The First reading for tonight had a quote that is important to my theme in this class. I am writing about American’s making money through the business of soccer. The article explained where that money comes from, though not specifically for Americans.

“Many of these factors are related to the live transmission by television of matches and championships from all over the world. Competitions have come, in consequence, to involve larger values, leading to greater commercial interest in the sport. The number of different professionals connected to football (medical staff, trainers, physiotherapist, show business and marking experts, sports media, security staff, service workers, and so forth) has also grown tremendously” (Lopes, 239-240).

This shows that the big money came into soccer from television rights, distributed throughout the world. when you link this with a quote I had from yesterday about how 211 countries broadcast the premiere league, it makes sense that there is so much money in soccer.

later in the essay, the author describes how the football clubs in brazil were basically social clubs for the elites. While i disagree with the notion that football was a sport for the elites in England (it is a middle class Factory worker sport in England) the Social aspect of local clubs at this time was true throughout the world all the way until the game became globalized. A book I read last year discussed how a club by the berlin wall in post-war Germany was not only a top club, but also acted as a political club whose supporters gathered to watch the game but also discuss and later protest the Eastern German government. I think this is important to understand for this class because there is a major difference in Soccer now and then, Now most people support giant corporations of teams thousands of miles away. However, before globalization supporters followed their local club, based on neighborhoods, race, ethnicity and religion. (In Liverpool, Liverpool FC was the Irish Catholic Shipbuilders team while Everton FC was the English Protestant Elite team). That is the change Television and Globalization has brought to soccer. However, there are still remnants of the old ways looking at teams who are not touched by money or transfer fees. One must only look at the Connecticut Soccer League to see that clubs without money are still based on nationality. There are Irish, Portugese and Croatian teams to name a few.

Later in the Article, the author discusses Factory’s spreading Soccer throughout Brazil. While this clearly did make the sport popular in Brazil, I would like to point out this was not a fool proof method. The best early American soccer team was the Bethlehem Steel Football Club, based out of a Steel factory in Pennsylvania. This was a hugely popular club, but failed to promote the sport throughout America.

The 2nd reading also had aspects i could relate too. The Author discusses adjustment and integration at length. He writes;

“Many scholars of sport in Latin America have focused on the formation of identities, and shown that it has afforded a powerful means by which to define and articulate national, gendered, class and racial/ethnic identities. They have also shown that Latin Americans have asserted their identities through the choice of games they play, baseball or football helping to differentiate those with modern sensibilities from those with more traditional outlook” (Bocketti, 277).

I have two discussion points to take from this quote and its support in the text. First, what sports groups of people play, or even how they play, based on race and class extends far beyond Latin America. Second, the concept of assimilation still plays a factor in Soccer today.

1) depending on what neighborhood someone grows up in, what race they are or who their parents are has huge impacts on what people are exposed too. this leads to the difference in sports people play or even how they play them. The article discusses this but looks only at Latin America. I would like to point out that this is true throughout the world. For example, Basketball is so popular in poor intercity neighborhoods in the United States because it is cheap to play (all that is needed is a ball and a hoop) and doesn’t require much space (a basketball court can be put almost anywhere in a city). This can be compared to hockey, which is largely played by wealthier kids in colder climates because of the cost of ice time, equipment and obviously outside temperature for pond hockey.

also, these same factors can influence how different groups play the same sport. For Example, Brazilians who are not the largest people but traditionally have a lot more dance in their culture play soccer with fancy moves and almost the flow of a choreographed dance. Players like Ronaldinho fit this mold. Where players like Andy Carroll fit the English mold, as large powerful targets with the ability to head the ball in. It is in this way that different groups of people play soccer very differently.

2) one must only look at the US national team to see how Assimilation still plays a major role in soccer. On the team their are many players born in both Mexico or Germany (on army bases). These players chose the US largely because they felt a strong bond to the states. However, a player like Gisseppi Rossi, a New Jersey native chose to play for Italy because his family was from their and he felt stronger roots playing for the country his father watched on television then the one he grew up in.