# Question for Non-Americans -biggest sporting events? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 28, 2019, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357 "2019-08-28T13:03:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/21 "2019-08-28T19:38:14Z")
I’m not Australian, but I am reasonable sure that the Australian Rules Football Championship is the biggest sporting event of the year there: > **[AFL Grand Final](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFL_Grand_Final)** > > The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league at that time was the Victorian Football League. Played at the end of the finals series, the game has been held annually since 1898, except in 1924. It is traditionally staged on the afternoon of the last Saturday in September, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. > The game has spawned... ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/22 "2019-08-28T22:43:31Z")
For Germany, it can only be a football event. The biggest annually is the DFB cup final, played in Berlin’s Olympiastadion traditionally for the last 30 years or so in front of 80.000 people. There are no commercials on the broadcast, because it’s always broadcast by one of the public stations that are not allowed to send commercials after 8 PM and on weekends, which both applies in that case. But to be true, the importance of the DFB cup pales in comparison to the Bundesliga, that’s a competition stretching over 34 matchdays, but it’s where the money is in for commercial stations. The biggest national sporting event imaginable is when we play in a World Cup final, and that happens quite often, with 8 participations we are the record holders. During a World Cup final with German participation, regular business comes to a halt and over 30 millions are watching on TV. Still no commercials, because those too are on public stations. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/23 "2019-08-29T03:16:52Z")
For many sports like the basketball and baseball finals its really only the host cities areas where people make a thing out of it. The networks love it when its 2 big market teams like New York and Los Angeles. Or the teams have national followings like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Little Kansas City - not so much. So other than the 2 times the KC Royals made it to the WS, I never even watched the WS or knew who won. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/24 "2019-08-29T03:55:53Z")
In Taiwan, perhaps the Premier12 WBSC baseball tournament and World Baseball Classics. Baseball is huge in Taiwan and it’s one of the few sports events in a small island. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/25 "2019-08-29T03:59:05Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > I’m not Australian, but I am reasonable sure that the Australian Rules Football Championship is the biggest sporting event of the year there: > > [AFL Grand Final - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFL_Grand_Final) I’d love to say so, but I’m not sure the rest of the country would agree - AFL kind of spread outwards from Victoria, and while we’re doing a good job sucking the rest of the country in, I’m not sure if the Borg has fully assimilated them. Up north, they like rugby. [Apparently it’s neck and neck](https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/tv-ratings-did-the-afl-or-nrl-grand-final-draw-in-a-bigger-audience-20181001-p50722.html) On the other hand, the claimed international audience for the Melbourne Cup is [700 million people](https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/nsw/a-700-million-strong-audience-proves-ng-ab4df3884ea68753f73e710dae87bd98) which frankly I Can’t Even ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/26 "2019-08-29T05:07:52Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I need to ask, when they aired it on TV where the tv commercials any different than ordinary ones or did they have special commercials. > > I’m asking because for the Super Bow big name companies like Coke, Pepsi, and Budweiser spend millions just on ads that premier during the super bowl. > > PS. I’m assuming your tv has commercials. They show a metric fuckton of commercials. At least in Pakistan. Maybe they debut new ones…never noticed to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/27 "2019-08-29T05:22:12Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > As I understand it, in a sport like soccer, a “derby” is a game (match) against your team’s biggest rival (particularly when that rival is based in the same city, or close by) – is my understanding accurate? There’s usually a sociopolitical component. One of the biggest, called _el clásico_ (Barça-Madrid or vice versa) involves the two biggest teams in the country and a lot of political history behind their backing. And of course there’s commercials during the matches. There’s the ads on the field itself, there’s the band at the bottom of the screen, there’s “flies” (logos) stuck anyplace on the screen the people from Ad Sales can get away with, and commercial breaks which are as frequent as the rules of the game allow for and as long as the laws allow. Pre-game breaks try to approach eternity: ad laws are written in the form of “5’ break for every 20’ programming”, and the TV companies will just make other breaks smaller to pile up as much income in the pre-game as they possibly can. They would love to stretch the mid-game or any pre-extra time, but trying that gets raspberries from the clubs and their organizations. Oh, and the wall of ads behind people being interviewed. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/28 "2019-08-29T07:03:27Z")
> [@ashtayk](#): > > An India Pakistan match in the recent Cricket World cup drew 229 Million viewers. Contrast this to the Superbowl with 92 Million. _“Well, that’s just Super!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/29 "2019-08-29T07:45:13Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > The biggest national sporting event imaginable is when we play in a World Cup final, and that happens quite often, On behalf of the England supporters can I just point out that there was absolutely no need for that! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/30 "2019-08-29T07:47:59Z")
For saying it or for doing it? 🙂 (Spain is happy when our team manages to pass quarter-finals. Apparently we’re collectively bad at fractions, given how often we fall in quarters.) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/31 "2019-08-29T09:12:58Z")
