Most popular athlete IN THE WORLD ever to wear no. 23: Jordan or Beckham?

[hateraid]

I read thing magazine article a while back and it presented the most popular athlete in any sport to wear a particular number. This article was a while back and at the time Jordan was considered number one at the time to wear number 23. This was in SI so it may have been a little bias and now it's 2008. On a world-wide level of all-time, who is the more popular athlete:

Michael Jordan or David Beckham?

[TruthKGRay3412]

Jordan.

/thread

[miller-time]

well beckham wears it because of jordan and so does lebron. so the answer is jordan.

[artificial]

Am I the only one who remembers Beckham more with #7 than with 23?


http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/796/beckham7uv0.png

[hateraid]

Take into account how popular futball is in comparison to basketball on a worldwide stage. Not only the fact that Beckham has some sort of celebrity status being married to Posh. I don't think it's as lopsided as people are thinking. Think outside the North American box.

[hateraid]

well beckham wears it because of jordan and so does lebron. so the answer is jordan.


Not really that relevant to who's more popular though.

edit:sp

[miller-time]

Not really the relevant to who's more popular though.

well you can't compare them right now since beckham is still active and jordan has been retired for sometime. i was just pointing out that even beckham himself is a fan of jordan.

but i think if you want to compare beckham's popularity to the height of jordan-mania then i'd have to say jordan.

[plowking]

Seriously, it's easily Jordan.

Even though basketball wasn't the most popular sport, Jordan was the most recognizable athlete in the world. Only athlete I can think of that has achieved similar success is Tiger.

Beckhams fame wasn't all from his sports. A lot of it was being a fashion icon. Jordan on the other hand was recognised as being the best at what he did. Which Beckham on the other hand wasn't for very long. Only one season can you really say that Beckham was the best in the world.

[bigboi_baller]

Take into account how popular futball is in comparison to basketball on a worldwide stage. Not only the fact that Beckham has some sort of celebrity status being married to Posh. I don't think it's as lopsided as people are thinking. Think outside the North American box.
Thing is, everyone in Europe knows who Michael Jordan is. Not everyone in North America knows David Beckham especially before his move to LA.

[Kblaze8855]

Id have to assume the most popular soccer players are more popular than just about anyone. There are places where almost an entire country roots for a guy. And not like we root for like...USa basketball. these people will fight...riot...kill for their teams. Sounds absurd but...it does happen. Soccer fans will fight to the death over some rivalries. Knicks and Bulls fans hated eachother...we are bringing out a tire iorn and beating someone to death or throwing flaming bottles onto the court in protest. Even those less extreme seem to care more than we do. The world cup gets a hell of a lot more interest than anything basketball related ever will.

[i seen hippos]

Beckham is more famous world wide. The Asians love him.

[RoseCity07]

Beckham is more famous world wide. The Asians love him.

What? How many asian kids do you see wearing Air Beckhams? Oh wait ...

[bigboi_baller]

Id have to assume the most popular soccer players are more popular than just about anyone. There are places where almost an entire country roots for a guy. And not like we root for like...USa basketball. these people will fight...riot...kill for their teams. Sounds absurd but...it does happen. Soccer fans will fight to the death over some rivalries. Knicks and Bulls fans hated eachother...we are bringing out a tire iorn and beating someone to death or throwing flaming bottles onto the court in protest. Even those less extreme seem to care more than we do. The world cup gets a hell of a lot more interest than anything basketball related ever will.
The question is how popular each guy is. Meaning how many people know him not how devoted people are to him.

You're right that Beckham fans are more devoted to him, but I bet more people around the world know who Jordan is (ie popularity) even if they aren't going to cry over his last game.

[Kblaze8855]

When I really think about it...is Jordan more famous in his time than Joe Louis in his? In America that is. technology gives more worldwide access to modern guys but hearing about Joe makes me think he may have been bigger here. As popular as Jordan was you wont have damn near all of america sit down to watch/listen(as the case may be at the time) to his games. I dont think anyone modern can approach the level of interest over the Joe Louis/Max Schmeling fight. Hearing about the level of interest....entire towns meeting in one place with dozens of radios so everyone could hear? Nationwide parties after Joe won? Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, and guys like that were probably as big as Jordan for the people who had access to them.

[hateraid]

Thing is, everyone in Europe knows who Michael Jordan is. Not everyone in North America knows David Beckham especially before his move to LA.

You think so? Think about some countries where basketball takes a back seat to soccer/futball. Think of small towns in Sweden, France, Holland, Turkey, Poland... Countries with proud soccer heritages. Think that they would know Michael Jordan as opposed to small town USA knows who Beckham is?

As kblaze is stating, soccer is much larger in comparison on a world-wide level where a whole countries rally behind their team. They sure as hell know who England is and who to watch out for.

[206kid]

Jordan

[Kblaze8855]

The question is how popular each guy is. Meaning how many people know him not how devoted people are to him.

You're right that Beckham fans are more devoted to him, but I bet more people around the world know who Jordan is (ie popularity) even if they aren't going to cry over his last game.

A billion people watch the world cup. At least. I doubt many of them wouldnt know Beckham. Especially considering how many countries have ties to England. I cant see 1 in every 6 people on earth knowing Jordan.

[qrich]

Wow at people acting like it's easily Jordan. It isn't as big a gap as you put it. When it comes to popularity world wise, Beckham is one of the few people that can walk down a random street in a pretty major city in the world and people would know who he is[along with Tiger and especially Shaq + Yao]

[bigboi_baller]

A billion people watch the world cup. At least. I doubt many of them wouldnt know Beckham. Especially considering how many countries have ties to England. I cant see 1 in every 6 people on earth knowing Jordan.
In a 3rd world country like Pakistan, anyone who knows Beckham knows Jordan simply because of the amount of times they are mentioned on TV/Movies/Music. Plus, countries across the middle east and Asian tend to follow American culture (and Jordan is a cultural icon) rather than British/Euro culture.

They watch soccer but they don't identify players as individuals. In basketball, its easy to distinguish players as individuals. Nike marketing has caused tons of fake Jordan shoes and clothing throughout asia. Whenever I go to Pakistan, I see fakes Jordan shirts in a lot of sports shops. There are also a ton of soccer jerseys, but the people buy those jerseys for the team/country rather than the player himself. They think of soccer in terms of teams.

In Saudi Arabia, I found a store selling Jordan shoes and a fake store with more J's down the street. They marketed Jordan as an "American athlete" while the soccer jerseys were marketed in terms of "this team won this title."


You think so? Think about some countries where basketball takes a back seat to soccer/futball. Think of small towns in Sweden, France, Holland, Turkey, Poland... Countries with proud soccer heritages. Think that they would know Michael Jordan as opposed to small town USA knows who Beckham is?
Manchester is my home away from home. All the kids on the streets used to wearing Beckham jerseys when he played for United. He was a living legend, everyone knew him.

But at the same time, everyone knew who Jordan was as well. They don't know specifics, but they recognize that he was an "black American basketball players who was the greatest ever." People recognize the jumpman logo in the UK and even rock the shoes. Stores like Footlocker have made Jordan shoes an everyday thing in England. Television, movies, and American culture has made knowing who Jordan is general knowledge.

Around the world, Jordan is better recognized because there's always been a lot of good footballers and they rise and fall. Beckham had his years of fame, but Jordan is a world wide icon because of his accomplishments on the court and JB which cemented him as an American icon.

[bdreason]

Jordan.

Beckham is known all over the world because he plays Football (soccer).... but never has he been the best Football player on the planet.


Jordan is a global icon and also considered by many to be the best of all time.

[23airjordan23]

Jordan,
Becham used to wear No. 7 and also jordan had alot of his merchandise with no.23.

[Beebo]

Ummm Beckham became famous with #7. Besides, he's super overrated.

