Who is the biggest global icon?

andremcosta · Post #321 » by **andremcosta** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:03 pm

Phil XI wrote:If the US is not part of this equation than why ask the question? Yes, I know football (soccer) is the biggest sport in the world. But it seems that if the point of this thread was to exclude one of the pieces of the globe then we are not doing the question justice.

You don't need to remove USA from the equation. Messi is winning this ballot in a BASKETBALL forum, against the most iconic BASKETBALL player.

Messi is the number one for probably half people living in the world the has some access to sports. None of them in USA.

Kobe is the number one for, let's say, 10% in the world, since most of his fans are in USA, although he's also famous outside.

Based on that, in USA people tends to believe Kobe is more popular, but they forget is not that popular outside.

Also, endorsement money is not everything in question. Kobe makes a lot of money because USA represent 20% of world GNP. The question is not about popularity between rich people. If you consider poor continents, like the whole Africa, Messi is way more popular, and that brings almost no money.

Post #322 » by **LLcoleJ** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:03 pm

Cleveland Cavs wrote:
Phil XI wrote:
Notas A3 wrote:No, the question remains the same, that in USA you don't give a **** about soccer doesn't mean that for the rest of the world the biggest GLOBAL icon is not Messi.

Globally, Messi is recognized as the biggest global icon while talking about sports.

I don't disagree with you. I know and believe that Messi is huge all ovber the world. But when you say globally, you have to use the entire globe.

I think that rules him out of this question. It doesn't diminish anything about him.

Its about global recognition and I am including every country,not excluding any.

My wife is European. Not second generation Euro, but with accent and green card euro. I know how big Messi is over there.

My point is: A guy like Roger Feder who plays on huge international stages all around the world is probably more recognizable to the average person in every country.

If we did it by your rules then there wouldnt be any global icons..
Im sure there are countries where most people never heard of Kobe so lets rule him out of this question aswell.

ha my rules?

I have ruled Kobe out of this question 3 times in this thread.

andremcosta · Post #323 » by **andremcosta** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:10 pm

Phil XI wrote:
Notas A3 wrote:No, the question remains the same, that in USA you don't give a **** about soccer doesn't mean that for the rest of the world the biggest GLOBAL icon is not Messi.

Globally, Messi is recognized as the biggest global icon while talking about sports.

I don't disagree with you. I know and believe that Messi is huge all ovber the world. But when you say globally, you have to use the entire globe.

I think that rules him out of this question. It doesn't diminish anything about him.

Its about global recognition and I am including every country,not excluding any.

My wife is European. Not second generation Euro, but with accent and green card euro. I know how big Messi is over there.

My point is: A guy like Roger Feder who plays on huge international stages all around the world is probably more recognizable to the average person in every country.

If you have USA included as a pre-requisite, because it's a big market ok.

But I'm 100% sure, if you ask every single person in the world, Messi is by far, the most popular.

He's the best player in the most popular sport for 3-4 years.

Federer is a good definition of global icon, if you consider he's also popular in USA. But of course, the number of people that has Messi as the #1 is way bigger.

Post #324 » by **LLcoleJ** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:10 pm

donnieme wrote:
Phil XI wrote:
So the question really is : Who is the biggest global icon out side of the USA? Answer: Messi

How are you still not getting his point? He's saying the biggest global icon in sports is Messi EVEN IF you include the USA where he isn't popular. And that Yes, there is that big a difference between USA sporting trends and World sports trends.

The only American athlete that I think should be on this list is Tiger Woods. Kick the rest out.

Now, No, I don't think Golf is the biggest sport in the world or close to it. But alot of people around the world would recognize who he is. I don't think he is even close to Messi in most of the world. But I think he would be more recognizable to the average person in more countries than any US athlete.

I don't think there is any basketball player outside of Mike Jordan that has worldwide appeal.

Notas A3 · Post #325 » by **Notas A3** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:11 pm

Well, you can rule out for Spain the rest of the guys who are not footballers but Federer, and that is not saying much, here, people don't know about Sampras, McEnroe, Agassi, Steffi Graff, Bjorn or Laver. And probably a 10% at best, of the whole population in my country, would know about Roger and only because of his rivalry with Rafa... I'm pretty sure that in a country like Botswana they don't know about none of the guys of the list .

That is not the point of the question.

Cleveland Cavs · Post #326 » by **Cleveland Cavs** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:15 pm

Notas A3 wrote:Well, you can rule out for Spain the rest of the guys who are not footballers but Federer, and that is not saying much, here, people don't know about Sampras, McEnroe, Agassi, Steffi Graff, Bjorn or Laver. And probably a 10% at best, of the whole population in my country, would know about Roger and only because of his rivalry with Rafa... I'm pretty sure that in a country like Botswana they don't know about none of the guys of the list .

That is not the point of the question.

Im pretty sure in Botswana they know who Messi is.. alot of Africans play football

Cigamodnalro · Post #327 » by **Cigamodnalro** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:17 pm

Shaq.

Brovva Blaqq · Post #328 » by **Brovva Blaqq** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:17 pm

Tennis is unimportant.

Just google Ronald Federer. Less than 5 mil hits.

