Beckham

[nyjunc]

Do you think people in Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, know who MJ is???

What about people in Cameroon? I doubt many do.

Absolutely, every place jordan goes he is recognized.

Ronaldinho, Kaka, Ronaldo, totti, Messi, Henri are all players who are probably just as if not more famous than Beckham. best teams. It has already paid for Beckham's contract through ticket sales and merchandize and TV rights for the games.

They might be around the World but not here, nobody has a clue what any of those players look like and the only reason we know what beckham looks like is b/c he is Mr. Posh Spice.

:sidelol:

Are you seriouss?? Michael Jordan more famous then Becks?? Michael Jordan is famous here. You ask people around the World who MJ is and most people will not know, especially the new generation around the World.

Becks is bigger then ANY other sports player out there.

Jordan is recognized EVREYWHERE, beckham isn't even recognized here.

 

[Eop05]

Ok, I'm not gonna argue this anymore because some people will just not listen.

I know for a fact that Beckham is more popular world-wide at the moment than anyone else in sports including Jordan.

More people in Northern Asia, Southern Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, South America, Antartica, Australia, Africa know Beckham rather than Jordan.

The ONLY place that people recognize Jordan more would be the USA, and possibly Canada. That's IT!!!

And as I stated earlier, I know he's not a top tier player anymore (He definetely was in 1999 when he won the treble with ManU). But he's an above average player than can play for almost any club in the world. And for whatever reasons (good looks, posh spice, etc.) he is the most popular.

 

[WestPhish]

I think Beckham is good for U.S football (soccer). I personally, think the guy is overrated, but who cares. His image is what matters. He is giving U.S. soccer a real boost. Will soccer catch up to other sports in the U.S.?. Probably not, but getting good players here will make people watch. I wouldn't stop with Beckham, the MLS should try to lure other top tier players to play here. I don't watch MLS because the level of play is a joke, but if you put good international players I would watch.

 

[ckb2001]

Ok, I'm not gonna argue this anymore because some people will just not listen.

I know for a fact that Beckham is more popular world-wide at the moment than anyone else in sports including Jordan.

More people in Northern Asia, Southern Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, South America, Antartica, Australia, Africa know Beckham rather than Jordan.

The ONLY place that people recognize Jordan more would be the USA, and possibly Canada. That's IT!!!

And as I stated earlier, I know he's not a top tier player anymore (He definetely was in 1999 when he won the treble with ManU). But he's an above average player than can play for almost any club in the world. And for whatever reasons (good looks, posh spice, etc.) he is the most popular.

That's a cop out man. You said you know for a FACT what you said is true yet you provide NO evidence to back it up.

And don't say we're not listening to you. If anything, you're not listening to us. Since you said you can guarantee Beckham is more popular than Jordan in Japan, PROVE it. I'd never make that strong a statement about Jordan. All I can tell you is based on personal experience living in Japan, and while I see younger people know the name 'Beckham', most older people don't, yet many older ones know 'Jordan'.

Since you said "no one is even close" to Beckham in recognizability among athletes, well when there are newspaper articles still today (as I showed you) that say Ali is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world and that he was once known as "the most recognizable human being on Earth" by the media, then you're going to have to show why Ali isn't "even close" to Beckham in recognizability.

Fact is this: you don't know what you said for a fact and quite a bit of evidence speaks against it. So, don't cop out by saying we're not listening to you. Put forward some evidence for your supposed "knowledge" of this stuff.

By the way, one clue to what you said probably not being based on actual knowledge is the fact you included Antarctica in your list. Show us evidence of that claim too!

 

[Eop05]

That's a cop out man. You said you know for a FACT what you said is true yet you provide NO evidence to back it up.

And don't say we're not listening to you. If anything, you're not listening to us. Since you said you can guarantee Beckham is more popular than Jordan in Japan, PROVE it. I'd never make that strong a statement about Jordan. All I can tell you is based on personal experience living in Japan, and while I see younger people know the name 'Beckham', most older people don't, yet many older ones know 'Jordan'.

Since you said "no one is even close" to Beckham in recognizability among athletes, well when there are newspaper articles still today (as I showed you) that say Ali is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world and that he was once known as "the most recognizable human being on Earth" by the media, then you're going to have to show why Ali isn't "even close" to Beckham in recognizability.

