# Who would you say are the top 5 most famous sports teams in the world. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 5, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804 "2011-05-05T03:42:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/41 "2011-05-05T13:27:00Z")
The first 5 teams that entered my mind: 1. Yankees 2. Manchester United 3. Cowboys 4. Lakers 5. Red Sox MLB doesn’t get the kind of love in Europe like the NBA does. But MLB is pretty big in Japan and Korea (not sure about China). ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/42 "2011-05-05T13:41:54Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > 1. Gridiron - Dallas Cowboys, probably because of Dan Marino in Ace Ventura Heh, kind of funny because Dan played for the Miami Dolphins. 😉 The Cowboys were helped a lot in the '80s when the TV show Dallas was the biggest world wide show and showed an overhead of Texas Stadium in the opening credits. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/43 "2011-05-05T13:52:38Z")
I teach at a high school near Oslo, Norway. I see lots of boys wearing Yankees baseball caps. They do not wear them because they are Yankees fans. They wear them because 1. they think the logo looks cool, 2. rappers and other musicians who they regard as cool wear Yankees stuff, and 3. they’re aware it has something to do with New York City, and New York City is about as cool as it gets. Some of them are only vaguely aware that the Yankees are a sports team of some sort; few have seen a single inning of a baseball game. I think you will find this is not uncommon among young people wearing Yankees caps and such in most countries outside the US. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/44 "2011-05-05T14:03:12Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Heh, kind of funny because Dan played for the Miami Dolphins. 😉 > > The Cowboys were helped a lot in the '80s when the TV show Dallas was the biggest world wide show and showed an overhead of Texas Stadium in the opening credits. Really? Heh. Using the metric of a random housewife in Dublin/Rome/ or Morocco, I would still wager that if you asked them to name an American football team, they would say “Dallas Cowboys”. I have no idea why, I just doubt they have ever heard of the Patriots or the Steelers. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/45 "2011-05-05T14:14:49Z")
> [@Rondembo](#): > > Do you really think Manchester united are more famous than the freaking Yankees :rolleyes: I had to google them to fin out who they are and I bet 99% of Americans couldn’t name you 1 player on that team. > > It’s not US centric,we have the biggest sport leagues and the teams with the biggest global revenues and media exposure, soccer only gets that type of worldwide ESPN coverage once every 4 years during the World Cup and Manchester united doesn’t even play in the world cup. I’m sorry dude, but: > [@](#): > > 1. Yankees > 2. Lakers > 3. Cowboys > 4. Steelers > 5. Red Sox made me laugh, most people outside of the US wouldnt even know what sports these teams are playing; if they had ever heard of the teams themselves. Get out and breathe some fresh air. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/46 "2011-05-05T14:15:03Z")
I think the OPer is showing his American-centric attitude with his US-only list. Because the first team that came to my mind was Manchester United. And I don’t even routinely follow any sport except tennis. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/47 "2011-05-05T14:15:57Z")
I think Man U and the Yankees have to be cemented into the top 2. From there the list gets rather fluid, IMO. Real Madrid probably has a place, since I’m American and not a soccer fan, and I know of them. (Not all Americans are as ignorant as **Rondembo** , in case you were wondering.:)) A few people mentioned the Bulls. I’m from Chicago and I wouldn’t have thought to put them on the list. So it’s extremely tough to gauge what’s “famous” to the rest of the world. Just to take a stab: Manchester United New York Yankees Real Madrid Dallas Cowboys Ferrari, I guess (I wouldn’t have thought of them as a “sports team” without having read this thread, but a good argument has been made.) ---
**Author:** ![kenner116](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@kenner116](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenner116)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/48 "2011-05-05T14:34:45Z")
> [@Wolverine](#): > > The NBA is very popular with my Chinese students. When I catch them watching basketball on their computers, it tends to be the Lakers or Celtics though partly because Yao Ming is not playing right now. Hello fellow Beijing resident! If it weren’t for the NBA, most people here would have never heard of my home state of New Jersey (Nets). > [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > MLB doesn’t get the kind of love in Europe like the NBA does. But MLB is pretty big in Japan and Korea (not sure about China). Major League Baseball is quite popular in Taiwan (province of China ;)). On the mainland, you see some Yankees caps, but it’s probably just seen as a brand, and I would be surprised if many of them watch baseball. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/49 "2011-05-05T14:42:31Z")
Awww. All of you mean posters with your “facts” and “evidence” seem to have driven poor **Rondembo** back under his “Rock of Ignorance.” Shame on you all! “Lakers” recognized world-wide? Dude, they aren’t even recognized in Orange County! ---
