Shoes bro. Everyone knows who Jordan is. Everyone.
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Who is the most famous sports person of all time?
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Shoes bro. Everyone knows who Jordan is. Everyone.
Lance Armstrong too maybe? Everyone in the world rides bikes!! Plus that testicle thing. Plus the doping scandals. Plus Livestrong. He's got a lot of events / brandings to get his name out.
I had no idea!
The entirety of my racing knowledge is rednecks like NASCAR, Hoosiers like IndyCar, Euros like F1. I don't think those even have much crossover.
I had no idea!
The entirety of my racing knowledge is rednecks like NASCAR, Hoosiers like IndyCar, Euros like F1. I don't think those even have much crossover.
Boxing was absolutely huge when Ali became famous. That combined with the baby boomers running things accounts for Ali's endurance.
Mass_Pincup
Banned
Zinedine Zidane
Real aanswer Michael Jordan
It's gotta be Jordan, right? Perhaps it is a footballer like Pele or Maradona, but as an American I had no idea who they were until I started following a bit of soccer. And are they well known in somewhere like China? I know that basketball is popular there. Plus I think the proliferation of American pop culture throughout the world probably gives a boost to MJ's recognition.
Of course. I was mainly talking about the millennial generation. His legendary status isn't necessarily tied to his athletic accomplishments anymore.
You'd be surprised how ignorant some younger people are of him today.
Well, that applies to literally anything
And since this thread is about the GOAT I think it's wrong to overly emphasize the knowledge of the most recent generations.
Rico Tubbs
Neo Member
As retired athletes, Jordan made $90 million in 2013 compared to Beckham making $37 million. Remember, Jordan has been retired for over 10 years while Beckham only hung up his boots in 2013. The marketing of Jordan practically helped Nike become the largest sports apparel manufacturer in the world and generate over $2 billion of revenue for the Air Jordan brand.
Echoing what others have said in this thread, probably MJ, Ali, Pele, Woods, and C. Ronaldo are the most famous former and current athletes in the world based on my observations.
The_Hitcher89
Member
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Emre Can will surpass GOATian GOATsteiger in the next few weeks bruv
MikeHattsu
Member
Pele, Maradona, Jordan or Tiger Woods I guess...
It's not about GOAT though. It's about most famous.
It's not about GOAT though. It's about most famous.
Well this comment sure backfired.
Maybe. After all Can comes from that glorious Bayern Youth.
Rastafarian42
Member
Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordan.
MFOAT doesn't quite roll off the tongue.
You know what I meant.
Bill Rizer
Member
If you made this question on a Russian forum:
They know what it's all about.
They know what it's all about.
The_Hitcher89
Member
Holy shit, you just double downed on the stupid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euroleague
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIBA_Europe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIBA_EuroBasket
Yeah, no one is europe likes basketball, at all.
Willing to bet the top three are football players.
India has 4 times the population of the US and pretty much everyone in India knows who Sachin Tendulkar is, as does the rest of the cricketing world. Michael Jordan can't compete with that.
And I doubt Tendulkar is even in the top 10.
India has 4 times the population of the US and pretty much everyone in India knows who Sachin Tendulkar is, as does the rest of the cricketing world. Michael Jordan can't compete with that.
And I doubt Tendulkar is even in the top 10.
You seem to have misunderstood the term "major consumption"
Triggerhappytel
Member
Probably Muhammed Ali.
EDIT - for what it's worth, I'm from the UK and I doubt many people outside of America are going to consider basketball or baseball players as the most famous, just the same as you guys probably wouldn't consider an F1 driver like Schumacher or Moss, or a footballer like Pele or Maradona the most famous ever. But I feel like boxing doesn't really have its roots in any one country and has more of a global appeal, as historically you have contenders from the UK, France, USA, Caribbean, Germany, Russia, Africa, and, of course, Ukraine.
EDIT - for what it's worth, I'm from the UK and I doubt many people outside of America are going to consider basketball or baseball players as the most famous, just the same as you guys probably wouldn't consider an F1 driver like Schumacher or Moss, or a footballer like Pele or Maradona the most famous ever. But I feel like boxing doesn't really have its roots in any one country and has more of a global appeal, as historically you have contenders from the UK, France, USA, Caribbean, Germany, Russia, Africa, and, of course, Ukraine.
You seem to misunderstand everything, so I guess we're even.
You think those organizations exist just for shits and giggles?
Excuse me? Way to finish a discussion.
The TV audience for Euroleague is roughly 6 million (rounding way up)
The TV audience for the Premier league, only 1 league in 1 country is 4.7 billion.
I think Basketball in Europe is statistically insignificant.
The funny thing is that Canada and China are terrible at basketball on the international level. There are several countries that are far better (most of them in Europe)
You keep moving the goalposts, first it's American only. Then it's Canada and Asia too. Now it's not "major consumption". So what is it going to be next?
