# Why do you think America dominates the sports world? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 5, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839 "2011-05-05T15:02:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**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 6, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/101 "2011-05-06T17:30:00Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > And, no, for most people, commercials are an annoyance you have to endure to actually get to the program you wanted to watch. I dont know how much despair you can raise in me by thinking that some people would actually turn on their TV to watch commercials for enjoyment. > If any people on Earth acted that way, it must have forfeited its collective soul a long time ago. Well, my comment was sort of tongue-in-cheek, but seriously, you can’t go anywhere the day after the Super Bowl and not hear all about the commercials. It’s actually a big deal. ---
**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 6, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/102 "2011-05-06T17:35:39Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Well, my comment was sort of tongue-in-cheek, but seriously, you can’t go anywhere the day after the Super Bowl and not hear all about the commercials. It’s actually a big deal. Indeed; the advertisers have, in the past 25 years or so, gone out of their way to make spectacular ads, which premiere on the Super Bowl. And, the day after the game, newspapers and web sites are filled with reviews of the “best and worst” Super Bowl ads. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/103 "2011-05-06T17:42:24Z")
If anything the present Super Bowl viewing audience figures (for the US) can be taken with a grain of salt because the television production itself (the halftime show, as well as the commercials), with associated parties, has become such a cultural touchstone. The Super Bowl TV audience includes a wedge of people who will say outright that they _don’t like football_ but “watch” for other reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Rondembo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dbc845/32.png) [@Rondembo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rondembo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/104 "2011-05-06T18:23:08Z")
Funny how foreigners will deny that the Super Bowl is the most watched sport event in their countries, do they also deny that American movies and American TV Shows also aren’t the most watched type of entertainment in your countries? :rolleyes: Look we all know the Super Bowl has a massive global audience, not necessarily because other countries understand football, but because its what America cares about and if America cares about something then the whole world cares about it. Its the reality of being a superpower, our media and culture is exported everywhere and there is no bigger part of our culture than the Super Bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_from\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Man\_from\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_from_Mars)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/105 "2011-05-06T18:47:34Z")
> [@Rondembo](#): > > Funny how foreigners will deny that the Super Bowl is the most watched sport event in their countries, do they also deny that American movies and American TV Shows also aren’t the most watched type of entertainment in your countries? :rolleyes: > > Look we all know the Super Bowl has a massive global audience, not necessarily because other countries understand football, but because its what America cares about and if America cares about something then the whole world cares about it. Its the reality of being a superpower, our media and culture is exported everywhere and there is no bigger part of our culture than the Super Bowl. Oh, brother. This from the same person who insists that the NFL is taking over London, even though many others (who actually live there) have mentioned that it isn’t and given many clues about gridiron’s failures in the past. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/106 "2011-05-06T19:08:19Z")
> [@Rondembo](#): > > Funny how foreigners will deny that the Super Bowl is the most watched sport event in their countries, do they also deny that American movies and American TV Shows also aren’t the most watched type of entertainment in your countries? :rolleyes: Do you know how many viewers Super Bowl XLV got in the UK? 1.01 million. On the same evening, Match of the Day 2 (a soccer highlights programme) got 3.1 million viewers, and the Chelsea vs Liverpool match got 2.57 million. The highest-rated US entertainment programme on UK TV that night was Hawaii Five-0 with a mere 717,100 people watching. Antiques Roadshow got 5.5 million. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/107 "2011-05-06T19:11:44Z")
I just think he is trolling and you lot are feeding him. American Rugby - does it actually exist? Let alone dominate? Lots of foreigners watch US car racing - not, it can’t even begin to compare to F1, which is dominated by British teams with almost every nationality driving, except the US. US has some great MotoGP riders, but the reality is that its the Spanish dominate, the US is pretty much just one player out of many. US and World superbikes, not since Colin Edwards, this is pretty near to a British/Italian hegemony Monster truck racing, swamp drag racing - laughable. Given the US is so wealthy you might imagine offshore power boat racing would be tailor made for their dominance, not so. In those few fields where the US competes on a level with other nations, takes a similar interest, it does well, but still does not dominate. American football is such a differant sport that you can’t begin to make any meaningful critique of the one using the standards of the other, merely becuase US folk seem unable to follow the play, or the strategy or the tactics, or have a wilful attention deficit order, that only means you are not interested - so what, the rest of the world for the most part is not that interested in US sport either - who cares? Cleary the OP has a problem, those who criticise any of these sports without understanding also have a problem. The irony of this with regards to the OP, is that he (for it can only be a ‘he’, no woman would be so desperately stupid) is that the US may indeed have some great spectator sport, but its in a spectator nation, with the highest obesity rates for any developed nation, indeed any nation except a small island chain somewhere in the Pacific. Seems to me that some of those wads of lard ought to get out themselves and instead of spectating, get off their lardassess and make their play, instead of mindlessly drivelling on about the superiority of the sport in which they so clearly take no part whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/108 "2011-05-06T19:16:35Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Not sure where you got that data, but the 2011 Super Bowl averaged [111 million](http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/super-bowl-ratings-cap-record-year-for-n-f-l/)viewers in the US alone. I assume the World Cup information is worldwide. It’s very difficult to get worldwide data regarding Super Bowl viewership, but I’ve seen anywhere from 200-300 million. My numbers came from a comparison for 2006 on [Answers.com](http://Answers.com). I just re-read and I see that in the comments below someone stated it was for US viewers even though the main number listed above was for world wide. I have absolutely no idea how accurate any of that is. But, because I am an American, it is my God given right to proclaim any sporting statistic in any manner I see fit, the burden is on the world to prove me wrong and even then I can choose whether to be swayed or not. