American sport history can be traced back to Red Indians who are the original inhabitants of the land. Native Americans used to play different games including ball games, a crude form of lacrosse. However, the first European settlers in 17th century are credited with modern-day ball games like soccer, rugby and cricket. Over a period, these games were further refined and developed into serious sports.
There has been promising growth in Athletics in the country, but the sports that drive people in this country include basketball, soccer and baseball. These sports are popularly known as America’s favourite pastime. The sporting ethos in the U.S. varies from other countries. In the USA, soccer is a trifle sport in comparison to American football. You can say that people vote in unison for baseball, basketball, ice hockey and stock car racing. Schools and colleges play a significant role in promoting sports at a young age.
Baseball is one of the most popular sports in the US. The Baseball season witnesses’ key League Baseball teams play the sport passionately starting from early April till October. Baseball grew as a professional sport in 1865. With the formation of National league in 1876, there has been looking back for baseball. All time favorite baseball players include Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Sandy Koufax.
American soccer popularly known as football is another very popular sport that has a large TV viewership. The National Football League (NFL) has 36 teams and is the most seeked football league in the US. Super Bowl, the championship game has a very large fan ship amongst TV audience. Some of the popular football players include Joe Montana, Jim Brown and Joe Namath.
Basketball is also a sport with a huge fan ship. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the leading men’s basketball league in the world. The season starts at April end and the most popular basketball players include Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Pete Maravich, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Bob Cousy.
Motor sports are widely fancied in the US. There isn’t much of participation in serious international events like Formula One, but Americans love the sport. Open wheel racing was historically popular and Indianapolis 500 was a widely popular race. The sport has been raising nationwide fan base.
Average American enjoys outdoor sports like mountain hiking, biking and kayaking. Apart from these popular sports, golf, boxing and tennis also has a huge follow ship in the nation. However, cricket and rugby do not find serious liking in the nation. Cricket is very popular in India, Pakistan, Australia, West Indies, Srilanka and England.
Sports also play a big part in the world of media and broadcasting in the US. Television channels pay millions of dollars for exclusive broadcasting rights of major sporting events like baseball, basketball, tennis and football. It is known that contract between leagues and broadcasting companies lead to many commercial breaks during a game.
All in all, sport history in the US has many interesting tales to narrate. Due to introduction of sports like baseball, basketball and soccer at the school and college level, the sport is played fervently at the school and university levels. All of it speaks in volumes about the craze of Americans for their favorite sports.
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