I decided to Google it. The answer is, no, national anthems before sporting events largely don't exist outside the U.S.
http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2016...orts-peter-may
Quote:
|
This is basically an American thing, by the way. You go to an English Premier League soccer match between, say, Liverpool and Chelsea, and you won’t hear "God Save The Queen" beforehand. The Brits somehow seemed to have survived not hearing their anthem before all their soccer matches.
|