[starface]

Take into account how popular futball is in comparison to basketball on a worldwide stage. Not only the fact that Beckham has some sort of celebrity status being married to Posh. I don't think it's as lopsided as people are thinking. Think outside the North American box.


nah dude beckham isnt and never was nearly the icon in soccer that jordan was to basketball.

no person has ever been the face of a sport more than michael jordan and basketball. ever. he is the Number 23

[Kblaze8855]

In a 3rd world country like Pakistan, anyone who knows Beckham knows Jordan simply because of the amount of times they are mentioned on TV/Movies/Music. Plus, countries across the middle east and Asian tend to follow American culture (and Jordan is a cultural icon) rather than British/Euro culture.

I imagine if you are in a third world country you need a tv to know either one. Hard to have a tv and be anything close to a sports fan and not know Jordan. You might see a face on a shirt or a bottle but im not sure id call that knowing a guy.


They watch soccer but they don't identify players as individuals. In basketball, its easy to distinguish players as individuals. Nike marketing has caused tons of fake Jordan shoes and clothing throughout asia. Whenever I go to Pakistan, I see fakes Jordan shirts in a lot of sports shops. There are also a ton of soccer jerseys, but the people buy those jerseys for the team/country rather than the player himself. They think of soccer in terms of teams.

In Saudi Arabia, I found a store selling Jordan shoes and a fake store with more J's down the street. They marketed Jordan as an "American athlete" while the soccer jerseys were marketed in terms of "this team won this title."

I think the clothes thing is a little hard to call. Wearing Jordans might mean you know the guys name...doesnt mean you know who he is. I know black kids in america right now who wear jordans and wouldnt know the guy if he walked in. The kinds of 3rd world people who would buy ripoff Jordans because Jordans are the thing to buy arent likely to know what happened in the 1991 NBA finals are they? Are we talking name recognition or actually knowing a guy?

Anyway this is something that comes up now and then. Some say they go places and nobody know anything about basketball or who plays it but everyone know every soccer star. I cant say. Ive not been to India or...wherever.

But with a billion plus people watching them play I gotta assume more people know soccer players than anyone in any other sport. Even if you just root for a country....how do you not know the guy whos name gets mentioned 600 times per broadcast and gets zoomed in on every time? What is Jordan gonna do to be seen by 1.4 billion people at once? Go streaking during the world cup perhaps?

The olympics gets attention to but its a much more spread out thing covering many many sports and so on.

Soccer is just such a big deal to billions of people. How can you watch a game with a broadcast in your language and not even hear about the most popular players? I know beckham isnt in all games...and that he isnt as good as he is popular. But still.

A billion fans is a billion fans. Beckham and company have a stage too big for me to assume millde eastern merchants selling knockoffs to kids who never saw the guy play have more influence.

[darabzarrabi]

I think regardless of who is better down, Jordan and 23 are almost synonymous now, a lot of the people that are into Beckham dig his charisma etc, but he wasn't marketed as Jordan was with his number, so I will have to go with Jordan

[hateraid]

I think regardless of who is better down, Jordan and 23 are almost synonymous now, a lot of the people that are into Beckham dig his charisma etc, but he wasn't marketed as Jordan was with his number, so I will have to go with Jordan


Agreed that Jordan is synonymous with 23. Just like if Zidane wore 99 it wouldn't be as iconic as Gretzky wearing it.
Guess my wordplaying in the title was to compare the poularity of Jordan to Beckham worldwide. That's the only way I can word it to link the 2 together.

[Kblaze8855]

Well yea Jordan is #23. I didnt even know Beckham wore it. Not that I know much of anything about soccer to begin with.

[Chicago76]

They watch soccer but they don't identify players as individuals. In basketball, its easy to distinguish players as individuals. Nike marketing has caused tons of fake Jordan shoes and clothing throughout asia. Whenever I go to Pakistan, I see fakes Jordan shirts in a lot of sports shops. There are also a ton of soccer jerseys, but the people buy those jerseys for the team/country rather than the player himself. They think of soccer in terms of teams.

For "real fans" of teams this is true, but for the Beckham hype machine it isn't. Real Madrid bought David Beckham because he could sell more merchandise for the club, not for him to be the 6th best player on RM. The LA Galaxy (w/ help) spent $200 million to secure his services to sell more jerseys and merchandise. The number 23 might be more synonymous with Jordan, but that doesn't make him more recognizable on the street, on billboards, or to the average guy in Asia, Africa etc. Beckham is most likely the most popular athlete to wear #23, even though #23 and Beckham don't automatically go hand in hand.

Real and ManU both took pre-season tours to Asia to hype the marketing machine that was David Beckham. Tens of thousands of people showed up at airports in places like Tokyo, Beijing, and Hong Kong just to see him. It made the Dream Team reception in Barcelona look like a church choir tour. Teenage girls are obsessed. It's like a weird cult or something. The closest thing I can think of that reminds me of Beckhamania is the height of Michael Jackson's fame in the mid-80s.

In any soccer-loving country, Beckham will automatically be more well known. That means all of Latin America except Venezuela, Cuba, a couple of other places. That includes all of Europe except maybe Lithuania. That would include China/Japan/Korea, where soccer is still bigger than basketball. That includes the middle east, and it includes Africa. The largest nation this would not cover is India, which thanks to it being a former colony and Bend it Like Beckham makes him more popular there. Throw in the fact that he is half of the most well-known celebrity couple in the world (ahead of Jolie-Pitt) and this is a no brainer.

It might change in a decade or two, but I don't see it changing for a while.

[ukballer]

:oldlol: at everybody who has gone for MJ without considering anything. No surprise that most of you are Americans, and are probably completely unaware of the worldwide affection and appreciation for David Beckham.

This past season David Beckham had the 5th best selling shirt in the World, only behind Torres, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and Rooney. Considering that nobody watches MLS, not even Americans except diehard fans, this is a pretty crazy statistic.

When Beckham joined Real Madrid in 2003, over 50% of the shirts sold in the first few months were his, and generated millions of Euros of merchandise income, and I also read somewhere with the amount of Beckham shirts he had sold generated enough money to completely wipe out the amount of money they had spent on buying Becks in the first place.

The gap is far less than you guys would think, believe me.

Jordan shoes and other apparel are merely fashionable, its not necessarily because its Michael Jordan's name on them. I guarantee if you asked some Europeans (Brits especially), they would know they are wearing Jordan's, but probably the best answer you could get out of some of them is 'Oh isn't he some famous basketball player? I dunno...'.

I'm NOT saying Beckham >>>>>>> MJ in popularity, because no thats not entirely true, I'm just saying the appreciation for Beckham is worldwide while MJ obviously dominates the US market, but less so in other countries. :)

[willds09]

Jordan is more talented and clutch in his game, and is more respected case close!

[HANNIBAL SMITH]

:oldlol: Is this a joke? Jordan by a mile.

[plowking]

Well while living in a lot of different countries, I'll put it this way.

In Australia, you ask someone, "name a famous basketballer", and all of them say Michael, every single one. With the occasional Shaq.

Ask them to name a footballer, and they will say Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Beckham, Rooney.

Try it with your friends from overseas who don't know much about basketball or football, and you will see what I mean.

[stephanieg]

Beckham right now. But in another 50 years? Probably Jordan.

[crisoner]

:oldlol: Is this a joke? Jordan by a mile.


In the states and only in the states.

Beckham and (Futball) Soccer are world wide man.
When I was in Africa saw nothing but Beckham jerseys......same with Europe......same with Asia........same with Australia and New Zealand.

Trust me......B-Ball is getting there but Soccer is the WORLDS sport.

So if this question was for the states of course its Jordan. But world wide............Beckham is a ROCKSTAR.

[Collie]

Jordan is a transcendent athlete though. He's not just the face of basketball. He goes beyond it. I guarantee that people who know jack**** about basketball will probably know Jordan. IF you think 23, there's no other person in that jersey except MJ.

Its like Muhammad Ali as the face of boxing or Tiger Woods for golf. Like the guy above me said... if you think football, its probably Pele, or Maradona or Ronaldo or Beckham. With basketball, its Jordan.