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/109 "2011-05-06T19:16:48Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > American Rugby - does it actually exist? Let alone dominate? Yes, it exists: when my youngest son was living here, he played Rugby. No, it doesn’t dominate. I suspect that the Tongan national team could beat the American national team – they take their Rugby seriously in some parts of Polynesia – but oddly enough, the United States is the reigning Olympic champion at Rugby. (It won the gold medal in 1920 and in 1924, which was the last time that Rugby was played at the Olympic Games.) ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/110 "2011-05-06T19:21:49Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > I just think he is trolling and you lot are feeding him. > > American Rugby - does it actually exist? Let alone dominate? The [US Eagles](http://www.usarugby.org) have qualified for five out of the six Rugby World Cups and will play in New Zealand again this year. The those previous tournaments, they won twice out of 17 games, against Japan both times. Exist, yes, dominate, no - but all the biggest boys go and play football, so you’re making do with the leftovers and expats… ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/111 "2011-05-06T19:23:33Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I suspect that the Tongan national team could beat the American national team Actually, the USA is ranked one above Tonga for the world cup, at number 16. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/112 "2011-05-06T19:23:35Z")
from a CNN article “To put the audiences in perspective, the final for the 2008 European Championship, the world’s second-biggest soccer contest, boasted 166 million viewers (57 percent higher than the 2009 Super Bowl’s). About **287 million** people caught at least part of the game, compared with **162 million** for the Super Bowl, Alavy said.” ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/113 "2011-05-06T19:27:45Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > from a CNN article > > “To put the audiences in perspective, the final for the 2008 European Championship, the world’s second-biggest soccer contest, boasted 166 million viewers (57 percent higher than the 2009 Super Bowl’s). About **287 million** people caught at least part of the game, compared with **162 million** for the Super Bowl, Alavy said.” But they’re not Americans, and thus count as only .56 of a person each, bringing the numbers down to floor(267 million \* .56) = floor(160.72) = 160 million. CLEARLY American football is more dominant. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/114 "2011-05-06T19:29:06Z")
> [@Rondembo](#): > > Funny how foreigners will deny that the Super Bowl is the most watched sport event in their countries, do they also deny that American movies and American TV Shows also aren’t the most watched type of entertainment in your countries? :rolleyes: > > Look we all know the Super Bowl has a massive global audience, not necessarily because other countries understand football, but because its what America cares about and if America cares about something then the whole world cares about it. Its the reality of being a superpower, our media and culture is exported everywhere and there is no bigger part of our culture than the Super Bowl. Wait… you’re putting us on, right? I can’t believe I fell for it. Oh, well. Recognizing satire has never been my strongest suit. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/115 "2011-05-06T19:46:29Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > …but oddly enough, the United States is the reigning Olympic champion at Rugby. (It won the gold medal in 1920 and in 1924, which was the last time that Rugby was played at the Olympic Games.) Nice stat. 🙂 Given how much importance the OP places in masculinity in sport, I’m sure he’ll agree Rugby is more of a man’s game than American Football. In evidence, I give you [Wayne Shelford](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Shelford), a former All Blacks (New Zealand) captain. In a match against France in 1986, he got stuck at the bottom of a ruck. As a result he lost 4 teeth and had his scrotum ripped open, with one testicle hanging out. He got the physio to stitch him up at the side of the pitch, then returned to the field of play. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/116 "2011-05-06T19:56:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Rondembo > BANNED Well, _that_ comes as no surprise. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/117 "2011-05-06T19:57:06Z")
Awww. Rondembo has been banned. ☹ His threads and comments kept me entertained for two days. I really wanted to learn more about him. Learn what made him tick, his geographical location (not just America), his other interests. Ah well, somebody else will be along. ---
**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 6, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/118 "2011-05-06T21:28:27Z")
> [@gregorio](#): > > Awww. Rondembo has been banned. ☹ His threads and comments kept me entertained for two days. I really wanted to learn more about him. Learn what made him tick, his geographical location (not just America), his other interests. > > Ah well, somebody else will be along. He was entertaining for a while wasn’t he? The big mistake he made was to be so gung-ho from the off. He’ll never make a good serial killer. Too impetuous. I reckon 16 years old…tops, and confused and frightened about his sexuality. Doesn’t he realise that we are a fairly liberal bunch here (small l) and we would love him and respect his choice regardless? ah well, he’ll be back I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/119 "2011-05-06T21:38:05Z")
My guess? Small-town football player on a crappy team who didn’t make any of the scouting lists, let alone get offered any money to go play in college. If he’s a bit older than I think, then he didn’t get drafted in last week’s NFL draft either. Meanwhile, his “girlfriend” ran off with the soccer captain, who is getting a full-ride college scholarship and try-outs for an MLS team. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839/120 "2011-05-06T23:37:39Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Given how much importance the OP places in masculinity in sport, I’m sure he’ll agree Rugby is more of a man’s game than American Football. In evidence, I give you [Wayne Shelford](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Shelford), a former All Blacks (New Zealand) captain. In a match against France in 1986, he got stuck at the bottom of a ruck. As a result he lost 4 teeth and had his scrotum ripped open, with one testicle hanging out. He got the physio to stitch him up at the side of the pitch, then returned to the field of play. That’s all very well, but is it more impressive than [Bert Trautmann](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Trautmann) continuing to play with a broken neck? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-america-dominates-the-sports-world/580839.md?page=7)