Globalization is erasing national borders. It's about expanding something on a global scale and generally making the world a little smaller. When thinking about globalization in terms of sports, the best example is football. Football is something that began in 1863 as a simple game played in England by people of humble origins and not long after turned into a worldwide phenomenon (Parrish). Football has over 3.5 billion fans worldwide. When you really think about that number, you realize how big a deal it is. This is approximately 50% of the world's population. This means that 1 in 2 people watch, play and generally enjoy football. The globalization aspect emerges when you know that its regional popularity is in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas: basically, almost the whole world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Football was globalized when the FIFA World Cup was established in 1928. As the most watched sporting event in the world, the World Cup is a way of bringing the world together in a delightful way. According to the FIFA website, "It meets FIFA's goals of touching the world, developing the game and building a better future in a variety of ways." They also mention: "As of mid-2007, FIFA has grown to include 208 member associations, making it one of the largest and certainly most popular sports federations in the world" ("FIFA World Cup"). The World Cup has been held every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, when the Second World War prevented it from taking place (“FIFA World Cup”). Countries compete against each other in these tournaments in a process of elimination until one country emerges victorious and is named champion. Every four years the World Cup is held in a different country known as the host country. In 2006 the host country was Germany, in 2010 South Africa and in 2014 Brazil. Host countries gain many benefits from holding the World Cup in their country. In addition to bragging rights, countries earn millions of dollars from tickets, goods and tourism. The German international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, reports that when the World Cup was held in Germany in 2006, it not only brought in $399 million in revenue for the tourism industry, but also created 50,000 new jobs ( DW Staff). 2010, when the World Cup took place in South Africa. The 20 Centers for 2010 campaign has been launched. The aim of the campaign is to create 20 Football for Hope centers in locations across Africa with the aim of promoting education, football and public health in disadvantaged communities across the country. Africa ("FIFA World Cup"). This is a great example of how the benefits of the World Cup go beyond national borders and benefit an entire continent. As the most watched sporting event in the world, the World Cup has a significant influence on what happens in the world. So many people wait years to watch the Cup and take away what is offered in cases like special campaigns. That said, it's nice to know that this organization is using its influence in a positive way, that is, to improve the world. Another great example of how globalized football is is the way teams work. When matches are not played between national teams, i.e. players play with their home country, they are played between football clubs. Football clubs have players from all over the world playing on their team; it's all about skill and has nothing to do with nationality. Football clubs are what I believe is firstexample of what it means to erase national borders. You can have a soccer team like Barcelona that has Brazilian, Cameroonian, Argentinian, Dutch, and Mexican members, to name a few, all while located in Spain. Another great example is explained by Daniel Kaplan: “Last season, when the British football team Liverpool FC played against Real Madrid, the number of Spanish players in the Liverpool team exceeded those playing for Real Madrid” (Kaplan ). It is a system that brings people from all over the world to work together to achieve a common goal which is to provide entertainment, play games and ultimately win. According to Branko Milanovic of Yale Global Online: Football is the most globalized sport. The owners of any sports team require and pay the best talent from anywhere in the world. Before 1995, football rules in Europe limited the number of foreign players to a handful per club. A Belgian player successfully protested that the rules violated European laws on labor mobility and discrimination. Since then, doors have opened and skills in the game have improved, even as talent is increasingly concentrated among the wealthiest teams and nations. (Milanovic)The fact that they went so far as to raise the issue of labor laws and discrimination to the point of asking to play for a team in another country demonstrates the passion these players have for playing on a strong team, and the their passion for the game. Although players play for soccer clubs over the years, when taking on World Cup roles most players return to their home country as a way to still represent their national pride. Over the years, football has seen more and more globalization. During my research I came across a couple of graphs that explain everything very clearly. There are national team flags at the top of the table and football team flags at the bottom of the table with lines drawn connecting the two. The lines represent the football club that a country's players play for when they are not playing for their national team. These lines connect all kinds of combinations of players from different countries and continents (Lemos and Lima). This shows how much of a global endeavor football has become. I saw the 1994 map and thought it was pretty globalized, with lines drawn connecting countries in Asia, Europe, South America and parts of Africa, until I came across the 2010 map. 16 years the number of lines has almost quadrupled and the lines connect a much larger number of countries and football clubs. Oceania and North America have also been added to the mix when previously the two continents were not as involved. Even countries, like Saudi Arabia, which previously shared the same members in both their national teams and football clubs and didn't mind mixing with other clubs, are now expanding to other places and exchanging players with different countries. This increase in expansion beyond borders is impressive and gives us the idea that the world is indeed becoming a little smaller every year and hopefully the future will see an even greater trace of globalization. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay Generally the World Cup is a great example of what globalization is. Football started in one country but eventually expanded to include the entire world in this phenomenon. It is a global effort because one country cannot organize a World Cup alone. During the opening ceremony of.=47510)