There are many flaws in this argument, and generalizations as a whole that you fail to understand here.
> It's not as if so-called American sports > necessarily attract a lot > of attention either. In fact, most of the major > sports franshises in > North America -- for example, hockey, baseball, > "football" [sic!], > basketball -- will be lucky to get a stadium half > full for matches. "Lucky" is a poor choice of words. Of the four "major" sports in the US, only baseball has an inconsistent attendance record, but they play 162 games a season - 81 home, 81 away. Basketball and hockey are consistently attended. Most games are sell outs, many with 70% to 90% capacity. Their seasons run for 82 games - 41 home/away. Many of these seats are bought by corporations and big businesses. Add college basketball's draw, and your argument is clearly flawed. Virtually EVERY American football game is sold out. 16 gamer seasons, but there are 30 clubs in the league. And college football has similar crowds. Where F1 is the big draw elsewhere, find out for yourself what the attendance figures are for NASCAR. There is NO comparison. I won't go into the argument of television coverage and ratings for American sports, although it does play a significant part in attendance numbers. > A lot of the teams fold (i.e., go bankrupt) and are > then moved to other > cities, which is probably one of the reasons why > there is no real > traditional fan base for most American (and the few > remaining > Canadian) professional sports clubs ( aside from, > perhaps, teams like > the New York Yankees, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, > who have been > around for ages). American teams fold for two reasons. Firstly, owners buy teams as a hobby, or passing fancy. They often come from successful businesses in other industries thinking that owning a sports franchise has got to be easy. They soon learn otherwise. Secondly, expansion of major sports leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB & NHL) is the result of greed and over-saturation - more supply than demand. The quality of play declines. Teams move about & new franchises are awarded in every major sport each season. > One factor that probably accounts for the lack of > enthusiasm for > world sports in the U.S. and Canada is that North > Americans in > general -- but Americans in particular -- are a very > insulated > people. > But, I think > that if the sucesses of both their women's and men's > national > football teams continue, it is only a matter of > time before football > becomes one of the four popular sports in the U.S. America has ALWAYS been isolated. Two large oceans can do that to you. Agreed, the American national soccer team has had fantastic success recently. But it will always be viewed as an immigrant's game, whether those immigrants come from Europe, Africa, Latin America or Asia. Unfortunately, soccer will play second fiddle to the "big four" sports. Golf and tennis have always been in that position, but they haven't done so badly. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Free shipping on all inkjet cartridge & refill kit orders to US & Canada. Low prices up to 80% off. We have your brand: HP, Epson, Lexmark & more. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5510 http://us.click.yahoo.com/GHXcIA/n.WGAA/ySSFAA/GtUolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Subscription info WWW http://red11.org/list Reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] = subscribe to the list. [EMAIL PROTECTED] = unsubscribe from the list. Post message [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