[ukballer]

:oldlol: Is this a joke? Jordan by a mile.

I think my point has been proven by this post....

[west]

beckham hands down,we are talking about most popular,not the best ever!!!

[plowking]

Honestly when Jordan was playing everyone knew him. I'd say more then half the world knew who Michael Jordan was. Even little kids knew him that didn't like basketball that much through Space Jam. He was more idolized, more saught after, and more recognizable then David Beckham during his day.

Remember, everyone wanted to be like Mike.

[hateraid]

For "real fans" of teams this is true, but for the Beckham hype machine it isn't. Real Madrid bought David Beckham because he could sell more merchandise for the club, not for him to be the 6th best player on RM. The LA Galaxy (w/ help) spent $200 million to secure his services to sell more jerseys and merchandise. The number 23 might be more synonymous with Jordan, but that doesn't make him more recognizable on the street, on billboards, or to the average guy in Asia, Africa etc. Beckham is most likely the most popular athlete to wear #23, even though #23 and Beckham don't automatically go hand in hand.

Real and ManU both took pre-season tours to Asia to hype the marketing machine that was David Beckham. Tens of thousands of people showed up at airports in places like Tokyo, Beijing, and Hong Kong just to see him. It made the Dream Team reception in Barcelona look like a church choir tour. Teenage girls are obsessed. It's like a weird cult or something. The closest thing I can think of that reminds me of Beckhamania is the height of Michael Jackson's fame in the mid-80s.

In any soccer-loving country, Beckham will automatically be more well known. That means all of Latin America except Venezuela, Cuba, a couple of other places. That includes all of Europe except maybe Lithuania. That would include China/Japan/Korea, where soccer is still bigger than basketball. That includes the middle east, and it includes Africa. The largest nation this would not cover is India, which thanks to it being a former colony and Bend it Like Beckham makes him more popular there. Throw in the fact that he is half of the most well-known celebrity couple in the world (ahead of Jolie-Pitt) and this is a no brainer.

It might change in a decade or two, but I don't see it changing for a while.

Very well put together. Pretty much sums up the message kblaze and I were trying to get across.:applause:

[ukballer]

Honestly when Jordan was playing everyone knew him. I'd say more then half the world knew who Michael Jordan was. Even little kids knew him that didn't like basketball that much through Space Jam. He was more idolized, more saught after, and more recognizable then David Beckham during his day.

Remember, everyone wanted to be like Mike.

Thats the point though, Football (Soccer) is a more globally acknowledged sport than Basketball.

European kids don't want to be like Mike, MOST (I don't generalise) want to be a famous footballer if they decide to go into sport. As awful as this sounds, some kids wouldn't have even watched Space Jam if it wasn't for the Looney Tunes characters. I'm sure its different for American kids, but not in many other countries.

'MORE than' more than half the world know who David Beckham is and have actually watched him play, whether it be for a club team or for England. The point is, Beckham is/was far more accessible to people than MJ was. NBA is/was shown in some European countries weekly at best, while soccer has its own dedicated channels, matches shown almost every day if they are on etc.

Maybe if the internet was more readily available and used like it is today during the MJ days, perhaps he would eclipse Beckham in that regard, but I just don't honestly believe he does at this moment in time.

[Kebab Stall]

It seems like some people have gone off course from the original question, which was, 'Most popular athlete IN THE WORLD ever to wear no. 23: Jordan or Beckham?'.

When I think of David Beckham, I don't think of the number 23, I never have and probably never will. The reason that Beckham wears that number is because of Jordan. The person I associate with the number 23 is Jordan. Most football fans will remember Beckham for wearing the number 7 for Man U.

Also, Beckham is not famous for that number nor is he associated with that number often, unlike Jordan who was always associated with that number. Essentially, Beckham is probably the most popular person to wear that number, but he is not associated with it nearly as much as Jordan. When you think of the number 23, you will think of Jordan first, not Beckham.

If we're talking about popularity as a whole (which was not the question by the way) then Beckham would most likely win. Though, as someone mentioned before, if you ask a random person to name a famous basketball player the most frequent answer will be Jordan, where as if you ask someone to name a famous football player, Beckham might not even be in the top 3 of frequently given answers. But, that doesn't mean that Jordan is more popular than Beckham, by any stretch of the imagination.

[hateraid]

It seems like some people have gone off course from the original question, which was, 'Most popular athlete IN THE WORLD ever to wear no. 23: Jordan or Beckham?'.

When I think of David Beckham, I don't think of the number 23, I never have and probably never will. The reason that Beckham wears that number is because of Jordan. The person I associate with the number 23 is Jordan. Most football fans will remember Beckham for wearing the number 7 for Man U.

Also, Beckham is not famous for that number nor is he associated with that number often, unlike Jordan who was always associated with that number. Essentially, Beckham is probably the most popular person to wear that number, but he is not associated with it nearly as much as Jordan. When you think of the number 23, you will think of Jordan first, not Beckham.

If we're talking about popularity as a whole (which was not the question by the way) then Beckham would most likely win. Though, as someone mentioned before, if you ask a random person to name a famous basketball player the most frequent answer will be Jordan, where as if you ask someone to name a famous football player, Beckham might not even be in the top 3 of frequently given answers. But, that doesn't mean that Jordan is more popular than Beckham, by any stretch of the imagination.

As discussed in earlier posts that yes Jordan is more synonymous with 23 but what you had bolded actually wasn't the point of my Q. Look back to the title and I had capitalized "In The World".
So really what I'm trying to pose is who's more popular between Becks and Jordan. I just tried to snazz the title up and refenrence an old article i've read.

[bigkingsfan]

It's an easy answer if any of you guys ever travel outside the usa, I had a hard time finding a basketball hoop in some of the asia country...

[Kebab Stall]

As discussed in earlier posts that yes Jordan is more synonymous with 23 but what you had bolded actually wasn't the point of my Q. Look back to the title and I had capitalized "In The World".
So really what I'm trying to pose is who's more popular between Becks and Jordan. I just tried to snazz the title up and refenrence an old article i've read.
Well then, the title is misleading.

If we are talking about popularity as a whole, then I'll stick to what I said in the final paragraph of my previous post.

[Sharas]

^as kebab points out, beckham isn't universally associated with wearing #23, and it's really a minor thing when discussing him.

but generally speaking, he's the biggest hype machine in history of sports.
very few countries have a bigger basketball following than football following, and although jordan is surely the most famous basketball player ever, i doubt he's more famous on the world scale. there are so many countries that don't give a **** about basketball (africa, asia almost on the whole) in comparison to the football.

beckham also became a worldwide celebrity outside the football too much more than jordan. marriage with victoria, fashion stuff, etc...every woman in the world knows who david beckham is, which i wouldn't be so sure to say for jordan.

so i'd say in worldwide appeal and fame, women's votes (along with asia and africa) win it for becks. worldwide you're much, much more likely to meet women who never heard of jordan than who never heard of beckham.

[hateraid]

Well then, the title is misleading.

If we are talking about popularity as a whole, then I'll stick to what I said in the final paragraph of my previous post.

Lol, that's where my North American ignorance comes in. I've really only associated Beckham with 23. You guys must laugh alot about our ignorance when it comes to futball.

[Kebab Stall]

Lol, that's where my North American ignorance comes in. I've really only associated Beckham with 23. You guys must laugh alot about our ignorance when it comes to futball.
I'm gussing that when that the majority of Americans, or the non football fans over in the States, only really knew who Beckham was once he signed with Madrid, which was when he changed his number to 23.

[Collie]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1999/jordan_retires/news/1999/01/13/deford/

A good article on MJ's popularity




By now, is not Jordan a figure as cultural as he is athletic? Even several years ago, for example, in a vote of Chinese students, he tied Chou En-lai as "the world's greatest man." And, most people would ask, whatever happened to this Chou En-lai? Nowadays it is blithely accepted that the tall, dark and bald young man has become the most familiar face on the planet Earth, that with the death of Diana, princess of Wales, Michael Jeffrey Jordan, late of Wilmington, N.C., has become the First Celebrity of the World, positively ubiquitous, the human Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt.

