Globalization In Soccer

Globalization is a merge of diverse national forces, with interaction and unification among the people, companies, and government of the separate nations. The driving factors behind globalization are investment and international trade, which are supported by technology. The association of sporting, cultural, and economic activities are the underlying cause of the connectivity component of globalization. The relationship between these activities have been increasing at a positive rate, leading to the spread of different cultural life across the world. Sports are debatably the most universal feature of popular culture. They combine different factors such as language and cultural differences that fascinate its spectators and participants, as …show more content…
They enjoy the build-up and excitement of the World Cup, the exhibition of the Cup tournament, or the emotion of following a team throughout their season, following them through all of their wins and losses. There is so much passion and beauty found in the game of soccer (Waalkes). As Nick Hornby, an English novelist, states “The things that I have often tried to explain to people about football – that it is not an escape, or a form of entertainment, but a different version of the world.” So the question is how significant is the global game of soccer? Does soccer actually reflect the globalization of the world, or just the overall patterns of economics, culture and politics? Overall, the question being considered is: is soccer considered a cause or result of …show more content…
This market appears to demonstrate a core-periphery relationship, which is often seen as exploitation According to the world systems theory, a periphery country is one that is less developed than others, and a core country is the most developed. Periphery countries often have weak institutions and rely on the more developed countries. This relationship becomes very apparent when looking at the top professional soccer leagues: England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France. These teams have the top players in the world, and not just the top players from their countries, but top players from all over the world. The top teams in the league can be considered the core, allowing them to be able to take the talented players from the periphery countries. These core countries in return sell finished products back to the periphery countries. They start to make a profit off of them by selling game tickets, jerseys, images etc., which represents the core-periphery relationship in the political economy (Veseth). Simplifying the relationship, all in all, the core controls the main parts of the economy and uses the advantages it gains to obtain cheap resources from the periphery, and then selling back their final productions at a raised price in order to make a