Softball

The Olympic Games have been a showcase for world-class athletes dating back to 776 B.C. It put them in the spotlight and allowed them to represent their country and sport. The Olympics are known worldwide and create opportunities for athletes to become well-known at the highest level in sports. Removal from the Olympic Games can be very detrimental and even the death of a sport. Before the Olympics, softball players were not very marketable because the sport had not gained worldwide notoriety. USA Team players such as Jennie Finch and Cat Osterman were young and under the radar while standouts like Lisa Fernandez and Dot Richardson were trying to make a name for the sport of softball. The sport’s landscape all started to change once softball was made a medal sport at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Since then, players such as Finch and Osterman have garnered numerous endorsement deals with high-dollar companies like Under Armour and ESPN,while softball was becoming more and more popular all over the world. The question is, would women’s softball have ever reached its peak performing level and marketing exposure if it were not for the Olympics? The question can be answered by tracking the popularity of the sport throughout its journey prior to the Olympics, its time in the Olympics, and its removal from the Olympics.
Going back to the year 1895 when the first softball team was formed at Chicago’s West Division High School, the popularity of softball was far from where it is today. The high school was not able to have a coach which would keep them from competing at a competitive level until 1899, which made it hard to get the exposure the sport was going to need to grow. The Chicago National Tournament in 1933 can be accredited for advancing the sport because it was a competition where males and females were “honored equally” (History of Softball Paraclete). Also in 1933, the American Softball Association was founded, which standardized the game...