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As a Swede i can assure you that MUCH more people watch EPL than NHL here, its not even close. I am pretty confident its the same in the other countries as well you mention bar Canada. Football simply dwarf any other sport here in Europe.
I wasn't specifically comparing the EPL and the NHL. I was challenging the assertion that all sports leagues in the UK have world wide following, while none of the US leagues do.
I have no idea where you have traveled, but if you don't know that basketball and the NBA are incredibly popular all over the world, including ESPECIALLY in most of Asia, then you should travel some more.
"The hoops-crazed country is the NBA’s biggest overseas market. . . The NBA’s second Chinese New Year Celebration, which featured 23 live games televised and streamed to Chinese auds over eight days, reached 107 million fans on television and digital media last month, an increase of more than 11% compared to last year’s first-ever celebration.
Last year, the NBA’s Chinese website registered 3.3 billion page views; this year, that number rose by 34% to 4.5 billion page views, while during the 2012-13 regular season, total video streams for the NBA rose 169% over the 2011-12 season, from 1.2 billion to 3.2 billion."
Fringe recognition is an appropriate description for most of the rugby and cricket that takes place in the UK. Not for the NBA (or the NHL for that matter -- go to Canada or Russia, will you)
Michael Jordan and Lebron James are global icons on a level that's not even approached by most soccer stars (let alone cricket and rugby players that operate in relative global obscurity outside of a handful of countries), and NBA teams are like traveling circus shows when they go abroad.
I never said that Basketball was not popular, however Cricket is almost of religious significance in India and is a very important sport in an array of countries, to suggest that Cricket is anything but a major international sport is wholly inaccurate, whilst Lords in London is famous throughout much of the world, as is the Kennington Oval.
Whilst in terms of global audiences London has an array of sports and stadia, and is home to numerous sports. Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham and QPR are all London EPL clubs and with the exception of Arsenal who have already built a new state of the art 60,000 seater ground and West Ham who are moving in to the Olympic Stadium in East London, all of them are either looking to build new grounds or totally rebuild their existing grounds.
Other sizeable clubs with significant stadiums include Fulham, Crystal Palace, Charlton Athletic, Millwall, Leyton Orient and Brentford. Whilst London is also home to the 90,000 seater Wembley, the national stadium and the 82,000 seater Twickenham stadium in London is another major stadium. Then you have Lords Cricket Ground and the Kennington Oval, as well as Wimbledon and Queens Tennis clubs and tournaments, as well as a national tennis centre at Roehampton. There is also the ATP at the O2 Arena, which has also hosted Ice Hockey and NBS Baseball in the past, whilst the Statoil Masters Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall is also very popular.
Whilst in terms of Athletics you have Crystal Palace, Lea Valley and the Olympic Stadium at Stratford, as well as a lot of smaller venues.
Then you have racecourses in London such as Kempton Park and those on the outskirts of London such as Windsor, Epsom (Derby), Royal Ascot etc
Then you have famous Championship golf clubs such as Sunningdale and Wentworth, whilst the Lakeside in Surrey is one of the homes of World Darts with Wembley Arena a regular snooker venue, and in terms of rowing London has the world famous boat race as well as the nearby Henley Regatta.
The NFL are trying to establish a London team, Formula 1 is also considering a London street circuit and you even have world famous indoor show jumping at Olympia.
NYC doesn't even come close in terms of sporting Stadia within the City itself and nor is NYC the home of many global sports, the way London is in respect of Wembey, Twickenham, Wimbledon, Lords etc.
I never said that Basketball was not popular, however Cricket is almost of religious significance in India and is a very important sport in an array of countries, to suggest that Cricket is anything but a major international sport is wholly inaccurate, whilst Lords in London is famous throughout much of the world, as is the Kennington Oval.
Whilst in terms of global audiences London has an array of sports and stadia, and is home to numerous sports. Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham and QPR are all London EPL clubs and with the exception of Arsenal who have already built a new state of the art 60,000 seater ground and West Ham who are moving in to the Olympic Stadium in East London, all of them are either looking to build new grounds or totally rebuild their existing grounds. Other sizeable clubs include Fulham, Crystal Palace, Charlton Athletic, Leyton Orient and Brentford. Whilst London is also home to the 90,000 seater Wembley, the national stadium and the 82,000 seater Twickenham stadium in London is another major stadium. Then you have Lords Cricket Ground and the Kennington Oval, as well as Wimbledon and Queens Tennis clubs and tournaments, as well as a national tennis centre at Roehampton.
Whilst in terms of Athletics you have Crystal Palace, Lea Valley and the Olympic Stadium at Stratford, as well as a lot of smaller venues.
