Top 10 Sports Customs That Only Exist in America
#10: Tailgating
While certain sports each have their own respective pre game traditions, nothing comes quite as close to tailgating. Most frequently associated with American football, this practice involves fans prior to the start of a game gathering together outside the team’s stadium. There’s music, food and drinks are served, and even games such as cornhole and beer pong are played. It’s essentially one big party for fans taking part in before the game. While such gatherings are not uncommon, the sense of community it brings to football fans is second to none. It’s a tradition that will surely never die down.
#9: Gatorade Shower
After winning a championship, teams have their set traditions when it comes to celebrating; they may be unique to them or shared across several teams in a league. However, one constant amongst all championship winning teams in the NFL has been the iconic gatorade shower. Popularized by a player who dumped the drink on his coach as a prank, how it works is that either during the final seconds of the game or after an NFL team wins the coveted Super Bowl trophy, players will proceed to take a gatorade cooler from their sideline and throw the liquid from within directly onto their head coach. Coaches probably don’t like getting wet, but there is probably no better implication than that. But that’s not to say it hasn’t happened on other occasions as well.
#8: Throwing Hats After a Hat Trick
The term hat trick is commonplace in a number of sports, especially in soccer. But let’s just say hockey takes it on a whole other level. After a player scores three goals, many fans will often proceed to throw hats on the ice as a means to honor the accomplishment. This results in a slight delay of game as arena staff have to go onto the ice and pick them up. But hats aren’t the only things that fans throw onto the ice. Back in the 90s, Florida Panthers fans had a tradition which involved throwing plastic rats onto the ice after their team scored. And if you think nothing can top that level of weirdness, look no further than when Detroit Red Wings fans throwing dead octopuses onto the ice during playoff games. We’re not joking.
#7: Cheerleaders
Cheerleading is practiced in several countries across the world both leisurely and competitively, it’s relatively uncommon to find any taking place at professional sports team games. While there have been a few exceptions, it’s quite rare to find cheerleaders at such events. In the States however, now that’s a different story. Cheerleaders can be seen far and wide at games, both the professional and collegiate level. Even in a sport like hockey, they come in the form of ice girls. While it’s important to note that not every team based in the U.S. has cheerleaders, it remains a wildly popular practice at sporting events.
#6: Commercial Breaks
For you sports fans from outside of the States, ever wonder “Why are there so many commercials during these games?” Well, unlike soccer games as well as a certain number of other sports in other countries, companies in the U.S. know people are tuning in to watch their favorite sports teams, and so they pay a pretty penny to television networks to air their ads. Meanwhile, in a sport like soccer, there is no pause in play other than during halftime; so MLS here remains an exception. But that’s not to say soccer doesn’t have its share of sponsors…
#5: Trades
A common practice in North American sports is trading, a practice which involves one team giving one or more players to another team in exchange for another set amount of players. Add in the fact that teams that even exchange their draft picks (and some instances their own head coach) and you’ve got a slew of interesting scenarios. While teams swapping players is possible in certain sports leagues outside of the the U.S., they rarely take place as it frequently over extends the process of a player being moved, involves more negotiations and, unlike other leagues, a player’s contract does not get moved. Frequently, one single trade can make or break a team, so the implications are tremendous.
#4: Salary Cap
While most teams remain discreet with how much money they generate or have in bank, in North America, many sport league teams are subject to a salary cap, which refers to a limit on the amount they can spend on players who play for their roster, regardless of the revenue they generate. The only professional sports league in the U.S. that is not subject to this rule is the MLB. Although there are still rules and regulations each team must follow in this league, there is no limit on how much a team can spend on signing players.
#3: The Draft
In many sports outside of North America, professional teams will directly recruit and sign players out of junior or minor league clubs. While this is also commonplace for teams in the States, several teams participating in the country’s most popular sports, notably football and basketball, recruit players straight out of college. The worse the team performs during the season, the higher the chances of them getting a higher draft pick, allowing them to select a prospect who’s declared for the draft of their choosing. Speaking of college…
#2: College Sports
Practically all universities around the world offer athletic programs. However, no country does it quite like the States. Universities across the country spend millions to develop their athletic programs. Not to mention the fact that they also earn big as well. In 2021, it was reported that the NCAA, the highest division of collegiate sports, generated over $1 billion dollars in revenue. Many people also tune in to watch the action as well. March Madness anyone? Year after year, millions tune in to watch their favorite teams duke it out in collegiate basketball’s most prestigious tournament.
#1: No Promotions or Relegations
As many sports fans (especially those who follow soccer) are aware, relegation is the process by which a team will get demoted to a secondary division due to their performance during the past season. Meanwhile, promotion is when a team’s performance results in them being promoted to play in a higher division. Although golf to some extent has begun implementing this practice with individual players, no other professional sports league in the United States or North America implements this system. If a team performs badly, they simply don’t make it to the playoffs and remain in the same league and division the following season.