Sports have always been an important part of society, whether it is football, American football or baseball. Whether it's watching the games on TV, cheering on the players, playing the game or even betting on a game. We have all contributed to our favorite sport at some point in our lives. However, sport does much more than entertain us, it creates jobs, influences the economy and can sometimes cause problems. Between food, souvenirs, live sporting event revenue, and sponsorships, the sports industry makes a ton of money. . And between the money and jobs the sports industry brings, it contributes greatly to the economy. According to a recent study by AT Kearney, the global sports industry is now worth between $480 billion and $620 billion. In 2009, the global sporting events market (defined as the combined ticketing, media and marketing revenues of major sports) was worth $64 billion. The biggest contributor to that $64 billion is the U.S. sports industry, which earns $32 billion. Overall, the U.S. sports industry also generates approximately 456,000 jobs. The two most popular sports in America are baseball in second place and American football in first place. In 2013, Major League Baseball's revenues reached a record high, exceeding eight billion dollars. Meanwhile, the National Football League (NFL) made over nine billion dollars in gross revenue last year. Helping the economy by generating a constant flow of money and jobs. Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in the world, winning the popularity vote in Mexico, Russia, most of South America, all of Africa and more. Make football (soccer) the second largest contributor to global market value. At just under $3 a year, sport proves to be a reliable source of economic revenue and provides millions of jobs around the world. But sport is more than just a game or a job for millions of people; It’s someone’s passion. Works Cited. http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/world-map-showing-the-most-popular-sports-by-country.452939685/. http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/01/nfl-tax-exempt/. http://college.holycross.edu/RePEc/hcx/Matheson_MegaEvents.pdf. http://history1900s.about.com/od/famouscrimesscandals/p/munichmassacre.htm. http://soccerlens.com/football-violence-worst-football-riots/23093/. http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/12/17/report-mlb-recorded-record-revenues-in-2013/. http://www.atkearney.com/paper/-/asset_publisher/dVxv4Hz2h8bS/content/the-sports-market/10192