Most popular sportsman.

I_live_cement

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I got to thinking the other day about famous sportsmen, and how popular they must be around the world. So I decided the pick the most world famous player from each of the sports below and decide who is the most widely known out of all of them. Here's my picks: (those with a question mark are maybes, I couldn't make a final decision) NB. They must be currently playing.


Football: Beckham
Rugby: Wilkinson
Cricket: Freddie Flintoff
Golf: Tiger Woods
Baseball: A Rod, Manny?
Basketball: Shaq, Kobe? Lebron?
American Football: Favre, Moss? TO? Vick?
Tennis: Federer

So who do you think is the most world famous player in each of these sports? And who do you think is the most world famous overall?

Overall I'd say it is a close race between David Beckham and Tiger Woods.
 
How big is Lewis Hamilton outside of Britain?
 
Vick is most probably the most unpopular American Football player. The most populars are LaDainian Tomlinson and Tom Brady. LeBron is the most popular Basketballer.
 
popular often connotes 'well liked" and not simply "most well known". The names listed are not all that popular in its most common usage.
 
Doevle said:
Vick is most probably the most unpopular American Football player. The most populars are LaDainian Tomlinson and Tom Brady. LeBron is the most popular Basketballer.
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Don't agree on that, at least he's not the only one. It's a toss up between Iverson, Kobe and LeBron when talking about current players. All are very popular and you can't really pick one over the other in terms of popularity, at least not when looking at the whole world.
 
dno said:
popular often connotes 'well liked" and not simply "most well known". The names listed are not all that popular in its most common usage.
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Yeah the title is a bit misleading. I meant most famous whether well liked or not.
 
In terms of most well known I think you're spot-on. Maybe Jeter in baseball after his dating Mariah Carey got him in the tabloids as well as the sport pages?
 
If we're talking about most famous rather than popular:

Football: David Beckham
Rugby: Jonny Wilkinson, the only name I know there.
Cricket: Is that even a sport? ;)
Golf: Tiger Woods
Baseball: Barry Bonds
Basketball: Iverson, Kobe, Shaq, Yao (can't really count out the billion rooting for him) and LeBron... asked my mom just for fun and she only knew Iverson and Shaq.
American Football: Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Terrell Owens and Randy Moss.
Tennis: Roger Federer
 
I_live_cement said:
I got to thinking the other day about famous sportsmen, and how popular they must be around the world. So I decided the pick the most world famous player from each of the sports below and decide who is the most widely known out of all of them. Here's my picks: (those with a question mark are maybes, I couldn't make a final decision) NB. They must be currently playing.


Football: Beckham
Rugby: Wilkinson
Cricket: Freddie Flintoff
Golf: Tiger Woods
Baseball: A Rod, Manny?
Basketball: Shaq, Kobe? Lebron?
American Football: Favre, Moss? TO? Vick?
Tennis: Federer

So who do you think is the most world famous player in each of these sports? And who do you think is the most world famous overall?

Overall I'd say it is a close race between David Beckham and Tiger Woods.
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Vick is in jail and favre is retired, so they don't really fit your rule.
 
Globally Sachin Tendulkar is the most famous cricketer. There are over a billion people in India and Sachin is probably the most famous person in the country. If no one in Pakistan, Australia, SA, England, WI etc ever heard of him he'd still be the most famous cricketer on the planet.
Sachin is quite possibly a candidate for the most famous athlete on the planet.
 
dno said:
Globally Sachin Tendulkar is the most famous cricketer. There are over a billion people in India and Sachin is probably the most famous person in the country. If no one in Pakistan, Australia, SA, England, WI etc ever heard of him he'd still be the most famous cricketer on the planet.
Sachin is quite possibly a candidate for the most famous athlete on the planet.
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agreed.
 
ecantona7 said:
basketball: It's Yao hands down. He shatters all the all-star votes. Kobe, Lebron, Shaq and others can't touch Yao in terms of global popularity.
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He is very famous but outside of China he's not really that popular to be honest. If you look at jersey sales then you'll see something else. Yao doesn't even crack the top 10. Garnett, Kobe, Iverson, LeBron and Steve Nash are the top 5 for this season (Garnett probably will drop lower since the biggest reason he's there is that he changed teams before the season).

