In this post I will be answering the following questions that we were given in class:
1.In the Klein article, they talk about “growing the game.” What does that mean? How effectively has the WBC enabled baseball to “grow the game?” How would you assess the effectiveness of the WBC compared to FIFA’s growth of soccer?
2.At the end of the article, Klein outlines a way that you could have global competition in baseball. How well do you think that would work? What would be pros and cons of implementing international play?
3.Based upon other sports’ efforts at globalization, what suggestions would you make to help baseball grow in the global marketplace?
1. To me, growing the game entails making more people aware of the game itself which then leads to other factors. For instance, once more people know about the certain sport, chances are, there will be a greater interest in also playing the sport. With the interest sparked, there should be an increase in participants which in turn helps the game to grow. As sports gain in popularity, there is a chance to make certain brands that people will also become interested in. This is yet another way that the game grows. I feel as though no global sporting event is greater than the World Cup (and the Olympics if we are talking about a multiple sporting event) because of the fact that worldwide, soccer is the most popular game. Baseball is new at this type of thing and I feel like they can become successful but it is going to take some time. I still believe that they will not become more popular than the World Cup.
2. I would like it to work even though I am not a baseball fan because I think our world needs some competition in sports other than just the Olympics ad the World Cup. If a committee sat down and came up with a plan similar to the World Cup tournament, I think they could become very successful.
Pros to have international play: Stronger sense of American/ worldwide pride no matter what country a person may be from, an actual reason to have a "World Series" and call the winner the "Champions of the World"
Cons to have international play: There always seems to be some sort of controversy between teams of other countries, possible ethical problems such a cheating, home countires not being able to see a game.
3. I would market it as much as I can and find out if people in other countries would also like to see international play in baseball. Then I would gather a team of people from around the work and come up with a tournament bracket, and rules and such. Then we would have a draw n where to play it, and use the WBC as a way to start to find out which teams would get into the big tournament. It would be like friendly matches and group play like the World Cup uses.
I agree that the World Cup is one of the biggest sporting events in the world and that the World Baseball Classic (WBC) will take some time before it is more well known internationally. Just like the popularity of football and baseball in the United States, soccer is popular in many European countries and because the popularity of soccer in the United States is not quite what it is in Europe, many people have started to pay attention to the game with the recent expansion of the MLS.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with much of what you said, I do not agree as much with your statement that having a bigger WBC might create a "stronger sense of American/worldwide pride." While I would like to think that could happen, we have yet to see people from the U.S. get behind our teams and/or athletes like other countries do. As an example, could you envision the kind of "street cheering" that happened in Korea happening in the U.S? I have a hard time envisioning it.
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