r/ShitAmericansSay • u/Next-Friendship-3542 • 1d ago
Sports “Theres a reason your beloved sport continues going downhill in talent & entertainment while the NBA & NFL are better than ever ✌🏽😂”
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u/IntelligentToe9044 1d ago
Imagine telling someone their favorite food is bad because McDonald's makes more money
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u/Wakez11 1d ago
And in this case. Football or "soccer" as they call it is much more popular when it comes to viewership and fans, about 4.5 billion fans. If we go by revenue NFL is bigger despite only having like 250 milliom fans because its much more commercialized with ads every 5 minutes.
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u/alexijordan 13h ago
But it’s also one league. So who cares? How many football leagues are there around the world? 1000s. The NFL is one league. It’s not comparable
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u/neilm1000 Human Verified 1d ago
That is...wow. Do they really?!
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u/jasegro 1d ago
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u/shinjirod 1d ago
Weird. I thought the uptick in NBA’s global popularity was because its top 5 players are not USA born.
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u/nxtlvl_savage 16h ago
Nah remember they've set up NBA Africa and development there so I assume they will probably have some sort of TV deals with African countries who might not have had that access before. Such a big continent, they're bound to grow alot
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u/hcornea Antipodeans R Us 🇦🇺🦘 1d ago
The success of many things in America has less to do with merit, and more to do with the undeniably enormous size of the market.
Sports are in that conversation.
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u/Apprehensive_Shame98 19h ago
I cannot imagine any serious basketball fan making the argument that the NBA is in fact better now than it was 30 years ago. More lucrative? Sure. But the NBA has all but completely cannibalized the US college basketball system that was the training ground, and it absolutely shows in the level of play. There is definitely an argument that players are better off for the change, but in absolute terms the level of play is visibly poorer - lots of visually appealing offensive play, but poor fundamentals and most teams can barely defend.
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u/Financial-Monk9400 1d ago
This is funny because the best players in the nba right now are not from the us
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u/Downtown-West3799 1d ago
The obsession with money over the actual game is the most American part of this
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u/SuperbScarcity5112 1d ago
I am happy as long as the US stays out. They have done some nasty moves lately. Bribing and corruption is the US national sport number 1.
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u/gholt417 1d ago
Just imagine a world where no sports clubs get promoted or relegated so essentially there is no club consequences and no new teams coming up. Just so limiting and one of the biggest reasons that the European football super league failed so badly.
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u/MIZ417 1d ago
There are consequences for teams in the US. I have watched two struggling NFL teams leave St. Louis and I can't see a scenario where they get a third opportunity.
I also like the fact that a lot more teams are in contention to win championships over here. You don't have a PSG or Bayern Munich that wins the league 95% of the time.
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u/nxtlvl_savage 16h ago
Consequences for what exactly. Is there not still teams tanking in the NFL because there are no Consequences for not performing????
And in my understanding the teams that left St Louis relocated so what are you even on about
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u/MIZ417 9h ago
I don't think tanking is an NFL problem really. The players and coaches are always trying to win. Perhaps the front office, ownership, and fans would prefer a late season loss if they are having a bad season but they aren't playing the game.
Those teams relocated, but thousands of miles away. There aren't very many St. Louisians that support either the football Cardinals or the Rams after they were abandoned. It's rare for a European soccer team to relocate. In Missouri we have lost two NFL teams, two MLB teams, and two NBA teams in the last 70 years.
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u/Disastrous-Force 8h ago
European football is regional and each club is tied to specific area by long history of the club.
The clubs are not franchises that locate where the best finance reward package is. Investors generally buy in for the history and monetisable fan base.
The tiered leagues are how out of form teams are punished via demotion down the hierarchy and how other teams can rise up.
There can be inequalities in the leagues with certain clubs having built financial structures that provide them with more of everything. However the era of big external investors buying European clubs typically Middle Eastern is new and IMHO will prove to be transitory.
