Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first century, professional sports and amature sports have been the forefront of American entertainment. The sports industry, as of 2016, is a seventy billion dollar a year industry and has no sign of slowing down in the near future(Forbes.com). Along with being very profitable and entertaining, nothing has had the ability to bring people together like sporting events such as The Super Bowl or going outside to toss a ball around. But how did sports become such an integral piece of American culture? Although sports have been played in America since the pilgrims sailed over on the Mayflower, it was not until the late 1800s that sports became organized and a viable career paths for athletes. The first major …show more content…
Electronic sports, most commonly referred to as ESports, are video games that are played at a competitive and at a professional level. Beginning in the mid 1980s, arcades would hold tournaments for popular titles such as Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. When the 1990s rolled around, these tournaments started to gain a more widespread and mainstream recognition. This recognition began in 1999 with a man named Billy Mitchell, also known as, the first mainstream professional gamer. His high scores for Pac-Man and Donkey Kong were covered by not just local news but also industry giants such as ESPN. Nowadays, some eSports are looked at and considered just as highly as traditional sports; League of Legends is one of these games. Within the past nine years, League of Legends has gone from just another video game to a billion dollar franchise. Professional players such as star Lee Sang-hyeok, known by his screen name “Faker,” are making up to two million dollars a year; these figures are nothing to laugh at. These games are also starting to adopt a franchising method. Franchising is where different companies buy their way into games for their teams to compete. This method has been used by the NBA and NFL ever since their inception. This will help gain more revenue towards not just the companies but towards the eSports economy in general. Franchising also will attract the eyes of sports giants. Famed basketball team the Golden State warriors were the first outside organization to buy their position into the League of Legends Championship Series. This buy eventually led to other organizations to buy their way in. Another game that has adopted franchising is Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch and their Overwatch League. With only two weeks under their first season, the Overwatch League has already gained more than ten million unique viewers and
“The athletic craze began in the late nineteenth century when American’s were looking for some recreational activities to add to their daily lives during the Depression. In the cities, industrial wage earners frequented play grounds. They went dancing at the dance halls and had fun at the amusement parks. People that lived in rural areas simply rode bicycles, played baseball or football. “
Whether it's Mark McGwire breaking the home run record, Terell Davis breaking the rushing record, or superstars retiring, Americans have always had a fascination with sports. Sports have provided entertainment even before radio or television. Sports provided many things for the fans that watched them. Sports allowed communities to grow stronger and provided great athletes to look up to. With the arrival of television sports took on a whole new meaning. Being able to watch a game together gave the community a new way to bond, giving individuals a visual image of their favorite athletes. The television also opened up the industry of commercialization. Sports, televison, and merchandising on television became a combination that continues even today.The community in the 1950's was like one big family. Children played in the streets, everyone knew everyone else on the block, and sports created unbreakable bonds. Children and their fathers, neighbors, and even complete strangers could always talk about sports. As televison began to fill American homes, neighbors flocked to each others house to watch different events. Even neighbors who loved different sides crowded around the television to watch the event. Whether it was baseball, wrestling, golf, roller derby, or another sport, television allowed the community to grow closer. It is estimated that one sporting event drew an audience of 150,000 viewers. This is remarkable considering there was only about 5,000 television sets in American homes. That is about 30 people per set! Sports and television did more than just bring the community closer together. Sports on television became so popular that merchandising became a booming business. Whether at a game or sitting in the living room, authentic merchandise was a must for any fan. Much like the merchandise in Karal Ann Marlings book As Seen On TV, the merchandising industry exploited the people.
Professional baseball started in 1869 and developed into the game we know today as America?s past time. Baseball was a part of the American identity.
In America, it all began in the industrial age, which brought long work weeks and boring jobs. The employees across the nation were in need of a break. Ever since the mid-nineteenth century, white American settlers began to participate in organized sports such as baseball, football, basketball, curling, and bowling. In as early as 1820, a game involving a bat, bases, and a ball was evolving in the
Sport has not always been covered in such feverish enthusiasm, now with coverage on television, radio, and internet. The real emergence of sport into everyday life began after World War II, when new heroes were needed to dazzle and inspire. With the close of the war, sports stars became the new heroes, accomplishing daring feats and pushing the limits. The general public began to want more from the athletes; they wanted a better look into the athletes' lives and more media coverage of events such as boxing matches and basketball games. Without the excitement from the war and heroic war figures, sports stars became widely more popular and the business of sport marketing took off. Post war sport and figures such as Joe DiMaggio, Johnny Unitas, Jim Brown, Wilt Chamberlain and Mickey Mantle, "filled the gap" (Whannel 44) in terms of heroic figures. Audiences craved the heroic warlike figure with brute strength and quickness as well as interesting personalities. Thus we understand more the desire to market athletes, that "Audiences ...
