Sports History

This project evaluates the strategy of the English Premier League (EPL) in their commercial strategy of the North American Market. This study explains in detail, the reluctance from this market to respond to commercial efforts from the EPL (Premier League, 2014). Due to the failure in this market, this report closely examines the cultural values that existed previously, or currently, to understand the heightened struggle the English Premier League has faced (Waddington & Martin, 1996). To do this, the report looks at the strategy of the biggest brand in the EPL, Manchester United. As well as its competitor’s strategies from Europe and domestic leagues in North America.
This study finds that, the North American sports market is much more sensitive than other markets. With patriotic views and American Exceptionalism seeming the current explanation for the North American market rejecting not only the EPL, but English sports as a whole (Collins, 2013). Despite this rejection, football is looking like it might start becoming accepted as a sport in the country.  With this indication, it is important for the EPL to start building their brand accordingly for this anticipated growth.
Although the EPL is currently the front-runner for this market, in comparison to success from other leagues, it still needs to build its brand to secure the predominant share of this market in the long term.

Often, historians have neglected those sports which were marked as "Sport 2" by the East German Politbüro's resolution in 1969. After the Reunification of Germany in 1990 there were, however, some tennis players from East Germany who, with their success in European senior competitions, showed that East German tennis must have had a certain standard in former times. On the basis of material from Germany's federal archive, the Stiftung Archiv für Parteien- und Massenorganisationen der DDR im Bundesarchiv, supplemented by interviews with those successful players, this article seeks to illustrate the few opportunities the federation and the players had for the development of their sport in the 1950s and 1960s. The international work of the East German Tennis Federation and the participation of East German players at tournaments in foreign countries is of special interest here. After a short period of state promotion, the continuous decline of the Zinnowitz "international" tennis tournament gives one such example of the fate of this sport in the former East Germany.

For medieval Icelanders, horses were among the most important animals. It should come as no surprise, as they were used for transport, in pagan rites (hippomancy, funerals, sacred horses), eating, and also for sports. These sports were the horse-fights (hestavígs) and horse-racing (skeið). Reading the sagas, one can find a lot of references to horse-fighting. This sport was considered of such importance among medieval Icelanders that laws have been written down regarding this entertainment, yet there is no exact description of how such events were organized. Only by putting all the references together can one endeavor to explain what these horse-fights may have actually been like. In my paper I would like to present the basis for these horse-fights. Their terminology has been frequently misinterpreted, and no critical investigation yet exists into the staging and organization of such events, which would shed light on the meaning and role of this sport to medieval Icelanders. It will be shown that horse-fighting functioned not only as brutal entertainment in itself, but also played a social role in the broader context of inter-district assemblies.

Archives and the documents within them are at the heart of the practice of history and the occupational culture of historians.  A majority of historical work has been characterized and defined by research in archives of varying kinds. Yet the material within archives is both partial and political and using it is never straightforward.  For historians of sport, the material available in archives can be especially limited but, with some careful reading between the lines, there is still much to learn from and interpret within traditional archives.

This articles explores the different kinds of archives and archival material that historians of sport have used and the uses they have been and can be put to.  Archives, however, are not static entities and the paper also discusses the impact and implication of digitization processes and programmes to popularize and legitimize traditional archives. Although sport has been seen as one of way of diversifying the content and audience of archives, the article argues that the practical and interpretative challenges historians of sport face in archives are no different to those faced by other historians.

In tandem with athletics and philosophy, democracy’s emergence from ancient
Hellenic soil has roots in Olympia’s revolution. Confidence in the veracity of contest results
derived not just from the structure and administration of the contest, but most
importantly from the fact that the gathered public personally observed the proceedings.
Indeed the Greek word ago¯n, which refers to an athletic contest, originally indicated the
gathering place where the event was observed – it shares a root with agora, the familiar
term for a city’s public market place. The selection of winners to be accorded public
honour cannot help but be politically charged, especially in a place such as the ancient (or
modern) Olympic Games where so many groups arrive believing their own representative
best deserves that honour. It is easy to see how the secret or arbitrary selection of the
honouree could lead to discord and even fighting. The public nature of the athletic
contest, however, like the public nature of philosophical debate, shifted the authority in
decision making towards the many (hoi polloi) and served, as a
foundation for the invention of democracy.

The paper analyses the influence of Commune Insurectionnelle de Paris, on the development of two organization and two important associations in the field of physical education in the end of the nineteenth and along the twentieth century in France. One organization is none today as Olympic Comity and the other one, in fact, as school physical education subject.

