Europeans play football, and Americans play football; but surprisingly they do not play the same game.
American football is played by men (and occasionally women) wearing helmets and protective clothing, the ball is oval.European football is played with a round ball, by people wearing just socks, shorts, a shirt, and football boots.
Americans have another popular outdoor came too-baseball，a classic American game that is only played seriously in North America.In Britain, a few people play an "ancestor" of baseball, called "rounders" - but it is not a popular sport.
In today's "global village", lifestyles have become international.Often the American model has spread to other countries of the world.American sports, however, have not spread all over the world, as American films and American fashions have.On the contrary, European sports have been more successful internationally.
Indeed European football is slowly developing in the USA.
In motor racing too, though it is not really a team sport, the USA is different.In Europe, South America, Japan and other countries(including Canada), "motor racing" means "Formula 1"; in America we have IndyCar racing.The Indianapolis 500 is like a Formula 1 race, but different.Several famous Formula 1 drivers -including Nigel Mansell and Jacques Villeneuve - have won the race.On the other hand, no American IndyCar drivers have ever been Formula 1 champions.Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to discover Formula 1 racing, since the first American Grand Prix.
Besides these big sports.America of course has basketball - perhaps the most successful "export".Invented at Springfield College, Massachusetts, in 1891, Basketball is quite certainly an "American game".
Although it is not as big in Europe as in the USA, basketball has become much more popular in other countries than any other American team sport.
WHY IS AMERICA DIFFERENT? The answer is simple.Until the 1960's, team sports were not played on a global scale.The only real"global" sports were individual sports, such as golf and tennis.A hundred years ago, individual rich Americans could travel to Europe on holiday, and play these two games.But whole teams of sportsmen did not often travel around the world, it was too difficult and slow!