Consumerism of the 1920s caused the amount of clubs and sports teams for women to multiply. This materialistic attitude of Americans caused the economy to boom, thus providing more money for leisure activities. Institutions, churches, and saloons sponsored sports teams for women, and provided facilities. Declining prices of sporting goods and increasing popularity of sports as entertainment encouraged the formation of leagues. Both amateur and semi-pro leagues were organized, providing opportunities for middle-class athletes (Women’s Sports Foundation, 2/21/2011)
American culture is in my opinion a mixture of all cultures in the world. In some states, minorities have become majorities because of the huge masses that have immigrated there. Those groups have integrated their own customs to Americans and at the same time, have made American customs part of their lives. In that enormous alloy called Americans, you can meet diverse kinds of persons, languages, foods and words. At the same time, specific traits make this culture as any other unique. The British writer Lesley Hazleton describes in the essay The First Game her experience when she attended a baseball game for the first time in her life. It was her first time visiting America as well and the way the scene is described shows in some way her perception of what Americans are. Among their several qualities, she distinguished the idolization of achievers and their lives based on a theocentric society.
With new stadiums being built and the improving of roads, it was easier to travel to the games. Also with the introduction of radio, the average person could keep up with their favorite sports player from home. And for the first time ever, people were paying valuable money to go watch their favorite teams play and this started the new business with constructing stadiums and holding sporting events to make money and give jobs. There were many sports being played, or starting to become popular. Baseball at this time was the most popular sport being played or watched. Also football, mainly in the college level, was getting more popular in the northern states.
While the 1920s was the era really known for sports in America, the love of the games did not diminish going into the next ten years. Throughout the 1930s, the three mainstream sports are still the three in the common era: baseball, basketball, and football (Hatcher). Out of thos...
Sport as a whole has changed in relation to the contemporary American economy by its constant growth and push for revenue. It has become a sort of “you scratch my back, I scratch yours.” type of relationship. I say this because of the amount of time and attention invested into making sport something that appeals to all people of American society rather than just the fans of the action itself. The constant negotiations for television deals, sponsorships, competition with other TV shows, and programs for time slots available within a network all play a large factor.
Naison, Mark. "Why Sports History Is American History." The Glider Lehrman Institute of Amercan History, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
Sports affect major institutions of society, including the mass media, politics, religion, education, and family. The Super Bowl gathers thousands of viewer’s attention, including those who do not usually watch the regular season games. Football is by all means an American sport. Since the day a baby is born in America, whether it be a boy or a girl, one of the first words they learn to say is ball, and after a few months they add the word foot in front of the word ball, and by the time you know it your baby boy is playing football, and your little girl is cheering “Go Steeler’s go!” and without intention their cultural identity starts.
Abstract: Society is affected every day by many different kinds of sports. These sports often govern society's way of life. People all over the nation turn their TVs to sporting events, such as golf, during the weekends. Scott Stossel states that "more than six million Americans enjoy watching golf on the weekends." Parents use sports as a teaching tool for their children. Kids learn teamwork and discipline from team sports programs and sports have also helped many students with their grades. Kids who want to compete in school sports are taught to keep their grades up or they won't be able to play, but the greedy coaches and schools often look around grades to keep their "star athletes" in the games. Adults have been affected by sports in their bank accounts. Tax increases for funding a new stadium, golf course and even school programs have hurt the middle class Americans. Sports have taken control of small communities and soon will take control of society
Schackelford, M. (Jul 4, 2009). The Importance of Sports in America. Retrieve for this paper Mar 20, 2014 from, http://bleacherreport.com/articles/211946-the-importance-of-sports-in-america
Sports may have impacted our culture much more then we thought it would, and keeps impacting. Sports have affected some of the most important aspects of life, such as jobs and money. It has also affected things as little as who we look up to and how we dress. Culture means “the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.” The definition of sports is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” So when we put two and two together we get a a nation or world that has changed due to sports. Back in the mid and late 1900’s sports were used to see whose way of life was better. As time went on and keeps going on, we