Politics and Sports in the United States

The paper focuses on the relationship between contemporary American politics and the world of professional sports. The main argument is that in today’s world, and especially in the United States, politicians and political views have gone on to influence and intrude the sphere of sports in various different ways. The rapid development of the internet, along with the growth of social media platforms have gone hand in hand with the changes in the way media, the news and television operate. These mass media networks have played a large role in the politicization of the sports world. Given that the relations between politics and sports have been getting stronger, it is interesting to note that academic writing has quite negligently ignored the matter, which is unfortunate due to the fact that there is much to be learned about various different aspects of our society just by observing the microcosm, of sorts, of humanity – the sports world. The paper assesses three pillars of American sports – the NBA, the NFL and NASCAR to show how these entities have approached the recent spike of political discourse surrounding sports. One issue that is specifically stressed is the relation these leagues have with political parties and ideologies. When comparing the NBA and the NFL, it becomes clear that, through a series of specific circumstances and actions, the NBA has turned into a more liberal, left leaning sports league, whereas the NFL in turn ended up being more conservative and rightist. NASCAR has, on the other hand, always been labeled almost radically conservative, due to its deep connections with the conservative South of the United States and there are strong remnants of that conservatism even today. The paper also argues that Donald Trump was one of the catalysts that pushed political discourse into the sphere of sports, with his polarizing opinions and statements that have resulted in protests and criticism from prominent athletes who have become much more than just athletes - they have become icons and role models to millions, precisely due to globalization and the role of the internet and modern technologies. Another matter mentioned, that resonates strongly within the politics – sports discourse is the matter of race and how leagues and fans deal with the racial questions that have been in the eye of the public, particularly after the murder of George Floyd. The sports world offers a unique and interesting opportunity for an interdisciplinary American Studies approach due to its closeness to the real world and its distinctive properties that can so closely relate to society as a whole that there needs to be a shift in the way we approach sports, for there is much more that can be examined and analyzed