The rise of professional sports around the world happened over time through some important changes in the late 1800s and 1900s. At first, sports were mainly for fun, with no one getting paid. But with the industrial revolution and more people moving to cities, everything started to change.

1. Creating National Leagues:

   • By the late 1800s, organized sports leagues began to form.
   • Major League Baseball (MLB) started in 1869.
   • The National Football League (NFL) was created in 1920. Today, it has 32 teams and makes about $12 billion every year!

2. Global Events:

   • Big international competitions, like the Olympics, helped professional sports grow.
   • The first modern Olympic Games took place in Athens in 1896, with 13 countries. By 2021, there were 206 countries competing in over 300 events.
   • The FIFA World Cup started in 1930 and has become huge. The 2018 World Cup in Russia was watched by around 3.5 billion people!

3. Television and Media:

   • When TV became popular in the mid-1900s, it changed how people watched sports.
   • Suddenly, sports became entertainment for huge crowds and businesses wanted to advertise.
   • For example, in 2020, the NFL made about $8.1 billion just from TV deals because so many people loved watching the games.

4. Globalization of Sports:

   • In the late 20th century, sports became more international.
   • Leagues started to bring in players from other countries, making sports more diverse.
   • The NBA welcomed its first international player, Sergei Belov, in 1973. Today, around 25% of NBA players are from outside the U.S.

5. Professional Athletes:

   • Many athletes started making sports their full-time job.
   • In 2020, the average salary for a professional athlete in the U.S. was about $1.2 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In short, the growth of organized leagues, big global events, TV involvement, and athletes working as professionals have all helped make professional sports a huge deal all over the world.