Last 10 years top 10 list (not sure how they calculate this though but it's from the NBA):
Michael Jordan
Kobe Bryant
Allen Iverson
LeBron James
Shaquille O'Neal
Tracy McGrady
Dwayne Wade
Jason Kidd
Vince Carter
Tim Duncan

All-Star votes aren't really the most important thing anyway and btw. Garnett, LeBron, Kobe, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan and Carmelo all got more votes than Yao this year. But like I said, the votes are more competitve for some positions than others so it's not really the best way to calculate popularity.
 
mustaine said:
He is very famous but outside of China he's not really that popular to be honest. If you look at jersey sales then you'll see something else. Yao doesn't even crack the top 10. Garnett, Kobe, Iverson, LeBron and Steve Nash are the top 5 for this season (Garnett probably will drop lower since the biggest reason he's there is that he changed teams before the season).

Last 10 years top 10 list (not sure how they calculate this though but it's from the NBA):
Michael Jordan
Kobe Bryant
Allen Iverson
LeBron James
Shaquille O'Neal
Tracy McGrady
Dwayne Wade
Jason Kidd
Vince Carter
Tim Duncan
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I know he's not famous outside of China but China holds almost half of the world's population so in terms of global popularity surely Yao would be there. It comes down to what you would categorize as popularity. Do shirt-sales exceed all-star votes or does the latter exceed the former? What else would be taken into account in terms of popularity.
 
dno said:
Globally Sachin Tendulkar is the most famous cricketer. There are over a billion people in India and Sachin is probably the most famous person in the country. If no one in Pakistan, Australia, SA, England, WI etc ever heard of him he'd still be the most famous cricketer on the planet.
Sachin is quite possibly a candidate for the most famous athlete on the planet.
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Forgot about that, although I'm pretty sure Tiger Woods and David Beckham are known both in and outside of India whereas Sachin is only well known in India and it's surrounding countries. Close one though.
 
I_live_cement said:
Forgot about that, although I'm pretty sure Tiger Woods and David Beckham are known both in and outside of India whereas Sachin is only well known in India and it's surrounding countries. Close one though.
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At best only 20% of Indian population would know about Beckham and probably 10% about Woods.
 
ecantona7 said:
I know he's not famous outside of China but China holds almost half of the world's population so in terms of global popularity surely Yao would be there. It comes down to what you would categorize as popularity. Do shirt-sales exceed all-star votes or does the latter exceed the former? What else would be taken into account in terms of popularity.
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1/6 would be a lot closer. half is quite an exaggeration
 
ecantona7 said:
I know he's not famous outside of China but China holds almost half of the world's population so in terms of global popularity surely Yao would be there. It comes down to what you would categorize as popularity. Do shirt-sales exceed all-star votes or does the latter exceed the former? What else would be taken into account in terms of popularity.
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Look at my last post again, I edited it.

Now for the All-Star... the thing is that like I said some postions are more competitive than others. Let's look at this years ballot:

West:
Centers: Yao, Amare Stoudemire, Pau Gasol (who was injured most of the time and will probably be listed at forward next year) and Marcus Camby. Between Yao and Amare this year (Shaq will be on the ballot next year and Amere will move to forward), in my prediction Yao's votes will fall even lower next season especially since Shaq, Bynum and Oden will all be on the ballot.

Forwards: Tim Duncan, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, Carlos Boozer, David West, Peja Stojakovic, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Lamar Odom. Duncan and Anthony made it... Dirk was their main rival... next year Gasol, Durant and Stoudamire will make this race more interesting.

Guards (the most competitve of the lot): Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Tracy McGrady, Brandon Roy, Baron Davis, Tony Parker, Man Utd Ginobili and Stephen Jackson. This list is rediculus... you essentially have Iverson, Kobe, Paul, Nash and McGrady here who are among the most popular players out there. On top of that you have Paul who is getting bigger and bigger along with Williams, Roy and Baron Davis who are all gaining momentum. Add to that the two San Antonio players who will always get their share of votes and you can see how difficult it is to calculate popularity with the All-Star ballot... but hey, that's only my opinion.

