Calling it right now: 15 years from now the league will be majority international talent and bi/multi-racial. Talking over 70, maybe 80+ percent.
Which is great because you want the best playing the best.
However, less Americans will care.
A big reason why the NFL is the unchallenged king of professional sports in America is the homegrown factor. NCAA College football is overwhelmingly dominated by Americans. Local football talent is the vast majority of NFL draft picks. College students (both current and former) are familiar with football players playing for their college/former alma mater. College football players play 4 years at their school, 4 years is more than enough to create visibility and familiarity with the American public, and to make a name for themselves by showing off their talent/skills. The NFL is dominated by Americans and always has been dominated by Americans. Over 95% of NFL players are Americans of old stock (Black and white U.S born ) the only foreign players are Canadian so it doesn’t count really. The faces of the leagues will always be American( Brady, Montana, Peyton/Eli Manning, Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Pat Mahomes, Brees, OBJ, Aaron Donald, Russell Wilson, etc)
A majority of American sports fans are narcissistic, chauvinistic, tribal, close-minded, uncurious, lazy, parochial and prefer to root for their own people above anyone else. They are obsessed with themselves and don’t care about the rest of the world. Americans will never be citizens of the world, their worldview is firmly local and doesn’t go beyond their bubble. They don’t care about foreign talent like that, no matter how exceptional it is, they are more comfortable with mediocre local relatability/familiarity rather than foreign athletic excellence. Sports fans in America are Cheerleaders more than expert connoisseurs with passion and deep knowledge for sports. They don’t like and appreciate them for the sake of them they need social, emotional, familial and personal reasons to follow and support a team. Sports fandom in this country is basically a social and tribal habit inherited and passed down from generations to generations in many families. Like
@tremonthustler1 said before, being a football fan is like being a member of a criminal street gang without the violent initiations. NFL fandom provides a visceral sense of belonging for many people.
Baseball declined in popularity from coast to coast after the 1994 strike mainly because of the steady increase of dominant foreign players. The American pastime over the years became a tropical one after the Latin/Caribbean invasion. Hockey, a sport invented in Canada, was never popular in America, it was and still remains a niche sport because of many factors. Basketball remains popularity as long as the faces of the league are from the USA (Russell, magic, Kareem, bird, mj, Kobe, curry, Bron, Shaq, Iverson, etc) but with the recent rise and influx of international players there is a huge risk that the NBA might not interest many American sports fans in the foreseeable future.
with occasional surges since like 89. It had gotten so washed in the 90s that they didn't even do it in 98
" every 5 seconds in 03?
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