Competitive cycling has always been particularly popular in the Benelux, France and Italy, but has spread first continetally and then globally in recent decades. But how global is actually competitive cycling today? In this article we analyze the globalization of road cycling for men. 
 
Wielrennen is van oudsher vooral populair in de Benelux, Frankrijk en Italië. Vanuit deze landen verspreidde de wielersport zich over de wereld. Maar hoe mondiaal is de wielersport vandaag de dag eigenlijk? In dit artikel analyseren wij de mondialisering van het wegwielrennen voor mannen.

Dos equipos brasileños juegan la final de la Copa Libertadores en el Maracaná. El Palmeiras, el mayor campeón de los torneos nacionales, busca su segunda victoria en la Libertadores y el Santos, bicampeón mundial con Pelé, intenta ganar el cuatricampeonato de la principal competición continental. Sus seguidores tienen motivos para celebrar con las derrotas en la semifinal contra los argentinos River Plate y Boca Juniors. Sin embargo, algo siniestro está vinculado a esta decisión y al momento actual de Brasil, con Jair Bolsonaro imponiendo su agenda destructiva en Brasilia.

Como parte de su propaganda, el político apareció con la camiseta de decenas de clubes brasileños y es aliado de Rodolfo Landim, presidente del Flamengo, el equipo más popular del país. Sin embargo, Bolsonaro es un fanático de Palmeiras. Incluso su nombre rinde homenaje al exjugador Jair Rosa Pinto.

Campeón brasileño en 2018, el Palmeiras dejó que Bolsonaro levantara el trofeo y posara en la foto oficial del equipo.

Esto ocurrió poco después de que el congresista, con 28 años de carrera, miembro insignificante del Congreso Nacional dedicado a defender la dictadura militar —al igual que la matanza y la tortura que esta emprendió—, fuera elegido presidente. Casi 58 millones de brasileños consideraron razonable votar por alguien que dijo en la campaña que la izquierda debería ser enviada al lugar de ejecución de los presos políticos del régimen militar, ser fusilada, ir a la cárcel o exiliarse.

Brasil también tuvo la desgracia de sufrir la pandemia que asoló al mundo con Bolsonaro como presidente. Él la trata como una «gripecita» sin gravedad y anima a la población a no usar mascarilla, a no cambiar su rutina, a no mantenerse en aislamiento social, a utilizar medicamentos sin eficacia probada y a no vacunarse. En el país se han producido más de 210.000 muertes atribuidas al coronavirus, aparte de las víctimas mortales que no se hicieron la prueba.

Uno de los principales jugadores del Palmeiras, Felipe Melo, que siempre muestra su apoyo a Bolsonaro en Internet, participó con él en eventos oficiales. Ambos sin mascarilla, en medio a una multitud de personas. Bolsonaro llamó a quien lo criticó de «feroz fanático del virus, al que le gusta mucho el mimimi» (mimimi es un término peyorativo que se utiliza para desautorizar críticas a posiciones prejuiciosas y políticamente incorrectas).

En un acto contra el aislamiento social en São Paulo, un grupo de hinchas del Palmeiras publicó fotos con las palabras «Dios, patria, familia y amigos. Odiamos gambá».

El mensaje remite al lema «Dios, patria y familia» del integralismo, un fuerte movimiento fascista brasileño de los años 30, que se ha ido rearticulando. «Gambá» es un apodo peyorativo de Corinthians, un rival de Palmeiras cuyos partidarios se manifestaron contra el bolsonarismo. Sin embargo, los aficionados del Palmeiras, insatisfechos con la asociación del club con el Presidente, lanzaron el «Manifiesto de palmeirenses que apoyan a la democracia y a la ciencia y que repudian la mentira y la intolerancia».

Quien vio la derrota del Santos contra Boca Juniors debe haber visto al entrenador Cuca celebrar los goles con una camiseta con la imagen de la Virgen. Su devoción no impidió que lo arrestaran por violar a una niña cuando aún era jugador del Gremio. En una gira del equipo por Europa en 1987, él y tres compañeros de equipo, Henrique, Fernando y Eduardo, fueron detenidos en Suiza durante 28 días bajo los cargos de violar a Sandra Pfaffli, de solo 13 años, en el hotel donde se alojaban. Pudieron regresar a Brasil gracias a un gran lobby de la diplomacia brasileña y de la FIFA. Fueron condenados en 1989: no encontraron pruebas de violencia física en el cuerpo del delito, pero la víctima era menor de 16 años. Nunca fueron extraditados ni cumplieron condena.

