Board 8 > ESPN ranks the 100 most famous athletes in the world

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/worldfame100/espn-world-fame-100-top-ranking-athletes

Ronaldo at #1.

It looks like soccer is the most represented sport on the list, which is understandable. Zero NHL players on the list, which seems kind of weird because hockey is pretty big in parts of Europe. You'd think someone like Ovechkin would be recognizable all around.

There were ten names I didn't recognize on the list: #13, #15, #66, #71, #88, #89, #90, #92, #95, and #100

Considering the bulk of those ten are made up of Cricket, Badminton, and Table Tennis athletes, I'd say that makes sense.
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davidponte posted...

Ronaldo at #1.

literally who
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FFDragon posted...

davidponte posted...

Ronaldo at #1.

literally who

Seriously?
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yes that was the literal definition of literal, not the figurative one
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I can't even fathom not at least recognizing the name.
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it sounds like a cereal
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Tiger brlow Phil is laughable
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Felipe Massa but no Alonso? Really?
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FFDragon posted...

it sounds like a cereal

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holy shit is that the white supremacist guy that got kicked out of his gym?
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He obviously deserved a statue after all the suffering he went through.
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I used to always get him confused with Ronaldinho

Have to call him Cristiano IMO
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davidponte posted...

Zero NHL players on the list

davidponte posted...

Ronaldo at #1.

Joke list confirmed.
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VeryInsane posted...

I used to always get him confused with Ronaldinho

Have to call him Cristiano IMO

Maybe that's it.

As a person of Portuguese descent, I've never had any confusion about conversations involving a Ronaldo, though.
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Pokewars posted...

davidponte posted...

Zero NHL players on the list

davidponte posted...

Ronaldo at #1.

Joke list confirmed.

At the end of the day, it is ESPN we're talking about
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This list really overrates a lot of the NBA's best players. Like, if you're gonna argue that Lewis Hamilton is 84th on the list, there need to be way more soccer players and Olympians ahead of him, not Damian Lillard.

davidponte posted...

Zero NHL players on the list, which seems kind of weird because hockey is pretty big in parts of Europe.

Hockey is very bad at marketing its stars.
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Ronaldo ahead of Messi is utter nonsense. How the hell is that guy better well known than his eternal rival who has always done better than him?
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Ronaldo and Messi are so inextricably linked that I'm not sure how LeBron or anyone could have fallen between the two.
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KanzarisKelshen posted...

How the hell is that guy better well known than his eternal rival who has always done better than him?

He's a foot taller and way prettier.
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Radek Bonk
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And now looking at the list... LMAO @ Phil Mickelson in fifth.

Maybe among white corporate executives who make over $250k. And even then... maybe.
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i highly doubt phil mickelson is more famous than tiger woods
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JetJaguar posted...

i highly doubt phil mickelson is more famous than tiger woods

or anywhere near the 5th most famous athlete in the world for that matter.

if i were making this list it would be heavily weighted towards guys that resonate in africa and asia, which certainly isn't golfers. the guys that are famous in third world countries are the most famous by default because they're also famous everywhere else.

i would also penalize people like mcgregor and rousey because the only way to see them is on PPV, which severely limits their audience
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CaptainOfCrush posted...

KanzarisKelshen posted...

How the hell is that guy better well known than his eternal rival who has always done better than him?

He's a foot taller and way prettier.

If that's how we're measuring Lebron should be undisputed #1 tbqh

But really, Messi just is more famous. He has bigger advertising deals, his matchers are watched by more people...it's a no contest.
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Hockey just needs a good rivalry

A lot of the top 10 are involved in a heated rivalry right now!

(Except for Bolt who has no competition and Michelson who is WTF)
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I thought Messi was #1 as well (though I don't follow soccer enough to actually argue it), but IF Ronaldo is #1, that's the reason. He looks like a model and Messi looks like a short normal dude.
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This is the most ESPN list ever
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What a surprise Americans being surprised by the fact the world has more globally renowned sporting stars than their own.
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Also though Messi is amazing, he's never played for Man Utd, and they're the superstars of Football, doesn't matter if they win or lose their fandom is crazily immense.
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MenuWars posted...

