The Aztec Ballgame where the Losers were Sacrificed

Whichever form the ballgame best served the society in which it was played, ōllamaliztli and pitz made up a huge part of Meso-American political and cultural life.
With the Spanish conquest, the game’s widespread adoption suffered a gradual decline, in part because the new masters saw it as barbaric.

Sacrificial victims have been documented, including defeated noble players, coaches, and sometimes entire teams!

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Credit:
Created by Daniel Turner (B.A. (Hons) in History, University College London)

Narrator:

Chris Kane

Music Credit:

Sources:

Sports, Games, and Gambling in the Aztec World By Martin Wasserman
Mayan, Incan, and Aztec Civilizations, Grades 5 - 8 By Michael Kramme
The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule: A History of the Indians of the Valley of New Mexico By Charles Gibson
"Ulama", the Survival of the Mesoamerican Ballgame Ullamaliztli
Ted J. J. Leyenaar

[mp_Puppy]

Today: it’s okay billy you will get the goal next time!

Mayans and Aztecs: *You won’t be making that mistake again, buddy*

[spectreagent]

"What do we get if we win?"
"You still get sacrificed but its to better gods."

[zackaghajanian]

I just got back from Mexico and tour guide said the winners were sacrificed ( not losers ) as honor. He also joked about no wonder Mexico didn’t win World Cup Soccer.

[tomhiscocks]

“Some of you may die, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make”-Aztec Emperor as he opens the tournament.

[couldbeanybody]

“Play like your life depends on it” - The Aztec emperor, probably

[inotetsu]

In Brittain people have a similar game called football. But instead of losing team getting sacrificed the losers get stabbed.

[kingisaacius]

"Rather than going to war, Rulers could just play ball"

[HogBurger]

“I wish I lived in this time, things were much simpler.”


“I take it back.”

[scalz]

i went on a field trip and some guy explained this game to us in great detail and he clarified multiple times that it were the winners of the game who got sacrificed

[sirtheoriginal]

"Painful Bruises"

Shows a man with bones sticking out of his body

[abdulkrmzgul]

This is just like our school match, we hang the losing team in our graveyard

[brianfederico]

Im pretty sure that hoop was just one of those "if the ball lands here everyone gets a free car" type of thing

[alexboehm]

Don’t forget that you can replace the ball with an armadillo to give yourself an advantage!

[spaghetti_rookie]

Imagine this in the world cup, a whole entire team of people will be executed

[ekhozo]

Fun fact: The Mesoamerican city with the most Ball Game courts was the Olmec-Xicallanc city of Cantona, in the modern state of Puebla. It had at least 27 of them.
The ruins can be visited today as an archaeological site.

[chrislaurent]

The title alone is no surprise when you got the words “Aztec”, “Game”, and “Sacrificed” together in one sentence

[dark-chdr]

The Aztec's were just looking for any excuse to sacrifice someone.

[illustriouschin]

Even without the sacrifices this game was brutal. Hitting that solid rubber ball would do some serious damage to your body and trying to knock it into that tiny ring is amazing.

[joelcastro]

Americans: Football is the most brutal sport

Aztecs: Hold my head

[CtlmRvl]

Fun fact: they play that game in the Rio 2 movie. And they wonder why there arent many parrots anymore