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Profs & Pints: Can Sport Save Globalization?

Profs and Pints presents: Can Sport Save Globalization, with Andrés Martinez of Arizona State Universitys Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Global Sports Institute.

Almost everywhere you look, globalization appears to be in full retreat, derailed by tribalism, protectionism, nationalism, the reassertion of boundaries, and even an elitist progressive craving for all things locally-sourced.

Almost everywhere. Sport, of all things, is an important exception, the globalists improbable final beachhead. Its important ground to hold. Sports are a form of global popular culture that influence how millions of people around the world connect to each other, situate themselves in the world, and self-identify.

Take soccer, which has made tremendous inroads in the USA. Can globalists here take solace in the fact that todays kids represent the first generation whose worldview as sports fans extends beyond our shores? Similarly, in a Brexit-rattled Britain, does the stunning globalization of the English Premier League point the way to an alternative future? Stepping away from soccer, might the engagement of the NFL with Mexico and the NBA with China prove a powerful countervailing form of public diplomacy, independent of our government?

Andrés Martinez, a veteran journalist writing a book on the globalization of Britains Premier League, will field such questions in a talk geared toward both sports enthusiasts and followers of international trade and politics. (Advance tickets: $12. Door: $15, save $2 with student ID.)