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== Notable events and themes == *The World Series (in 2000, 2002, 2005, and 2006), NBA Finals (in 2003, 2005, and 2007), BCS (in 2004) and Men's NCAA Basketball Championship Game (in 2004) all hit record lows in Nielsen ratings and/or total viewers in America. *Basketball decreases in popularity in the U.S. with the loss of Michael Jordan to retirement, the Kobe Bryant controversy, the Pacers–Pistons brawl, the 2007 betting scandal, and a new television deal signed in 2002 relegates most NBA games to cable. Kobe Bryant became popular again, during and after the 2008 summer olympics. *Baseball in the United States undergoes controversy and Congressional scrutiny due to steroids; stars such as Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, ranked #1 and #2 in single-season home runs, are suspected to have used steroids, while others such as Jason Giambi and Rafael Palmeiro are confirmed to have been using the drugs. Thanks to two consecutive years of Boston Red Sox–New York Yankees American League Championship Series, however, ratings and popularity for the sport (while lower than previous years) still remain high. *The National Hockey League suffers a lockout that wiped out the entire 2005 season, as well a television deal with OLN that prevented many fans from being able to see games (several NHL telecasts on OLN were outdrawn by WNBA games on ESPN2()). *NASCAR Racing becomes more mainstream as TV ratings for the sport grows in the U.S.. NASCAR races regularly outdraw NBA, MLB and NHL telecasts by over 200 percent (in fact, NASCAR's average rating in 2005 outdid the combined regular season averages for the NBA and Major League Baseball during that same year). TV networks such as Fox, NBC, ABC, and TNT air races on a regular basis on Sundays and sometimes Saturday nights. Popular drivers during this period include Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Kasey Kahne. *American Football continues to become more popular; Super Bowl XLI, in which the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 becomes the third most watched television event in the US market ever. The NFL also draws criticism, especially following the Super Bowl XXXVIII fiasco, the Terrell Owens controversy in 2004 and 2005, and the Michael Vick dogfighting fallout in 2007. The NFL undergoes significant upheaval in its international activity, discontinuing NFL Europa but holding regular season games outside the US in Mexico City, London and Toronto. College Football is popular with stars such as Tim Tebow, Matt Leinert, Vince Young, Reggie Bush and Darren McFadden. *The Boston Red Sox break the 86 year "Curse of the Bambino" by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series (they also won in 2007). The following year the Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros to win the 2005 World Series, winning their first since 1917. *Horse racing in the United States enjoys a surge in ratings, thanks to three straight years of Triple Crown hopefuls (War Emblem, Funny Cide and Smarty Jones in 2002, 2003 and 2004). However, all three horses fail to win the Triple Crown, and the next hopeful (Barbaro in 2006) is severely injured during the Preakness. *Beach volleyball becomes an increasingly popular sport worldwide, establishing its first generation of superstars and branching out into large inland cities. *Football begins to gain popularity amongst North Americans and Australians, fuelled by World Cup successes for the USA in 2002 and Australia in 2006. Previously, North America and Australia had been considered the only continents to not have pertinent followers of World Football. *A basketball game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons is called almost 50 seconds early due to a massive fan-player brawl, an event which became known as Pacers–Pistons brawl. * Many British football clubs are being bought by Eastern European millionaires such as Chelsea by Roman Abramovich, Hearts by Vladimir Romanov and Portsmouth F.C. by Milan Mandarić and Alexandre Gaydamak. *The IRB Rugby World Cup increases in size and audience to become the third most watched sporting event in the world after the FIFA World Cup and The Summer Olympics respectively. *WADA, The World Anti-doping Agency, introduces a standardised anti-doping code for all sports. *P.R. China's sportsmen make continuous improvements in several sports, in preparation for the Beijing (北京) Olympic Games. *Professional wrestling, which had separate golden ages in the 1980s and 1990s, begins to decline in popularity in North America. Many attribute this decline to the monopoly on the industry held by World Wrestling Entertainment after the collapse of both World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2001, with WWE acquiring the remains of both companies. However, WWE would revive ECW as a third brand alongside its RAW and SmackDown! brands in 2006 due to increased nostalgia. Because of the WWE's monopoly and the internet helping to spread word, a trend begins with smaller independent promotions garnering many fans during the decade. During this period Total Nonstop Action Wrestling attempts to create an alternative to the WWE product with little success. The deaths of WWE stars Eddie Guerrero in 2005 and Chris Benoit in 2007, gave the WWE mainstream publicity. WWE continues to be popular overseas during this period, which prompts them to increase the number of televised foreign shows. Female wrestlers gain more exposure with the WWE expanding its women's division and adding a second women's championship, the Divas title. Later in the decade, women's wrestling also gains exposure and credibility through TNA creating their own division, and with the all-female promotion Shimmer Women Athletes. Ring of Honor essentially establishes itself as the number three company in the United States. Finally, in puroresu, a mass exodus occurs in All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2000, with almost all contracted employees following Mitsuharu Misawa to form Pro Wrestling Noah later that year. Many figures have been: Triple H, Randy Orton, Ric Flair, Batista,Edge, John Cena, The Undertaker. Shawn Michaels, Jeff and Matt Hardy, and Chris Jericho. *In light of the waning popularity of professional wrestling and boxing, mixed martial arts competitions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships gain popularity in the United States.Top stars such as Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz become household names and the UFC is featured on the May cover of Sports Illustrated. However boxing still retains a healthy following, with exciting and popular fighters including Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley, Joe Calzaghe, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Diego Corrales, Manny Pacquiao, and many others. Many exciting fights have also taken place. *Rugby league in Australia enjoys increasing popularity amongst the Eastern states, with record crowd figures almost yearly from 2003 onwards. The national competition, the National Rugby League, has 6 different winners in the space of 6 seasons. *The New Zealand Kiwis defeated the Australian Kangaroos in the finals of the 2005 Rugby League Tri-Nations of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. These victories put an end to Australia's dominance in international rugby league - one of the strongest in world sport. 2005 was the first time Australia had failed to win a series or tournament since 1978. 2008 was the first time New Zealand won the World Cup and the first time Australia failed to win the World Cup since 1972. *In the NFL, the New England Patriots, led by head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, win three championships in four years ('01, '03, and '04). In 2007, the Patriots become the first team to go 16-0 in the regular season before losing to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. In 2008, the Detroit Lions became the first team to go 0-16 in a season. The Pittsburgh Steelers also had a great run during 2001-2010, winning two Super Bowls, six division titles, and three conference titles. *A 2003 revival of roller derby in Austin, Texas, leads to the rise of the fastest growing sport of the decade, with over 450 new roller derby leagues forming worldwide. *At 2009 in the 121st IOC Session golf and rugby union( specifically the sevens version) readmitted to the Olympic program in 2016. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2000s in sports」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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