Sport

Sport is an important part in American culture since it is all over the media (Althen, Doran and Szmania 191). Sociologists have made it clear that coverage of sports events are cultural artifacts. Other scholars have also regarded popular sports figures as artifacts because they mirror the very values of the nation take for instance Muhammad Ali (Duncan xiv) who is not only a gold medalist but a symbol of cultural ideals.  This paper will explore the sports system in America.

First of all, the United States (US) maintains the development of domestic players. The major leagues of baseball (MLB), soccer (MLS), football (NFL), and basketball (NBA) all draft players from universities, which recruit players from high school, so that most of professional players are American. Statistics shows that percentage of foreigners in MLS is only 40 and that number in MLB is merely 27.7. On the other hand, in the NBA and NFL, it is 13.6 and 1, respectively. This means US- born players dominate all these sports. Thus, these players compete regularly and are always ready for national teams while the coaches have a wide selection of experienced players. The problem in other countries is that there are too many foreign players leaving no room for native players the chance to compete therefore lacks the adequate exposure worthy of inclusion for the national team. For example, in the Premier League of England, only 34.1 of players starting last season are English. Therefore, some players in Englands national soccer team do not have much experience in matches even though they are the best in the nation.

Next, the organization of USA sport helps young players to balance their development, in both athleticism and education. Since the major leagues teams in America draft most players from universities and high schools, young players who want to have opportunity to become professionals need to graduate from high school and pursue a college degree. Therefore, they have to keep up their academic record in order to play for the team. In other countries, especially the developing countries, professional teams sign players from everywhere so that the young players only need to be good at sports. They can play for an amateur or semi- professional team to become pro and do not have to get any education. Consequently, some of them have bad behavior in or outside the games. For instance, 3 years ago, 7 players of U23 Vietnam soccer team were arrested because of betting and arranging the result of their matches. That is an unacceptable behavior of any sport player.

Last but not least, sports in America is one of the most lucrative systems worldwide and it benefits everyone. Firstly, the television networks, such as ESPN, CBS, or NBC, pay millions of dollars to have the rights to broadcast sport events to attract the viewers to their networks. As the result, they also attract other companies to put commercials on their networks, and gain profits back from there. Research shows the price for advertising during only the Super Bowl game is between 2 million and 3 million per 30 seconds. That is a huge and attractive amount of money that every television network wants. Secondly, other companies also benefits from putting their product commercial on those television networks. Many sports in USA have timeout periods during the game and those are time for commercials. In NBA and NFL, every game has 12 timeouts, 6 for each team. Therefore, many networks want to broadcast the sport games so that the viewers can have access to sport events easily. They can enjoy many games all year long on television without paying for the extra channel. Lastly, the sport teams can get a lot of money from the sponsors and the television networks, which want to advertise their product through the teams. That money helps the teams to broaden their popularity, pay players salaries, or improve the team. For example, in the 2009 season the New York Yankees players Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez earned 21.6 million and 33 million respectively. The median salary per player in MLB is 1 million, 1.2 million in NHL, 3 million in the NBA, and 0.9 million in the NFL. These figures vary significantly from nurses salary which is about 56,700 and those in the education sector which is 40,800 per annum (Santo and Mildner 33).

Revenue is also sourced from sports facilities along with concessions, parking, and advertising. The club seats were invented by Joe Robbie who placed 10,214 wide, contour-backed seats in the middle tier of the three-tiered facility which he called individual club seats. The seat costs ranges from 600 to 1,400 annually had to lease for a period of ten years. Since it was introduced in the mid 80s, club seating has become one of the biggest revenue generators in stadiums. In 1991 onwards, lease of club seats has risen by 50 giving sustainable source of revenue for four major league professional teams. The second are the luxury suites first made for Albert Spaldings new baseball stadium for the Chicago White Stockings which catered to the elite fans offering 18 private boxes complete with arm chairs and drapes. From then on, the race to install luxury suites in sports facilities has gained momentum. The third one is the personal seat licenses. In Tampa Bay, owners of the Buccaneers used them in financing the National Football League teams new stadium. At the University of Wisconsin, earnings will be utilized by Badgers officials to fund the athletics program of the school. In Green Bay, the management team of Packers will use the money for the necessary renovations of the Lambeau Field. Personal seat licenses are a means for generating ticket sales during the season, facility revenues, and attract teams who are considering relocation. The broader scope on the use of seat licenses has benefitted all those involved in the process of financing sports facilities. Facilities are upgraded and teams have tickets bases which would help them remain to be in the game for many years to come, on and off the field. The fans will benefit because they have rights to own their personal seat licenses which can become valuable items. Government entities also reap upgraded sports facilities at reduced costs to the tax-paying public which should be earmarked in essential services in the government (Rosner and Shropshire 117). To illustrate this clearly, the case of the Carolinas will be cited. Construction of the Ericsson Stadium costs 248 million which is contributed by taxpayers (55 million) while the rest from the personal seat licenses. The Panthers were expected to generate 200-300 million to replenish initial investment of the taxpaying public (Rosner and Shropshire 118).

