Super Bull
I have a theory that many Americans contribute to the popularity of professional football (you know, that game played primarily with the hands and a pointy object that little resembles a ball) simply because they have been told that football is popular. It’s kind of like how, in the late 90s, everyone pretended to like Merlot. Many people watch the games because they have been told that millions of other people are watching the games.
At least in the case of the Super Bowl, it turns out that not as many people are watching as we’ve always heard. Football media love to say that 1 billion people watch the Super Bowl. Thanks to a nice little piece at MSNBC, we know that “Super Bowl XLI will be televised in 232 countries and available to an estimated worldwide audience of 750 million to 1 billion people” (emphasis added).
Further, “Super Bowl XL posted an average audience of 98 million, with 151 million tuning in at some point. If you’re number-crunching, that’s 849 million short of a billion.”
I wouldn’t even bring this up if not for the money quote in the next paragraph: “One 2006 sporting event did come close to the 1 billion mark: The World Cup final between Italy and France drew an average audience of 260 million, and 603 million people saw at least part of the game.”
13 comments
As Dave Pirner said, “Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd”.
Bingo.
Soul Asylum is relevant in any situation.
Hopefully someone got David Beckham tickets to the game.
Hopefully someone got David Beckham tickets to the game.
Don’t worry, he’ll be there.
Wow…amazing how un-funny an idea becomes in reality.
And of course, then there is this: BECKHAM TO HELP REDESIGN US TEAM’S SOCCER KIT
Let’s pretend that football and soccer have roughly the same following around the world, in terms of number of fans.
Might more people be inclined to watch at least part of a championship game that occurs once every four years, as opposed to one that occurs every year?
“Let’s pretend that football and soccer have roughly the same following around the world, in terms of number of fans.”
I would hope so, considering they are the same thing.
Oh…you meant American football and football/soccer.
Actually I think its a bit unfair to compare the Superbowl with the World Cup. I’ve always been of the assumption that sporting events that have nations as the contestants will always outdrawn those that deal with cities, states, or regions. A much better final to compare with the Superbowl would be the Champions League final, which I believe still has a much larger viewership total.
Your clever word games confuse and frighten me.
“confuse and frighten” – It’s amazing how many times I do this to you without even trying.
Usually I refrain from extremes, but I feel confident saying that the Super Bowl will never abide on the lofty heights where alone resides the Copa Mundial.
I like American football because of all the butt-slapping.
Did I type that out loud?
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