Football is the world’s most popular game, without a doubt. It is played on all continents and every team has avid fans who are ready to go to battle with other fans. While that might not be true for all of them, some often engage in physical violence, especially when their team loses.
Football, like any other game, has changed over the century or so that it was around, at least the modern version which we know and watch. But, what about it has changed so much? Or were there little changes, few and far in between, that most of us didn’t catch them? Let us explore football’s change through recent history.
Sports Betting – Football’s Twin
Sports betting and football were always hand in hand, like brothers. Sports betting actually often was a part of every sport’s history at some point. With that out of the way, you can only imagine how from the age where only radio transmissions of matches were available, to nowadays, where you can check the results or even watch the games from your mobile phones, football changed.
Today, every team has a sponsorship, multiple ones, actually. Some of them are partnered with casinos and sportsbooks. Online sportsbooks allow live betting which meant that moderation in sports and match fixing was no longer possible, due to severe monitoring. Create an account with an online bookmaker such as bet365 to bet on football, see bet365 registration process.
From Radio to Streaming
When you want to watch football, what do you do? Open up your favorite sports streaming service and watch a game.
50 years ago, you had to watch it on TV, if you even had a TV and your two or three stations decided to broadcast the game. 70 years ago, you had to listen to the games on the radio, if you had a radio. If not, you probably went to your neighbor, all 100 of you, to listen to a game.
Things changed, football is available everywhere, on the radio, TV and the internet, the latter being the most accessible.
Merchandise
Fans weren’t really able to purchase merchandise from their favorite clubs until the 1990s, at least most of the fans. Some clubs started selling merchandise and replica t-shirts and jerseys in the 1970s. There were exclusive deals back then. Things got a bit better in the 1980s when more and more fans were able to get their hands on their favorite teams’ colors. It wasn’t until the 1990s and 2000s for some teams, that people could purchase merchandise on the regular, every new jersey design.
Athletic Performance
During the 50s until the 90s, football stars were often those who had amazing skills with the ball, those who could pass an unbelievable shot and make someone a star striker. Those who could dribble past five opposing players and score a goal were considered great.
Today, athleticism is a large part of football and some stars are simply put, faster and more durable than their opponents. The fitness part of football has become ever so prevalent, but that is not restricted to football, only.
Football as a sport hasn’t changed much over the last 70 years, but the ecosystem around it has, so football simply adapted.