Many may guess that reality television like Keeping Up with The Kardashians or Jersey Shore are America’s favorite form of entertainment. However, some forget to realize the huge role sports play in Americans’ everyday lives. Most people have grown up either playing sports or watching them on TV. But why is the sports culture so much more prominent in America than in other countries?
One of the biggest reasons is that American high schools cherish their sports teams. There is an entire week dedicated to a homecoming football game, teams must travel far for away games and students are often told that having a sport on their college application will get them into their dream school. As Americans celebrate high school sports, many other countries have completely gotten rid of their high school teams. The obsession with high school sports paves way for an obsession with college sports and, finally, professional sports.
American sports culture is a cycle. Kids grow up idolizing their favorite athletes because they see them on TV and want to go to their games. If you look at it from a different perspective, sports are streamed on television because there are so many people that watch them and idolize the athletes. People have pride for their hometowns and there is no better way to express this pride than through the one thing that represents it the most: sports teams!
There is a huge market in America for college and professional sports, including Penn State. Fans buy Penn State tickets, clothing and accessories for sporting events. This enhances why Penn State would want to continue supporting their athletic teams because it brings so much money into the school. Many other countries do not have sports at their universities, at least not the the extend Penn State does. This is a big reason why students from different parts of the world come over to participate in America’s college sports.
The strange thing about glorifying high school and college sports so much in America is that most of these athletes do not go on to play at the professional level. You would assume that more people go on to play professionally, but there are way more college athletes than there are spots in the professional league for incoming athletes.
Although the college sports system in America has its faults, it is the best system in the world as it is able to recruit athletes from all over the globe to participate in athletics. The college sports system is the reason why America will continue to have the top sports culture in the world. This system allows the professional sports to be so competitive and entertaining not only to watch in person, but also on TV! Penn Staters see this occur every season as new high schoolers are recruited to our teams. Valley can’t wait to see the new faces we will be rooting for in the fall.
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