Different sports require different qualities and disciplines. Individual sports such as tennis or boxing involve long hours of near-solitary dedication, but team sports require something else. Camaraderie, a strong bond as a group, the ability to play to each other’s strengths and back up each other’s weaknesses. Seeing a great team working together and getting results is entertaining on its own, but take into account highly dedicated, partisan fans and supporters, and you get a special blend of magic. America has several high profile team sports, all of them iconic, and all of them with shadows of legendary teams in their histories, and it’s these sports we’ll be looking at.
American Football
The NFL is one of the most popular sports leagues in the world, let alone the USA. The Super Bowl is always the most-watched sporting event in the calendar, drawing more than 100 million viewers, and is a big part of American iconography. In fact, the Super Bowl half-time alone is seen as a major event, and for some, the actual sport takes a back seat. Beyond the NFL, college football also has an extremely broad appeal, with packed stadiums throughout the season. This all makes American Football far and away the most popular spectator sport in the country. Its popularity extends into everyday life, as all schools across the land have football teams and eager young players waiting to catch their big break with a visiting scout.
Basketball
The NBA is hugely popular with the American public, but it also has a big draw worldwide as well. Basketball is a sport where the college stars will often get drafted into the big professional teams. Fans of the sport also like betting on the NBA, particularly at the playoff stage of the season. You don’t have to look far to see the widespread cultural appeal of basketball – the Netflix series The Last Dance about the classic Chicago Bulls team led by Michael Jordan, and the international reaction to the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant is testament to that. In terms of teams, the names that ring out worldwide -aside from the Bulls – are the currently strong LA Lakers, and the Boston Celtics, who enjoyed success a few decades back. Basketball is widely played in schools and playgrounds across America and the rest of the world.
Baseball
You can’t think of the USA without thinking about baseball. From the classic icons such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig through to the modern superstars in Major League Baseball (MLB), going to the ball game has been emblazoned on to America’s consciousness. It is also one of the USA’s oldest sports, evolving from earlier bat and ball games which were imported with immigrants from Europe. The modern form of the game began its evolution in the latter stages of the 19th century when professional play started. The New York Yankees are the most popular team of all time, a globally recognized brand with a cultural franchise that transcends the sport. Other favorites are the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox, all teams that have risen and fallen in dominance over the last century and a half. Baseball is a hugely popular game for all ages, but just as distinctive is Little League baseball, where kids can get to grips with the game and learn to play as a team.
Ice Hockey
The NHL is another extremely popular sporting league in America. In fact, I should say North America, as it has participants from Canada as well. It could be argued that Canada has better players, with superstar Wayne Gretzky being a prime example. However, he had his greatest success playing for Los Angeles Kings, and helped to popularize a sport that had been considered to be ‘owned’ by those Northern neighbors. And it would be a mistake to think that you need a cold climate to find fans of hockey – Tampa, Carolina, Dallas, and Arizona all have their teams on the ice. The coveted Stanley Cup is the big prize in ice hockey, inaugurated in 1893, and won by Montreal Hockey Club (long since defunct). Ice hockey is aggressive and exciting, with ritual fighting and plenty of visits to the sin bin. It is also one of the most popular sports in America.
Soccer
Gradually, soccer has increased in popularity. The success of the US women’s team in recent World Cups has not only made it a strong spectator draw, but it also boosted the grassroots level game, and soccer is often played in schools. MLS has also drawn hugely popular players such as David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic over from Europe, resulting in packed stadiums and a significant increase in TV viewing figures.
America is possibly the world leader in terms of the range and variety of its team sports. Not only are these sports immensely popular, they are also part of the cultural heritage and identity of the country as a whole.