Global sports expansion: baseball, basketball, NASCAR, football

In the past, athletes who represented a sports organization were comprised of local members of a community, and sports were deeply rooted in a place. Today, sporting affiliations feature athletes from around the world with little or no connection to a place as sports now transcend boundaries. The current era of globalization is characterized by increasing communications, more efficient technologies, global production, political integration, and an exchange of cultural ideals, each contributing to the compression of time and space. Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and the National Football League (NFL) succeeded in establishing large fan bases, retail enterprises, and media rights domestically in the United States, and to an extent in Canada. Moreover, these professional sporting organizations have taken the lead in contemporary global expansions of their respective sports in attempts to expand media coverage. This expanded media coverage will surely lead to supplemental consumerism.

Basketball leads this selection of sports in terms of global expansion. The sport's minimal equipment requirements and easily adaptable rules allow the sport to be played in numerous settings. Baseball is also attempting to expand globally; however, stipulations pertaining to international competitions are limiting, making this a difficult process. Out of these four sports, NASCAR and football face the most challenges in expansion, although both seek new markets. NASCAR and football have strong roots in the United States (and Canada) and face difficulties overcoming competing sports of similar interests with much larger global fan bases, such as Formula 1 racing, soccer, or rugby.