# Why do you think America dominates the sports world? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 5, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839 "2011-05-05T15:02:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/61 "2011-05-06T13:19:32Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > **Why do you think America dominates the sports world?** > > Because we’re #1! USA! USA! USA! America! Fuck yeah!!! ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/62 "2011-05-06T13:24:43Z")
> [@Rondembo](#): > > One thing is undeniable, we have the greatest athletes on the planet. From LeBron James who? > [@](#): > > to Peyton Manning who? > [@](#): > > to Alex Rodriguez who? > [@](#): > > We dominate the Olympics (the only relevant inter-country sports competition) pro-rata you don’t > [@](#): > > and we dominate football, no you don’t, Spain are world and European champions > [@](#): > > baseball that’s the one with the fat men and wimpy gloves isn’t it?, > [@](#): > > basketball that’s the one with the freaks? > [@](#): > > and even do pretty well in hockey no you don’t, I can even recall the USA playing in the olympic hockey tournament > [@](#): > > and soccer I’m not familiar with the sport of which you speak > [@](#): > > Even obscure sports like cycling, we can dominate except GB are by far the best > [@](#): > > Golf was dominated by Tiger. WAS…correct > [@](#): > > Tennis by Agassi and Sampras. errrr…this is 2011 > [@](#): > > Our domination is so complete, that even though we send our 4th tier athletes to soccer’s World Cup while all other countries send their top athletes. So you are saying your Olympic success is because all the other countries are using their best athletes in the World Cup, thus leaving the dregs to stumble along to the Olympics in order to be thrashed by the USA Ubermensch …I see, interesting. > [@](#): > > So what do you think accounts for us winning virtually everything there is to win in the sports world? A highly developed doping policy and institutionalised cheating. > [@](#): > > Why is it that the NFL MVP and NBA MVP and MLB MVP is an American 90% of the time. Bribery…Money! pure and simple. > [@](#): > > and why do most World Championships happen here? It is true to say that 100% of world championships that take place on American Soil are located in the USA. I cannot argue with that and I can’t really explain why. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/63 "2011-05-06T13:25:03Z")
> [@unwashed\_brain](#): > > Manny is retired. Who’s next on that list? > > There’s also no need to exclude pitchers. Please include them. Nevermind. No pitchers are in the top 10. #11 is a tie between Abreu (Venezuelan) and Helton (USA). Helton has a slight edge this year, so let’s give him the nod. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/64 "2011-05-06T13:30:00Z")
> [@Tony](#): > > Just because they aren’t six feet ten and built like a house doesn’t mean they aren’t exceptional athletes. It’s more that their hand-eye coordination is a big mystery. Hard to call them first-rate when they don’t really need fingers to play the sport. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/65 "2011-05-06T13:33:07Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > who? > > who? > > who? > > pro-rata you don’t > > no you don’t, Spain are world and European champions > > that’s the one with the fat men and wimpy gloves isn’t it?, > > that’s the one with the freaks? > > no you don’t, I can even recall the USA playing in the olympic hockey tournament > I’m not familiar with the sport of which you speak > > except GB are by far the best > > WAS…correct > > errrr…this is 2011 > > So you are saying your Olympic success is because all the other countries are using their best athletes in the World Cup, thus leaving the dregs to stumble along to the Olympics in order to be thrashed by the USA Ubermensch …I see, interesting. > > A highly developed doping policy and institutionalised cheating. > > Bribery…Money! pure and simple. > > It is true to say that 100% of world championships that take place on American Soil are located in the USA. I cannot argue with that and I can’t really explain why. It’s nice to see this sort of reply from someone on the opposite side of the OP’s argument. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/66 "2011-05-06T13:36:31Z")
> [@unwashed\_brain](#): > > It’s nice to see this sort of reply from someone on the opposite side of the OP’s argument. Ever thought of changing your username to “unwhooshed brain”? ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/67 "2011-05-06T13:45:14Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Ever thought of changing your username to “unwhooshed brain”? So your post was ironic and/or sarcastic? Really :dubious:? Consider me wooshed, then :rolleyes:. ---
**Author:** ![carm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@carm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/68 "2011-05-06T13:49:24Z")
A far better question is: Why do the Australians dominate the sporting world? A country of only 20 million people, roughly the size of Texas or New York, less than half the size of England, half the size of France, etc. . and they are among the best in the world at: Cricket Rugby Athletics Swimming Golf Tennis And all this despite the fact that the most popular sport by far is Australian Rules Football, which no other country plays. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/69 "2011-05-06T13:53:00Z")
> [@unwashed\_brain](#): > > So your post was ironic and/or sarcastic? Really :dubious:? Consider me wooshed, then :rolleyes:. oh don’t be so sensitive. You may have missed out on the OP’s previous multiple threads on the same sort of subject and so may not recognise the various tongue-in-cheek references in my post. Go read them, they are fun for a short while. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/70 "2011-05-06T14:20:34Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Bolding mine. Are you absolutely sure about this, **Quartz**? 😃 Yeah, that was my reaction too. Crouch? Really? I mean, he’s a decent player, an extremely tall man and a [snappy dancer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96eSrFlUVh0) but not the first name that leaps to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/71 "2011-05-06T14:21:03Z")