En ese momento, las antropólogas Carmen Rial y Miriam Pillar Grossi comentaron en un artículo del periódico feminista Mulherio la complacencia de la prensa de Porto Alegre y de la población. Los columnistas culparon a la chica y consideraron la actitud de los violadores como un mero engaño. La madre de Fernando, uno de los cuatro acusados, argumentó que su hijo no tenía la culpa porque no era homosexual y «la chica fue allí a quitarse la ropa delante de ellos».

El exjugador del Santos, el delantero Robinho, fue condenado a nueve años de prisión por los tribunales italianos por «violencia sexual en grupo».

Él y sus amigos emborracharon a una chica albanesa para que no rechazara el acto sexual. En una grabación telefónica interceptada, Robinho se rió y dijo que no le importaba porque la mujer estaba borracha y ni siquiera sabía lo que estaba pasando. En octubre de 2020, la junta directiva del Santos pensó que era una buena idea traer de vuelta al ídolo condenado por violación colectiva. El contrato fue suspendido por una demanda de todos los patrocinadores del club.

La cultura de la violación relativiza la gravedad de la violencia sexual contra las mujeres. Esta cultura culpa a la mujer de ser violada y considera que los hombres tienen “necesidades naturales y comprensibles”, por lo que son estas quienes deben evitar tales situaciones.

La misoginia no se limita al acoso sexual. Bruno, exarquero del Flamengo y del Atlético Mineiro, fue condenado a 22 años de prisión por el secuestro, asesinato y ocultamiento del cadáver (supuestamente troceado) de su examante, Eliza Samudio, que le exigió el reconocimiento de la paternidad de su hijo. Cuatro clubes ya han contratado al feminicida después de su condena: Montes Claros, Boa Esporte, Poços de Caldas y Rio Branco. Nunca faltó el interés por sus autógrafos y otros clubes también han tratado de contratarlo, como Operário, Tupi y Fluminense de Feira.

El Brasil que odia el feminismo, se burla de las víctimas de violación y apoya la jerarquía sexista de la sociedad, eligió a Bolsonaro.

El entonces diputado, en un discurso en el club Hebraica de Río de Janeiro en 2017, bromeó diciendo sobre sus hijos: «Fueron cuatro hombres. En la quinta, flaqueé y tuve una mujer». Imaginen cómo alguien que se refiere así a su propia hija se comporta con otras mujeres.

No hay que imaginar: diversas veces Bolsonaro ha dicho públicamente sobre la diputada Maria do Rosário, del PT, defensora de los derechos humanos, que no la violó porque «no se lo merecía», por ser «muy fea». En 2015 fue condenado a pagarle una indemnización y a pedirle disculpas. No pasó nada más. De esta manera pudo completar su mandato parlamentario y luego ser elegido presidente de la república.

En el momento más brutal de la dictadura militar, en virtud de la Ley Institucional Nº 5, la selección brasileña fue tricampeona mundial en 1970. El triunfo fue usado para hacer propaganda y Pelé sirvió en misiones oficiales con pasaporte diplomático como divulgador del gobierno del General Médici.

Ahora, Palmeiras y Santos deciden la Copa Libertadores, jugada en las fases decisivas durante la pandemia y sin aficionados en las gradas. La prensa brasileña celebra la gran hazaña deportiva, mientras que Bolsonaro mantiene su popularidad a pesar de promover la destrucción de la economía, las instituciones y los derechos sociales. El eslogan de 1970 ya puede ser gritado por bocas sin mascarillas: «¡Adelante, Brasil!».

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Nicholas Blincoe’s More Noble Than War: A Soccer History of Israel-Palestine (Bold Type Books, 2019) is a beautifully narrated and written history of a century of conflict between pre-state Jews and Palestinians and Israeli Jews and Israeli Palestinians after the establishment of the state. It is a story that goes far beyond the history of the conflict, the mirror images of developments in Jewish and Palestinian society, and the internecine ideological infighting and power struggles within the two communities. It paints in graphic detail the incestuous and inseparable relationship between sports and politics and the importance of soccer, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, in identity and nation formation as well as nation building. It also demonstrates in graphic detail how first Jews and then Palestinians exploited soccer to first achieve international recognition of their struggles and then as nations by dispatching teams to tour other countries and being granted membership in world soccer body FIFA. In doing so, Israelis and Palestinians set an example that decades later became a key pillar of the Algerian liberation struggle in the 1950s and 1960s with the National Liberation Front (FLN)’s creation of its own national soccer team that put its fight for independence on the world map. The skeletal facts of Blincoe’s tale have long been known. The significance of Blincoe’s contribution is that he puts flesh on the skeleton by weaving the facts into a meticulously researched and reported, easily accessible narrative in which he brings key players and ideological trends to life. It’s a tale that is all fact but reads like a thriller.

