Americans have a reputation for loving sports. Sports form a big part of the academic programs in the US and are a huge hobby for people as well. In the days when sports didn’t spread around the globe so quickly and easily, the US was in a sort of bubble of having its own sports. Basketball and baseball weren’t really adopted across the world quickly.
English sports spread to lots of the world because of the UK’s growing empire at the time – cricket became played on many continents as a result. The US is huge enough on its own for the sports to have become massive though. NFL and MLB are now brands that are popular across the world.
But we’re in a more global society now. Sports can spread pretty quickly and even have a ‘viral’ effect like Pickleball in recent years. Pickleball went from nobody having heard of it to being everywhere in virtually no time! Some of the sports now growing in popularity in the US have been around for a long time but are only now making a significant impact…
Rugby League: A Surprising Contender
Rugby league is a historically dominant sport in Australia and New Zealand plus in the United Kingdom where it originated. It has also been making inroads in the US. While rugby union had a head start in popularity rugby league has been quietly building a presence.
The National Rugby League (NRL) from Australia has also begun to gain a foothold in the US. There are matches being broadcast on streaming platforms and sports networks and the NRL even visited the country for a game. The NRL 2024 event showed an appetite for the sport and other efforts to promote the sport have seen increased participation at the grassroots level. We’re seeing the establishment of amateur rugby league clubs and competitions across the country.
Rugby league’s rise in America will be helped by the chance to hold international fixtures such as the Rugby League World Cup. The US is in the running to host the biggest tournament in the sport in 2030. The USA Tomahawks – the national rugby league team – has participated in several international tournaments, which has helped raise awareness of the sport domestically and get more people playing the sport.
Cricket Grows in the US
Cricket is one of the most popular sports globally and it is huge in countries like England and its former colonies. Plenty of US tourists will have visited the Caribbean and seen cricket being played just about everywhere. It is the national sport of Barbados as well as loads of other islands in the region.
Communities from South Asia are also pushing the popularity – in their home countries the sport is absolutely massive. This growing interest has led to the creation of leagues like Major League Cricket. This is a professional cricket competition in the US and even attracted some top global stars in its first years. The US even had the honor of hosting the Cricket World Cup for the first time ever in 2024.
Cricket is not as accessible as some other sports and the rules are a bit more complex. People have a hard time understanding all of the different ways a batter can be out or the way that the runs (effectively the points) are counted. Once people get to grips with it though there is a real nuance to cricket people seem to like. It can also be a sport with a party atmosphere in the crowds.
Soccer Continues to Grow
The biggest name in the history of soccer is currently playing in America. This goes to show the remarkable growth.
Soccer has transformed from a largely ignored sport to one that enjoys a big following. Major League Soccer has expanded to include more teams and now sees matches drawing larger crowds and generating more media coverage than ever before.
Big leagues are accessible to American audiences through television and streaming services and this means fans can follow the world’s best teams and players from afar. Football/soccer’s global nature makes it an attractive sport for a country as diverse as the United States. People from South America will likely have grown up watching soccer and there are areas in the US with huge communities from places like Mexico and Brazil (soccer hotspots).
International tournaments can be a springboard. The success of the US Women’s National Team has won multiple FIFA World Cups – has further elevated soccer’s status. The men’s national team has also made strides and progress including qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup after missing the 2018 edition.
All of these sports are continuing journeys that started hundreds of years ago. It seems many US viewers will always have an appetite for interesting sports.
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