Who is the biggest global icon?

[TomJoad]

Using the argument of how many "Fans" a sport has is terrible or how many viewers watched an event is terrible.
Just because someone isn't a "Fan" of basketball, doesn't mean they don't know who Kobe is.

Less terrible for sure than using the argument of how many people have heard about the Tiger Woods affaire to conclude he is some kind of icon outside the american and english world.

[Dr Aki]

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_is_the_bi ... _the_world

[pross]

Most reports have it over the billion which is more than any other sporting event could even dream of.

Except maybe the Fifa World Cup, especially the Finals?

The 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ was shown in every single country and territory on Earth, including Antarctica and the Arctic Circle, generating record-breaking viewing figures in many TV markets around the world. The in-home television coverage of the competition reached over 3.2 billion people around the world, or 46.4 per cent of the global population, based on viewers watching a minimum of over one minute of coverage. This represents an eight per cent rise on the number of viewers recorded during the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™.

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/organisation/media/newsid=1473143/index.html

It should definitely be a soccer player.

Yes, but was Messi in that final?

Not just that, but remember soccer and basketball are TEAM sports which makes guys like Bolt, Phelps, Woods stand out more. I guarantee I can walk into any restaurant in australia and start a conversation with a random about those guys in comparison to Bryant

[Cleveland Cavs]

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_is_the_biggest_sports_star_in_the_world

Did you seriously use that link?
lmaoo thats just a person answering that question, thats basically 1 vote for Usain Bolt..
What are you exactly trying to proof here?

[pross]

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_is_the_biggest_sports_star_in_the_world

Did you seriously use that link?
lmaoo thats just a person answering that question, thats basically 1 vote for Usain Bolt..
What are you exactly trying to proof here?

That his english is better than yours?

[pohani komarac]

Using the argument of how many "Fans" a sport has is terrible or how many viewers watched an event is terrible.
Just because someone isn't a "Fan" of basketball, doesn't mean they don't know who Kobe is.

ctuall not true. lot of people in europe don't know who kobe is. i don't know for rest of world, but kobe or lebron are not close in this race....in fact most of this people who don't know who kobe is, those who don't folow sport know who messi, ronaldo, bolt, maradona, woods or jordan is

kobe or lebron no mather how us media wannts to create just don't have "special aurora".

And about what somebody wrote about Croatia...It's truth, and basketball is 2nd most popular sport here.....there was voting wich is your favorite sport an basketball got 25% of votes 2nd after football 48%, while 3rd handball had 9%, athletics was something like 2-3%...but is not just about sport popularity (and football is without question most popular sport in world) it's that "special thing" kobe or lebron don't have

[Hijinks]

Most reports have it over the billion which is more than any other sporting event could even dream of.

Except maybe the Fifa World Cup, especially the Finals?

The 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ was shown in every single country and territory on Earth, including Antarctica and the Arctic Circle, generating record-breaking viewing figures in many TV markets around the world. The in-home television coverage of the competition reached over 3.2 billion people around the world, or 46.4 per cent of the global population, based on viewers watching a minimum of over one minute of coverage. This represents an eight per cent rise on the number of viewers recorded during the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™.

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/organisation/media/newsid=1473143/index.html

It should definitely be a soccer player.

Yes, but was Messi in that final?

Not just that, but remember soccer and basketball are TEAM sports which makes guys like Bolt, Phelps, Woods stand out more. I guarantee I can walk into any restaurant in australia and start a conversation with a random about those guys in comparison to Bryant

Yes, but is Australia the whole world?

Sure, Messi wasn't in that final, but he was in that tournament. If even half of those people watched one argentina game, then more have seen him, thant Bolt at the olympics. Besides, I'd say min. 75% of persons who watched the final would also know Messi.

There is some truth in it, that individual sports is better for building an icon than team sport. But Messi isn't onyl recognized as a barcelona player or an argentinian player. There also has been much coverage of Messi vs. Ronaldo as best soccer players.
You could definitely argue though, that Beckham is still more well known, than both Messi and Ronaldo. But for me, the biggest global icon would have to be a soccer player.

[maxpower88]

Hey bud how are you? type in "Usain Bolt London 100 meters worldwide/global tv audience", and read the papers.

Hey bud, only dailymail.co.uk is reporting that, and they're pretty much a British tabloid paper. They don't even say how they got that ridiculous number.

The opening ceremony only had an estimated viewership of 900 million people. Lmfao at 2 billion people.