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At the end of January, it was revealed that the Tees Valley will play host to the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. Here historian Dr Tosh Warwick of Manchester Metropolitan University looks back at when the area last played host to a World Cup…

Resumen
En este trabajo, en el que nos proponemos recoger los datos iconográficos y epigráficos que se refieren de manera clara a las actividades de natación, se han ampliado las fronteras regionales y cronológicas para disponer de una visión más completa en cuanto al tipo de disciplinas deportivas practicadas en Oriente Próximo. Hemos incluido, además de la evidencia arqueológica de Mesopotamia, información sobre las actividades de natación practicadas por los hititas en Anatolia y hemos incorporado algunas citas sobre las actividades náuticas en Egipto. Los datos, aunque bastante limitados, pueden proporcionar información de carácter relevante sobre esta disciplina atlética.

Abstract
In this paper iconographic and epigraphic data clearly referring to swimming activities have been collected. Chronological and regional borders have been expanded to have a more complete vision regarding the different sport disciplines practiced in the Middle East. In addition to Mesopotamian archaeological evidence, information on swimming activities practiced by the Hittites in Anatolia, and citations about the nautical activities in Egypt were included. The data, although quite limited, provide relevant information about this athletic discipline.

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This paper contends that the way in which the term ‘ethnic’ is applied to the history of soccer in America needs rethinking. Through a case study of the National Junior Challenge Cup (now know as the JP McGuire Cup), the country’s oldest ongoing competition across all youth sports, this paper examines the transformation of American soccer’s identity. The tournament began in 1935 and evolved from an initial constituency of ethnic, immigrant and Catholic youth clubs. Following societal demographic trends, the growing national participant
base came from more suburban, middle-class neighbourhoods. The 1970s witnessed a paradigm change in youth soccer as the sport began to move closer to mainstream consciousness. The tournament is a window into the complexity of defining the term ‘ethnic’ and its individuals who straddled both ‘ethnic’ and ‘native’ worlds. This article explores the origins of soccer in America, the bridges between ethnic identity, immigration and the foreign-native cultural debate and Soccer Americana.

In the modern game of baseball the game can no longer claim to be completely won on the field. Instead, the game is now won on computers in dingy clubhouse rooms by number crunchers that would probably do better in industries such as finance or science. When looking at the revolution of sabermetrics (also known as performance scouting), or the statistical analysis of baseball data that drastically differed from the old-school visual-based method of scouting, the first thought to your mind is not a comparison of the conflict that surrounds the issue of abortion.

The purpose of our work is to determine the effects of the first and second period globalization processes on the sports institutions of the Ottoman State. This aim is to be able to explain the tendency of the globalization which emerged as a continuation of each other in accordance with the spirit of the era of the Turkish sport institutions. Globalization is a very influential phenomenon on the changes of states, social and economic institutions. Globalization; can be regarded as a concept that deals with a wide variety of disciplines and markets, and establishes relationships that influence and interfere with these disciplines and markets. From this perspective, it is also a fact that the effects of countries on sports institutions are inevitable. In the study, a qualitative method called "descriptive field scanning", documentary or documentary study was followed. In this way, our research has been structured by the historical research method and the historical survey method with qualitative research in terms of content. Historical research methodology has been supported by archival scanning method based on reviewing, translating, reading and evaluating books, documents, files, official and private correspondence documents, foreign language information and documents The sports schools of the Ottoman state's sports institutions were weakened by the loss of their importance by being negatively affected as the economic aims of the establishment causes with the change of trade routes in the first globalization process. In the second globalization process; despite the fact that the Ottoman state was in its recent times, it tried to adapt to the socio-economic changes brought about by Globalization. At the end of this effort, importance has been given to sports and sports institutions in education, social life. He transferred both the sports institutions and the sports workforce to the state of the Republic of Turkey, which is the continuation of the Ottoman state.

