Fukudome my heart

So, with the Cubs awaiting Kosuke Fukudome's discussion about whether or not to play in the U.S.A., I thought there might be some potential for interesting discussion.

Of the three major American sports, baseball and basketball are becoming somewhat popular in other countries (most notably Japan, China, and a slough of European nations respectively), evidenced by the increase in international free agent signings over the last couple of years, or at least, the big-name players being signed.

So my question is this. Do you guys see a legitimate international league (including the U.S.A.) happening any time in the future? Would it replace the MLB and NBA, or merely supplement it? Is there even a market for such a league? Do the U.S. executives want it to happen? What do you think?

 

I can't ever see an international league spanning across oceans. That'd just be killer in terms of travel. I could see a world playoff- best American teams compete against the best Euro teams for overall world championship, but a regular league? Naw.

 

I agree with NYJ here... sometime far in the future, when travel is much faster, it might be feasible, but by that time the sports we know and love today may have been replaced by new sports.

Possible? Yeah. Probable? Nope.

And I don't think US execs would really want it to happen, since it would probably also decrease the number of teams in the US, unless it was going to be a truly gigantic league in which case the logistics and all just get ugly.

 

The thing is, the free-agency and signings you point out are still extremely thin in numbers. Besides Yao and Yi, where have you seen Asians in the NBA currently? In baseball, it may seem that there are a lot of players from across the Pacific, but this past season, only 30-odd total players, imported or home-grown Asians, saw action in the pros. This is a far cry from an internation league. Yes, the numbers are slowly increasing, but you'll have to wait many years before a thing like that even has a chance of happening.


And to tell the truth, there haven't been many successes in regards to Asians in the MLB. Ichiro's considered the best import as of right now, but who comes after? Hideki? Daisuke?

And notice how there hasn't been a single player in MLB from mainland China. How would you consider that representation?

Or even this: Never has there been a full ABC (American Born Chinese) in MLB or NBA. If asian americans aren't even represented at all in these sports, the chances are that importing players will never catch on throughout these leagues.

However, this coming from an Asian, I'd be more than thrilled to see something like that happen. I just fear it won't.

 

I honestly don't see it happening, why? Travel runs up prices for these events to take place.

And because some countries take certain sports more seriously than others and competition is no fun if someone dominates. And the rules to the sports can be changed between countries. Dice K dominated in Japan but he had a disapointing rookie year here because of his transition

That being said I think MLB has the right idea in exporting themselves to Japan with them opening their season there.