Since the last decade of the 20th century, consumption of football has been growing almost exponentially throughout the world. Football, or rather the “football experience”, became a commodity that was now sold globally at an unprecedented scale. The sport walked the tightrope between absolute commercialism and fan-based football for quite some time until the increasing preference of European football among the younger generations ensured that interest in local football was on a steady decline. It is beyond doubt that Billy Beane’s Moneyball strategy has helped several smaller football clubs compete with their bigger counterparts, most notably FC Midtjylland and AZ Alkmaar. Beyond the touchline, as far as electoral politics goes, figures such as Sanders and Corbyn have made progressive politics “popular” again.

Source: The Guardian December 14, 2017 11:15 UTC