NFL footballers are almost exclusively from the US (except for the occasional placekicker), and a plurality of NHL hockey players are Canadian, with ever-increasing numbers of Americans, Finns, Czechs, Russians, etc. The Canadians and Americans speak the same language, of course, more or less.

But basketball is become international faster than any other US pro sport. Almost every NBA team has a foreign national or two, or even three, mostly "Euros" but also a fair number of Argentines, and at least one very prominent Chinese.

And baseball, the former US "National Pastime," now employs almost as many Spanish-speaking Latin Americans as US citizens, along with increasing numbers of East Asians (mostly Japanese, but also Koreans and Taiwanese). Interest in baseball in those countries is healthy and growing, while it is dimininshing in the US. African-Americans, in particular, are very visibly abandoning baseball.

In baseball, most Latinos speak at least a little English, and most managers and coaches can handle at least elementary Espanol. But on the other hand, the language barrier is still a major problem for/with Japanese and other Asian players. Businessmen and academics from Japan almost universally make it a point to learn English quite well, and don't expect Westerners ~ especially Americans ~ to learn Japanese. However, not every ballplayer seems to have the inclination and/or ability to become functionally bilingual.