Of course this was written almost 10 years ago, so the new generation of sports fans may not remember him or have never seen him.

[JtotheIzzo]

I read thing magazine article a while back and it presented the most popular athlete in any sport to wear a particular number. This article was a while back and at the time Jordan was considered number one at the time to wear number 23. This was in SI so it may have been a little bias and now it's 2008. On a world-wide level of all-time, who is the more popular athlete:

Michael Jordan or David Beckham?

since Beckham chose 23 with Real Madrid to capitalize on Jordan's popularity,I think we know the answer.

[JtotheIzzo]

^as kebab points out, beckham isn't universally associated with wearing #23, and it's really a minor thing when discussing him.

but generally speaking, he's the biggest hype machine in history of sports.
very few countries have a bigger basketball following than football following, and although jordan is surely the most famous basketball player ever, i doubt he's more famous on the world scale. there are so many countries that don't give a **** about basketball (africa, asia almost on the whole) in comparison to the football.

beckham also became a worldwide celebrity outside the football too much more than jordan. marriage with victoria, fashion stuff, etc...every woman in the world knows who david beckham is, which i wouldn't be so sure to say for jordan.

so i'd say in worldwide appeal and fame, women's votes (along with asia and africa) win it for becks. worldwide you're much, much more likely to meet women who never heard of jordan than who never heard of beckham.

NBA Basketball is more popular in China, Taiwan, The Philippines and Korea than any pro soccer league could ever dream of being, including their own domestic ones.

[step_back]

I'd say beckham is more popular for 5 reasons,

1. Football or soccer is a more worldwide game.
2. hes a media whore who will sell anything.
3. his of the pitch life gains more attention then what he does on it.
4.he and his wife will appear to be friends with all/ any celebrities.
5. he is also viewed as a "sex" icon

but when you compare them as athletes and what they accomplished

Jordan>>>>>beckham (and its not even close)

[Manute for Ever!]

WARNIE!!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/content/images/2007/02/27/shane_warne_nov06_203_203x152.jpg

http://www.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/13500/13516.jpg

[Geandily]

I like all of the arrogant European people on here saying "WELL ITS OBVIOUS THAT YOU AMERICANS WOULD SAY JORDAN!"



Jordan was in like 50 movies, what about Beckham? How about you arrogant FOGBREATHERS (I made that one up for British people) think outside of the UK and realize that just because he was a soccer star in YOUR country it doesn't mean that the other soccer fan countries cared about him (Brazil, Venezuela etc)

Kim Jong Il even knows about Jordan. Nobody in Asia gives a **** about Soccer, they're all about their basketball leagues and the NBA. Beckham is popular in Europe, that's it. You come in here talking about how arrogant Americans are thinking that Jordan is more popular because more Americans know about him and then because Beckham is from England and that he plays soccer that he's automatically more well known because Europeans know about him. Your continent isn't the entire world, get over yourselves.



Arrogant American says Jordan, hands down because of Asia and Pacific Island countries. It's not even close.

[Kebab Stall]

I like all of the arrogant European people on here saying "WELL ITS OBVIOUS THAT YOU AMERICANS WOULD SAY JORDAN!"



Jordan was in like 50 movies, what about Beckham? How about you arrogant FOGBREATHERS (I made that one up for British people) think outside of the UK and realize that just because he was a soccer star in YOUR country it doesn't mean that the other soccer fan countries cared about him (Brazil, Venezuela etc)

Kim Jong Il even knows about Jordan. Nobody in Asia gives a **** about Soccer, they're all about their basketball leagues and the NBA. Beckham is popular in Europe, that's it. You come in here talking about how arrogant Americans are thinking that Jordan is more popular because more Americans know about him and then because Beckham is from England and that he plays soccer that he's automatically more well known because Europeans know about him. Your continent isn't the entire world, get over yourselves.



Arrogant American says Jordan, hands down because of Asia and Pacific Island countries. It's not even close.
That's delightful coming from a yank.

[chains5000]

That's delightful coming from a yank.
Agreed.

[Sharas]

NBA Basketball is more popular in China, Taiwan, The Philippines and Korea than any pro soccer league could ever dream of being, including their own domestic ones.

i know what you're saying but still, everything included, much, much more people globally watch football than basketball.

and even though becks isn't in GOAT discussions in his sport, he's among the most famous footballers ever if not the most famous one. i bet right now more people who don't follow the sport recognize him than say, pele. he is a celebrity in more ways than one. wikipedia says that his name was the most searched sport topic on google in 2003 and 2004 consecutively.

[Geandily]

That's delightful coming from a yank.

Thanks for proving my point :D


Here's my point in plain English(American) for you to understand:


All of you Euros are calling Americans arrogant for saying that Jordan is more popular than Beckham, then I call you out on the fact that you Euros only think Beckham is more popular because he's from Europe and then told you to get over yourselves, noting the fact that you had completely disregarded what people in Asia and South America think. Then you replied with this, bravo good sir!

[Collie]

Jordan's been out of the game for some time now. It wouldn't be surprising if he's less popular nowadays than his heydays, but I guarantee he was one of the most recognizable names in the world in the 90's. And this was without the information boom that came with the internet.

[Geandily]

Typical western hemisphere thinking, the "logical" Americans think that Bechkam is more popular because they think of Soccer as the "world sport" (IE it's played in every Western Hemisphere country) whereas Jordan is only an NBA star (only played in the US & Canada)

Everyone on here forgot about Asia & the pacific island countries, once again proving the fact that European and American culture is nearly identical.



Edit: Me (possibly) proving myself wrong, http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Micheal+Jordan&word2=David+Beckham

[ForceOfNature]

If we're talking all time, it's not really that close. Michael Jordan's legacy is more popular than David Beckham. Of course, that's in America, I'm not sure how the rest of the world views Beckham. I still would think MJ wins this one.

[Kebab Stall]

Thanks for proving my point :D


Here's my point in plain English(American) for you to understand:


All of you Euros are calling Americans arrogant for saying that Jordan is more popular than Beckham, then I call you out on the fact that you Euros only think Beckham is more popular because he's from Europe and then told you to get over yourselves, noting the fact that you had completely disregarded what people in Asia and South America think. Then you replied with this, bravo good sir!
I never once said that Beckham is more popular than Jordan, just because he is European, so you can forget about calling me out on that. You can call others out who have mentioned it, but not me since I never mentioned such a thing.

I also never called any American arrogant for saying Jordan > Beckham in terms of popularity.

You might want to re-read my first post in this thread, or better yet you might want to read it for the first time since you probably haven't even read it at all judging by your ignorant and rude comments.

[EricForman]

But Jordan's legacy with his shoes and items is the difference maker. Even in HK, Japan, Air Jordans are an fashionable items and you can see it all over the streets.

In the North America, Jordan's popularity blows away Beckhams,

but I think even in the most diehard of soccer countries, Beckhams popularity doesn't blow away Jordans (at least not as big a gap as Jordan over Beckham in the states)

Jordan more popular slightly I think.

[Geandily]

I never once said that Beckham is more popular than Jordan, just because he is European, so you can forget about calling me out on that. You can call others out who have mentioned it, but not me since I never mentioned such a thing.

I also never called any American arrogant for saying Jordan > Beckham in terms of popularity.

You might want to re-read my first post in this thread, or better yet you might want to read it for the first time since you probably haven't even read it at all judging by your ignorant and rude comments.

Read your first post and all of the other ones, me calling you out is still pretty applicable, you said that Beckham is probably more popular than Jordan and I explained why he's not and why you think that he is.