> [@carm](#): > > And all this despite the fact that the most popular sport by far is Australian Rules Football, which no other country plays. Two serious nitpicks: (1) Australian rules is actually only popular in half of Australia (Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia) (2) Arguably the most popular team sport in Australia is netball – a sport played only by girls and women. However, that is most popular in terms of player participation, not in terms of size of audience. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/72 "2011-05-06T14:25:51Z")
> [@carm](#): > > And all this despite the fact that the most popular sport by far is Australian Rules Football, which no other country plays. Such a minor detail did not prevent the OP from proclaiming American sporting hegemony. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/73 "2011-05-06T14:36:29Z")
> [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](#): > > Indeed the lack of encouragement of home-grown players is the reason why England does not thrive at international level, although it has the strongest football league in the world. > > I assume the same applies to the American sports brands, which are almost as successful as Man United - see the parallel thread on this issue. The increasing dependence on foreigners by these brands is also dampening US success in team sports at international level. Interesting theory. Of the four big “team sports” in the US (football, baseball, basketball, hockey)… - A fair percentage of MLB players (probably not a majority, but I don’t have numbers in front of me) are from Latin America, as well as probably a couple dozen from Asia, and a handful from Australia and other countries - The NBA also now has a fair number of foreign-born players, including a few stars (Nowitzki, Ming when he was healthy, among others), though most of the stars are American-born - The NHL was originally dominated by Canadians (the N in NHL stands for “National”, and that actually refers to Canada); today, there are quite a lot of players from Europe in the league (primarily Scandinavia and Eastern Europe) - The NFL still has very few players not born in the U.S.; this is undoubtedly a function of very limited play of the game in other countries. A generation ago, about the only foreign-born players were placekickers (converted soccer players). All four pro leagues now do some level of marketing of their games outside of the U.S. (playing games abroad, TV coverage, etc.), though I think that their primary focus is still inward, to North America. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/74 "2011-05-06T14:59:23Z")
> [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](#): > > Baseball is really only played in America and a small number of other countries. Same comment. I am compelled to note that baseball is played in [a bunch of countries](http://www.ibaf.org/en/), and a few of them are _per capita_ better at it than the United States. Strictly by ratio of MLB players to population, the ranking is something like, Curaçao Dominican Republic Puerto Rico Venezuela United States Panama Cuba Canada Nicaragua Australia Taiwan Japan Mexico Colombia South Korea Note that several of these countries, especially Japan and Cuba, could be ranked higher against the United States if a blended metric was used giving some credit for their highly-developed domestic leagues and performance in international tournaments. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/75 "2011-05-06T15:02:43Z")
The OP basically seems to be arguing that the sports world consists of American sports and that Americans dominate it. Look at an international sport like tennis. You have Americans in the top levels but alongside a majority of non-Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Rondembo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dbc845/32.png) [@Rondembo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rondembo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/76 "2011-05-06T15:04:02Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Americans dominate Rugby, soccer, cricket, womans golf, table tennis and Australian rules football? If we cared about any of those sports we’d dominate. Its simple really, if America cares about a sport, we dominate that sport. Soccer and rugby and cricket don’t have the money and glamour and respect that major league sports like the NFL, MLB or NBA have hence our best athletes don’t go into these sports. Why become a rugby player or soccer player making small money in some non-american country where they still don’t have the same sport entertainment production values, playing in small stadiums when you can make millions playing in the biggest market in the world in giant stadiums with all the glamor that comes with America’s wealth and power? > [@SanVito](#): > > Because 90% of the people who play those sports are American? > > Yes, Americans do dominate those sports, thats my point. > > And I, too, would love to know what World Championships are held in the USA. Super Bowl - biggest world championship by TV viewership, not to mention commerical revenue, in the world. Nothing comes close. Soccer world cup is nowhere near as big on a one game basis, and it only comes once every 4 years so its like the olympics. NBA Finals - World Championship in basketball. World Series - World Championship in baseball. Stanley Cup - World Championship in hockey. All dominated by America. Foreigners are free to enter these leagues, but still make a tiny minority of the leagues dominated by AMericans. > [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > Wealth is easily one of the most important aspects, if not the single most important aspect. It makes facilities regularly available to pretty much everyone, even the