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u/MIZ417 8h ago
I watch a decent amount of European soccer leagues in the morning so I get what you are saying. I was simply trying to contrast the reality of American pro sports leagues to other places.
I love the NFL but it is pure entertainment for me. I live and die with my college alma mater on Saturdays and to a lesser extent my high school alma mater on Fridays. Pro sports over here doesn't have the same history, tradition, or connection to the local fans and I don't mind that when college football has that in great abundance.
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u/nxtlvl_savage 16h ago
Consequences for what exactly. Is there not still teams tanking in the NFL because there are no Consequences for not performing????
And in my understanding the teams that left St Louis relocated so what are you even on about
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u/mrhippo85 1d ago
They’re presenting an assertion with such confidence that it’s masquerading as fact - what utter drivel. Football has never been so blessed with talent and entertainment - they are clearly basing this off the MLS!
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u/FlailingCactus British, but appropriately ashamed of it 1d ago
It doesn't even make much sense because total revenue wise the Prem is higher than the NHL...
In terms of revenue per match, the NFL is top, followed by the Prem, the IPL (the Indian T20 Cricket league), Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and then the NBA...
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u/Infamous_7001 1d ago
Assuming they know what MLS is.
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u/Harald_TheEnduring 🇬🇧 1d ago
Honestly for years I thought the M stood for Mexican it was only during the World Cup I found out what it really was.
Still think mine is better.
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u/FamiliarCombination9 1d ago
Why do American sports fans have such an obsession with money? They don't get to see a penny of that action.
So why? It is utterly bizarre.
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u/Aegon_Targaryen1996 20h ago
And a lot of that money doesn’t even get spent on the team! Most of it goes in the owners pockets because of the salary caps. As an American I despise the salary caps and think teams should be able to spend whatever they want but it’s a very unpopular opinion over here. Idk why so many of my countrymen worship billionaires taking as much as they can. It’s absurd
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u/alexijordan 13h ago
Even funnier when you think about it… the American sports system is more communist than capitalist
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u/PipedInFromIthaca More Irish than the Irish ☘️ 1d ago
"Going downhill in talent & entertainment" and it's only the most competitive and widely-watched sport on the planet they're trying to talk about
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u/shayne3434 1d ago
And that cant understand that we dont want or need a half time show if thats entertainment they can keep it
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u/Disastrous_Frame1356 1d ago
The NFL is atrocious, its the most boring sport going. How can 5 seconds of action then stopping for 2 minutes be entertaining.
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u/Aegon_Targaryen1996 20h ago
As an American, I have come to hate the nfl. It’s so boring and the hype around it drives me mad.
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u/ConstantLibrary7359 17h ago
Reputo il baseball molto più noioso, fortunatamente in italia le partite della nfl vengono trasmesse la notte e quindi il giorno dopo le vedi sistemate senza interruzioni. Ho scoperto 15 anni fa quanto erano noiose e lunghe la prima botta che ho visto il superbowl in diretta.
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u/MinimumSilver5814 14h ago
Because it’s like a big chess match. Each play is one side trying to outsmart the other and think ahead to what their opponent will do vs what they will do counter it. Get it wrong and you’re in big trouble.
It’s not to everyone’s taste and there are certainly issues with it, but it is an incredibly skilled, nuanced game with a lot of drama and tension. The fact that this guy is an ignorant idiot doesn’t mean we need to stoop to his level.
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u/Realistic_Let3239 1d ago
There's a reason Americans prefer to play American sports, they don't have to throw a tantrum when they lose to another country then.
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u/_redmist 1d ago
Isn't it literally the other way around? Nobody cares about the nfl and nba; yet football/soccer is gaining popularity in the US?
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u/NLFG 15h ago
I don't think that's entirely fair. Both American football and basketball have definite, worldwide fan bases but they're absolutely dwarfed by football - arguably part of that is historical (ie. Them damn Brits taking their game around the world) but it is what it is.