Also your stats are from 5 YEARS AGO, do you have anything a little more current?
http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/138400/turkish-airlines-euroleague-audience-growth-sets-records
Basketball is pretty popular in certain areas of the world, this I don't necessarily disagree on, but the fact that there are actually leagues in Europe tells you absolutely nothing about the popularity of the sport in general. Most sports are played in Europe to some extent, but that does not mean they are major sports in any way.
It is like me trying to prove Cricket is popular in the US by posting the fact that there was a league there. It means nothing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_America_Cricket_Association
@bolded, what?
Are you seriously arguing that basketball is more popular then football? The goalposts havnt changed. My original point is that football has a larger audience then basketball so a football player would most likely be the most famous sportsman. There is obviously other media that is a factor too but that is much harder to analyse.
Yeh their website was down could only find a cache version.
To those who've mentioned Gretzsky - thanks, I needed a good laugh on a Monday morning.
UK here, and I'd say the only three worth mentioning are Jordan, Ali and Tiger Woods. Pele and Maradona are huge, but it's due to their playing exploits alone, the others transcended their sports to become global icons as well as being the best in their field. Beckham is a huge 'brand; but his skills as a footballer are/were nowhere near world class. He'll be much less relevant in 20 years, unlike Pele and Maradona whose names will live on a long time.
A good test is to ask someone utterly clueless about sport. My Mum knows who Jordan, Ali and Woods are. I doubt she's heard of any of the other names in this thread (maybe Tyson).
UK here, and I'd say the only three worth mentioning are Jordan, Ali and Tiger Woods. Pele and Maradona are huge, but it's due to their playing exploits alone, the others transcended their sports to become global icons as well as being the best in their field. Beckham is a huge 'brand; but his skills as a footballer are/were nowhere near world class. He'll be much less relevant in 20 years, unlike Pele and Maradona whose names will live on a long time.
A good test is to ask someone utterly clueless about sport. My Mum knows who Jordan, Ali and Woods are. I doubt she's heard of any of the other names in this thread (maybe Tyson).
Chuck Norris
Banned
Blatantly inaccurate
Beckham, Pele etc are arguably even bigger than the sport they played, that's why the popularity of the sport is relevant.
So you're saying your mother wouldn't recognize Cristiano Ronaldo? Give me a break, he is the most famous person in sports.
No, I'm not. I and a load of others are trying to tell you it's not as niche as you seem to think it is. That seems to be hard for you to understand.
No one in America gives a shit about Ronaldo. Well, maybe MLS fans.
DontBeThatGuy
Member
My mother wouldn't.
Exactly. Jordan brand is incredibly popular on its own and directly tied to the biggest sports company on the planet. It is everywhere.
And Jordan is synonymous with championships, competitiveness and winning. Across every sport. How often do you hear "X is the MJ of Y."
A truer test would be to ask your grandparents.
Ps Beckham's skill is irrelevant in this context.
The_Hitcher89
Member
Don't be dense
If someone doesn't give a shit about sport, they don't look at the back pages, and they don't watch the TV when a sport story is on.
With that in mind, someone who avoids sports is more likely to recognise him as a nameless face from an advert than the Balon d'Or holder.
Yes I'm saying that. She wouldn't have a clue. Outside of games, how much does he appear in modern media?
Although you've highlighted that the question in the OP will likely have differing answers if you ask it to sports fans the world over, rather than the whole world population.
You are throwing around a lot of insults. Very poor debating form. I think basketball is niche everywhere except the 3 areas I mentioned (America, China, Canada), and there are numbers to back that up. Football far more popular in many more countries.
At least you know who he is.
And people who don't give a shit about basketball know who Jordan is.
Stop playing dumb.
In places like Lithuania it is actually pretty popular. It depends how we are really defining niche though. A couple of million fans for the entire continent while isn't completely insignificant, it isn't exactly huge either.
Interestingly, Soccer in the US is far more popular than Basketball is in Europe.
That said, Michael Jordan has always been famous in Europe. To some extent though, I think Michael Jordan was famous for being famous rather than necessarily famous because of people's interest in the sport. Europe has always had quite a big exposure to American popular culture. It would be hard not to be aware of Michael Jordan for that reason.
lol at the americans in here dismissing football (soccer, ugh) players and posting baseball players and fucking wrestlers I don't think you grasp how big football is. It kind of pisses me off because it really shows a lack of understanding for the rest of the world.
That said, Michael Jordan might be a good pick, his name almost represents basketball, if you have heard of basket, you have heard of him. Football doesn't have that one person, but several, Pele, Maradona, Messi, Beckham, C.Ronaldo etc. though I think a huge number of people know ALL of them.
I don't think you grasp how big football is. It kind of pisses me off because it really shows a lack of understanding for the rest of the world. That said, Michael Jordan might be a good pick, his name almost represents basketball, if you have heard of basket, you have heard of him. Football doesn't have that one person, but several, Pele, Maradona, Messi, Beckham, C.Ronaldo etc. though I think a huge number of people know ALL of them.
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