Fact is this: you don't know what you said for a fact and quite a bit of evidence speaks against it. So, don't cop out by saying we're not listening to you. Put forward some evidence for your supposed "knowledge" of this stuff.

By the way, one clue to what you said probably not being based on actual knowledge is the fact you included Antarctica in your list. Show us evidence of that claim too!

I can't provide statistical evidence that Beckham is more popular than Jordan.

But you can provide statistical evidence that over 300 million people worldwide watch the world cup and only about 100 million people worldwide watch the superbowl, where about less than 40 million watch the NBA finals.

My point being: Soccer is BY FAR the worlds most popular game, and the sports most recognizable (but far from the best) player is David Beckham. He's more popular than almost any soccer player ever and he was never even a top 5 player.

He may arguably be Soccer's most famous player ever (right up there with Pele in terms of recognition). And if you're one of the most recognizable players in the most popular sport by far worldwide, then what does that tell you?

It tells you that Michael Jordan, and his dominance in an era where basketball was only any good in the USA, could not touch the popularity of David Beckham.

Surely, however, if your family in Japan enjoys basketball (far more families in Japan probably enjoy soccer instead, or they prefer soccer), then they will know and admire Jordan. But the majority of the country will recognize Beckham, whereas the minority of basketball fans will recognize Jordan.

And the Antartica thing was thrown in there as a joke.

 

[binky]

I think any popularity Beckham brings to US soccer will only be temporary. What skills does he bring to the game that will draw and maintain fans and TV viewers?

Didn't Pele play in the US, wasn't he a more marketable player than Beckham? Or is Beckham so Hollywood that Amurica will fall in love with him?

 

[ckb2001]

I can't provide statistical evidence that Beckham is more popular than Jordan.

But you can provide statistical evidence that over 300 million people worldwide watch the world cup and only about 100 million people worldwide watch the superbowl, where about less than 40 million watch the NBA finals.

My point being: Soccer is BY FAR the worlds most popular game, and the sports most recognizable (but far from the best) player is David Beckham. He's more popular than almost any soccer player ever and he was never even a top 5 player.

He may arguably be Soccer's most famous player ever (right up there with Pele in terms of recognition). And if you're one of the most recognizable players in the most popular sport by far worldwide, then what does that tell you?

It tells you that Michael Jordan, and his dominance in an era where basketball was only any good in the USA, could not touch the popularity of David Beckham.

Surely, however, if your family in Japan enjoys basketball (far more families in Japan probably enjoy soccer instead, or they prefer soccer), then they will know and admire Jordan. But the majority of the country will recognize Beckham, whereas the minority of basketball fans will recognize Jordan.

And the Antartica thing was thrown in there as a joke.

Well, let's actually get some stats in here then. You made the claim that soccer is a major sport in Asia whereas basketball is not. First of all, neither is popular in India. What about China though? Well, China has 1.3 billion people, and basketball is the most popular sport there today according to wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_in_China#Football_.28soccer.29

"Basketball is the most popular sport in China today: some expert estimates that as many as 300 million of China's 1.3 billion population now play basketball."
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And as far as TV coverage in China, note this:
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/2/5/125413/5706

"The NBA is working on deals with six television networks across China to broadcast games: 30 of Yao's NBA games, and more than 150 games total, will be transmitted across China this year. In his television debut he reached 287 million households, but with the new deals this number is expected to reach 400 million (almost four times as many television households as in the States)."
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which of course is far more than the 40 million you stated for the NBA finals.



Furthermore, if we look at the total number of participants worldwide, this is what we get for soccer:
http://www.sportmarketingeurope.com/index.php?page=news&newsid=1677

"With 265 million male and female players and a further five million referees, coaches and other officials, a grand total of 270 million people, or four per cent of the world's population, are involved in football. These are the impressive findings of the Big Count 2006, a FIFA survey of its member associations (207 at the time)"
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And this is what we get for basketball:
http://www.sportingo.com/basketballs_team_gb_welcome_medal/1001,2096

"In fact, basketball is widely regarded as the fastest growing sport in the modern world, with 400 million participants worldwide."
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So, it's not clear from such stats alone that you can say Beckham would be more well-known than Jordan. Maybe that's true, maybe not.

