The most popular US team in the world

[twozeroMM]

I know our home crowd doesn't have the best rep(I personally disagree with this), but I've been able to watch the Heat in 4 different arenas, one being in Toronto and I can say our fans travel very well. It's almost guaranteed a noticeable "Let's go Heat" will happen at some point in the game. That to say I'm not surprised we're 2nd on the list.

[Pachinko_]

What?

You might be surprised to know many people dont know the difference between Rugby and American Football.

Pretty amazing honestly the way football has diverged. Major types I'm aware of:

Association Football, aka Soccer
Rugby Football, aka Rugby
Australian Football
Gaelic Football
American Gridiron Football
Canadian Gridiron Football

To just look at how huge the difference is between Soccer, Rugby & Gridiron is amazing.

Rugby is also split in two codes: Union and League

...and that's about all I know about rugby, but it's fun to watch sometimes, especially when a game starts with a haka in a full arena.

[SkyHookFTW]

Hmm, here in Brazil I think the Bulls, Lakers and Patriots are the 3 top teams popularity wise

Long-time Patriot Brady is married to a very popular world-wide known Brazilian, so not surprised.

[Pachinko_]

I don't believe this survey data either, based on everything I've seen in my travels especially when it comes to jersey sales it has to be the Bulls and Lakers.

[SkyHookFTW]

I'm really surprised there are no MLB teams at all. I noticed Japan and Cuba aren't the list, I'd think there's a good chance you'd see the Yankees or another baseball team there.

Yes, considering that MLB has players from the USA, Canada, Mexico, every Central American country, Cuba, Dominican Republic, half of South American countries, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines currently playing. 45% of MLB players are Latino.

[dockingsched]

I have lived in 9 countries over the last 30 years, and the Bulls are the most noticed when it comes to merchandise, everywhere. The NY Yankee hat is #1, but for a team overall, it's the Bulls.
I am in North Africa now, and recently I went into a random store to buy pajamas for my daughter. They had 1 Laker item and about 10 Bulls items for sale. In the main mall, at the top sports shop, it's a big poster of DRose in his Bulls' uniform that is most prominent. It was like that in Japan and Latin America too-Bulls stuff all over the place.

The bulls thing is/was all about Michael Jordan. My family from Central America loves the bulls, has their merchandise and everything. Couldn’t tell you a damn thing about them, name a single player on their roster, or how they’ve done as a team. Only that it was MJs team.

[dockingsched]

Just cause the Dolphins have played overseas a few times recently leading them to be searched about on Google doesn’t make them “popular”. Just cause the Bucks won the title recently leading to them being searched about online the most recently doesn’t make them the most popular. Not a fan of the conclusión being drawn from this data.

[SkyHookFTW]

Not surprising that the NFL is not that popular overseas. Violence and committee meetings don't appeal to more rational countries.

or....instead of it being political....its because basketball is far more accessible for other countries than football is.

Why do you think soccer is the most popular worldwide sport? Its not because its the best sport, its because its one sport that requires next to no equipment to play and is not dictated by player count.

People from every country no matter how big, small, rich or poor can play soccer as long as they have something resembling a ball. Thats all you need to play.

Accessibility = popularity.

Football is probably the least accessible sport out there because of the amount of people it requires to play and expensive equipment it takes.

Its also why winter sports like skiing/snowboarding are not hugely popular even among Americans. It requires a lot of equipment, its expensive as hell and it requires the correct geography. Less accessible = less popular. You can lump golf into that equation as well.

Gridiron Football on the other hand is what you get when you take football and let elite colleges with a military fetish take over. The idea of a "first down" is not coincidentally analogous to "take that next hill". It's somewhat amazing to me as a result of this that Gridiron Football is as popular to this day in the US as it is. Tradition is a big part of this, but so is the structure of the game with so many breaks and such a clear schedule to plan for. I'd imagine all countries have the potential for something to be an excuse for watch parties, but that there's no way that Gridiron Football can really take hold the same way in countries where it isn't already established, so it remains strong in the US, but likely forever trapped on a tier below the truly global games which will continue to gain in their revenue-generation ability as their countries continue to catch-up to the US at this sort of consumer spending.

Not really surprising when one considers how ingrained sports is at the youth and high school level. American sports are supposed to be accessible all types of people. I've been in education and coaching for over 30 years, so I know this well. American football is just about the only sport that a large kid, in or out of shape, can participate in, especially since wrestling at the high school level has had an upper limit weight restriction--no more super-heavyweight class where every high school coach looked for the largest body walking the halls and threw him on the mat. So, if you are 16-17 years old, 6'4", 300 pounds or over and built like a mini-tank, American football has a spot for you on the line if you can get into some semblance of shape and conditioning (and don't mind getting pounded every play). If you can really get into shape, you have a chance at college play at some level. Also, this sport will always be popular for its macho aspect and the challenge of the sport itself. I myself loved the challenge and physical nature of the sport, and my body in high school, 6'4", 230 and muscled, was just right for the sport (my Rutgers coaches made me put on 15 pounds so I could play as a LB/DE hybrid).