Journey to the Holy Land SPORTS 50 | ERETZ Magazine In 1924, the Jewish community in the Land of Israel was abuzz with excitement over the visit of the soccer team from the Hakoah Vienna Sports Club. One of the leading European teams at the time, it was composed entirely of Jewish athletes. Tel Aviv mayor Meir Dizengoff established committees, spectators flocked to the games by the thousands, and the British even flew in two players from Iraq to reinforce the British army team especially for the occasion. Unmoved by the excitement, the Austrian athletes returned to Europe undefeated. However, the rise of Nazism in Europe and the immigration of the team's best players to America brought this unique Jewish athletic endeavor to a bitter end. > by Ilan Shchori

В статье анализируются процессы развития советского спорта в годы Великой Отечественной войны. Показано, что условия военного времени объективно способствовали выделению двух основных направлений в спортивной жизни страны: военизированного и мирного.
При характеристике военизированного направления внимание в первую очередь акцентируется на военно-прикладных видах спорта, таких как лыжный, мотоциклетный, велосипедный спорт, прикладное плавание, военно-полевая гимнастика и маршевая подготовка. Отмечается, что значимость этого спортивного направления заключалась в необходимости качественной подготовки боевых резервов для Красной армии, требующей квалифицированного пополнения для успешного противостояния немецко-фашистским агрессорам.
При анализе мирного направления, внимание сосредотачивается на освещении процессов, связанных с развитием традиционных видов спорта, которые после значительного свертывания в начальный период войны, получают новый импульс для масштабного развития после серьезных успехов достигнутых Красной армией на фронте.
Делается вывод, что стремительное возрождение мирных видов спорта, определяется сокращением потребностей воюющей армии в профессионально подготовленных новобранцах и желанием властных партийно-государственных структур повысить конкурентоспособность своих атлетов для получения возможности интеграции советского спорта в систему европейских и мировых чемпионатов с целью укрепления престижа и усиления влияния политического режима на международной арене.
Ключевые слова: Великая Отечественная война, военно-прикладной спорт, профессиональный спорт, спортивная организация, лечебная физкультура, чемпионат, рекорд, матч смерти, матч жизни, государственная политика.

The paper analyses development of the Soviet sports during the Great Patriotic War. The paper shows that wartime conditions contributed to the allocation of two main parts in the sports life of the country: paramilitary and civilian.
When describing the paramilitary part of sport, our attention primarily focuses on military-applied kinds of sport, such as skiing, motorcycle, cycling, applied swimming, military gymnastics and marching training. The paper notes that this part of sport was significant due to the need for high-quality training of combat reserves for the Red army, which requires qualified replenishment to confront successfully Nazi aggressors.
When analysing the civilian part of sport, our attention focuses on highlighting the processes associated with the development of traditional sports, which after a significant curtailment in the initial period of the war, receive a new impetus for large-scale development after serious successes achieved by the Red army at the front.
The paper concludes that rapid revival of civilian sports is determined by reduction of the needs of the army in professionally trained recruits. It is determined also by desire of Party and State bodies to increase competitiveness of their athletes to be able to integrate Soviet sports into the system of European and World championships in order to strengthen prestige and influence of the political regime in the international arena.
Keywords: Great Patriotic War, military-applied sport, professional sport, sport organization, physiotherapy exercises, championship, record, death match, life match, state policy.

The Body-machine from Michael Phelps to Oscar Pistorius discusses in retrospection the utilitarian view about the body that should be productive. From a utilitarian perspective, the body is not personal belonging but is separated from the human and transformed into a working machine. This view about the body raises many ethical problems especially for people that are not so productive such as handicapped people. Evidence for this can be found in professional sport. This process is essential for athletes. In the early 20 th century the athlete's body-machine was produced for the needs of professional sport. Those new athletic body-machines have become very important because they produced symbolic capital for their countries. The products, achievements, and especially the Olympic medals of athletes fulfill the nationalist agenda which, in Europe, was especially influential in that period. Athletes' achievements from international sport competitions produce symbolic capital in a similar way to archeological artifacts or the works of " national " writers. The gold medal and the world record can stimulate national dignity and consolidate people from a certain community. Top athletes are very famous and can become decision makers. However, very often this symbolic capital serves the purposes of state propaganda. Such examples are provided in this paper. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the inhumane practice of using athletes as gold producing machines rather than letting them develop fully their human potential.