Notas A3 · Post #329 » by **Notas A3** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:20 pm

Cleveland Cavs wrote:
Notas A3 wrote:Well, you can rule out for Spain the rest of the guys who are not footballers but Federer, and that is not saying much, here, people don't know about Sampras, McEnroe, Agassi, Steffi Graff, Bjorn or Laver. And probably a 10% at best, of the whole population in my country, would know about Roger and only because of his rivalry with Rafa... I'm pretty sure that in a country like Botswana they don't know about none of the guys of the list .

That is not the point of the question.

Im pretty sure in Botswana they know who Messi is.. alot of Africans play football

And you are right, I've checked out the topic and the most important sport is football, and probably if you talk about Etoo or Drogba they would know them better.

What I was trying to say is that none of the list is known everywhere, even Michael Jordan is not known in every single country, so you can't have a global icon in that terms. But in the overal, Messi/Ronaldo are the biggest global icon, Im sure that there are as much people in the United States of America that know Messi/Cristiano Ronaldo in % as people who know Federer in my country.

trickshot · Post #330 » by **trickshot** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:25 pm

Brovva Blaqq wrote:Tennis is unimportant.

Just google Ronald Federer. Less than 5 mil hits.

The gift that keeps on giving :lol:

pohani komarac · Post #331 » by **pohani komarac** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:27 pm

I can say that in Europe Kobe and James are not close to be icon Jordan was and that they are not close to Messi, Ronaldo, Federer. Woods is also higher then them since he is "myth" for years in media.

pohani komarac · Post #332 » by **pohani komarac** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:27 pm

I can say that in Europe Kobe and James are not close to be icon Jordan was and that they are not close to Messi, Ronaldo, Federer. Woods is also higher then them since he is "myth" for years in media. Bolt is also more popular then Kobe and James here.

SunKing · Post #333 » by **SunKing** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:35 pm

I'm african (and lived in many african countries during my childhood), the good old "we don't know nothing but our local star player who used to play with Lion in the village and the white men never brought to us the television" (I know I made it sound worse than what y'all are saying but I'm really pissed off at those kind of assumption).

For example while I lived in Congo I can guarantee you a lot of people are following the Tour de France in cycling, and we used to love Miguel Indurain and most of people have no idea about it...

And yes Messi is a hero. Eto'o/Drogba and co. might be the example of success but don't get nothing wrong kids are dreaming about Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi.

East_Coast · Post #334 » by **East_Coast** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:41 pm

This thread is hilarious and revealing at the same time. It really shows who 'gets' globalization and is aware of world news and events.... and those who think that the world revolves around the US.

BubbaTee · Post #335 » by **BubbaTee** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 9:10 pm

BasedJohnson wrote:The only soccer player I know is David Beckham.. LOL.

Beckham would be more legit competition for Messi and Ronaldo in this poll than Kobe, since Beckham also has a fanbase of non-sports fans.

choppermagic · Post #336 » by **choppermagic** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 9:30 pm

No F1 drivers? They have huge world wide followings.

Belarion · Post #337 » by **Belarion** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 9:58 pm

Ok I asked two of my friends (1 male, 1 female) who they know. Both are living in Germany and dont really follow any sports.
He knew all of Messi, Ronaldo, Kobe, Lebron, Federer and Woods (didnt ask for more). She knew Ronaldo and Woods, kind of knew Messi and Federer, and had no idea who Kobe or Lebron could be.

Of course not really representive, it kind of goes with my own assumption. I think Ronaldo is more known to the general public as he has more marketbility (and star factor) towards people who doesnt care if he is better or worse than Messi. For Tiger Woods, basically no one cares for golf but I think the name is really well known due to publicity reasons. So those would also be my first two choices. Of course kind of german/european perspective, but it definatly isnt Kobe.

simomi · Post #338 » by **simomi** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:50 pm

I live in Morocco and messi is hugely popular here. You can see people with his jerseys everywhere.

Also, Kobe Bryant is a nobody here, except for people who really follow basketball. Jordan and Shaq are the only players everybody knows.

MartyConlonJr · Post #339 » by **MartyConlonJr** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:11 pm

Still don't see how it can be Messi. If it is a soccer player, it is Ronaldo. Anyone that knows Messi knows Ronaldo (and probably Beckham). Not everyone that has heard of Ronaldo or Beckham knows Messi. I'm talking casual and non fans.

I'm still pretty certain it is Tiger Woods, but if it's a soccer player, it isn't Messi.

Ditchweed · Post #340 » by **Ditchweed** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:23 pm

It's the question.

Who is the biggest global icon? ... it's Messi.

If the question was "Who is the biggest US icon? ... it could be Kobe.

That is the difference. The US posters don't like that global answer even though it is correct, and they don't seem to realize that the US is only 4% of the world population and not 100% of the world population. Not all but many US posters seem to live in a fishbowl and don't seem to realize there is a larger world out there that doesn't agree with them. They have a xenephobe ostrich attitude of "if they don't see it, it doesn't exist".

With a sport that is larger globally and watched by more fans than basketball, what if someone in India posted the same global question and then stated that Sachin Tendulker was the world's biggest global icon? US posters would consider him nuts even though cricket has more fans than the entire population of the North American continent. Still it is the same thing with only a local view of the answer to the question.

In future, maybe short sighted posters should learn and limit their question to their own country, else it will just create this mess again.