# Were all the major global sports played today invented by Brits or Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 6, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376 "2012-07-06T01:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/1 "2012-07-06T01:49:59Z")
I can’t think of any that weren’t. If not, why not? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/2 "2012-07-06T02:26:59Z")
Bicycles were invented either in Italy or France (disputed), and the first documented race was in Paris in 1868. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/3 "2012-07-06T02:31:34Z")
\*\*Were all the major global sports played today invented by Brits or Americans? \*\* I choose Americans. Brits don’t play any major sports. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_from\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Man\_from\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_from_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/4 "2012-07-06T02:44:12Z")
Basketball was invented by a Canadian, I think. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/5 "2012-07-06T02:47:02Z")
Well, basketball, for one, although it was invented _in_ the United States. Also, [hockey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey#History) can’t really be attributed to any country, but Canada would be the nearest bidder. Apparently the world’s first auto race was in France, so there’s another. Handball is a big thing in parts of the world, and it’s not from the UK or the US. Honestly, the only truly _worldwide_ big-team sport (since I think you probably were excluding individual sports) is football. Nothing else compares. ETA: ninja’d on basketball! ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/6 "2012-07-06T02:52:12Z")
Hmmm.. 1. Soccer - origins in China? > [@](#): > > Soccer is one of the most popular sports in Europe and the Americas. It has a vivid and interesting history in the world of sports. Early evidence of soccer being played as a sport finds occurrence in China during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC. In China, it was during the Han dynasty that people dribbled leather balls by kicking it into a small net. Recorded facts also support the fact that Romans and Greeks used to play ball for fun and frolic. Some facts point to Kyoto in Japan where kicking of ball was a popular sport 1. Table tennis? Thought to originate in England 2. Badminton? > [@](#): > > The beginnings of badminton can be traced to mid-18th century British India, where it was created by British military officers stationed there.[2] Early photographs show Englishmen adding a net to the traditional English game of battledore and shuttlecock. 1. Golf? > [@](#): > > While the modern game of golf originated in 15th century Scotland, the game’s ancient origins are unclear and much debated. Some historians[3] trace the sport back to the Roman game of paganica, in which participants used a bent stick to hit a stuffed leather ball. One theory asserts that paganica spread throughout Europe as the Romans conquered most of the continent, during the first century BC, and eventually evolved into the modern game.[4] Others cite chuiwan (“chui” means striking and “wan” means small ball) as the progenitor, a Chinese game played between the eighth and 14th centuries 1. Cricket? > [@](#): > > No one knows when or where cricket began but there is a body of evidence, much of it circumstantial, that strongly suggests the game was devised during Saxon or Norman times by children living in the Weald, an area of dense woodlands and clearings in south-east England that lies across Kent and Sussex. In medieval times, the Weald was populated by small farming and metal-working communities. It is generally believed that cricket survived as a children’s game for many centuries before it was increasingly taken up by adults around the beginning of the 17th century.[1] 1. Caber tossing - well ok, not a major sport 😃 2. Various martial arts? 3. Volleyball - American 4. Tennis > [@](#): > > The earliest origins of tennis are a matter of some dispute. > > One side believes that the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans played a precursor to tennis. Drawings or descriptions of any tennis-like games have not been discovered, but a few Arabic words dating from ancient Egyptian times are cited as evidence. The theory says that the name tennis derives from the Egyptian town of Tinnis alongside the Nile and the word racquet evolved from the Arabic word for palm of the hand, rahat. > > Aside from these two words, evidence for any form of tennis preceding the year 1000 is lacking, and most historians credit the first origins of the game to 11th or 12th century French monks, who began playing a crude handball against their monastery walls or over a rope strung across a courtyard. The game took on the name jeu de paume, which means “game of the hand.” Many who dispute more ancient origins argue that tennis derived from the French tenez, which meant something to the effect of “take this,” said as one player would serve to the other. But unless you define “major sport” as Ice Hockey, Basket Ball or NFL, I don’t think you’d be very accurate in your assumption. So while I think you’d be safe in saying a lot - all or most might be a bit of a stretch ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/7 "2012-07-06T03:43:37Z")
I was referring to team sports in the OP. I should have specified that, but individual sports should be considered as well. In terms of worldwide popularity, the team sports that come to my mind are soccer, basketball, baseball, football, hockey, rugby, volleyball, cricket, water polo, team handball and Austrailian Rules Football. That’s off the top of my head, so I’m sure I left some out. ETA: Google tells me I left off lacrosse. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/8 "2012-07-06T03:56:12Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I was referring to team sports in the OP. I should have specified that, but individual sports should be considered as well. In terms of worldwide popularity, the team sports that come to my mind are soccer, basketball, baseball, football, hockey, rugby, volleyball, cricket, water polo, team handball and Austrailian Rules Football. That’s off the top of my head, so I’m sure I left some out. > > ETA: Google tells me I left off lacrosse. rugby league and netball would be two that also spring to mind, also softball… ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/9 "2012-07-06T04:38:49Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I was referring to team sports in the OP. I should have specified that, but individual sports should be considered as well. In terms of worldwide popularity, the team sports that come to my mind are soccer, basketball, baseball, football, hockey, rugby, volleyball, cricket, water polo, team handball and Austrailian Rules Football. That’s off the top of my head, so I’m sure I left some out. > > ETA: Google tells me I left off lacrosse. Well, let’s go down the list: Soccer: UK (but of course, the general type of sport is historically common) Basketball: Canada Baseball: US ([but really just a codification of UK-origin sports](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball)) Football: split UK/Canada/US (no, seriously — arguably in that order) Hockey: Canada Rugby: UK Volleyball: US Cricket: UK Water polo: UK Team handball: [Northern Europe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_handball#Origins_and_development) Australian Rules Football: Australia (/UK, again) Netball: US? Canada? UK? Somewhere? It depends on how you want to count it, I guess. Lacrosse: Canada (developed from First Nations games) You could maybe add some of the net sports — I think tennis is French — but those are only sort of team sports. Anyway, you’re right in that the UK and its former colonies pretty much rule that list, although Canada is if anything more prominent on the list as the US. Maybe it’s just my bias. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/10 "2012-07-06T04:43:27Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I was referring to team sports in the OP. I should have specified that, but individual sports should be considered as well. In terms of worldwide popularity, the team sports that come to my mind are **soccer, basketball, baseball, football, hockey, rugby, volleyball, cricket, water polo, team handball and Austrailian Rules Football.** That’s off the top of my head, so I’m sure I left some out. > > ETA: Google tells me I left off lacrosse. You do realize that (American) football has zero wolrdwide popularity outside of North America? You could set Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning, and Michael Vick down in any major city outside of North America and they could walk anonymously until they ran into an American. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/11 "2012-07-06T04:49:54Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > You do realize that (American) football has zero wolrdwide popularity outside of North America? You could set Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning, and Michael Vick down in any major city outside of North America and they could walk anonymously until they ran into an American. [I gather that the NFL is gaining popularity in the UK.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/american-football/16635797) Last time I was in London, my cab driver from the airport went on at great length with his predictions of who was going to the Super Bowl. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/12 "2012-07-06T04:52:38Z")
They also had an off-season league in Europe for a while, which I gather did get a reasonable amount of attention at the time. Anyway, based off of the sheer budgets, it’s still a big thing. ETA: a number of the sports on the list have even smaller fanbases than American football. You could take the best netball player in the world and put them _anywhere in the world_ (possibly including inside a stadium hosting a netball tournament?) and have no luck getting people to recognize them. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/13 "2012-07-06T09:30:31Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I can’t think of any that weren’t. If not, why not? I think in part because organised sports require a reasonably affluent population with sufficient leisure time to participate or watch, and Britain and the US/Canada were among the first populous countries to get to that level of prosperity. The Industrial Revolution began in Britain, and all that. Some of the major continental European soccer clubs we have today were founded by British ex-pats working as engineers and what have you. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/14 "2012-07-06T11:47:40Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > Australian Rules Football: Australia (/UK, again) It’s almost the same game as (Irish) Gaelic Football ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/15 "2012-07-06T12:35:36Z")
As to \*why \*so many major team sports come from the Anglophone world, my guess is that it has something to do with the British boarding school system. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/16 "2012-07-06T13:26:01Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > You do realize that (American) football has zero wolrdwide popularity outside of North America? You could set Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning, and Michael Vick down in any major city outside of North America and they could walk anonymously until they ran into an American. Which is a shame. American Football is THE team sport and underappreciated by many 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/17 "2012-07-06T14:26:59Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > You do realize that (American) football has zero wolrdwide popularity outside of North America?.. True, but I think the immense popularity within North America combined with the sheer revenue it generates allows it to be included in global sport discussions. Isn’t the Super Bowl broadcast all over the world? Are there other sports as popular as football within other countries, but exclusive to those countries? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/18 "2012-07-06T14:44:16Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Isn’t the Super Bowl broadcast all over the world? Yes, but it can be argued that viewership of it in most other countries is driven by curiosity / interest in the biggest U.S. sporting event (which is arguably as much of a spectacle as it is a game), rather than interest in the sport itself. (And, I say this as a big fan of American football, myself.) IIRC, viewership of major international soccer matches is still much higher. Yes, American football has more than a passing interest in a few other countries (the UK, as has been noted earlier, as well as Germany, possibly), but overall, the fan base for American football is still almost entirely in the U.S., and in most other countries, it’s quite tiny. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/19 "2012-07-06T15:00:57Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > Well, let’s go down the list: > > Soccer: UK (but of course, the general type of sport is historically common) > Basketball: Canada Basketball was invented by James Naismith, who was born Canadian but when he invented the sport was living and working in the USA, a country he would spend the rest of his life in. In any sense that matters it’s an American sport. I would point out that people are mostly thinking of team sports and forgetting many of the world’s major individual sports. Boxing dates back to Greek times; modern boxing was mostly codified in Great Britain. Golf is a Scottish invention. Actually, if you think about it, the world’s sports inventors are obviously the British, not the Americans. Even major American sports like baseball and football are descended from British games. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376/20 "2012-07-06T18:55:59Z")
What exactly do you think they used to do at the original Olympic Games? Sit around and wonder ‘oh, if only we could come up with some sport to play’? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-the-major-global-sports-played-today-invented-by-brits-or-americans/627376.md?page=2)