East:
Centers: Dwight Howard and Rasheed Wallace. Shaq really wasn't in contention since he was shit with Miami this season (adding that he has improved with the Suns). Howard was an easy decision for most people.

Forwards: Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Caron Butler, Hedu Turkoglu and Paul Pierce. Looking at this list it pretty obvious who the main players are.

Guards: Jason Kidd, Dwayne Wade, Vince Carter, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Ray Allen and Gilbert Arenas. Wade was injured for the most part but still made it. Arenas would have started if he would have stayed healthy. Billups and Hamilton deserved to start though but they will never be the most popular players around.

I'm sorry for the long post, I just love basketball :D
 
i have only ever heard of yao, there seems to be alot of yanks in this thread

i hate to tell you
no one knows anything about or even cares about american football and basketball
 
Ecroyd said:
i have only ever heard of yao, there seems to be alot of yanks in this thread

i hate to tell you
no one knows anything about or even cares about american football and basketball
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I dislike that comment as much as I dislike it when I go and American forums and all they do is shit over football (and keep on insisting that it should be called soccer, not football).

I'm Icelandic btw. and like football, basketball and American football :eek:
 
mustaine said:
I like it actually, when I was a kid I lived in Sweden for a year and really got into hockey. When I moved back here I kinda drifted away from it again but I still watch it when I get the chance. Brutal sport :devil:
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that's not good enough, as of this moment your are no longer icelandic. Considering the sports you like, you are now a yank :p
 
mustaine said:
He is very famous but outside of China he's not really that popular to be honest. If you look at jersey sales then you'll see something else. Yao doesn't even crack the top 10. Garnett, Kobe, Iverson, LeBron and Steve Nash are the top 5 for this season (Garnett probably will drop lower since the biggest reason he's there is that he changed teams before the season).

Last 10 years top 10 list (not sure how they calculate this though but it's from the NBA):

Michael Jordan
Kobe Bryant
Allen Iverson
LeBron James
Shaquille O'Neal
Tracy McGrady
Dwayne Wade
Jason Kidd
Vince Carter
Tim Duncan

All-Star votes aren't really the most important thing anyway and btw. Garnett, LeBron, Kobe, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan and Carmelo all got more votes than Yao this year. But like I said, the votes are more competitve for some positions than others so it's not really the best way to calculate popularity.
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Many of the names you listed aren't even popular players, they are incredible talents but some of them are so hated. (Vince Carter, he's not even an incredible talent anymore)

D.Wade's team is the equivalent of a regulated Prem team so no one hears about Wade that much at the moment.

Jason Kidd is well past his prime, and he beats his wife.

Everyone hates Tim Duncan with the similar ABU mentality. He has just won it too many times and is too good, but not very "fun" to watch.

No one even likes Tmac as much as they used to. He is considered "soft" and he is always either injured or plays with no-heart.

I could go on...

Since you listed Michael Jordan, you HAVE to mention:

Magic Johson
Larry Bird
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Charles Barkley
Gary Payton
Penny Hardaway
Hakeem Olaujawon
John Stockton
Karl Malone
there's just too many from that era that are more popular than the ones you listed from our current era.

And just to set the record straight, Lebron is NOT the most popular. He is the ONE of the most widely known, and is a godly basketball talent, but by no means is he one of the most popular basketball players.

Most popular basketball players TODAY, in this order:
1. Iverson
2. Kobe
3. And at this current moment, probably Chris Paul or Kevin Garnett.

here's a few others that are somewhat more popular than many of the "superstar" names you supplied:
Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, Amare Stoudamire, Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Gilbert Arenas, Rasheed Wallace, Dwight Howard
 
The most popular basketball player is Iverson. There is not a single NBA fan that does NOT like Iverson. He is admired, feared, and respected by all. There may be some that are indifferent, but NO ONE dislikes Iverson.

You can't say the same about Kobe or Lebron.
 
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