As for me proving myself wrong with the Googlefight thing: I FOUND A FLAW! People that watch Soccer(in the US) are more likely to be rich yuppies trying to act culturally aware, and thus more likely to be able to afford a computer and thus more likely to google his name (probably to buy a coffee mug with his face on it) "Look honey! I got that European F

[Sharas]

it really depends on what how you define popularity. many football fans consider him overrated, overhyped and man utd fans consider him the traitor for bolting to real and so on.

but in worldwide terms, if we're talking about sheer fame, i still think football's bigger overall popularity (hell, the whole world watched the 1998 game vs argentina where he was sent off if nothing else) along with women (victoria and fashion stuff) tip it to beckham's advantage.
i think you could find more people in this world who doesn't know who jordan is than beckham.

[Geandily]

Typical arrogant western hemisphere thinking, people in China watch the NBA all the time, shouldn't we watch their crazy ripoff of the NFL? Complete with slightly edited uniforms and team names?



Beckham is more popular in the western hemisphere but in the world? Jordan by far!

[Sharas]

Seeing as how people in China aren't allowed to use google for certain things

i really doubt michael jordan is one of them, you know.

and just FYI, i caught that "before we nuke you" remark before you edited it. so you really aren't in the situation to call anyone out about arrogance and hostility.

[brantonli]

I think you would need to define popular, becuase there's a difference between these two scenarios:

1. Walk down the street and ask a random person 'Do you know Jordan/Beckham?"

2. Walk down the street and ask a random person 'Do you support Jordan/Beckham?'

Because the word popular, to me, seems to imply support and fandom rather than simply knowledge. I would say that more people supported Beckham than Jordan, but more people know Jordan than Beckham.

As for the actual question, no doubt that Jordan was more popular when wearing number 23, Beckham made his fame with no. 7.

Oh yeah, and things that are blocked by the Great Firewall of China are things like 'Democracy', 'Freedom' , 'Fulong something' you know, things contrary to the ideals of the Chinese government, I seriously doubt Michael Jordan is one of them.



NBA Basketball is more popular in China, Taiwan, The Philippines and Korea than any pro soccer league could ever dream of being, including their own domestic ones.

In Hong Kong (and I think China), basketball and football are probably 1a and 1b, the difference in popularity is miniscule (but we still suck at both in the olympics). But football gets a heck lot more coverage on tv, there is, what, 1 or 2 basketball games on the public tv airways (if lucky!) and about a football game every week (whenever it's the FC cup this, Championship that) and you can just take a look at the news channels, in the sports sections they devote more time to football than basketball can ever dream of.

[Geandily]

ding ding ding thread decision:


America wins (as always)

[Sharas]

I didn't mean to edit that out, sorry!




Sit down before we nuke you, you filthy, filthy fogbreathers.


edit: I guess you're already sitting down, When certain things are restricted by google, why would somebody living in China want to use it at all? Wouldn't they want to use a third party search engine instead?

I like how you resort to nitpicking when you realize that your entire argument has gone down the loo(I just made that word up, it's American for terlet)


Edit 2(after Brantonli's post below):Googlefight proving my point that people in China dont use google:

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Yao+Ming&word2=Michael+Jordan

you can ramble about china and google as long as you want.
how many people in the world watch world cup and CL finals in comparison to any NBA finals ever played? how many people watched england-argentina games in 1998 and 2002, when beckham was sent off and scored a penalty respectively? it isn't even a valid comparison.
add beckham being victoria's husband and one of biggest sex and fashion icons amongst women worldwide and there lies your answer.

ask yourself, why did LA galaxy paid him 200 millions in a country that doesn't even care about football?

[Allstar24]

In the world...its David Beckham without question. I've seen the craziness with my own eyes.

[step_back]

I love the way geandily refers to europe in such a vague way, care to name what countries in particluar jordan is more famous then beckham?

btw Jordan >>>>>>>>>>>>beckham IMO

[The Bynuminator]

That's delightful coming from a yank.
stfu you Ringo-sucker

[Kebab Stall]

stfu you Ringo-sucker
:confusedshrug:

[The Bynuminator]

:confusedshrug:
http://www.topnews.in/light/files/ringo-starr.jpg

[Diesel J]

I'll say Jordan..especially at his peeks.At their peeks,I don't think it's even close.

somewhat related threads

Forbes:LeBron Is More Popular Than Kobe & Jordan

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91224&page=2

Does basketball have the most active mega-stars of any sport in the USA?

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91247

[ukballer]

ding ding ding thread decision:


America wins (as always)

http://failsalon.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/missionfail2.jpg

Nothing against my American friends, just this guy is a dick :oldlol:

[Diesel J]

Something interesting written on Jordan after his last game with the Bulls,basically 10 years ago...


'That was God disguised as Michael Jordan,'' said Larry Bird after the Chicago Bulls star scored 63 points against Bird's Celtics in a 1986 play-off game. And when God retires, the world grinds to a halt. Jordan's farewell to basketball, announced on Jan. 13, was stop-the-presses news, bumping minor incidents like the impeachment of the President back to page 37.

God is in fact somewhat less universally admired than Jordan, the most famous man in the world. Adventurers who stumble into remote African villages or nomadic encampments in Mongolia find small children wearing the No. 23 Bulls jersey. His image is everywhere, and his miracles, like conjuring up last year's NBA championship with a last-minute steal and picture-perfect jump shot, are recited like chapter and verse. And then there's his awe-inspiring Midas touch. FORTUNE magazine estimated his cumulative economic impact -- tickets sold, NBA broadcast contracts fattened, products endorsed -- at $10 billion.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,274282,00.html

[Diesel J]

^^the only modern athlete that will get close to that kind of impact is Tiger

[Rekindled]

i heard that jordan is regarded as god status in china, more than yao , that's a lot of people.

[danumber88]

I remeber bekham with the number 7..

[AItheAnswer3]

Jordan! No doubt about it

Beckham is extremely OVERRATED! He got popular because of that goal against Wimbledon back in 95 i think

[gotbacon23]

read david halberstam's book "Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World That He Made" to get a sense of how popular this guy was. If there is no Michael Jordan, there is no David Beckham.

this one indicates stuff too

http://www.nba.com/jordan/jordan_icon_thiel.html

one quote i find interesting...

"Upon the Bulls' arrival in Paris for the McDonald's Championship in October, 1997, the front-page story in the France-Soir national newspaper began:

"Michael Jordan is in Paris. That's better than the Pope. It's God in person.'' "

and thats a soccer country. god in person is mr. jordan.

jordan was INSANLEY popular in countries were basketball wasnt popular. he MADE a sport internationally popular when it was only really popular here. david beckham happened to play a sport that was already the most popular sport internationally, yet he is failed to make it popular in the US.

plus soccer is gay.

[i seen hippos]

The measuring stick for this debate should simply be how many fans of each athlete are there around the world.

It's simple. Beckham wins in a landslide.

[Knoe Itawl]

When I really think about it...is Jordan more famous in his time than Joe Louis in his? In America that is. technology gives more worldwide access to modern guys but hearing about Joe makes me think he may have been bigger here. As popular as Jordan was you wont have damn near all of america sit down to watch/listen(as the case may be at the time) to his games. I dont think anyone modern can approach the level of interest over the Joe Louis/Max Schmeling fight. Hearing about the level of interest....entire towns meeting in one place with dozens of radios so everyone could hear? Nationwide parties after Joe won? Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, and guys like that were probably as big as Jordan for the people who had access to them.

Blaze, you're wrong about this subject. I've lived and travelled extensively overseas, and am also very familiar with Jordan's career. The three most famous people in this history of the world are:

Muhammed Ali
Michael Jackson
Michael Jordan

In no particular order. There have been studies done on this issue, etc. etc. Jordan was MOBBED in China like two years ago. This is 10 years after he retired from the Bulls.

I think that being in the US, you really don't have a true grasp on the extend of Jordan's worldwide fame. He wasn't just another very famous athlete, he reached the pinnacle of the famous elite, and I'm talking about on a historic scale.

