pastime Becomes Japan’s Number 1 Sport

With historical evidence tying the sport to England in the late 1700s, baseball is one of the US’s major sports, with 30 professional teams competing in the world’s leading professional league, the MLB.

While the MLB is the most popular league in the world, including household team names such as the Boston Red Sox and the LA Dodgers, Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is also renowned for its quality.

First played in Japan in 1872, baseball is the country’s most popular sport, and was the only professional team sport in Japan until the J.League’s launch in 1993. Reports estimate that up to 7 million people in the population play the game to some degree.

Pioneered by Ichiro Suzuki’s move in 2001, many of the NPB’s top talent have transferred to the more prestigious MLB, which has seen NPB viewership figures in Japan drop due to having less marketable talent.

Instead, fans often opt to watch the MLB, whose figures are growing year by year.

While the average MLB broadcast in the US draws around 1.5 million viewers, figures in Japan have averaged 2.7 million, notably because the broadcasts often include stars such as Shohei Ohtani, who himself made the move from the NPB to the MLB in 2017 and is now considered the world’s best player.

Japan’s baseball obsession further shines through on the international stage, with Japan having won the World Baseball Classic three times—the most of any nation.

Often called ‘America’s pastime’, baseball may arguably mean even more to Japan, and is one of the US sports that is clearly on the rise overseas.

Along with this growth comes employment opportunities. For aspiring professionals who dream of working in any of these now-global sports, GIS can provide the skills and network needed to start your dream career.

To learn more, explore our course offerings.

Article by Zakaria Anani