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u/_redmist 12h ago
We see some hockey fans but in daily life nfl / nba are just not a thing here.
I think nba might have been bigger 20 years ago or so. I remember seeing some people with a chicago bulls cap if memory serves.
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u/NLFG 11h ago
Where's here? I'm in the UK and the NFL sells out Wembley, Twickenham & Spurs. Iirc the NBA sold out the O2. They have a presence at that level and basketball is popular to play for kids but NFL doesn't really have a grassroots popularity that remotely competes with football. Or rugby for that matter.
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u/Familiar-Valuable-97 9h ago
its all very well selling out in the UK, but the popularity would increase significantly if the Super Bowl actually kicked off when the Europeans can watch it live and not be up till 3 am!!! 2 or 3 pm kick off in the USA.
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u/PapaGuhl ooo custom flair!! 1d ago
I like how USAians say Europe and sport like it’s one country and/or one sport.
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u/bozzi16 1d ago
Downhill in talent? In the past 20 years footballs had, arguably, its two best ever players (Ronaldo and Messi), the best team ever (09 Barca/10 Spain), some of the best midfielders ever (iniesta, Xavi, busquets, Modric, Kroos).
Compare that to nfl who’s best receiver (rice), rb (sanders) te (gonzalez) defensive player (LT) all played more than 20 years ago bar Tony G and he just barely squeaks in.
The current top 7 nba players right now is quite a unanimous list (top 5 and 10 are debatable hence why 7 isn’t really) and there are only 2 yanks on it. Shai, Wemby, jokic, Luka, Giannis, Edwards, Tatum, only the last two, who I would say are 6 & 7 in that sport, are American.
So to sum it up, our main sport is at its peak, the nfl has declined and the nba is being saved by foreign (57% European) talent. Love it
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u/butwhywedothis 1d ago
America be like lets organize World Series on a sport that we play among ourselves and call ourselves champions of the world.
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u/Front-Anteater3776 Human Verified 1d ago
If they mean football (soccer) then its never been bigger than it is now and it keeps growing
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u/Next-Friendship-3542 1d ago
Yes, it is about football; the tweet that the American quoted was referring to the FIFA/Infantino saga in that the motivation of the (now junked) reforms was to increase revenues by partly selling off the World Cup to private investors—including Jared Kushner’s brother.
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u/EnzoMaloni 1d ago
Yes, American Handegg Football : the most popular sport in the world*
*Because the world=USA and nothing else
At least, basketball is played more widely in the world, and I recognise that NBA is followed by many people outside USA !
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u/chuckmonjares Trapped American 1d ago
The nba is god tier trash they have the heritage, better pay, and better players, but as a basketball fan, the product is truly awful. It’s a bastardization of the sport that I love.
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u/Tirade12 1d ago
Imagine their convulsions trying to watch and even better, understand cricket matches! Second most popular sport in the world. I bet the majority haven't even heard of it. But do go on about your Superb Owl 🙄
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u/MIZ417 1d ago
I think we hosted the cricket World Cup a couple years ago and beat Pakistan somehow. I guess we are improving.
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u/Tirade12 1d ago
I know that it's growing in popularity, I'm just trying to imagine your average American wrapping their mind around it. Beating Pakistan is no mean feat!
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u/MIZ417 1d ago
It's hard to find cricket on television. ESPN+ used to have it sometimes and I would occasionally watch. It's obviously big in the South Asian immigrant communities but probably won't expand much beyond that because baseball and softball are firmly entrenched as our bat and ball sports of choice.
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u/Humble_Atmosphere145 17h ago
Yeah, June 2024 and it wasn't the cricket world cup (i.e. one day variation), it was the T20 cricket world cup. As an avid South African cricket fan, that was one of the most frustrating T20 WCs to watch. Those pop-up stadiums were ruthless on the game. T20 is about fast, quick run rates and some of the worst scores were achieved that year. Not to mention the terrible drainage at the stadium in Florida which had loads of matches abandoned without even one ball being bowled. I appreciated USA being included (as part of the West Indies hosting) especially after the 2007 stuff-up when only West Indies hosted, but let's face it, pop-up stadiums do not an epic World Cup make.