Another addition which is the most lucrative form of generating revenues for stadiums is the selling of naming rights. Naming rights are nowadays sold not only to change the name of the whole stadium but naming entryways into the stadium, the field, breezeways among others. In 1987, the then Los Angeles Forum which was the home of the Lakers and Kings was named Great Western Forum the moment Great Western Bank became the first corporate body to purchase the rights to name any sports facility in America. This has become the precedent of numerous corporations practice of naming sports facilities under their name. Jerry Colangelo of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals stated, I think youre going to see more and more corporate involvement in terms of naming rights and major involvements with large companies. In order to deliver that product, the game itself, you need to build venues that have the opportunity to pay for it. Our group is indicative of this trend. There may also be cases when a sports facility chooses not the sell the name of the entire facility itself but only the name of the field, breezeways or portals of the stadium. Another such example would be in 1999 when the Cleveland Browns had its brand new stadium without a corporate sponsor of the naming rights by choice. The club instead sold only the rights to name the stadiums portals 2 million annually for a decade. One company who got interested was the National City Bank who has the following benefits  1. The right to be the sole bank provider of the Cleveland Brown for five years 2. The right to use the logo of the team in various promotional and advertising events 3. Has the right to sell their products- both existing and new 4. The companys name and logo will be found in the southeast section of the stadium, from turnstiles, entrances, directional signages, tickets, and seat cup holders 5. A permanent presence in the scoreboard at west end zone and 6. Other signages covering the stadium (Rosner and Shropshire 120).  

The success and prestige of American sports is attributed to its origin in the youth sports program. In the US, involvement in sports events is a rite of passage during childhood. Though there is disagreement among stakeholders on its rationale, the notion that it contributes to character-building has become widely accepted (Berryman qtd. in Seefeldt and Eewing 1). But how does sports participation really benefit ordinary Americans The next pages will deal on this matter.

This regular physical activity promoted by youth sports programs all over the country is a viable method for health promotion therefore meeting the health objectives of the national government. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last March 1997 described its health benefits in the Guidelines for Schools and Communities for Promoting Lifelong Physical Activity which included improvement of strength and endurance, healthy bones and muscles, weight control, anxiety and stress relief, self-esteem, improvement of blood pressure and cholesterol levels. This youth sports program will not be successfully implemented without the coordination of parents, school administration, faculty, coaches, and society in general. Also given emphasis is the role of physical education in promoting a healthy lifestyle among the youth. Therefore youth sports have a significant public health role because it provides physical activity. However, this program should be hand in hand with regular school physical education. Second benefit is social development since it has social and moral requirements for participation of sports consistent to becoming law abiders. Because of the high regard of sports in American culture, a great number of parents believe that exposing children to sports at an early age is advantageous. What motivates the youth to participate in sports is the desire to compare their capabilities with others this way they know more about themselves. This is the first aspect of psychological readiness (Passer, Roberts qtd. in Seefeldt and Eewing 9). The second is attained when a child reached a certain level of maturity that enables him or her to under the competition that he or she enters into (Passer qtd. in Seefeldt and Eewing 9). When a child is in a competition, he or she must understand its social nature most specifically the importance of cooperation, teamwork, strategy, and individual roles to achieve the goals of the group (Brustad qtd. in Seefeldt and Eewing 9). Coakley (qtd. in Seedfeldt and Eewing 9) said that among children excitement of sports pre empts developing a mature concept of the sports therefore this involvement to sports is premature. This leads to negative emotional effects which include frustration, discouragement, and low self-esteem when expectations about performance are too high than what the child is able (Brustad qtd. in Seefeldt and Eewing 10).

The sport system in America benefits everyone, from the nation to the players, businesses, viewers, and the youth. This kind of system should be extended throughout the world to not only make sports better but also draw more people to sports. For the developing countries, this system is even more helpful. It helps their sports to be more lucrative and more attractive so they can compete worldwide.