[harrall]

You just need a bat and ball? My friends use a plastic bat balls and find a grassy field. Soccer balls are actually more expensive.

Basketball is growing in Brazil a lot and that’s kind of expensive.

Skateboarding has become massive in Brazil and that’s even more expensive than soccer and every person needs their own skateboard, unlike soccer where you can pool your money to share 1 ball.

Idk what you are talking about, you don’t need fancy equipment to play most sports with your friends. Most of the time, it’s having the idea is the issue.

[danielmarkbruce]

Not if you want to develop world class talent. Baseball is incredibly technology dependent at this point. Ultra high speed cameras, radars, bat and ball sensors, software tying it all together, it's become rocket science. And honestly, if you don't have access to that technology, your chances fall dramatically.

[harrall]

But you’re only competing with other leagues in your own country.

[danielmarkbruce]

The article is about global soccer, I'm talking about global baseball (MLB takes all the best players in the world). If you are a pitcher wanting to make it to the MLB, getting to 18 and throwing 65 mph and claiming "well that works in my country" isn't going to help you. You are miles behind.

[lgcmo]

There is no supply chain of baseballs and baseball bats in Brazil. That would be considered a "exotic" choice of sport, with those supplies only available at expensive stores with imported goods

[harrall]

Right, but the limiting factor is not actually that it’s expensive.

The limiting factor is historical: Brazilians just don’t think of playing baseball already.

Which leads back to the point: Americans just don’t really think about playing soccer.

It’s not about cost, or about leagues, or any technical thing. There’s nothing stopping me, as an American, from trying cricket with my friends, except that the thought has never ever entered my mind.

[lgcmo]

Yes yes, boils down to network effect (that comes from those historical aspects).