Then you have racecourses in London such as Kempton Park and those on the outskirts of London such as Windsor, Epsom (Derby), Royal Ascot etc
Then you have famous Championship golf clubs such as Sunningdale and Wentworth, whilst the Lakeside in Surrey is one of the homes of World Darts, and in terms of rowing London has the world famous boat race as well as the nearby Henley Regatta.
You quoted my response to someone else. Second, I don't know why you are telling me all this. I never disputed any of this. Of course London has a lot of great sports on offer. But NYC has more.
Let me restate my thesis: NYC regularly hosts more top-class sports events (both in absolute numbers and variety) than London. I define "top-class sports events" as events representing the highest level of competition in their respective sports. Nobody is actually trying to challenge this claim. Instead, all i am hearing is that football/cricket/rugby are worth more than American football/baseball/hockey/basketball. Well that argument is arrogant, subjective and has a lot of holes in it (as I have tried to point out).
And btw I am not saying that its a slam dunk for NYC. I think a good argument can be made both ways. But I have stated my criteria, and I think it's a reasonable one.
I wasn't specifically comparing the EPL and the NHL. I was challenging the assertion that all sports leagues in the UK have world wide following, while none of the US leagues do.
How many times has your misunderstanding of this point been explained to you now? It is not a difficult idea to grasp.
How many times has your misunderstanding of this point been explained to you now? It is not a difficult idea to grasp.
Wait are you the guy who claimed that none of the US leagues have any recognition in Asia? Why don't you start by working on your own "misunderstandings" before challenging mine.
Let me restate my thesis: NYC regularly hosts more top-class sports events (both in absolute numbers and variety) than London. I define "top-class sports events" as events representing the highest level of competition in their respective sports. Nobody is actually trying to challenge this claim. Instead, all i am hearing is that football/cricket/rugby are worth more than American football/baseball/hockey/basketball. Well that argument is arrogant, subjective and has a lot of holes in it (as I have tried to point out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fitzrovian
Wait are you the guy who claimed that none of the US leagues have any recognition in Asia? Why don't you start by working on your own "misunderstandings" before challenging mine.
Where did I say that US sports have no recognition in asia?
You're resorting to pretty typical behavior shown by those backed up into a corner. You draw upon apriori rules of thumb, continually ignore careful explanations that address your misunderstandings, distort any criticism into sweeping generalizations that are easier strawmen for you to dissect.
It's fairly obvious what you are doing, so please don't bother.
Last edited by Hightower72; 12-15-2014 at 01:18 PM..
You quoted my response to someone else. Second, I don't know why you are telling me all this. I never disputed any of this. Of course London has a lot of great sports on offer. But NYC has more.
How does NYC have more sport than London???
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fitzrovian
Let me restate my thesis: NYC regularly hosts more top-class sports events (both in absolute numbers and variety) than London. I define "top-class sports events" as events representing the highest level of competition in their respective sports. Nobody is actually trying to challenge this claim. Instead, all i am hearing is that football/cricket/rugby are worth more than American football/baseball/hockey/basketball. Well that argument is arrogant, subjective and has a lot of holes in it (as I have tried to point out).
And btw I am not saying that its a slam dunk for NYC. I think a good argument can be made both ways. But I have stated my criteria, and I think it's a reasonable one.
London has sports of the highest level and not just national domestic level but at international level.
International football (soccer), international Rugby, international cricket, international athletics. You see the Champions League in London, UEFA Cup, UEFA European Championship and the World Cup as well as the Olympics, the Tour De France, Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic , Wimbledon, Queens, ATP Tennis Finals, the Six Nations, Autumn Internationals, European Rugby Champions Cup, the Ashes, numerous International Test tours and even NFL Games at Wembley.
Ok now you are expanding the argument to the full range of sports in each city. And while I am not dismissing London's pedigree (which is indeed impressive) neither should you dismiss NY. Besides its FIVE top professional leagues, there are regular top events in tennis, golf, horse racing, collegiate athletics etc etc. And while in London there is just "talk" of bringing Formula 1, in NY it is actually taking place in 2015.
London has a history of motor racing, with tracks such as Brooklands and Crystal Palace as well as nearby Brands Hatch, which was home to Formula 1 for many years.
What is different is that the Formula 1 plans would see the cars racing through a street circuit in central London just like they do in Monaco and not in a surrounding area like New Jersey.
London has sports of the highest level and not just national domestic level but at international level.
International football (soccer), international Rugby, international cricket, international athletics. You see the Champions League in London, UEFA Cup, UEFA European Championship and the World Cup as well as the Olympics, the Tour De France, Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic , Wimbledon, Queens, ATP Tennis Finals, the Six Nations, Autumn Internationals, European Rugby Champions Cup, the Ashes, numerous International Test tours and even NFL Games at Wembley.
I think more than enough information has been provided to that effect. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water...
Last edited by Hightower72; 12-15-2014 at 01:53 PM..
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