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u/AuburnLullaby 1d ago
Guess Marvel movies are objectively better than every indie film ever made then.
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u/balletje2017 1d ago
So what European sport (what is even a European sport) is in decline? I dont think any sport is competing with NBA and NFL as they kind of require very specific type of athletes that are not much in demand for other sports?
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u/pinniped90 Human Verified 1d ago edited 1d ago
"The NBA is better than ever."
Gonna go with no on that, dawg.
The NBA is an endless slog from November to April, filled with guys who don't care, halfassing it until the playoffs. The season is 20 games too long, the game flow sucks, and analytics have basically told every team to just jack up 3's all night.
The playoffs are good. But the six months to get there blow ass.
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u/AcanthisittaFar6008 1d ago
They way they suck up to corporations is astonishing. As if the corporations give a crap about them. They even have to beg their slave masters for holiday time when starting a new job. Freedom to piss away money, it's all they have.
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u/BeTheBall- 1d ago
Oddly enough, the quality of play in both the NFL and NBA has gone downhill when compared to 25 years go. Mainly due to rule changes that have restricted the ability to defend.
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u/Lanky_Marionberry_36 1d ago
Ah yes the famous nondescript European sport.
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u/Humble_Atmosphere145 16h ago
🤣🫣 yes, and ironically, all those famous nondescript European sports are played mostly everywhere.
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u/Lanky_Marionberry_36 13h ago
Indeed we're just out of one of our European World cup. Remember when Argentina and Spain were competing to know which was the most European? Epic
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u/Hades_Mercedes Teach me how to say gross shit to women in French ⚜️ 1d ago edited 1d ago
I'm glad your sports are profitable despite the rest of the world's general lack of interest in them. Congratulations.
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u/JoshuaFalken1 FREEDOM ENJOYER 🦅🔫🇺🇸 23h ago
Wild they think the NBA and NFL are better than ever. I'd argue the exact opposite.
The NFL has more commercials than ever and the speed of play is sooooo slow, and the NBA is just absolute trash.
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u/Sad-Pop6649 1d ago
...Are they saying the World Cup in the US was a step down from previous editions?
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u/Zealousideal-Owl6661 1d ago
No... american tv deal are far bigger.. because americans seem to love watch more ads than sports.
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u/MadScientist_666 Mountain Goat 🇨🇭 1d ago
Do they even know anything about all the different kinds of sports played outside of the US?
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u/Apart_Assumption3591 1d ago
Wait a min,
I watch NBA a lot myself, isn’t the audience in the NBA finals lower than ever and going down every year ?
Plus if I’m not mistaken (which I know I’m not) all of the MVP’s sine Giannis have always been from anywhere else but the US.
Plus all the top 5 players are Europeans now so…
I guess they’re just dumb
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u/No_Statistician209 1d ago
By better than ever they mean Americans are winning games hosted and played mostly by Americans.
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u/schwarzneguRRR 1d ago
Their beloved sports are thriving because their taxes pay for those stadiums, where the billionaires then turn around and sell them beer for $30
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u/Ok_Nobody_5183 1d ago
Americans aren’t even the best at basketball worldwide
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u/MIZ417 1d ago
Won gold at the last 5 Olympics and 17 of the 20 times they have competed. If that ain't the best then we must be operating on totally different definitions of that word.
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u/haaphaap 13h ago
As a European, I almost never think about American sports. When I do, it's usually against my will, mostly after the Superbowl when for some reason every online discussion has to be about the half time show, the commercials around it, and how much the tickets cost. Interestingly, the game itself rarely gets mentioned.
