1. In the Klein article "growing the game" means attempting expand the game of baseball globally. The goal is to make the game of baseball more popular in other countries. I believe that the WBC is doing a good job by trying to get countries involved where baseball is not their number one sport. Having an event like the WBC is a good way to bring people from all different cultural backgrounds together to enjoy a game loved by many. I still believe that soccer is the most successfully globalized sport and that to be successful, the WBC should try and model their campaign after FIFA.
2. Some of the Pros. of having baseball on a global level would be spreading more world wide awareness of the game of baseball. Alot of other countries know little about the game and the rules when being played so introducing the game on a global level would spark more interest.
Another positive thing about playing baseball on a global level is the revenue increase it can have. If there was an international league then countries could benefit from the teams they created and even use their new teams to attract new consumers in the global market. From tickets to jerseys to memorabilia, the new teams would create a whole new market in the countries interested.
I believe the cons of this situation would be rivalries that could develop between countries because of political issues and other disputes. It would be a bad idea if North Korea played South Korea in a baseball game because of their political differences and the tension between the two countries.
Another con could be finding enough teams to join an international league. Baseball is and has always been an American sport and I feel that some countries may be deterred by that fact.
3. I would say that the best thing to do is keep trying to bring the game of baseball to countries by starting small. Implementing more youth sport and marketing the game successfully are great ways at introducing the sport on a global level. Also, having athletes that are baseball legends or role models from that select country would be a great way to spread the game of baseball to more people.
As Nick mentioned in the post, one thing that we talked about is that while the United States is not the best international soccer team, Americans have the mentality that they can win at anything at anytime. I believe that other countries can get that mentality with baseball because baseball is a sport that relies on pitching and if a team is not as skilled offensively, but has a great pitching staff they can contend with the great hitting teams such as Japan. Unlike in soccer, a couple star baseball players can win your country the World Baseball Classic. I think if countries realise that and start to train harder for the WBC, more countries can contend than usual.
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