Beckham

[Eop05]

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.

This was totally not the point.

For the 1,000,000,000th time: We all know that all those mentioned players are better soccer players than Beckham and those legends were better than Beckham could ever have dreamed of.

But the two best players in the world: Kaka, and Dinho are still nowhere nearly as recognizable as Beckham worldwide. He has this fame about him that's inexplicable. Even his good looks, gorgeous wife, and the fact that he played on ManU, which at the time was amongst the most powerful clubs in Europe both off the field econimically and on the field (winning the treble in '99) can't explain his popularity level.

And ckb: There's no doubting that Jordan is huge world-wide and maybe huge in China. But that quote conveniantly said: The most famous American in China is Michael Jordan.

Beckham is Beckham. Love him or hate him, deserving or not, he is the most famous athlete in the world

 

[ckb2001]

And ckb: There's no doubting that Jordan is huge world-wide and maybe huge in China. But that quote conveniantly said: The most famous American in China is Michael Jordan.

Beckham is Beckham. Love him or hate him, deserving or not, he is the most famous athlete in the world

You still haven't shown any evidence for that (the bolded part). The most one can say is he is one of the most recognizable soccer players in the world. No more..

Again, the media once labeled Muhammed Ali as the "most recognizable human being on Earth" and current media still proclaims him as "one of the most recognizable".

For you to claim Beckham is the most famous athlete in the world, you'll need evidence, and you haven't provided that yet.

 

[Cool Calm Mike]

Eop, you're going to have to visit every single person in the world and ask them who they know better!

 

[ckb2001]

Eop, you're going to have to visit every single person in the world and ask them who they know better!

He doesn't have to do that. To provide evidence Ali or Pele are two of the most recognizable athletes in the world, you can find a plethora of newspaper articles supporting that.

Eop05 claims none of them come close to Beckham. I'd like SOME evidence for that. Wouldn't you?

 

[Cool Calm Mike]

From Beckham's wikipedia: By the way, I don't care who is more popular or not in the world. I just found these interesting.

Beckham's fame extends beyond the pitch; in much of the world his name is "as instantly recognizable as that of multinational companies like Coca-Cola and IBM."

According to Google, "David Beckham" was searched for more than any other sports topic on their site in 2003 and 2004.

 

[DonShula84]

Article about Beckham being one of if not the most famous

LONDON  He's the most famous man Americans don't know: one of the world's highest-paid athletes, a fashion pacemaker married to a glamorous pop star, an idol of gays, teens and mothers alike. And gorgeous, to boot

If David Beckham is relatively unknown in the USA, he is indisputably among the most recognized sports figures elsewhere in the world, where soccer  known every place but the USA as football  is the real king of sports. In Britain, tabloid photos of him and his wife, Victoria, former Spice Girl Posh, sell the most papers since Princess Diana. In Thailand, fans have erected a golden likeness in a Buddhist temple. Even in Baghdad, as the bronze statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in Firdos Square last month, a young boy stomping on his head wore a Manchester United shirt emblazoned with Beckham's No. 7.

He is the purest sports celebrity in the history of the world," Cashmore says. "Tiger Woods? Michael Jordan? They redefined their sport, and they are respected. But Beckham has transcended that. He is worshiped. His fan base goes far beyond sports; many of them don't even care about football."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/world/2003-05-08-beckham_x.htm

He's a soccer star who makes as much news off the pitch as on it, a movie star who doesn't even star in movies and royalty without royal blood.

Soccer fans have long recognized England's David Beckham as one of the world's greatest players, but today, everyone recognizes David Beckham. Even Americans.

How popular is he?
Mum's the word: In April 2002, Beckham broke a bone in his foot, putting his status for the World Cup in doubt. The injury came 11 days after the Queen Mother died. Headline in one British newspaper: NOW THIS!
No, now this: The tabloid Sun published a photo of Beckham's bare foot on its cover and informed readers to use it as a prayer mat, rub it "at high noon on Sunday and pray." Speaking of prayer: Buddhist monks in a Thai monastery kneel before a gold-plated likeness of Beckham.

What friends are for: Beckham ranks 56th on Forbes' list of the most powerful celebs. Jennifer Aniston is No. 1.
Time for a thermal breakdown: Castrol had him on a tour of Asia last week after it was discovered eight out of 10 Japanese would buy its products if he endorsed them. Soccer star not included: People pay thousands per night to stay in Beckham's old hotel room from the 2002 World Cup in Japan/Korea

http://mpelembe.mappibiz.com/archives_02/Famous Athlete.html

And are just the first two links I came across. I dont know if he's bigger than Ali or MJ, but he is with out question the biggest soccer star.

 

[ckb2001]

Nice, so that stuff shows what I already said myself, that he is one of the most recognizable soccer players in the world (even reiterated that in post #92).

But, I don't yet see evidence he's more recognizable a sports figure than say Ali. Provide that and you'll be supporting the claim Eop05 made.

