One of the best things about being an American sports fan is being able to select from a wide range of great events that cover so many different sports. From the World Series to the Masters to the Super Bowl to the Kentucky Derby, there’s no shortage of fantastic shows. Obtaining tickets for these events can be expensive and difficult, but we’ve got you covered as Americans make sure to televise every event! With so many great events to talk about, I’ll cover what I think are the most prestigious, unique, and fun.
The Kentucky Derby is an American tradition that captures the spirit and imagination of the public. It has been held every year since 1875 and is the longest-running continuous sporting event in the US. The traditions of the Kentucky Derby are one of the hallmarks of the event, as mint juleps, sombreros, costumes and the chant of My Old Kentucky Home have become almost synonymous with horse racing to the general public. Churchill Downs is the most famous race track in the world and every year more than 150,000 race fans travel to Louisville, Kentucky to be a part of the excitement. The Bluegrass State has long had an excellent reputation as the place where champion Thoroughbreds are born and bred with the hope of one day making it to the “Race for the Roses” on the first Saturday in May. The Kentucky Derby race itself is just over two minutes long, but the hype and excitement builds up over months and it really is one of our best events.
The Super Bowl doesn’t have a long tradition like the Kentucky Derby or the World Series, but it has gained a lot of ground in a short time. The first Super Bowl was played in 1967 and was originally a game conceived from a merger agreement between the NFL and the now-defunct AFL. As professional football began to compete with baseball as the nation’s top sport, the NFL made a more concerted effort to promote this game as the premier one-day event in all team sports. With the rise of television and Monday Night Football, the NFL became a marketing juggernaut, and the Super Bowl grew in popularity with each passing year. The game is not only a big deal for fans, but people who don’t watch a football game during the regular season use it as a reason to meet up with friends and have parties. Promotion of the game has led to a week-long celebration in the host cities, while there are countless radio and television shows devoted to discussing the great game. Arguably, the Super Bowl has become a huge part of our economy, generating revenue for host cities, clothing manufacturers, and most importantly (well, if you’re a big fan of Super Bowl food, ballparks), party food vendors! The Super Bowl is watched by fans around the world, and while it remains uniquely American, it has transcended our borders and become a global phenomenon.
Perhaps the most recent explosion in sporting interest has been the NCAA basketball tournament. It began in 1939 as a way for colleges and universities that played basketball under the NCAA banner to crown a season champion. Only eight teams participated in the early years, but over time it has evolved to 16 teams, then 32, then 48, and even 64. More recently, four more teams have been added to the tournament field and we are now at 68. The event can to have been popular with fans of the schools that participated in the tournament, but it was not until 1969 that it was televised in any significant way. As the era of sports on television began to explode, so did interest in the tournament. It was the marketing that really got the ball rolling towards what is now one of the most exciting times of the year. The tournament began to be called “March Madness” and suddenly people who barely watched a game other than their favorite team began to enjoy basketball as a hobby or pastime. Office groups began to spring up and people who previously didn’t care about basketball made predictions about who would win and local pubs began hosting “watching parties”. The rise of ESPN as the broadcaster of NCAA regular season games also bolstered interest, as fans were no longer relegated to local team coverage. Now they could watch almost every team play from any part of the country. The NCAA tournament is now one of the top sporting events in the country, as it’s impossible to go anywhere in the US during the month of March without hearing people talk about the tournament.
There are other major American sporting events we could go on about, like The Masters golf tournament, BCS soccer championship, the Indianapolis 500, and the World Series, but no sport captures the nation’s attention like the Kentucky Derby. . the Super Bowl and the NCAA basketball tournament. Those events have transcended our shores and excite fans around the world!