Basketball vs. Soccer

Why soccer should fear the NBA  (CNN, by James Montague, Oct. 8, 2010)

Will basketball replace soccer as "the" world sport?  After reading the above linked article, I am convinced that it is a distinct possibility.  For the fourth straight pre-season, NBA teams, like the LA Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves, are invading Europe for exhibition matches before sold-out crowds.  This year, Barcelona, Milan, Paris, and London are all hosting a game.

Europe is not the only, or even the biggest, new market the NBA is successfully penetrating.  Basketball is apparently showing the biggest increase in interest amongst sports fans in the Middle East, as well.

More importantly, China is becoming increasingly infatuated with slam dunks and fancy dribbling.  With a former Chinese Microsoft CEO behind the helm of the NBA franchise there, new ideas about getting the populace involved in the sport are being explored.  One example is working with the Chinese government to get a basketball court constructed in every town.  Recent scandals plaguing Chinese soccer are only helping basketball carve out a new niche for itself.

Of all places in the world, I think that it is appropriate, and brilliant, for the NBA to choose China as one of it's first cultural conquest outside of the US.  Many years ago, my father worked for Miller Brewery.  For the last decade of his employment, he traveled the world, often with an interpreter.  On one particular trip to China,  his translator was an exceptionally tall, and strong African American.  From the moment they landed in Beijing, people would constantly stop his companion and say, "NBA? NBA?"  Even when he told them, in their native language, that he was not a basketball star, many people still insisted on having their pictures taken with him.  My dad became an amateur photographer on many occasions during that trip, proving that even two decades ago, the Chinese were infatuated with basketball.

Why is basketball able to expand around the world easier than soccer?  One reason may be the way the organization is structured.  By centralizing control of the NBA brand, instead of extending governance to individual clubs and leagues like soccer, the NBA has ensured that it will have the final say in how, and where, the sport develops.   Furthermore, although there is fierce fighting between teams to get the best players for themselves during the annual draft, there is no feuding between leagues.  All of the best players go directly to the NBA. 

A second possible reason for basketball's ability to expand so easily is because of "increased global urbanization."  Because the world is filled with less parks for soccer fields, and more concrete for courts, basketball has a distinct advantage.

After watching parts of the World Cup with my husband this past summer, I don't think I could ever become a world soccer fan.  There were enough instances of terrible officiating and poor sportsmanship in the handful of games we watched for a lifetime.  I can remember at least two goals that were retracted, with absolutely no reason ever provided.  I also recall several minutes at the end of games were players simply stopped playing, pretending to be injured.  Though I am not a huge basketball fan either because of how many fouls I think there are in the rulebooks, at least I think the refs are trying to follow it's guidelines when they blow the whistle.