On a side note, football participation is declining, as many parents see the sport as too dangerous. Rugby would be a great alternative. I played that sport for 10 years, and it is fun as hell. A bit safer too, due to a few rule differences, but still very physical. Scrum and the goal line stance have a lot in common.

[Statlanta]

Thanks to Jordan, WGN is on cable news for a lot of the world. I'm not surprised the Bulls are higher than the Celtics and Knicks in terms of popularity.

[Sofia]

There’s no way Miami are the most popular team in Australia. I know more Spurs fans than Heat fans.

[Mr B]

Are we talking about the the NBA or all sports in general?

If we’re talking about all sports in general there’s no question it’s the Dallas Cowboys. For like the last 10 years in a row they have been named the most valuable franchise in the world. Over teams like Manchester United and the New York Yankees. The Cowboys sell more merch world wide than any franchise in any sport.

[sigueina]

Miami Heat is not a top 10 team in Iceland. Lakers are number 1 Bulls 2 Boston 3

[Masigond]

Are we talking about the the NBA or all sports in general?

If we’re talking about all sports in general there’s no question it’s the Dallas Cowboys. For like the last 10 years in a row they have been named the most valuable franchise in the world. Over teams like Manchester United and the New York Yankees. The Cowboys sell more merch world wide than any franchise in any sport.

No, they don't. The reason for the Cowboys ranking first in value overall is their share of NFL media and sponsorship deals and local revenue which alone is estimated to be at $650 million in 2021.

I've never seen any Dallas Cowboys merch ever here in Germany. And for that matter: The Green Bay Packers as the most popular US team? No way! There are some football fans here and games are broadcasted regularly but this sport simply isn't popular over here (and for that matter: I don't know any fans of the Packers, only Dolphins'). No contest to basketball. You'll still see a lot of Lakers (Kobe) jerseys here. And I'd guess that the aformentioned NY Yankees baseball cap alone makes more than that. Even if most of the tourists and people abroad don't even know that it's the team's symbol and not the city's.

[Cactus Jack]

Are we talking about the the NBA or all sports in general?

If we’re talking about all sports in general there’s no question it’s the Dallas Cowboys. For like the last 10 years in a row they have been named the most valuable franchise in the world. Over teams like Manchester United and the New York Yankees. The Cowboys sell more merch world wide than any franchise in any sport.

Value & popularity do not equate. The NFL doesn't have the same global reach like the NBA. Teams like the Lakers & Bulls (MJ) are easily more recognized in most foreign countries. Same applies for a club like Man United.

[RSP83]

Based on the eye-test, Yankees, Warriors, Lakers. Those are the 3 US Pro Sport franchises that I see the most outside the US. Yankees is different though, it's only popular because Yankee caps' pop culture status. Warriors seems to be the team of the decade for mainstream / casual basketball (NBA) fans. Reminds me of how the Bulls was in the 90s from popularity and merchandising perspective.

[DS17]

This has to be BS lol.. no way the warriors are more popular than the Lakers worldwide.

[DS17]

I don't believe this survey data either, based on everything I've seen in my travels especially when it comes to jersey sales it has to be the Bulls and Lakers.

Yeah. It has to be BS. The Philippines is Laker town, for example.

[Lalouie]

https://bookies.com/news/the-most-popular-us-sports-teams-around-the-world

Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering their popularity across most continents, the Golden State Warriors top the charts as most popular US sports team around the world, taking the crown in an astounding 56 countries (more than the next six best-performing teams combined).

The Miami Heat come in second with the vote of 16 countries, while the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks have 12 and 10, respectively. Curiously, the top 10 US sports teams around the world are all from the NBA, with NFL not featured until the Dallas Cowboys in 11th.

please,,,,

gsw - i wonder why
bulls - mj
milwaukee - why them i wonder
miami - well, since there's no lakers(even with lebron) and no knicks one can only surmise it's miami's beaches and the lebron heat,,otherwise who'd care

point being,,,show me something with teeth.

the cowboys for instance are a football team and football does not have world wide popularity like basketball, that hasn't won JACK in 25years, and have been averaging 9 wins in the last decade. so the popularity that they have?....THAT'S popularity

[Golden Knight]

I'm really surprised there are no MLB teams at all. I noticed Japan and Cuba aren't the list, I'd think there's a good chance you'd see the Yankees or another baseball team there.

Maybe you didn't scroll down past Europe. (although Cuba is indeed missing)

Japan - Washington Nationals
South Korea - Toronto Blue Jays what?

Nicaragua - Boston Red Sox
Panama - New York Yankees
Puerto Rico - Atlanta Braves

Surprising that it's the Warriors for the Dominican Republic and not an MLB team. Was also expecting an MLB team for Taiwan.

[Jazz9]

lol the Warriors aren't the most popular in France
What the hell is this...