 

[Prime Time]

Absolutely, every place jordan goes he is recognized.



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.



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

You're talking gibberish. Becks is recognized here in the U.S., Jordan on the other hand isn't recognized all over the World. You don't have to follow soccer and people in the states know who Beckham is and what he looks like.

Jordan is NOT widely recognized in Ecuador, Sweden, Chile, Ivory Coast etc. etc. You're not making much sense...

 

[Prime Time]

As Eop said, Beckham is praised!!! Becks may not be the best player ever but he is definately the most famous.

 

[Prime Time]

ver wonder who the world's most popular athlete is?

Names such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and LeBron James may come to mind, but none are as popular as England's David Beckham.

Of that, 46 percent is due to come directly from marketing. Adidas and Pepsi have poured money into the club's coffers just so they can use Beckham's image to sell products, especially in Asia, where he is extremely popular.

In Asia, Beckham endorses everything from chocolate to cell phones.

Castrol Oil offered him an endorsement deal after they found out that 8 out of 10 Japanese would buy their products if Beckham endorsed them.

In China, where his popularity battles that of Yao Ming, anything, including his $723 limited edition cleats, with his face or name plastered on it sells out.

So what makes Beckham so popular?

Though he's an excellent player, he's not the best at the sport. Unlike Jordan, and Tiger,

Beckham's popularity doesn't stem from his actions on the field.

Beckham is a good soccer player, but he's much better at being a star.

We've learned the David Beckham is the world's most famous athlete. Sorry MJ, but we've also learned that he is not famous because of his skill and ability, but because he is young, and considered by many to be a rich, handsome, fashion icon.

http://media.www.thefamuanonline.co...ccer.Star.Considered.Top.Athlete-857382.shtml

 

[DonShula84]

Nice, so that stuff shows what I already said myself, that he is one of the most recognizable soccer players in the world (even reiterated that in post #92).

But, I don't yet see evidence he's more recognizable a sports figure than say Ali. Provide that and you'll be supporting the claim Eop05 made.

Well it's impossible to prove that any one athlete is more popular than another unless someone finds polling that was done. I never claimed he was more popular than MJ or Ali just the most popular soccer play and probably most popular current athlete. Either way, he is w/ out question one of, if not the, most famous athelete in the world. Whether he's 2nd to MJ or 3rd to Ali doesnt really matter to me, but he's more known world wide than the list of soccer players that have been provided thus far.

 

[nyjunc]

You're talking gibberish. Becks is recognized here in the U.S., Jordan on the other hand isn't recognized all over the World. You don't have to follow soccer and people in the states know who Beckham is and what he looks like.

Jordan is NOT widely recognized in Ecuador, Sweden, Chile, Ivory Coast etc. etc. You're not making much sense...

Beckham is not recognized here and he has said so himself. I remember reading an article about him in ESPN the magazine last year saying how much he loved coming here b/c no one recognized him and he could be a regular person. He's known in the US as Mr. Posh Spice.

 

[Prime Time]

Beckham is not recognized here and he has said so himself. I remember reading an article about him in ESPN the magazine last year saying how much he loved coming here b/c no one recognized him and he could be a regular person. He's known in the US as Mr. Posh Spice.

Are you kidding? He IS known. Not to the extent that he has in England. But before he even signed to L.A., most non soccer fans knew who Becks was.

And regardless if he is known as Mr. Posh Spice, he is known. I didn't say he was known just as a soccer player, he is known for more reasons, but that is why he is the most famous athlete in the world.

 

[ckb2001]

http://media.www.thefamuanonline.co...ccer.Star.Considered.Top.Athlete-857382.shtml

PT, that link serves as absolutely NO evidence for the claim Beckham is the most popular athlete. I mean it's what? Basically a blog.

If you're going to use that kind of info, then you can use the following too:
http://www.ali.com/greatest/

"He's still the most recognizable man on earth."

"Dubbed "Athlete of the Century" by GQ magazine, Muhammad continues to receive accolades for his contribution to sports. He has been named Sports Illustrated's "Sportsman of the Century," the BBC's "Sports Personality of the Century," the World Sports Award's "World Sportsman of the Century,"
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Big deal..

Point is, as I said in post #92, the MOST you can call Beckham is one of the most popular soccer players in the world. NOTHING more.

I'd even bet that more people know Pele than Beckham if a worldwide poll were actually taken. Of course, I haven't seen such a poll so it's only conjecture.

But, those of you claiming you Beckham is the most popular athlete with no one close have NO evidence to back that up.

 

[nyjunc]

Are you kidding? He IS known. Not to the extent that he has in England. But before he even signed to L.A., most non soccer fans knew who Becks was.

And regardless if he is known as Mr. Posh Spice, he is known. I didn't say he was known just as a soccer player, he is known for more reasons, but that is why he is the most famous athlete in the world.

He's the one who said he loves coming to the US b/c nobody recognizes him.