[i seen hippos]

Blaze, you're wrong about this subject. I've lived and travelled extensively overseas, and am also very familiar with Jordan's career. The three most famous people in this history of the world are:

Muhammed Ali
Michael Jackson
Michael Jordan

In no particular order. There have been studies done on this issue, etc. etc. Jordan was MOBBED in China like two years ago. This is 10 years after he retired from the Bulls.

I think that being in the US, you really don't have a true grasp on the extend of Jordan's worldwide fame. He wasn't just another very famous athlete, he reached the pinnacle of the famous elite, and I'm talking about on a historic scale.

If you go by what JtotheIzzo said, China is one of the few countries that like basketball more than futbol.

[Knoe Itawl]

The measuring stick for this debate should simply be how many fans of each athlete are there around the world.

It's simple. Beckham wins in a landslide.

That has nothing to do with it. Jordan's fame exceeded basketball. People who never watched basketball before or since him watched. I know PLENTY of people like that. They only watched for Jordan and now that he's gone they never looked back.

There are more fans of soccer, I would wager than boxing yet Muhammed Ali is one of the most famous people in history. More famous than all of the top soccer players.

So your premise is false.

[i seen hippos]

That has nothing to do with it. Jordan's fame exceeded basketball. People who never watched basketball before or since him watched. I know PLENTY of people like that. They only watched for Jordan and now that he's gone they never looked back.

There are more fans of soccer, I would wager than boxing yet Muhammed Ali is one of the most famous people in history. More famous than all of the top soccer players.

So your premise is false.

If you don't think Beckham transcends futbol, then you must have been living under a rock for the last decade.

Again, to me popularity isn't simply "Ya, I've heard of the guy" or "I know what he did". It's "I love the guy" or "He's my favorite".

[Hawker]

Of course everyone here is going to pick Jordan and those that did are incredibly biased.

It's David Beckham and it isnt even close.

[Knoe Itawl]

If you go by what JtotheIzzo said, China is one of the few countries that like basketball more than futbol.

As I said, not only have I lived and travelled extensively abroad, but I have also read about Jordan and his international fame. At one time, in the mid 90s he was described as the most famous person in the world.

Oh, and I would wager that if he went to South America, Europe or wherever he would still get mobbed there as well.

The fact is that he is one of the most famous people in history, and at the height of his fame easily more famous than Beckham.

Like I said, the only two people that approach him at the height of his fame are Michael Jackson and Muhammed Ali. Tiger may come close, and Madonna but that's it.

[Knoe Itawl]

Of course everyone here is going to pick Jordan and those that did are incredibly biased.

It's David Beckham and it isnt even close.

Wrong. Has nothing to do with bias and everything to do with what I've actually read on the sujbect.

[Knoe Itawl]

The game is to answer the question, Who will be the best known person of the 20th century in 5000 years? It's somewhat like asking who will win the Super Bowl in 2050, but better. The famous person question relies on principles that are probably pretty constant over time. The principles that make someone famous today probably made them famous 5000 years ago and will do so 5000 years from now. The object of the game is to figure out what those principles are and, to answer this particular question, who will benefit from them most.

Today the most famous person from the 20th century is probably Hitler, Pele, Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali. Their name recognition is above 90% around the globe. But in the year 7003 no more than a fraction of a percentile will know who these athletes were, and there will probably be many more horrific and brutal people to dilute Hitler's infamy. (I'm not confident we'll be able to keep powerful weapons out of the hands of evil men forever -- especially not for 5000 years. The man responsible for leveling London will be famous for a long, long time.) Hitler's fame also rests largely on the fact that he's not truly history yet -- so many people now living witnessed him and his horrors. That living link gives him salience that will erode over the next thousand years. And as soon as there's a more resonant placeholder for the proposition that evil really does exist in the world, Hitler's role in the popular imagination will wither away.

It's possible that the winner is a sleeper -- someone who's scarcely above the noise now. The fame of Muhammad and Van Gogh has grown exponentially over time. Who knows, maybe Glenn Reynolds's star is just rising.

My best answer for the question is a person who today might be known by 50% of the world. Maybe a lot more or a lot less. I'm sure he's not known by 98%, like Muhammad Ali supposedly is, but he's not a dark horse, either. But in 5000 years I suspect he'll still be known by a significant number of people, and he'll certainly be better known than Einstein, Churchill, FDR, Pope John Paul II or any living athlete or entertainer.

...

[i seen hippos]

As I said, not only have I lived and travelled extensively abroad, but I have also read about Jordan and his international fame. At one time, in the mid 90s he was described as the most famous person in the world.

Oh, and I would wager that if he went to South America, Europe or wherever he would still get mobbed there as well.

The fact is that he is one of the most famous people in history, and at the height of his fame easily more famous than Beckham.

Like I said, the only two people that approach him at the height of his fame are Michael Jackson and Muhammed Ali. Tiger may come close, and Madonna but that's it.

Beckham doesn't get mobbed?:roll:

Unless you provide me with the Word document that you typed up in highschool, we're going to have to agree to disagree. I think you are definitely underestimating the Beckham hype machine around the world.

[Diesel J]

Of course everyone here is going to pick Jordan and those that did are incredibly biased.

It's David Beckham and it isnt even close.

It's not biased,all you have to do is a read up on it and you'll find the simple answer is that Jordan was more popular at his height than Beckham.Even Ali probably was more known than Beckham

[yobore]

You guys must have seriously never left the country if you think there is any current athlete ever to have as much international popularity as Jordan, and Beckham?!? Sure most people would know his name but that doesn't make him anywhere near Jordan in terms of popularity. People are more likely to have been fans of Zidane outside of the USA, where soccer trumps tabloid marraiges. Whoever mentioned Tiger Woods as being almost as popular as Jordan internationally is crazy because most of the world doesn't care about golf. The most popular sports internationally are soccer and tennis, with basketball rising fast, and those are the sports where you can find names almost everyone knows. It's a testament to how insanely marketted Jordan was that he is known everywhere even before basketball became very popular in these places.

People everywhere have clothes that say Jordan on them. If you mention you're from North Carolina in China they all instantly bring up Michael Jordan, because that's in their middle school text books. Seriously there is no comparison esp. with Beckham.

[i seen hippos]

That quote you just posted about who will be best known is wrong, Knoe.

History books revolve around leaders, not athletes.

I will be suprised if anyone knows Ali in 5000 years. Every scholar in 5000 years will know Hitler. Every religious scholar will know JPII.

[Knoe Itawl]

That quote you just posted about who will be best known is wrong.

History books revolve around leaders, not athletes.

I will be suprised if anyone knows Ali in 5000 years. Every scholar in 5000 years will know Hitler. Every religious scholar will know JPII.

*sigh*

The point is that the most famous people in the 20th century were Hitler, Jordan, Pele Ali and I would say Michael Jackson.

Jordan is more famous than Beckham, you're just wrong.

[gotbacon23]

that fact that this topic is being brought up even though michael jordan hasnt played in 5 years; and he hasnt played for the bulls when he was really well known for TEN years, shows you how its no debate. honestly, i dont even know what david beckham looks like.

[i seen hippos]

*sigh*

The point is that the most famous people in the 20th century were Hitler, Jordan, Pele Ali and I would say Michael Jackson.

Jordan is more famous than Beckham, you're just wrong.

Right now they might be in the top 10, but you quoted something that specifically said 5000 years from now. Read your quotes before posting them please.

Nobody will know Jordon or Ali in 5000 years.

[yobore]

*sigh*

The point is that the most famous people in the 20th century were Hitler, Jordan, Pele Ali and I would say Michael Jackson.

Jordan is more famous than Beckham, you're just wrong.
Are these based on fact because I'm surprised to see Hitler and no Stalin. I have met a Vietnamese man who didn't know of Hitler I was kind of surprised but then if a country doesn't have do much world history and the kids don't go to school it doesn't surprise me. Because the regions they influenced I wouldn't surprised if Stalin is more famous than Hitler. SE Asia and the istans didn't have any contact with Hitler and poorer countries typically don't have as much attention to world history.

