2017英语外研版选修7同步课件：Module 1Basketball.pptVIP

Why Is Basketball So Popular? Soccer and baseball have more fans, but no other sport has increased in popularity① so quickly over the past 30 years than basketball. What accounts for the sudden rise in a sport which, after all, is played best by people who are unusually tall? The secret to basketballs success lies in three particular sources：the celebrities in the game; commercial sponsorship② of those players and the game itself; and the mushrooming③ of crowded, urban environments around the world. Basketball has celebrities who have caught the attention of the world like no others. Michael Jordan is so popular even after having officially retired from the game that there is talk of his running for public office in the United States. Former players like Larry Byrd and Magic Johnson continue to command respect for their perfect personality and extraordinary sportsmanship. Basketball shoes, T-shirts. and even movies are made with these basketball superstar icons④. No other sport figures can compete with their popular recognition and appeal. Basketball has always been a distant third in sports rankings in the United States behind baseball and American football. Basketball league owners and managers wanted to change this traditional situation and in the 1960s began an effort to make basketball the game of choice by hand-picking more colorful as well as professional players and by making alliances with the commercial sponsors of athletic equipment. By the 1970s, basketball team recognition in the U. S. had risen, with devoted fans in the millions. Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, the Chicago Bulls, and the Boston Celtics had become household names. Players like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan were worth millions of dollars in commercial advertising spots for athletic equipment manufacturers⑤，a trend which continues to this day. Today，basketball is a billion-dollar business. Why a young boy doesnt dream of becoming as tall as a basketball player，or