poor. I’m sure the vast majority of Americans in suburban and urban areas can walk to a basketball court, tennis court, pool, etc. Moreso, wealth means that kids who show promise, or parents who want their kids to be good at a sport, can get the individualized training they need to be successful from a young age. > > Population is obviously an important factor too. With simple math, we’re just plain more likely to have a better selection of potential athletes than many other countries because we have more people to choose from. When combined with the wealth factor above, they magnify eachother where the few countries that have higher wealth per capita are much smaller, and the ones that have larger populations are generally much poorer, though China circumvents that to some extent by investing significant government funds in those things. > > I also buy the diversity aspect, but I think it’s less important. Most other countries are more homogenous, so they will generally focus on whatever sports grab their interests. In the US, we have the major sports, but with so many pockets of sports culture, that there’s a good chance a decent number of people will be interested in almost any sport. It also means that there will be more exposure to multiple sports and, thus, a greater chance of finding one that fits an individual’s talents. For instance, in a country where soccer and running are the big focuses, someone who is athletically gifted for power lifting, football, or basketball may simply not be able to get the access to train in those. Good post. I would put it down to those three as well, but there is one more that I think most people are missing: our culture. Our culture is based on capitalistic competition, we are the most aggressive, assertive and competitive cuture on the planet. Its why I think India is so poor at sports, they just don’t have the same masculine culture of domination and aggressiveness. Think about our sports, its all about being dominant and we glorify not the playmaker or creative guy who has “court vision”, but the biggest, strongest, fastest most physically dominant members of our society (LeBron) by giving them huge money and attention in performing physical athletic feats. > [@Tony](#): > > Those sports don’t matter because Americans don’t care about them. Only sports that are important to the OP are sports which Americans care about (i.e. baseball, football, basketball, and hockey). > > I also find the comment that our best soccer players are “fourth rate” to be offensive. Just because they aren’t six feet ten and built like a house doesn’t mean they aren’t exceptional athletes. They’d fail miserably on a gridiron but I’d say the same for a muscle-bound linebacker running around for ninety minutes trying to kick a ball accurately after all that time. Soccer players could not enter a NFL game and survive, while most NFL players could enter a soccer game and fit in for the game just fine, even if only as defenders who have to kick the ball away. Soccer players could only be placekickers and that’s it. They’re too small, too weak, too feminine, too slow, it would be like putting some random accountant onto a NFL field. Total destruction. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > who? > > who? > > who? > > pro-rata you don’t > > no you don’t, Spain are world and European champions > > that’s the one with the fat men and wimpy gloves isn’t it?, > > that’s the one with the freaks? > > no you don’t, I can even recall the USA playing in the olympic hockey tournament > I’m not familiar with the sport of which you speak > > except GB are by far the best > WAS…correct > > errrr…this is 2011 > > So you are saying your Olympic success is because all the other countries are using their best athletes in the World Cup, thus leaving the dregs to stumble along to the Olympics in order to be thrashed by the USA Ubermensch …I see, interesting. > A highly developed doping policy and institutionalised cheating. > > Bribery…Money! pure and simple. > > It is true to say that 100% of world championships that take place on American Soil are located in the USA. I cannot argue with that and I can’t really explain why. Oh please, you Brits are so jelous of our dominance in sports that soccer is the only thing you have, yet we still tied you (sorry drawed you) in the game. So our 4th string athletes are as good as your 1st string. Most our our soccer team is made up of scrubs that couldn’t make it into better, higher paying sports like the NFL or MLB, they’re the guys that had no date for Prom because all the chicks wanted to go with the football quarterback, not some little skinny soccer player. I bet if we sent our NFL and NBA players to the world cup, we’d clean house and win 1st place every time. You already know this, so you should be happy we don’t care about soccer, because its the only thing you have left and we’d win that too. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/77 "2011-05-06T15:07:53Z")
> [@Rondembo](#): > > If we cared about any of those sports we’d dominate. America: #1 in sour grapes too, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/78 "2011-05-06T15:43:22Z")
Plenty of Americans play soccer and care about it. Yet we suck. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/79 "2011-05-06T15:45:57Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > America: #1 in sour grapes too, apparently. Fuck yeah! #1!! #1!! USA! USA! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/80 "2011-05-06T15:50:41Z")
> [@carm](#): > > a far better question is: Why do the australians dominate the sporting world? > > A country of only 20 million people, roughly the size of texas or new york, less than half the size of england, half the size of france, etc. . And they are among the best in the world at: > > Cricket > rugby > athletics > swimming > golf > tennis > > and all this despite the fact that the most popular sport by far is australian rules football, which no other country plays. australia!!! Fuck yeah, mate!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839.md?page=5)