 

[Eop05]

Well, let's actually get some stats in here then. You made the claim that soccer is a major sport in Asia whereas basketball is not. First of all, neither is popular in India. What about China though? Well, China has 1.3 billion people, and basketball is the most popular sport there today according to wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_in_China#Football_.28soccer.29

"Basketball is the most popular sport in China today: some expert estimates that as many as 300 million of China's 1.3 billion population now play basketball."

Read the article that you quote again. You misquoted your own article. What it actually says when I clicked on that Wiki article is the following under basketball. This was cut and pasted:

Basketball

Basketball is not the most popular sport in China. Soccer is played by a greater percentage of the population.

The artcile then goes on to say: Yao Ming has popularized basketball and the National Basketball Association has an inspired public relations effort to expand the sport but soccer has achieved greater public relations penetration with a greater TV spectatorship.


Your research has further proved my point. Thanks

 

[ckb2001]

Read the article again:

Basketball

Basketball is not the most popular sport in China. Soccer is played by a greater percentage of the population.






It says that basketball is not the most popular sport. I clicked the link you posted.

Oh, that's interesting. Apparently, two different people wrote that article and didn't communicate. My quote came from the first paragraph. However, both agree on the 300 million part for some reason.

Neither claim has a citation though.

 

[Eop05]

Oh, that's interesting. Apparently, two different people wrote that article and didn't communicate. My quote came from the first paragraph. However, both agree on the 300 million part for some reason.

Neither claim has a citation though.

haha, just saw that. can't really trust wiki 100%

 

[ckb2001]

OK, here's another link on that 300 million figure:
http://www.2news.tv/sports/local/8566187.html

"Basketball is rapidly becoming the most popular sport in China with more than 300 million participants and 83 percent of people 15-24 saying that they are NBA fans"
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Aside from this Beckham/Jordan thing, that 83 percent is totally surprising.

Anyway, we need to find how many soccer players there are in China to see which author of that wiki article is more likely correct.

 

[Eop05]

OK, here's another link on that 300 million figure:
http://www.2news.tv/sports/local/8566187.html

"Basketball is rapidly becoming the most popular sport in China with more than 300 million participants and 83 percent of people 15-24 saying that they are NBA fans"
--------------

Aside from this Beckham/Jordan thing, that 83 percent is totally surprising.

Anyway, we need to find how many soccer players there are in China to see which author of that wiki article is more likely correct.

Ok, but this quote still proves that at the current moment soccer is the most popular.

The quote is simply stating that Basketball is rapidly gaining on Soccer and may one day catch it, but not right now. and back when Jordan was popular it was probably nowhere near where soccer was. Most people in China probably relate more to Lebron James than Jordan

 

[ckb2001]

OK, apparently they are about the same in terms of popularity:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/2006-08-07-china-focus_x.htm

"Basketball used to be behind soccer, but now it's pulling level," said Hu Jiashi, vice president of the China Basketball Association, co-organizer of Monday's game. Hu estimated that 300 million to 400 million fans either play or watch the game regularly."
--------------

 

[ckb2001]

As far as MJ is concerned, here's one quote:
http://www.gluckman.com/NBA.html

"With Michael Jordan - or MY-KE JOE-DAHN - tripping off tongues even in remote parts of China, the basketball player's fame seems to eclipses even that of another American marketing sensation, Madonna.

"The most famous American in China is Michael Jordan," says Tom McCarthy, chief executive officer of Asian Basketball Confederation Promotions, which pumps up the sport in over 40 nations across Asia and the Middle East. China is a top priority, and a huge success story."
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So, it seems like Jordan is quite well known over there.

 

[ScottishFin]

Jordan is by far and away better known then Beckham ever will be.

Beckham is in the top 5 "names" in football at the moment , you could argue for him being the best known but you have to say he is on a par with Ronaldinho , Ronaldo , Shevchenko and possibly Kaka. But there are loads of players whose names trip of the tongue of anyone who knows anything about football.

He is also nowhere near the likes of Pele , Maradona , Cruyff , Best etc. These guys will be legends forever , can you say that about Beckham ? Dont think so.