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My broader point is that there are multiple "points of renown" that some cities have that may register with a variety of demographics based on their interests or exposure.
That's why I mentioned Sleepless in Seattle, Boeing, Starbucks, Nirvana, Bill Gates, Microsoft, Frasier and the sports teams.
Someone might be indifferent to pro sports but like airplanes. Or they might like grunge music. Or be a computer geek.
Taken all together, these points don't necessarily cover everyone in, say, Buenos Aires. But it probably covers more people than we think.
My broader point is that there are multiple "points of renown" that some cities have that may register with a variety of demographics based on their interests or exposure.
That's why I mentioned Sleepless in Seattle, Boeing, Starbucks, Nirvana, Bill Gates, Microsoft, Frasier and the sports teams.
Someone might be indifferent to pro sports but like airplanes. Or they might like grunge music. Or be a computer geek.
Taken all together, these points don't necessarily cover everyone in, say, Buenos Aires. But it probably covers more people than we think.
Maybe we are just the exception but people I run into throughout Europe and the Middle East have pretty strong brand recognition and do associate certain brands with cities. I do not have a running tally or anything, but people are really starting to look into what they are wearing, listening to, watching, following, etc..and where it originates. I know I am one of those people that once I come across a product I like one of the first things I do is google where it originated.
Maybe it is weird or quirky, but I doubt we are alone.
What's interesting is that in terms of global popularity, the (North) American sports league list is kinda upside down when compared to the situation in the U.S.
Whereas the NFL is king in the U.S. by a wide margin, globally it's down near the bottom with the NHL. (And the NHL actually might be more popular outside North America than the NFL is, in fact.)
The NBA is tops, and MLB is a solid second.
The NBA has really done a great job with outreach overseas and spreading its brand. Having successful teams like the San Antonio Spurs who employ quite a few foreign born players and even assistants on Coach Pop's staff doesnt hurt either.
Also keep in mind that a good number of players drafted each year are what they refer to as "Draft and stashed" by NBA teams. Where an NBA will draft and retain the rights to a player but send them to play overseas in one of the dominant leagues (Spain, Israel, Turkey and China namely) for a couple seasons to develop before bringing them to the NBA. Fans of these leagues will definitely follow their favourite players and who holds their rights.
This was a good article from ESPN on the world league rankings in Basketball. It truly is a global sport.
The NBA has really done a great job with outreach overseas and spreading its brand. Having successful teams like the San Antonio Spurs who employ quite a few foreign born players and even assistants on Coach Pop's staff doesnt hurt either.
Also keep in mind that a good number of players drafted each year are what they refer to as "Draft and stashed" by NBA teams. Where an NBA will draft and retain the rights to a player but send them to play overseas in one of the dominant leagues (Spain, Israel, Turkey and China namely) for a couple seasons to develop before bringing them to the NBA. Fans of these leagues will definitely follow their favourite players and who holds their rights.
This was a good article from ESPN on the world league rankings in Basketball. It truly is a global sport.
U.S. College Basketball and NBA are huge in China, possibly the most followed sport in China aside from soccer. Nearly all of my Chinese (male) friends in China follow the teams on an active basis, and many are more than familiar with the top college basketball teams like Duke, Ohio State, UNC, etc.
On any given hour, you'd find NBA or college basketball broadcasts on the national state media (China Central Television) along with a myriad of local channels, and the audience they reach are easily in the hundreds of millions range. Even the communist party's politburo members, including the current Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping, professed to be an avid U.S. basketball and NBA follower on his downtime.
Nike is stretching it IMO. Heck, unless you are a plane buff, you probably don't know that Boeing started in the Seattle ( Everett ) area, let alone where Airbus is located is Europe. How about Adidas ? How many even realize that Boeings headquarters have been in Chicago for years now?
I sometimes think some Americans over emphasize how much people know or don't know about the finer details of the US. My guess is most people around the world associate very few brands with cities. Starbucks is a notable exception...at least in North America. Do Europeans know it started in Seattle?
There is a growing "sneakerhead" community around the world. Also people who compete in certain sports and follow which brands help their performance also are aware of brands and where they originate. I wouldn't call myself a sneakerhead, but I do like them for fashion and also for sports.
