Inside look in the globalization of sports today

1. The Globalization of
Sport
Joseph Okaiye

2. Lets Test Your Knowledge
• On a piece of paper or in your head, please try to answer the following questions as
accurately as possible
• 1. Name a well known professional athlete.
• 2. Name one NBA Hall of Famer.
• 3. Name one baseball player.
• 4. Who is the world’s fastest man?
• 5. Name a popular shoe brand
• 6. Where are the Olympic games being held this year?
• 7. Name a spokesperson for Adidas.
• 8. Name on professional soccer team.

4. Overview
• Globalization is ultimately making sports as we know them, that much
better. Nowadays you see countries all over the world sporting famous
sports teams, whether it be teams from the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB,
or MLS.
• Globalization, or the integration of facets of life from different
cultures into comprehensive proclivities. At the advent of modern
sports beforehand, a handful of these sports were popular only in the
nations in which they were created.
• Baseball, Football, and Baseball were only popular in the U.S. Soccer
was only popular in international Spanish nations, and minor sports
like cricket, was only popular in Great Britain.
• As time passed by and globalization mechanisms increased, the sports
popularity started to increase. Cricket started to expand to Australia
and India, as well as many other middle-eastern countries.

5. Overview Cont.
• Basketball has spread to almost all countries around the world, with the NBA’s new popularity, many
NBA teams now start to recruit outside of the U.S.
• Americas sport influence on other countries motivates others to push new grounds. While America is
still at the top in basketball, other teams have reached the top of the basketball world from all parts of
the world.
• Globalization has definitely occurred extensively in soccer. Actually, it has most likely had the most
widespread globalization impact on the world. Soccer has the most popularity of any sport worldwide,
evidenced by the different international leagues, the recruitment of international players, and also the
World Cup for soccer that is only held once every four years.
• These foreign countries have benefitted from the globalization of sports tremendously. Before all of this,
there was no diversification of sports internationally, now the globalization of sports has lead to more
sports being popular worldwide, and it isn’t going to stop anytime soon.

6. Our Complicated World
• There are four aspects of our world that were barely on the radar
several decades ago but that today dominate much of our thinking and
our news coverage. They are globalization, terrorism, climate change,
and changing demographics.
• Our new world involves complex interactions between business,
political, and cultural systems, and these interactions make things more
difficult than they should be.
• In terms of sheer description, the united states is a dramatically
different place than it was decades in the past.

7. Globalization
• It’s become truism, stating that we now live in a global economy and participate in a global marketplace. As
basic technology continues to improve over the years, our world becomes ever more connected in economic,
political, organizational, and personal terms.
• The globalization movement has led to practices such as outsourcing, in which businesses move
manufacturing and service centers to countries where labor is cheap.
• In a global economy, businesses are no longer centered in a few western nations but are also spread among
nations throughout the developing world.
• Many argue that globalization can lead to domestic job loss, the exploitation of workers in 3rd world nations
and environmental problems.

8. Analysis
• Modern sport is bound up in a global network of interdependency chains that are marked by
global flows and uneven power relations throughout the world
• Take a critical look at the consumption of sporting events today. People from all over the world
regularly view satellite broadcasts of their favorite sports, teams and sport news, to keep up to
date.
• In the premier league for soccer, the best players are drawn from Europe, South America and
Africa preform. The players use equipment that are designed in the west, financed by
multicultural/multinational corporations such as Nike and Adidas.

9. Analysis Cont.
• In more ways than one, globalization has been beneficial for sport. An increasing number of athletes
are participating in a diverse range of sports, often crossing some gender, racial and religious lines and
climate barriers. These foreign nations are prospering from their success in their given sports, they
send their athletes to compete and in turn, their athletes bring in more popularity to their country and
that helps boost their economy as a whole. Globalization helps to make the world a better place,
America is no longer the only beneficiary. Sport sponsorship have a huge beneficial role in helping
developing nations prosper. Whether through sponsorship of sports and sporting events, production
of sporting goods or the use of sport and athletes to promote unrelated business. Sport is the key to
many transnational corporations.

10. Many sports have been imported and given a new home
• Baseball ( Japan & South Korea
• Soccer/Football (North America)
• American Football (Europe)
• Cycling (Africa)
• Hockey (Saudi Arabia)

11. Ask yourself
When did sport begin to globalize?

12. Origins of sport and their spread in
popularity

13. Globalization of production
• Many firms proceed to Foreign direct
investment In the sporting goods industry
• In other developed countries, new
production methods are rapidly switching in
and out
• In developing and transition
countries(efficiency-seeking FDI) with low
production costs (unit labor costs)

14. Globalization of
production
• Most sport shoes and sportswear are stitched in South-east Asia, North Africa and Latin America
• Over 80% of soccer balls are manufactured in Asia

15. Apparel Production Overseas
• As sports teams work with new apparel suppliers, they will be working in different and or newer areas
across the globe when receiving items and such from overseas
• Adidas has 77% of its supplier factories are located in Europe, the middle east, Africa, and Asia.
• The NBA, NHL and others have been receiving products overseas from Reebok over the past 6-8
years, the leagues will still be globalizing by working with more places around the world because of
how well-established Adidas is on a global scale.

16. Jersey Production and Advertisements
• Advertisements exist in nearly all sport venues
• On walls, in locker rooms, on the field of play, in the stadium concourse, in game ads/programs, and
on the scoreboards.
• A well thought out strategy is placing team ads/sponsors on the athletes jersey’s/clothes as well
• Many believe that Adidas and Nike will be the first’s of their kind to do jersey ads due to the way of
growth in Europe, making its way overseas.
• Due to global markets Adidas and Nike are already on

17. How do Jersey Advertisements Affect
Globalization?
• Jersey advertisements take sports to the next level
from marketing standpoints.
• When fans get to see their favorite teams, they
automatically connect that with the company
sponsoring it on the jersey.
• People love sports and their favorite teams and
everything associated with them, from players to
mascots, ultimately, the fans have a positive view
of that corporate sponsor.

18. Questions
• 1- What kind of organizational structures and processes stem from globalization?
• 2- With now having licensing deals with two of the four major sports in North America, where do
Nike and Adidas compare to the rest?
• 3- How do we enhance Multicultural understanding?
• 4- How do corporations communicate about balance between providing goods and services at a price
preferred by consumers and providing a safe and economically secure workplace for their employees?

19. Globalization Makes Sports Better

20. Works Cited
• Ramaswamy, Adytha. "How Globalization Is Making Sports Better." Bleacher Report. N.p., 16 June
2014. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
• Miller, Katherine. Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth Pub., 1999. Print.