I also really doubt Mohammad Ali is that well known don't know what kind of study that was.

[kaiteng]

The only reason for Becks' popularity is that soccer is bigger than basketball worldwide, and he haven't done anything much for soccer other than being popular. Beckham is still an extremely skilled footballer though.

[dirkdiggler41]

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=david+beckham&word2=michael+jordan

[brantonli]

*sigh*

The point is that the most famous people in the 20th century were Hitler, Jordan, Pele Ali and I would say Michael Jackson.

Jordan is more famous than Beckham, you're just wrong.

The thread is 'popular' not 'famous'. Jordan is more famous than Beckham, but I don't think he's that much popular. Think about popularity, look, every fan of the NBA knows who is Kobe Bryant, this means he is famous among NBA fans. This DOES NOT mean he is popular among NBA fans. There is the slight but crucial difference.

As for Pele? He is famous, no doubt, but I remember posting in a football thread months ago about the greatest football players, and I posted pele as one of them, and some people asked 'Who's pele?" (it made me cringe, but I remembered I was on ISH).

And I think that article which you quoted from underestimated knowledge, people like Plato, Socrates, Homer, Pythagoras, Aristophanes, they lived 2000 years ago, but their names still live on. 50% of the population? Certainly not. But their fame still exists, however small. To a lesser extent, Chinese mythology documents kings up to 5000 years ago.

And the 90% figure, that people like Hitler, Ali etc are known to 90% to the people on the world, in fact, I refuse to believe it. You cannot tell me with a straight face that 6,037,830,090 people on this Earth (since 0.9 x 6,708,700,100) know who Hitler is. It is impossible.

[i seen hippos]

The thread is 'popular' not 'famous'. Jordan is more famous than Beckham, but I don't think he's that much popular. Think about popularity, look, every fan of the NBA knows who is Kobe Bryant, this means he is famous among NBA fans. This DOES NOT mean he is popular among NBA fans. There is the slight but crucial difference.

As for Pele? He is famous, no doubt, but I remember posting in a football thread months ago about the greatest football players, and I posted pele as one of them, and some people asked 'Who's pele?" (it made me cringe, but I remembered I was on ISH).

And I think that article which you quoted from underestimated knowledge, people like Plato, Socrates, Homer, Pythagoras, Aristophanes, they lived 2000 years ago, but their names still live on. 50% of the population? Certainly not. But their fame still exists, however small. To a lesser extent, Chinese mythology documents kings up to 5000 years ago.

And the 90% figure, that people like Hitler, Ali etc are known to 90% to the people on the world, in fact, I refuse to believe it. You cannot tell me with a straight face that 6,037,830,090 people on this Earth (since 0.9 x 6,708,700,100) know who Hitler is. It is impossible.

At least someone defines popular as I do.:D

[yobore]

The thread is 'popular' not 'famous'. Jordan is more famous than Beckham, but I don't think he's that much popular. Definitely disagree there. Beckham is not in the same stratosphere of popularity. Well, maybe in the UK, but in the rest of the world it is Jordan in a landslide.

[brantonli]

Definitely disagree there. Beckham is not in the same stratosphere of popularity. Well, maybe in the UK, but in the rest of the world it is Jordan in a landslide.

Hmm, yeah I think I'll have to change my views (go flipflopping!) after thinking about it. Here in Hong Kong, football is probably more popular than basketball (even that's a hmmmm), but I think the reason why Jordan is more popular is because of the diversity in football. You've got Cristiano Ronaldo, fat Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rooney, Henry, Beckham, so many different clubs representing so many different sides of football. But for basketball, in general there Jordan and...uhh.....who?

The face of football is much more varied than the face of basketball. But then, there's the definition of popularity as well, somebody who supports a certain player, and I'm not sure even Jordan had nearly had much popularity as his fame. Nowadays, go to basketball courts, anywhere, and you see more people with jerseys like Bryant, Anthony, James, Wade, McGrady and it makes me wonder how much popularity does Jordan has. Of course, it helps Beckham that he's still playing.

This is making my head ache.....good night everybody.

[Diesel J]

and I'm not sure even Jordan had nearly had much popularity as his fame.


^^^:lol

[rs98762001]

Beckham has never been universally adored both within and outside his sport in the way that Jordan was. Maybe Beckham is as famous, but he's certainly not considered one of the greatest players of all time. Barely one of the greatest players of his era. He had a couple of years while at Utd that a case could be made for him to be the best player in the game, but even then it was highly debatable. There were numerous other football players in Beckham's era that were close to his level of popularity and adulation. There was no one in Jordan's era who came close.

[gotbacon23]

all this reffering to "football" makes me dizzy. its called soccer. football is played in pads and helmets on sundays in the fall with gigantic men hitting the crap out of each other. soccer is what david beckham plays. lots of running and lots of bordem.

[Emile]

First of all, if there is one person overrated in this thread, it's Tiger Woods. WTH? How can you even begin comparing him to Beckham and Jordan? Unheard of. I know he's a big shot in USA but trust me, if I asked anyone in Europe who Tiger Woods is, they'd not so vividly say "I don't know" or "oh yeah that golfer". Other than the fact that he's black and a golfer, no one knows anything more about him. If that.

Now moving on, do you folks know what's the second most popular sport worldwide? You'd be surprised..formula 1 racing. That's right. Any of you heard of the chaps like Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barichello and others? Don't think so. But yeah, those dudes may be more popular, probably are then the guys like Duncan, Garnett and maybe even some legendary players like say Dr. J. In fact, I'd bet on it.

Now, Beckham vs Jordan? Here's the thing. Beckham is more popular and better known while Jordan is more iconic. Jordan is a basketball icon, a sports icon and an apparel icon. Beckham on the other hand is not iconic. He's just the biggest thing in everything. Is he a soccer icon? No, that's Pele. However, Beckahm is the most recognizable player ever. Is he a fashion icon? Maybe. If not, surely the most recognizable athlete in that department, for those reasons. Is he the biggest celebrity ever amongst athletes? Yes.
Now you see, MJ was famous for being a great basketball player. That's why he had a celebrity status, that's why he was known. Beckham on the other hand is known for being famous, for being David Beckham. He has exceeded the status of an athlete. He's everywhere. He's everything.
And my oh my, those who even begin comparing the popularity of basketball to the popularity of soccer have another thing coming in their sight. Have everyone forgot about South America? Two giant ass countries that are Brazil and Argentina? I haven't seen them be mentioned here. Well yeah, let's just put it this way. Worldwide popularity and recognition, Jordan despite being iconic, doesn't touch Beckham, believe it or not. A lot of people are likely to hear for both, however, more likely to hear about Beckham, more likely to know about him. Ge goes so far beyond soccer, far beyond being a celebrity, if there's a thing Beckham, it's worldwide, it's enormous. As iconic as Jordan is, he just doesn't have that impact. Likely even because people like having him as an Iconic God like figure so they don't want to dig up any dirt on him or damage his image whereas whatever comes with the Beckham name on it, it's everywhere and everyone know about it. And just thinking right now, if I asked all the girls I know, from all over the Europe about either Beckham or Jordan, it would not be close. And you know, there are a lot of women in the world. Something most here tend to ignore and just looking at it through the world of sport, what is bigger football or basketball where FYI Becks wins again. At everything. Absolutely everything. Jordan is no his equal.

Furthermore, all of you claiming Becks isn't a great soccer player need to STFU. He was greatness. Do you folks have any idea, at all, how hard it is to be the best player in the world or one of as a winger? To be the instrumental part of your team? Well, Beckham was just that. From his right side it's where most of the Man Utd danger ever came from, where everything was orchestrated, where RVN scored million goals from, getting crosses from the Becks. As a winger. You have any idea? It's literally unheard of. It's like rook being the most important figure in chess. It just doesn't happen. Beckahm however became the best a a winger.