Adidas and Puma are based in Germany (forget the name of the city and dont want to google for this exercise), Reebok - Manchester UK and Boston, MA, Converse - Boston, Nike - Oregon, New Balance - Boston, Under Armor - Baltimore, Asics - Japan. Then not to mention all the popular Italian dress shoe brands people love.
The NBA has really done a great job with outreach overseas and spreading its brand. Having successful teams like the San Antonio Spurs who employ quite a few foreign born players and even assistants on Coach Pop's staff doesnt hurt either.
Also keep in mind that a good number of players drafted each year are what they refer to as "Draft and stashed" by NBA teams. Where an NBA will draft and retain the rights to a player but send them to play overseas in one of the dominant leagues (Spain, Israel, Turkey and China namely) for a couple seasons to develop before bringing them to the NBA. Fans of these leagues will definitely follow their favourite players and who holds their rights.
This was a good article from ESPN on the world league rankings in Basketball. It truly is a global sport.
Yup. To a lesser degree, MLB and the NHL also have this type of international player talent market ebb and flow. As does MLS of course. For obvious reasons the NFL does not, and even less so since it abandoned the NFL Europe / WLAF experiments.
Even the NHL with its very limited geographic scope gets 20% of the hits to its website from outside North America. I betcha dollars to donuts the NFL can't top that. (Although this also demonstrates just how strong the NFL is in its home market. But it's very close to maxing it out.)
U.S. College Basketball and NBA are huge in China, possibly the most followed sport in China aside from soccer. Nearly all of my Chinese (male) friends in China follow the teams on an active basis, and many are more than familiar with the top college basketball teams like Duke, Ohio State, UNC, etc.
On any given hour, you'd find NBA or college basketball broadcasts on the national state media (China Central Television) along with a myriad of local channels, and the audience they reach are easily in the hundreds of millions range. Even the communist party's politburo members, including the current Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping, professed to be an avid U.S. basketball and NBA follower on his downtime.
The Chinese league is also getting more and more popular, with quite a few former NBA players or NBA players in waiting playing there. Also think of Chinese sneaker brands like Li Ning and Anta signing some big NBA players like D Wade, Rondo, Garnett, Tony Parker and Kevin Love.
Yup. To a lesser degree, MLB and the NHL also have this type of international player talent market ebb and flow. As does MLS of course. For obvious reasons the NFL does not, and even less so since it abandoned the NFL Europe / WLAF experiments.
Even the NHL with its very limited geographic scope gets 20% of the hits to its website from outside North America. I betcha dollars to donuts the NFL can't top that. (Although this also demonstrates just how strong the NFL is in its home market. But it's very close to maxing it out.)
The NFL is definitely the least International of the major sports leagues, despite its flirtation with London and Mexico City. I think they see that they already have maxed out in the US, and are desperately trying to expand internationally.
There is also the growing conflict with the medical and scientific community regarding brain injuries and how that may hurt the talent pipeline moving forward. I think it would be very smart of them to look elsewhere and open up academies overseas to supplement the growing number of kids who are not allowed to play at a competitive level.
Well, you've had Expo 86 and the Winter Olympics. Portland has the NBA Trailblazers and (maybe) Nike as claims to fame.
Seattle has Sleepless in Seattle, Boeing, Starbucks and coffee culture, Nirvana and grunge music, Bill Gates and Microsoft, and Frasier (in the anglosphere anyway), and the Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders and it had the SuperSonics.
I have no idea what Mariners, Sounders and SuperSonics are. And yes, Frasier outside North America is not well known at all.
Seattle has no "coffee culture". Unless you think this is coffee culture. I deleted a couple of friends from my istagram because they posted this thing as if it is something slightly interesting.
Starbucks is well know for free wifi, not coffee.
Sleepless in Seattle makes Seattle kind of well known in the same way "Casablanca" makes Casablanca kind of famous (I actually have friends who told me they want to visit Casablanca but don't know the existence of cities such as Marrakesh or Fez).
Regarding Portland, I am pretty sure there are quite a few people in Zagreb, Croatia, and Croatia in general (and also Bosnia, his home country) who know the Oregon city because Jusuf Nurkic plays in the NBA there. (He played for many years for Cedevita in Zagreb.)
And as a result the girlfriends and parents of some of the basketball fans have heard of Portland, Oregon.
Just as my wife and kids who are totally non-sports fans are aware of certain teams and places as well just by living with me.
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