What a surprise Americans being surprised by the fact the world has more globally renowned sporting stars than their own.

Almost the entire topic is everyone saying that all the people us americans know are too HIGH on the list.
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I'm incredibly biased, but I think Ronaldo has more exposure than Messi.

As much as "he's handsome" is a terrible indicator of fame, I think small things like that as well as stuff like what teams he's played for, and the Euro Cup getting more exposure than Copa America (atleast where I live) all add to "fame" in the sense that more people in the general audience are seeing him.

It's not ranking who the better, more accomplished player is (although I think Ronaldo is better).

Also yeah, Phil over Tiger is insane.
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Lewis Hamilton is the face off Mercedes, I may not like him, but he should be way higher.

Ding Junhui needs to be on the list. There's a few football stars who i feel have to be bigger than some of the lower ranked Olympians. Like Harry Kane seems like a bigger deal than Aly Raismann

Would take him over Salah at least.
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It makes sense that a soccer player is number 1 and there are pretty much no NHL players on a global list. I don't see how this is surprising.
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Oh wait Michael Phelps isn't even on the list. Joke list.
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OliviaTremor posted...

Oh wait Michael Phelps isn't even on the list. Joke list.

Yeah that's pretty nuts.
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OliviaTremor posted...

Oh wait Michael Phelps isn't even on the list. Joke list.

Retired
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Missed that stipulation.
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As somebody who doesn't know soccer surrounded by a state that doesn't know soccer, Ronaldo is the only name I've ever heard people mention, so I could see him being more known than Messi even if it doesn't make sense why.
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ESPN has always been very anti-hockey pro football. They're pretty much the sports equivalent of MURICA.
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Also,

devised a formula that combines endorsements with social media following and internet search popularity to create the ESPN World Fame 100 rankings.

Ronaldo has 102 million followers on Instagram and a very popular Twitter account. Messi has 72 million followers and no Twitter account. I'd assume stuff like that skewed it, too.
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Hamilton's up there because of his romance with Nicole Scherzinger (sp) and the fact he's a British driver that did well. But F1 on the whole has fallen out of popularity over the last few years unfortunately.
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davidponte posted...

Pokewars posted...

davidponte posted...

Zero NHL players on the list

davidponte posted...

Ronaldo at #1.

Joke list confirmed.

At the end of the day, it is ESPN we're talking about

ESPN, who has zero broadcasting rights over NHL games and cut most of their NHL reports because of this fact
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Ronaldo > Messi

Playing for Manchester United and Real Madrid and being eligible for the Euros (including winning one recently) pushes him over the edge on an American site.
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davidponte posted...

Zero NHL players on the list, which seems kind of weird because hockey is pretty big in parts of Europe. You'd think someone like Ovechkin would be recognizable all around.

From the looks of it, I see no MLB players on the list either.
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Well at least the list does have a methodology to it, which explains some of the weirder shit

As a cricket fan, Ms Dhoni at 15 or whatever is so silly. He's not that good, just happened to be India's captain and they have a lot of cricket fans
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haloiscoolisbak posted...

As a cricket fan, Ms Dhoni at 15 or whatever is so silly. He's not that good, just happened to be India's captain and they have a lot of cricket fans

Well, that's the whole point. It's not accounting for skill or anything.
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MenuWars posted...

What a surprise Americans being surprised by the fact the world has more globally renowned sporting stars than their own.

It's just a really poor list overall. Ronaldo is probably #1 and it's not much of an argument. What is crazy is the idea that Damian Lillard is more famous than any NHL or MLB player. And although it's already been touched on, the F1 representation is boggling. I think Lewis Hamilton could be argued for top 10, and at the very least, he's definitely in the top 25 no question. The fact that the second F1 driver is Massa rather than Vettel or Alonso is... I don't even know what it is.
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I seriously feel like any question of "Why ___ over ___" can be answered by "Social media."

Damian Lillard has over 4x the Instagram followers that Ovechkin does, for instance, and over 3x as many as, say, Bryce Harper.
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Tom Brady should be higher
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