Most significant social impacts in sports

¶ … twentieth century, sports remained a predominantly localized activity. Even the ancient Greek Olympics did not draw players or fans from around the globe, only within the Aegean region. Globalization, urbanization, and new forms of communication and transportation have changed everything about sports.

Globalization has transformed the nature of team spirit itself, helping to erase cultural and national boundaries in sports. Especially evident in American baseball and in international soccer, globalization has created teams and fan bases that are comprised of diverse people. Those teams and their fans buy into a manufactured identity, one that can be traced to the same basic marketing principles used in branding. Teams are branded products. In this way, teams have become commodified entities not unlike the sporting gear and alcoholic beverages peddled at sporting events.

Marketing has also expanded the target market for sports. Once a primarily male pastime, spectator sports are now enjoyed by scores of female viewers. Females, like males, watch sports with primarily male participants, too. Globalization and its aftereffects are directly responsible for reaching out to new and untapped fan bases. Marketing tactics such as creating merchandise made for women has meant that sports can continue to grow as a distinct business sector.

Sports have become a viable means to stimulate local and even national economies. Before the twentieth century, such a thing would have been completely unheard of, preposterous to even consider. The tools of the global marketplace make sports absolutely relevant in a global economy. A local sports team can draw investment from outside of the community, leading to a growth in small businesses as well as the establishment of external companies. The result is more local jobs and growth in tourism and associated service industries. Even national economies benefit from sports. A nation with a winning soccer team enjoys an effect not unlike a marketing buzz. Especially teams that host major international sports events like the Olympics or the World Cup enjoy foreign direct investments.