Sports Migration [Interactive Map]

Sports Migration is a very interesting concept and useful for getting students to talk about global inequality, global capitalism, and the global economy.  Students may not realize how many athletes are migrants. What countries send players? What countries receive them?

There are many great examples of sports migration in the major professional leagues of baseball, basketball, and hockey but these pale in comparison to soccer.

Slate put together this cool interactive map - and it is great way to visualize what is happening with sport migration. You can select a certain country and then see if that country is sending players out or receiving them. You can also watch a time lapse video to see how the trend has changed over time. Have fun teaching globalization with soccer!

Interactive Soccer Migration Map

Check out this example map: