Other than “downs” football has this exact objective!
This post is actually unintentionally hilarious.
Borneo is divded between Malayasia, Indonesia and Brunei and in all 3 of those countries Man Utd is huge news. I would infact go as far as to say it’s very likely Man Utd are the most popular and well-known sporting team on the island of Borneo.
For example, here’s an article from the Brunei Times about fans queueing up to meet Bryan Robson (whose heydey at Man Utd was over 20 years ago) in Brunei:
http://bruneitimes.com.bn/happenings/2011/02/19/manchester-utd-legend-meets-and-greets-fans
Yes, but as I said the “downs” are not a mere detail. To someone unfamiliar with football, you have the baffling situation in which one team has the ball, advances with it over the course of a few plays, then surrenders it to the other team for no apparent reason. Or sometimes they just punt the ball up the field. To people accustomed to simpler games, it seems like such a waste! What’s more, an entirely new set of players then comes on the field. Who are all these guys?
Put it this way: If I’ve heard of Manchester United, it’s gotta be famous as all hell. I am (a) an American, which means I’ve never heard of anything happening outside the borders of the US, and (2) not a sports person, which means I’ve never heard of pretty much anything other than the Yankees and Red Sox.
So, yeah, Manchester United has to be on any list that isn’t US-only.
I’m actually curious about this: how have all you Americans heard of Manchester United? Is it something to do with David Beckham? Or was the club (or at least its name) already well known?
We don’t follow soccer, but we can name a couple teams in Europe.
Yeah, but in what context do you hear the names? I’m just comparing it to how people over here know the names of American teams. I would say that the Yankees are known from merchandise, caps and T-shirts, and maybe pop-culture references such as in TV shows. Other American teams, I have only heard about through having a vague interest in sports. For example, I know about the Red Sox because of the “curse”, and I know of various NFL football teams because I occasionally watch it on Channel 4 or 5 or whatever it is (very late at night, though).
Top 4 is easy:
Yankees
Manchester United
Real Madrid
Lakers
After that… maybe the Red Sox? Barcelona?
Ferrari and Red Bull don’t fit the spirit of the question imo.
I’m still not convinced that Yankees belong at that list. I’m sure there’s lots of people aware of them as a cultural reference in US film, TV, etc, but I’d you looked at those who had heard of the “New York Yankees” in such a way you’d find most probably couldn’t tell you which sport they played and even less who could tell you a single one of their players.
In terms of US teams with Worldwide recognition, you’re probably on much safer ground with basketball teams, though I would say the Chicago Bulls even if their glory days are behind them.
I would say:
Manchester Utd
Real Madrid
Barcelona
A C Milan
Chicago Bulls
Man United.
Real Madrid
The soccer team that ate people (you said famous, not popular or successful)
Green Bay Packers
1980 US Olympic hockey team (Go Sioux!)
I cannot understand why so many people think the Lakers would be on this list? I really cant.
I know quite a bit about American culture, I have been there a couple of times, I read sites like this, I follow the sports. Certainly I am more informed than the average housewife in Vienna, clerk in Mumbai or driver in China.
I know who the Patriots quarterback is, who was first pick in the draft, who LeBron James is, who A-Rod is. And the single thing I know about the LA Lakers is that they are a basketball team.
I know more than the average non-US citizen about American sports, yet supposedly some team that is a name and nothing more to me, this team is one of the biggest and most famous in the world, and everybody in the world knows this except me?
I would wager that the Lakers are as famous as the Seatle Seahawks, ie: people only know them because they have those silly basketball names that match. Us foreigners know the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Chicago Bulls, and the Dallas cowboys, we dont know the Lakers!
Obviously I cant speak for Sweden or Russia, but I just said “who” six times reading your post.
Bucketybuck-Are you a basketball fan?? I assume not, because that’s the only reasonable explanation for your ignorance of the Lakers. BTW, the Lakers have the 2nd most NBA titles, the Seahwaks have been moribund for most of their existence.
Well no, I am not a basketball fan, but then, I would suggest most of the world arent basketball fans. We are talking about the most famous teams in the world. Teams like the Yankees and Man Utd can be shown to have reached a point where non-fans know who they are. If I need to be an actual bona-fide fan to know who the Lakers are, well then that kind of proves the point.
I am not ignorant of basketball. I know LeBron, Kobe, Shaq, I remember Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, the Bulls. I know dick about the Lakers, thats how famous they are.
Know how during title games both teams have t-shirts and stuff printed up, then the stuff from the losing team gets written off and donated to poor countries? Thinking maybe about including the Buffalo Bills. Again, the OP didn’t ask for good or successful teams. Just famous, meaning known by a lot of people.
You know about Kobe (a Laker) and Shaq (a former Laker) yet don’t know about the Lakers? :dubious:
Kobe and Shaq (and Magic Johnson) all played for the Lakers. That said to be fair Lakers do have one of those generic US sports names that doesn’t really identitfy them.
I disagree about the Yankees, despite that baseball does have popularity in a few countries outside of the USA, it is such a marginal sport in most places that i don’t think any baseball team could rightly be thought of as one of the most famous sporting teams in the World. Basketball on the other hand, though it generally has to play second fiddle to other sports around the World, still enjoys a measure of popularity in most parts of the World and is one of the World’s major participation sports.
Ditto. While it is only one country, I’ll bet the percentage of people in my home country of the UK that have heard of the Lakers is in low single digits. I expect more have heard of the Chicago Bulls, because of Michael Jordan. While the Lakers are undoubtedly very successful and very well known amongst basketball fans, they do not transcend the sport in the way that the Yankees and Man. Utd do theirs.
It’s hard to find accurate tv ratings, but by some sources more people in China watched some of the Yao Ming vs Lakers games than the entire population of the US. And that’s just the ones who watched the games, not who read about them. Yao was the most popular athlete in China and had an enormous following, which coincided with the Kobe-and-Shaq Lakers being the big stars of the NBA, and playing Yao in the playoffs. The NBA itself has gotten more high profile around the world due to having more international players than ever, and once again the Lakers have been the top team during that fame expansion.
Manchester United
Real Madrid
New York Yankees
FC Barcelona
Liverpool FC
/American, fan of soccer, football, baseball, and basketball