Economics to the Popularity of Soccer

     Why is soccer, or football as it is known by the rest of the world become the most popular sport by an overwhelming margin? Simply put, you can attribute the popularity to the economics of playing soccer.
     Looking at the map, I can already infer why some sports are the most popular in certain countries. Ice hockey is likely so popular in Canada, Latvia, and Finland because both are very icy countries, and modern ice hockey was invented in Canda. British sports like rugby and cricket are so popular in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh due to their colonial legacies. American sports are popular for likewise reasons in many Latin American countries, Japan and the Philippines. Yet why is soccer so prolific in so many countries that have almost nothing in common? Select two countries at random where soccer is the most popular and unlike other sports, they will more likely than not, have different climates, histories, cultures, and languages.
     Evidence suggests that the earliest form of soccer known as "cuju" came from ancient China. Ancient kickball games were also witnessed in Ancient Greece. Yet the modern soccer we know today originates from England, with the official rules established in the 19th century. How did soccer go from a localized phenomenon to the global sport it is today, and how does it have to with economics? First; soccer is cheap to play. All you need is a ball to play, many people do not even play with balls opting for any roughly spherical and bouncy object. Compared to sports that require pricey equipment like Baseball, Hockey, or American Football, soccer is almost cost-free. This has allowed even the people of even the poorest of countries to play. In fact, many countries we would consider incredibly poor and underdeveloped have some of the best soccer teams. Second; related to the first point. Soccer can be played anywhere, meaning you do not need to invest in a costly ice rink as with hockey, you do not even need hard ground as is often required for basketball, which is often considered to also be a cheap sport. Third; soccer is massively marketed across the world. The World Cup, UEFA, and Premier League are some of the most sports popular events. Advertising for these sports generates interests which in turn generates demand. Additionally, the fact that soccer is so popular makes it even more popular. If everyone likes a sport and all the TVs advertise that sport, you will probably also like that sport.
    I think it is really interesting that since soccer is sometimes the only sport many can reasonably afford to play, it has grown to be as popular as it is today. You would not see someone in poverty playing polo, and you equally likely would not see someone that lived in the Sahara desert playing hockey, yet you could likely see both of these people enjoying a game of soccer. It all has to do with the resources people have access to from the amount of wealth they possess, and the demand generated by their environment. 


Sources;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football
https://mastersoccermind.com/17-reasons-why-soccer-is-the-most-popular-sport-in-the-world/

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