Biggest sports star ever?

[Shorty]

Gretzky is Canadian. Nice try, though.

Is Canada not part of North America?

[Surefire]

Ok, I was a little harsh. Basketball does have appeal in Europe. Ice Hockey and American Football though, very little. And Baseball cant be called a world sport, I mean because Japan and Cuba play it doesnt count as world appeal.

Without trying to insult you or be harsh, so please don't take it that way, you are basically just sticking with sports you like.

American Football is pretty small in Europe, however look at the popularity of the Wembley games? The sport is clearly liked, plus there are leagues such as BCAFL and BAFL. Ice Hockey is huge, in Britain there is the Super League and National League. Not to mention how big the sport is in Scandinavia, Ex Soviet Republics and Russia, and even Germany. Baseball is huge in other places in asia besides Japan. With the exception of American Football the other 3 are easily played as much worldwide as cricket. In fact they are also Olympic sports whereas cricket is not. Also take a look at TV viewing figures. I don't know how many people watched big cricket matches, but I bet it's not as many as the Superbowl. I have nothing personally against cricket, just pointing out that you seem to be slightly biased towards it because its a game you like\play.

[mad max]

Ok, I was a little harsh. Basketball does have appeal in Europe. Ice Hockey and American Football though, very little. And Baseball cant be called a world sport, I mean because Japan and Cuba play it doesnt count as world appeal.

Many countries have professional baseball leagues:The Netherlands (formed in 1922), Australia (1934), Japan (1936), Mexico (1937), and Puerto Rico (1938), South Korea (1982), Taiwan (1990), and China (2003). The four leading Latin American "winter leagues": the Dominican Winter League, Mexican Pacific League, Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League, and Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. This does not even name all the professional leagues in central and south america it is just a few I could find quickly. As for armature baseball playing countries the International Baseball Federation has 117 or 112 member countries and to show you how worldwide baseball is in addition to individual countries like the US their are five different confederations:

African Baseball & Softball Association (ABSA) - 16 member countries Baseball Confederation of Oceania (BCO) - 15 member countries Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) - 20 member countries Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) - 40 member countries Pan American Baseball Confederation (COPABE) - 26 member countries

I just stated my personal opinions, I quite like Baseball, but don't like the rest! I think one of the reasons I dont like them is because they aren't so open to participation. American Football-you need all the gear, and as a kid you can only play touch in the playground. Basketball-you really need to be tall.

Basketball is in my opinion the most accessible sport of the ones you named like any sport that is popular it is very difficult to become one of the best in the world at it and it helps to be tall to reach the elite level but in the US at least you can walk down to a court and play with strangers and you don't need to have a set number of players and the players can have different levels of skill. As long as someone on the other team is as bad as you are you can play and not hurt your team or mess up the rhythm of the game.

Rugby-yes it is more niche. I personally am not a rugby fan, my dad is. I call it chase the egg to annoy him! But again its more global than American Football, Ice Hockey and Baseball FACT.

How do you get your data T.V. ratings, spectators, amateurs that play, or is it your OPINION?

Squash is hugely global-its just not a massively covered sport in the media-BIG DIFFERENCE. Almost all countries play it to my knowledge.

I am as guilty as you of getting sidetracked off of the original post but the title says "Biggest sports star ever?" so I think we can both agree that no squash player is the Biggest sports star ever?

[Grndslmhttr3]

Is Canada not part of North America?

You said American, so naturally I assumed "United States," not "North America." By that logic, ANY "American" sports (North, South, or Central American) would fall into that category.

[Petden]

Ha ha ha! In reply to a post about many Americans not knowing whats going on outside their state, let alone country you post this.

Anyone interested in a laugh, look up "Rick Mercer and talking to americans". I saw this in a business class, and was flabbergasted.

[Three Putt]

Wow-I got called a troll. Only found out what it meant the other day!

http://www.cricfever.com/ I guess you could use this site??? Cocky Watchman..."In your opinion a sport is not a sport unless it pays-interesting point." ....Yes, then it is a hobby that one uses disposable income to participate in.

[d373rm1ned]

Michael Jordan!

[Lonermagee]

My vote for Biggest Sports Star Ever goes to Chi Chi Rodriguez!!

[golfswede]

You are all wrong, the greatest athletic in the world is by far Christiano Ronaldo! Ok, Pelé was amazing in his days and Tiger is outstanding in the golf-world. There are many big and great sportmens, like Pele, Tiger, Zlatan, Gretzky, Ovechkin and so on. But I promise that no one of these can beat Christiano. He is totally outstanding! I´m deeply impressed!

[Grndslmhttr3]

You are all wrong, the greatest athletic in the world is by far Christiano Ronaldo! Ok, Pelé was amazing in his days and Tiger is outstanding in the golf-world. There are many big and great sportmens, like Pele, Tiger, Zlatan, Gretzky, Ovechkin and so on. But I promise that no one of these can beat Christiano. He is totally outstanding! I´m deeply impressed!

Has he broken a plethora of records in soccer like Gretzky has in hockey?

[CG031]

tiger woods, wayne gretzky or michael jordan would get my vote. not sure, im undecided between these three!

[itzzzberny]

IMO

1. Kobe Bryant
2. Tiger Woods
3. MJ

[geezer]

Has he (Christiano Ronaldo) broken a plethora of records in soccer like Gretzky has in hockey?

Who is Gretzky?

*looks him up* Oh, so he's a retired dude. Well, C.Ronaldo is like 24 years old, so comparing his career to a person who is finished theirs is not valid. Besides which, hockey is not really a world sport on the same level as soccer.

[mutadayen]

I think that's impossible to say because of (1) time and (2) geographic region. In North America, we're going to say Michael Jordan or Tiger. But North America is not the world. The world's most recognizable sports star is probably, by most accounts, going to be a soccer player. I grew up not watching soccer and only got into of recently, but the second you step outside of the states, you realize this world is a soccer crazed world.

With that, if I had to go today, I would say that the most recognized athlete today is David Beckham, followed closely by Tiger Woods. I think they're 1 and 1a with little variation in popularity and recognizability between the two. I think Tiger was the most recognizable until Beckham came to the states. Since then, I think he's eclipsed him by a little. Third is MJ (im biased because I live in Chicago)...

:)

[Beretta_Shooter]

Biggest Sports Star in the States:
MJ
Woods
Ali

Biggest Sports Star EVER in the World ?
Pele

There is no debate that on the world stage Pele was the most well known and revered sports figure of all time.

[The Rambler]

Phelps, Crosby, Jordan, Tiger

[itzzzberny]

Phelps, Crosby, Jordan, Tiger

crosby? are you talking about sidney crosby?

i think its a little early to call him the biggest sports star ever... i think kobe bryant ( who now blogs for a chinese website) is a bigger/better star worldwide than sid the kid..... sorry to burst your bubble.... i would think wayne gretzky would be ranked higher than sid....

[Kevintensity]

I have to say MJ. He took it to a whole new level