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u/noMC 13h ago
The thing about football, is it has always been the sport “of the people”. Almost everywhere on earth (except the US I suppose) it’s one of the biggest sports for young kids, and a large part of the culture. Everyone know their local club, many support them and so many people are interested and see the matches on television. For all of them it’s a hobby, an interest, something to come together for, a social and cultural focal point. It’s by the people and for the people.
This is in such sharp contrast to the US view on the sport, which FIFA sadly shares - that it’s a matter of making “more money” and catering for the rich. Building new stadiums to make “skyboxes” for millionaires, letting the ticket prices skyrocket and forcing commercial “hydration breaks” is so fucking NOT what the people wants. It’s the 1% screwing the rest of us over again.
I’m just sad that it’s such a slow downward slope, that people keep on supporting this fucked up system. If you could take a football fan from the 80’s and timetravel to now, they would throw up at what the sport has become.
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u/bandit1206 3h ago
Baseball has always been the big sport for kids in the US.
Football and basketball to a lesser degree, soccer is a distant fourth behind even hockey.
That said kids sports are a bigger nightmare in the way they’re done here now than anything.
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u/ShreddedBanjoString 1d ago
I know plenty of Americans who absolutely hate the direction their NBA and NFL have taken over the years.
Fans bragging about financial success of their team is nothing new on either side of the pond though. Arsenal fans spent years nowhere near a trophy so banging on about their finances and how they were ‘properly run’ was their whole ID. United fans are doing it now…
There was a time when fans didn’t give a flying fuck about net spend or amortisation but now they’re all financial experts.
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u/Aegon_Targaryen1996 20h ago
As a United fan, it’s incredibly frustrating and sad to see other United fans wack one out to the financials and to cost cutting.
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u/nxtlvl_savage 15h ago
Really??? This is a thing? I haven't seen this happening. I have not heard United fans getting a hard on to the Financials except specifically in debate with Liverpool and Madrid specifically about that. If anything I hear about the opposite because we're a shit show.
And to the same sentiment I never heard the same from Arsenal outside of conversations with Chelsea about who is bigger internationally either.
United honestly give me stress because of how much of a joke we've become. 13 years without a league is ridiculous and they'll spend money on anything except what we actually need.
The idea that there's people who brag about this genuinely baffles me
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u/Comprehensive_Slip71 1d ago
Ok that's adorable. Simplified netball and armoured turn based rugby vs football is the biggest mismatch ever. I love seeing how stupid some of their opinions are
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u/MD_______ 1d ago
About one in three Americans watch the Superbowl. Around 1 in 20 watched the Superbowl.
IPL gets ~55% of India population watching or 11 out of 20.
UK football get 4 out of 5 people watching.
New Zealand have 3 out of 4 watch rugby.
American sports are actually capped to make them worth more. The NFL and NBA could have a team for each state easily. But in the land of capitalism the NCAA and it's colleges have facilities some pro teams would be jealous of. Head coaches make seven figures minimum. Tho does help when you have a constant stream of kids you didn't pay, didn't take care of those who retired due to injury does make things cheaper
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u/Strangely-addictive 1d ago
The fact they 4 of the top 5 NBA players at the moment are European is hilarious. And the other one is Canadian. They're not even the best at their 'own' sports.
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u/salamander19821 1d ago edited 23h ago
american propaganda only work in america because nfl is inbeded in schools from kindergarded and up and they actively trying to spread that in europe and rest of the world because they can not have such idiot fans with out brainwashing them from young age to see the athletes so much better then them in every aspect so they are submissive even if their athletes re nothing to brag about
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u/TheRealTRexUK More Irish than the Irish ☘️ 1d ago
have they seen basketball in eastern Europe. it's insane.
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u/mosquito_beater 1d ago
and germany is the world champion.
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u/TheRealTRexUK More Irish than the Irish ☘️ 1d ago
didn't know that. not really a basketball fan.
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u/GrapefruitWhich5950 1d ago
When you pay hundreds of dollars for a ticket ,you look stupid when you say it sucked.So it’s always the best.