The biggest events in Australia are the Melbourne Cup. Virtually impossible to avoid receiving coverage in all forms of media for weeks leading up to the race. Every decent size office will have one or more sweeps, people who never otherwise bet will have bets on the race and everything stops around cup time as a huge percentage of the nation stops to watch the race. It takes place on a workday outside Victoria, where it is held, so it disrupts business activity a lot. The three State Of Origin rugby league matches between Queensland and New South Wales are among the most watched TV sporting events. They began as a one of match where teams were chosen to represent he states based on where they first played football, not where they then played. All the experts expected it to be a flop because club teammates would be playing one another and wouldn’t take it seriously. On the contrary, they are the most passionately hard fought games on the calendar. Generally players hold the games in higher regard than internationals or grand finals. They are most popular in Queensland and New South Wales. The NRL and AFL grand finals - one off winner takes all deciders for the title - are the other major events. The NRL grand final like State Of Origin is most popular in Queensland and New South Wales. The AFL grand final is the most popular event in all the other states and is in fact the most viewed TV event each year. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/32 "2019-08-29T10:05:43Z")
In Japan, the Japan Series, the baseball championship, is quite popular, although it’s not as popular as it was historically before soccer started to gain in popularity. For a while in the 1990s, sumo had been quite popular, but again, it’s lost popularity. Japan’s rather dismal attempts in the World Cup has had high television ratings. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/33 "2019-08-29T13:17:43Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > Sorry to lightly drizzle on your parade, but 40 years ago the FA Cup Final wasn’t even shown throughout the whole of the UK. It was always on at the same time as the Scottish Cup Final, and the Scottish Cup Final was shown live on both BBC1 and ITV. We saw a few minutes’ highlights of the English Cup Final at half and full time, that’s as much as anyone really wanted. We had all the same build up, Scottish Cup themed quiz programmes and all that crap that you did… Steady on there, **Stafford** , old chap! I was very careful to say: > [@](#): > > I have a suspicion that the **English** contingent are scratching [t]heir heads and waiting for someone to blink. OK, I’ll blink. My bolding. OK, I wasn’t _that_ careful, or there wouldn’t have been that embarrassing typo in there - but I thought I had made it clear that my response was from a specifically _English_ perspective. 🙂 j ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/34 "2019-08-29T14:12:20Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Steady on there, **Stafford** , old chap! > > My bolding. OK, I wasn’t _that_ careful, or there wouldn’t have been that embarrassing typo in there - but I thought I had made it clear that my response was from a specifically _English_ perspective. 🙂 > > j No worries, I was just being nitpicky about what you said about the status of the FA cup final in the _UK_; I think people in England might not realise that before satellite TV and different dates/times for the Scottish and English cup finals, **no one** in Scotland (outwith the Border TV region) watched the FA cup final. If you wanted to follow it live you would have had to listen to Radio 2. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/35 "2019-08-29T15:24:46Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > No worries, I was just being nitpicky about what you said about the status of the FA cup final in the _UK_; I think people in England might not realise that before satellite TV and different dates/times for the Scottish and English cup finals, **no one** in Scotland (outwith the Border TV region) watched the FA cup final. If you wanted to follow it live you would have had to listen to Radio 2. Ah - I did also say UK - my slip. Ooops. FWIW - I grew up watching Border TV. I could _very nearly_ see Scotland from my bedroom window. j ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/36 "2019-08-29T15:43:52Z")
In addition to the various football finals and so mentioned by Treppenwitz and Go\_Arachnid\_Laser, there’s a surprising one - the Boat Race. It’s big enough to take over BBC1 for half a day and I often see people mentioning it on Facebook. Considering it’s a rowing race - a relatively minority sport - between the same two universities every year (Oxford and Cambridge) it’s amazing it gets any viewers at all really, but it seems to get decent viewing figures. Wimbledon is also huge. The finals for the singles matches get enormous viewing figures. No adverts, because the BBC has the rights to both the above, but I’m not sure why that makes a difference. The FA Cup is still probably the closest answer to the Superbowl, though yup, it’s not as important as it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/37 "2019-08-29T17:07:07Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > On behalf of the England supporters can I just point out that there was absolutely no need for that! 🙂 Sorry, didn’t want to rub it in, but only state the facts ;). During my lifetime, I saw six World Cup finals involving the German team. Three wins and three losses. But let’s not talk about the last World Cup in Russia…:o ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/38 "2019-08-29T17:25:28Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > No adverts, because the BBC has the rights to both the above, but I’m not sure why that makes a difference. I think the point about commercials, particularly during the Super Bowl, is that many of the ads which run on that game are being shown there for the first time ever (due to the large audience), and advertisers often use those spots to launch new campaigns, or run unusual ads. Because of that, the ads, themselves, have become part of the event. And, there are a lot of Super Bowl viewers who say (sometimes in jest, sometimes not) “I only watch the game for the commercials.” ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/39 "2019-08-29T19:21:09Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > In Japan, the Japan Series, the baseball championship, is quite popular, although it’s not as popular as it was historically before soccer started to gain in popularity. For a while in the 1990s, sumo had been quite popular, but again, it’s lost popularity. > > Japan’s rather dismal attempts in the World Cup has had high television ratings. Japan’s national footy team has been unsuccessful, not dismal. I always enjoy watching the attacking spirit of the Samurai Blue (and captain Maya Yoshida of Southampton). ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357/40 "2019-08-29T19:35:58Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I think the point about commercials, particularly during the Super Bowl, is that many of the ads which run on that game are being shown there for the first time ever (due to the large audience), and advertisers often use those spots to launch new campaigns, or run unusual ads. > > Because of that, the ads, themselves, have become part of the event. And, there are a lot of Super Bowl viewers who say (sometimes in jest, sometimes not) “I only watch the game for the commercials.” Also sometimes the halftime show but lately they have really sucked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-biggest-sporting-events/839357.md?page=3)