This article examines the reasons behind the decline of schoolgirl cricket in the years between 1945 and 1960. It considers the impact of the Education Act 1944 and ‘secondary education for all’ on girls’ physical education in general, focusing on why certain sports, in particular cricket, were not widely introduced into the new secondary modern and grammar schools. The outreach programme of the Women’s Cricket Association, the governing body of women’s cricket, to these new schools is considered alongside the problem of equipment and pitch shortages. Ultimately, blame for schoolgirl cricket’s failure to become entrenched within the English education system is placed on the attitudes of teachers and Local Education Authorities towards girls’ cricket at this time; they considered the sport unsuitable for female pupils. Overall, the article serves as a historical case study of gendered physical education in action.

Enzo Fiermonte is a forgotten star of Italian cinema who acted in over 100 films between 1941 and 1979. His screen career started with "L’ultimo combattimento" (The Last Fight), in which he played the role of the main character: a boxer who was on his way to stardom – until he met a wealthy American woman: he felt in love with her, and she gradually persuaded him to get rid of the gloves and live as a gentleman. It was quite an ordinary story for film-goers to see, but actually that was Fiermonte’s real story.

Prior to join the film world, Enzo was a boxer himself – and a very talented one. He won Italy’s middleweight crown at just 23 years old, and after a series of brilliant bouts in the U.S. he entered the list of the main contenders for the world championship title. Success in the boxing ring, however, was not Enzo’s only success. Women literally felt at his feet: his was tall and muscular like a Michelangelo’s statue, with olive skin and black curly hair. For press reporters, he was “the Rudolph Valentino of boxing”.

In 1932, his beauty was noticed by one of the richest women in the world – Madeleine Astor Dick. She was mother to the heir of America’s most influential family – the Astors – and was known in her country for having survived his husband in 1912, as they were honeymooning aboard the most disgraceful ocean liner of human history – the Titanic. Very soon, Madeleine became infatuated with that gorgeous and kind Italian; Enzo, too, could not stop thinking of her. After a few months, the two got married amid sensational headlines: not only Fiermonte was a boxer with peasant origins, but he also was much younger than her: 25 years as opposed to Madeleine’s 39.

For Madeleine and for the privileges of being married with a millionaire, Fiermonte announced his retirement from boxing, but then he changed his mind; he left his wife, returned into the ring, and the whole world talked about him. Such a story, however, was just one of the many incredible stories he happened to be involved with. Enzo Fiermonte’s life was rich with hazards and hard-to-believe situations in every respect, to the point that Hollywood producers have occasionally thought of making a film about him. ***MORE INFO AT [email protected]***

From Zinedine Zidane to Michael Jordan and from Marie-José Pérec to Lance Armstrong, over the last thirty years, numerous individuals have emerged through the global sports industry to capture the imagination of the French public and become touchstones for the discussion of a host of social issues. This book provides new insights into the evolution of the global sporting spectacle through a study of star athletes, emblematic organisations, key locations and celebrated moments in French sport from the mid-1980s to the present day. It draws on a wide range of sources, from film, television, advertising, newspapers and popular music to cover key developments in sports including football, motor sport, basketball and cycling. Sport here emerges as a privileged site for a discussion of the nature of contemporary nationhood, as well as for the performance of France’s postcolonial heritage. Simultaneously, sport provides a platform for the playing out of concerns over globalisation and, in a time of post-industrial uncertainty, for nostalgic reminiscences of an apocryphal bygone era of social cohesion. The exploration of these themes leads to new understandings of the ways in which sport influences and is implicated in broader social and cultural concerns in France today.

Though American sports history is often written without much reference to the rest of the world, it is clear that modern sports, while unique in many respects, in the USA cannot be viewed with an isolated lens any longer. For at least 150 years: American sporting stars have tested themselves against international competition; migrants have integrated themselves into the American melting pot through sports participation; and sporting entrepreneurs have sought to profit from the sports marketplace both domestically and internationally. For 50 years or more, a migrant labour system has become increasinly important within NCAA competitions and international players have become stars in baseball and basketball in particular. Many international golf and tennis players base themselves in the USA. The United States exports sporting talent all over the world and American sporting business interests play significant roles in the global sports business marketplace. The Boston Red Sox have invested in the Japanese professional baseball league and its parent company also controls Liverpool Football Club (soccer) in England. The New York Yankees sponsor the Chinese Baseball League. The NFL plays regular season games in London, England, Major League Baseball does so in Asia and the NHL does the same in Europe. MLS teams compete in the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament which is a regional version of the Champions League in Europe. This chapter explores American sport and the global sports marketplace with a case study of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) move into the Chinese market particularly in bringing star Yao Ming to the League. It concludes with a preliminary discussion of the USA's indictment of FIFA officials.