**Author:** ![Rondembo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dbc845/32.png) [@Rondembo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rondembo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/50 "2011-05-05T14:48:01Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > The first 5 teams that entered my mind: > > 1. Yankees > 2. Manchester United > 3. Cowboys > 4. Lakers > 5. Red Sox > > MLB doesn’t get the kind of love in Europe like the NBA does. But MLB is pretty big in Japan and Korea (not sure about China). A much more reasonable list. For all the Europeans posting soccer teams like “Real” Madrid and Barcelona, I bet most of the world has heard of the Cowboys and Lakers way way more than those little soccer teams. Seriously, when did ESPN ever feature a segment on “Real” Madrid? ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/51 "2011-05-05T14:53:18Z")
> [@Rondembo](#): > > A much more reasonable list. For all the Europeans posting soccer teams like “Real” Madrid and Barcelona, I bet most of the world has heard of the Cowboys and Lakers way way more than those little soccer teams. Seriously, when did ESPN ever feature a segment on “Real” Madrid? Threadshitting is the surest way out here. Especially when it’s your own thread to start with. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/52 "2011-05-05T14:57:14Z")
1. Harlem Globetrotters 2. New York Yankees 3. Dallas Cowboys 4. L.A. Lakers 5. Some soccer team…Manchester United, I guess. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/53 "2011-05-05T14:58:19Z")
> [@Rondembo](#): > > Seriously, when did ESPN ever feature a segment on “Real” Madrid? Are you aware that ESPN, despite its claim to be “The Worldwide Leader in Sports”, is **not** a global sports network? It’s US-based, and while ESPN owns [networks in a few other countries](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESPN#The_ESPN_family_of_networks) (Brazil and Australia, for example), the programming that you see on ESPN here in the U.S. is not the same programming which they run in other countries. I imagine that few sports fans in Europe watch ESPN (I doubt that many of them could even watch it if they wanted). ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/54 "2011-05-05T14:59:30Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > 1. Harlem Globetrotters > 2. New York Yankees > 3. Dallas Cowboys > 4. L.A. Lakers > 5. Some soccer team…Manchester United, I guess. Heh. There was a recent reference on a BBC Radio 4 show to the Harlem Globetrotters…as “the famous American \*\*baseball \*\*team”. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/55 "2011-05-05T15:02:10Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > But if you look at what he was replying to: I stopped paying attention when it became clear the OP was being deliberately obtuse. I just wanted to point out that this isn’t a list of the most followed teams in the world, but the most famous. I couldn’t name more than one player on either ManU or Real Madrid, but I know they’re dominant football teams in the English and Spanish leagues respectively. > [@SanVito](#): > > Everyone thinks they are. Because it’s a [fact.](http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/13/nfl-cowboys-yankees-biz-media-cx_tvr_0113values_slide_2.html?thisspeed=25000) That’s value, not popularity. The Cowboys, Redskins, Patriots are all more valuable than Real Madrid, but do you really think more people know who the Redskin’s are? ---
**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:** [May 5, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/56 "2011-05-05T15:03:52Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > 1. Harlem Globetrotters > 2. New York Yankees > 3. Dallas Cowboys > 4. L.A. Lakers > 5. Some soccer team…Manchester United, I guess. Don’t know if you are joking or not Oakminster but such a US-centric list would not be produced elsewhere in the world. And seeing that that is the question being asked would you like to reconsider? ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/57 "2011-05-05T15:05:40Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > 1. Ice Hockey - Nobody outside the US/Canada knows the name of a single ice hockey team. I shit you not. No ice hockey team has the brand of the Yankees or the Cowboys. If you think your favourite ice hockey team is known worldwide, then I am sorry but you are wrong. Probably not in Ireland, but perhaps in Switzerland or Russia. Then again, Russians and people from neighbouring countries may be most familiar with Russian hockey teams (Moscow Dynamo perhaps? Does that still exist?) I’d agree that on a worldwide basis the popularity of hockey pales compared to other sports. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/58 "2011-05-05T15:08:03Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > I stopped paying attention when it became clear the OP was being deliberately obtuse. I have another word for it. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/59 "2011-05-05T15:08:22Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Don’t know if you are joking or not Oakminster but such a US-centric list would not be produced elsewhere in the world. And seeing that that is the question being asked would you like to reconsider? Why do you hate America **Novelty Bobble**? ---
**Author:** ![Rondembo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dbc845/32.png) [@Rondembo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rondembo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804/60 "2011-05-05T15:09:37Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > 1. Harlem Globetrotters > 2. New York Yankees > 3. Dallas Cowboys > 4. L.A. Lakers > 5. Some soccer team…Manchester United, I guess. Hmm, never though of the Globe Trotters, but you might be on to something. Basketball is the most watched sport in the world and as the name indicates, the Globetrotters are famous all over the world because they travel and play exhibitions everywhere. I would still put them below the Yankees, Cowboys and Lakers (all household names globally and multibillion dollar enterprises), but definitely above Manchester United. I don’t mean to be obtuse, but no way is Manchester United more famous outside of Europe than the Lakers or Cowboys are more famous outside the USA. Who do you think your avarage Chinese or Indian person has heard of: Manchester United (I assume its fans are mostly English) or the Lakers (whose star Kobe is one of the most famous athletes in China). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-say-are-the-top-5-most-famous-sports-teams-in-the-world/580804.md?page=4)