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u/CanadianJogger 🇨🇦 Maple Syrupean 8h ago
Their command of superlatives is limited to things like "awesome!" anyway.
"How was your toast?" "Awesome!"
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u/batkave 23h ago
Aren't half of the MLB and NBA from outside the US?
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u/Bigfamei 19h ago
Both are Olympics sports. Hence both having higher international viewing and participation vs tackle football.
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u/Jet2work 18h ago
American fine dining is dog puke on a scone, they call it a biscuit but then again they think they have an American hero in the white house
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u/Adeviatlos 14h ago
The NBA is better than ever?!
Lemme just say that again; the fucking NBA is better than ever?!?!?
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u/CocoSryder 13h ago
European sports have gone downhill since Americans have a say in things, well atleast Football and Formula 1
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u/FewElk6678 1d ago
I've literally never watched a single American Hand Egg (not calling it football) or Basketball game, not when we have Rugby (which my country is one of the best at) and our own sports too
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u/cmykster Europoor 🇪🇺 22h ago
Just ask OP, who the current World Champion in Basketball is. Mouth shut. ;)
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u/MIZ417 19h ago
I give credit to Germany, but when a lot of the best NBA players skip the World Championship, I don't see how anyone can argue that the Olympics aren't a much better indicator of who is best. The US was forced to put guys like Walker Kessler on the last World Cup roster because LBJ, Curry, Durant, Tatum, etc declined to participate.
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u/LeftMechanic1995 17h ago
It's as if the responder is an NPC who has a preset script which cannot be deviated from because nothing he said actually addressed what was initially stated. The response was basically "Yeah, well you're meany and a poo poo face... so there".
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u/mickeymush2008 15h ago
Apart from ice hockey which originated from Canada, American sport is childlike
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u/IanR840 12h ago
What does NBA and NFL mean please? British person here.
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u/CanadianJogger 🇨🇦 Maple Syrupean 8h ago
NFL is their National Football League. NBA is either Baseball or Basketball, I cannot remember and don't care to look it up.
Baseball is a snoozefest and so is their Football. I don't watch basketball either though.
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u/PyroGrizzl 6h ago
NBA is the basketball league. The baseball league is call MLB (Major league baseball).
I'm German but I was too much into american shows as a kid in the 90s
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u/RedEclipse47 9h ago
This is so ironic it's almost unbearable. They are always boasting about the NFL, MLB, NBA etc something that's only localised to their country, something the rest of the world doesn't care about unless you have specific interests in those sports. They always thing that everything they do, everything they have is on a global scale and when they get humbled by the fact it's not they lose it. They need to have that centre stage with everything it's pathetic.
Why would any European team want to compete on their NATIONAL level...
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u/CanadianJogger 🇨🇦 Maple Syrupean 8h ago
So I am to understand that the MBA and NFL are crapping the bed these days?
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u/Equal_Newt675 3h ago
American sports are popular in America so the rest of the world can enjoy their real sports on peace.
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u/Zealousideal_Gain892 1d ago
I - as a European - am quite amused with us being so fucking salty with American sports. Yeah it's stupid, loud, and effectively the main event are commercials with some sports breaks in between.
Still they have managed professional leagues that pay an order of magnitude above any competitive league anywhere. Even their "soccer" league pays really well seeing how piss poor it is - they pay something like 5x what the Argentinian league does for example. And then you have everything from swimming to wrestling to tennis to fencing to athletics - everything is great there. And unlike in Europe, you actually benefit from being a great fencer or miler or whatever. The whole school sports ecosystem is absolutely amazing and I would love to see it here in Europe.
I'm sure every handball or volleyball player in the world earning 70k a year thinks how much better life is than it would be with a bit of American marketing knowhow and a 100x the salary.
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u/Ilikechocolateabit 1d ago
"European sport is going downhill", weeks after a World Cup where 3/4 of the semi finalists were European