Most reports have it over the billion which is more than any other sporting event could even dream of.

I'm from Australia and was sailing around Croatia and managed to watch it in a small restaurant and everyone stopped eating just to see him run. The locals were going crazy for him, it was like nothing I've ever seen. Now let's switch this for a game 7 NBA finals match, I can guarantee A. No one would care if it was on and B. less than 10% of those people would know who the eff Kobe Bryant is.

This is not just Croatia by the way. I was in a sports bar in Spain for the gold medal game between USA and Spain and most people were watching English Premier League compared to bball.

Why are you comparing it to NBA viewership? I've never even tried to make the claim that any basketball game would have more viewers than an Olympic event.

I am however saying that the World Cup final match regularly gets over a billion viewers. Also, did you ever take into consideration that the fact that Bolt was competing at the Olympics could have contributed to the viewership? Bolt also races at the IAAF World Championship and his races there don't receive global audiences in the billions. How many of you have actually watched Bolt race at a non-Olympic event?

El Clasico, a match played between Barcelona (Messi's team) and Real Madrid (Ronaldo's team) regularly reaches global audiences that near a billion viewers. In fact one of the matches went over a billion viewers last season. This wasn't a Champions League final, simply a game in the middle of the Spanish league season.

I'm not trying to belittle Usain Bolt, but Messi is clearly the biggest sports icon in the world.

[BubbaTee]

Using the argument of how many "Fans" a sport has is terrible or how many viewers watched an event is terrible.
Just because someone isn't a "Fan" of basketball, doesn't mean they don't know who Kobe is.

Why would a non-basketball fan know who Kobe is?

Is he marrying famous women like Beckham? Running around on reality shows like Odom? Trying to make bad movies like Shaq? What exactly has he done that would draw in large numbers of non-basketball fans?

Especially considering that much of Kobe's success derives from his laser-like focus on basketball. He's not running around making bad movies or bad TV in the summer because he's in the gym adding a new post move.

[KDgoat]

It's Messi, or perhaps Bolt.

Kobe is a global brand, but not on the scale of international athletes who are also active outside of their own country. An Olympics campaign every 4 years does not cement you as the biggest global icon.

A WC, Champions League, Primera Division, Supercup and every other goddamn football competition watched by millions all over the globe turns Messi into a tremendously popular icon/brand in both the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Oceanic region.

I love basketball, but it can't hold a candle to the global dominance of football and its biggest star.

[AdamTheGreek]

It's Messi and anyone who has ever left the United States should know any other choice is stupid.

Yep, Messi is GOAT when it comes to this topic. He is everywhere. Imagine if he had a great personality.

Ronaldo is viewed as a pussy by a lot of countries, so he's out of the running.

Kobe is by far the most popular basketball player.

Bolt is starting to catch up to the 3 above him.

Tennis and golf are rich folk sports and can never gain traction amongst the masses.

[Alex_De_Large]

Maradona and Jordan, no matter if they are retired or not, someone who has no clue about sports know them.

[Yuri Vaultin]

I would go Pele, Jordan and Lance Armstrong or Muhammad Ali / Mike Tyson pretty much in that order in terms of global sporting icons. A case could be made to have Gretzky in that bunch too.

[24K GOLD]

Leo Messi, then Kobe Bryant.

[Peezy]

Who the hell is Messi and what sport does he play ? how did he have the most votes LOL
Its Kobe Bryant by a landslide

[Peezy]

Maradona and Jordan, no matter if they are retired or not, someone who has no clue about sports know them.

Who is Maradona ? :S no body knows these soccer players like the soccer fans think they would. the average person doesnt care about soccer or remember the players names.

[24K GOLD]

Who the hell is Messi and what sport does he play ? how did he have the most votes LOL
Its Kobe Bryant by a landslide

He plays soccer for the best team in the world.

[Yuri Vaultin]

Who the hell is Messi and what sport does he play ? how did he have the most votes LOL
Its Kobe Bryant by a landslide

No, no it's not and in all reality it isn't even close. Use google and educate yourself.

[dockingsched]

Who the hell is Messi and what sport does he play ? how did he have the most votes LOL
Its Kobe Bryant by a landslide

kobe knows messi

[Dragic13]

Who the hell is Messi and what sport does he play ? how did he have the most votes LOL
Its Kobe Bryant by a landslide

kobe knows messi

Haha best post of the thread.