Semester at Sea Fall
2006 Voyage 
Shabby cricket field in India
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
India's Cricket Obsession
By Preston Price
India is obsessed with cricket. This makes so much sense knowing that India is a former British colony and every country that has a national cricket team was colonized by Britain. However, Britain is also responsible for spreading the game of football, or soccer. This makes me wonder two things. One being why I did not witness anyone playing soccer in India, whether it be an organized game or a just a couple people kicking a ball around in the streets. The second is that I was quite surprised with the cricket’s popularity in India. Instead of seeing soccer on T.V. like I have in all the previous countries, the T.V's in bars and restaurants were always playing cricket. However, I did not have the opportunity to go to a cricket match. In the Global Issues book, Franklin Foer’s article titled “Soccer vs. McWorld,” reveals information about globalization's limits rather than its possibilities. Foer uses the global game of soccer to explain globalization's limits. One point that he makes is that reputable teams and athletic organizations are historically well-grounded in economic support, thus are financially stable. This in turn, leads to more financial support which enables teams to acquire better players and increases their likeliness of success. Success only brings about a more prominent fan base that establishes investment continuity and financial stability.
Based on Foer's discussion, my assumption with the issue of soccer vs. cricket in India is that cricket may have had more financial and economic investment early on than that of soccer. In response to this, cricket organizations would have become financially stable in terms of investment and well grounded in the Indian economy and culture. This obviously adds to the fan support, which continues the cycle of investing in these organizations and maintaining cricket's prominence as sport. Although soccer did catch on and is recognized and played to a minor extent in India, it may not have had the initial financial investment that would be needed to establish the solidity and popularity of the sport in comparison to that of cricket. Besides, the increased attention that cricket receives might have and may continue to dilute the popularity of soccer resulting in it taking a backseat to cricket.