EVERY SPORT, THE MONEY BEHIND IT!

Where football comes from Kicking-a-ball games are ancient. China's cuju dates back more than two thousand years, and the Romans played harpastum. In medieval Europe, whole villages played chaotic "mob football" with almost no rules. The modern game starts in 1863, when clubs in London founded the Football Association and wrote a common set of rules. That is also the moment football and rugby went their separate ways. Organised competition followed quickly: 1871–72: the FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world 1872: the first official international, Scotland vs England in Glasgow, a 0-0 draw 1888: the Football League, the first professional league 1904: FIFA founded in Paris Defining moments 1930: the first World Cup, in Uruguay. The hosts won it. 1950: the "Maracanazo". Brazil needed only a draw at home and lost the deciding match to Uruguay in front of a huge Maracanã crowd. 1954: the "Miracle of Bern", when West Germany beat the gre...

Basketball in Sport Origins and history Basketball is one of the few major sports with a known inventor and birth date. In December 1891, James Naismith, a physical education teacher in Springfield, Massachusetts, needed an indoor game for his students during the winter. He nailed peach baskets to a gym balcony and wrote down 13 rules. The game spread fast through YMCAs and colleges. Basketball became an Olympic sport for men in 1936 and for women in 1976. The NBA's roots go back to 1946, and the modern league grew from its 1976 merger with the ABA. How the game grew worldwide The 1992 "Dream Team" at the Barcelona Olympics is often seen as the moment basketball went truly global. Since then, players from Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia have become stars in the NBA, and the game is now in every region of the world. Leagues like EuroLeague, the Spanish ACB and the Australian NBL have built their own strong followings. Sport business Basketball is a major business. I...

🚴 Cycling as a sport Cycling is a competitive sport with several disciplines: 🚴 Road racing — races on paved roads, often in teams. ⛰️ Mountain biking — off-road racing over hills, rocks, and trails. 🚵 BMX racing — short, fast races on tracks with jumps and obstacles. 🎯 Track cycling — racing on an indoor or outdoor velodrome. ⏱️ Time trial — riders race individually against the clock. 🚲 Cyclocross — racing over mixed terrain, often requiring riders to carry their bikes.

Tennis is a racket sport played between two players (singles) or two teams of two (doubles). Players hit a felt-covered rubber ball over a net on a rectangular court, trying to land it where the opponent can't return it. How it works A point starts with a serve, and the players then rally until someone fails to return the ball within the court, hits it into the net, or hits it out. Points are counted 0 (called "love"), 15, 30, 40, then game. A player must win by two points, so a tied score at 40-40 is "deuce." Games make up sets, usually first to six games with a two-game margin, and sets make up a match, typically best of three or best of five. Court and surfaces The court is 78 feet (23.77 m) long, with a net across the middle. The main surfaces are hard court, clay, and grass, and each changes how the ball bounces and how fast play is. Clay is slower with higher bounces, while grass is faster with lower bounces. Professional tennis The sport is best kno...

Golf is a club-and-ball sport where players hit a ball into a series of holes on a course, using as few strokes as possible. It's one of the few major sports where the lowest score wins. How it works A standard round has 18 holes, played in order. Each hole has a tee box where you start, a fairway, hazards like sand bunkers and water, and a green with the hole (the "cup"). Each hole has a par, the number of strokes an expert player is expected to need (usually 3, 4, or 5). Beating par is a "birdie" (one under) or "eagle" (two under). One over is a "bogey". Players carry up to 14 clubs, including drivers for long distance, irons for mid-range shots, wedges for short and high shots, and a putter for the green. The winner is whoever completes the round in the fewest total strokes. Common formats Stroke play: total strokes across the round, the format used in most professional tournaments. Match play: you win individual holes against an opp...

Athletics in Sport Why it matters: Athletics is the foundation of sport. Running, jumping and throwing are the most basic tests of human ability, and they sit at the core of the Olympic Games. Almost every other sport builds on these skills. The main disciplines Sprints: 100m, 200m and 400m, where reaction time and explosive power decide the result. Middle and long distance: 800m to 10,000m, plus the marathon, which mixes endurance with tactics. Hurdles and steeplechase: speed combined with rhythm and technique. Jumps: long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault. Throws: shot put, discus, javelin and hammer. Combined events: decathlon (men) and heptathlon (women), which crown the all-round athlete. History and events Athletics goes back to the ancient Olympic Games in Greece, where the footrace, or stadion, was the original event. Modern athletics was formalised in the 19th century and has been on the program of every modern Olympics since 1896. The main stages today are ...