And those claiming he isn't clutch, OH PLEASE. Give me a break. Do you have any idea how big was Beckham's free kick vs Greece? You don't. Let's put it this way, CLUTCHER, MORE IMPORTANT THING THAN ANYTHING EVER OF JORDAN. Don't even get me started. It was movie stuff. Unheard of. Long odds. Heroic. Redeeming. Historic.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4vPaw3ImXfY
That's just once in a lifetime. You cannot possibly match that. Nothing Jordan can do. Not to mention how much harder is it to score a free kick at that time and under how much pressure was Beckham at the time.

In short, Beckham. At everything. End.

[Emile]

all this reffering to "football" makes me dizzy. its called soccer. football is played in pads and helmets on sundays in the fall with gigantic men hitting the crap out of each other. soccer is what david beckham plays. lots of running and lots of bordem.


No, it's football. It's only known in the USA as soccer. It's football. WTH do helmets and pads, even if they're worn on sundays have to do with the name football, something that would indicate a freaking game being played with geez....I dunno...foot? and a ball?

[LJJ]

the GOAT basketball player wearing 23 his entire career or a borderline top 1000 football player wearing 23 in the twilight of his career?


Hmmmm, tough one.

[JohnLeft]

In the states for sure Jordan no questions
But in the world thats a toss up.

[shadow]

all this reffering to "football" makes me dizzy. its called soccer. football is played in pads and helmets on sundays in the fall with gigantic men hitting the crap out of each other. soccer is what david beckham plays. lots of running and lots of bordem.
errr no its football, not soccer which is a name we made up here. Look at it this way, unlike american football atleast people actually use their feet to play the game. We should change american football to be named soccer and refer to REAL football as footbal. It only makes sense.

[Emile]

the GOAT basketball player wearing 23 his entire career or a borderline top 1000 football player wearing 23 in the twilight of his career?


Hmmmm, tough one.


Post eliminated and ignored due to author clearly not having a freaking clue about the whole situation.

Well, that's just the thing here, All of Beckham > whatever of Jordan. So what if he only wore 23 after joining Madrid? So what? He still made it huge, not because of the number but because he's David Beckham. People just somehow underestimate how far beyond soccer Beckham goes, to how many ventures and some even understate how much popular soccer is.Honestly, is basketball even a top 5 sport worldwide? I'm not to sure. Could be. But I'm not sure. Even so, Beckham is still above Jordan. Thank you very much.

[LJJ]

Post eliminated and ignored due to author clearly not having a freaking clue about the whole situation.

Well, that's just the thing here, All of Beckham > whatever of Jordan. So what if he only wore 23 after joining Madrid? So what? He still made it huge, not because of the number but because he's David Beckham. People just somehow underestimate how far beyond soccer Beckham goes, to how many ventures and some even understate how much popular soccer is.Honestly, is basketball even a top 5 sport worldwide? I'm not to sure. Could be. But I'm not sure. Even so, Beckham is still above Jordan. Thank you very much.
Only people in the States even know about Beckham wearing number 23. And football isn't one of the bigger sports in the USA by a long shot.

You think anyone in Europe still cares about Beckham? Really? :oldlol:
This isn't 1999 son.

[Emile]

Pick the biggest celebrity in the world today. No, not an athlete. A celebrity. People who tend to be known much more than athletes because they're so mainstream. Who is it? Well, whoever it is, David Beckham is in the conversation. And probably tops the list. And it's been that way for a while. So his recognition goes far beyond someone being iconic in the worlds top 10, maybe top 5 sport.

[lemondude]

when I was still in asia a decade ago, I think when jordan was still playing. People there knew who he was as in his name. But they didn't know who he really is. At one point I thought he was 7 feet 10 cause I assumed all basketball players are tall and since he's good he must be really tall.

I mean people don't wear his jerseys. People buy ronaldo and beckham's jerseys. People know what position they played and what team. Jordon they knew he was a basketball player and that's it, don't know anything about the bulls or some didn't even know there was a thing called the nba

[Emile]

Only people in the States even know about Beckham wearing number 23. And football isn't one of the bigger sports in the USA by a long shot.

You think anyone in Europe still cares about Beckham? Really? :oldlol:
This isn't 1999 son.

There are like 350 million people in the States if I'm correct. Comparison wise, there are like 50 million people in England. 60 million in Germany. Around 50 million in France and Italy. Spain. Just bringing up some of the western Europe countries where soccer clearly is number 1. Yeah, those 6 countries combined have like 350 million people. Brazil? Close to 200 million. Argentina around 50 million. See where I'm going with this? Need I bring up Russia, Turkey, Arabic countries and so on? Or countries like Poland, Korea, whatever?

David Beckham is up there with the likes of Madonna. Michael Jordan being the icon of one sport, the sport that isn't nearly as popular, he doesn't touch Beckham. Sorry. Not to mention Beckham's mainstream fame.

And if you think no one cares about Beckham anymore, you're highly mistaken. Do you know that he's sold more jerseys of LA Galaxy than all soccer player in the world last year sans for 4 of them? Sorry. Becks > Mj.

[Emile]

Only people in the States even know about Beckham wearing number 23. And football isn't one of the bigger sports in the USA by a long shot.

You think anyone in Europe still cares about Beckham? Really? :oldlol:
This isn't 1999 son.

Considering he first wore that number in Madrid, considering it sold astronomically the first day, considering Madrid played in Champions league and considering the gigantic audience and popularity of the Champions league, somehow I doubt what you say is true.

[jjayfive]

hard to say......BECKHAM is very popular in the world pop culture...he's very hollywood and MTV because of his wife and looks.......i would put my money that many young and current professional bball players world wide wanted to be jordan....

on a pure athlete status...i think jordan had more influence....during jordan's prime, there was no athlete more popular....

celebrity status...i think beckham is ..

[Emile]

Better question is, who are women in the USA more likely to know, Jordan or Beckham? I suppose as far as male audience, the edge goes to Jordan, ok. Sure.
As far as women, 25+, I'd have to assume Jordan again. But women under 25? Teen girls of today? Not to mention, there are more women in the world then men. Always have been. They live longer as well. So what do you think, MJ being an icon and so well known for basketball or Beckham being such a big celebrity even in States. I'm curious, who you think it is?

[Knoe Itawl]

Better question is, who are women in the USA more likely to know, Jordan or Beckham? I suppose as far as male audience, the edge goes to Jordan, ok. Sure.
As far as women, 25+, I'd have to assume Jordan again. But women under 25? Teen girls of today? Not to mention, there are more women in the world then men. Always have been. They live longer as well. So what do you think, MJ being an icon and so well known for basketball or Beckham being such a big celebrity even in States. I'm curious, who you think it is?

You don't know what you're talking about. Jordan is one of the most famous people in the history of the world. There are many writings on this, why don't you do some research on it? Beckham is very famous, that's for sure but he is not, nor has he ever been on the level Michael Jordan reached. Only two, maybe three other people in entertainment ever have been. That's Muhammed Ali, Michael Jackson and probably Pele.

This isn't opinion, it's fact.

[Emile]

Those writings are possibly from when, 1998? 1996? 1993? Way before the internet? Way before internet became a norm? When mentioning Michael Jackson in a positive context was actually going on?
You cannot begin to believe how many things have changed since. I mean you can..but go back to 1998. Only techies were using internet I believe. Now every family in every corner of the world is. What does internet have to do with this? Well, a lot. The 3 people you listed, it just sounds very outdated. Sure, those are big icons, always will be, but it sounds outdated.
Beckham has reached such an amazing level of fame in this age, when informations travel so fast, when the world is more global then ever so as big as Jordan was, Beckham is bigger now than he's ever been, yeah...and not only then, Beckham's age surely made that a lot more possible for him.
And I'm pretty sure there have got to be more popular persons than Ali, Jordan, Jackson. Ali is an American icon and although wide known, I'd be surprised if he had so much recognition around the world. And yes, I know he boxed in Africa. It just that mainstream world isn't really in the know of those things and a lot of people are too young. Times change. Jackson? Sure. Jordan? Sure. Just doubt they're topping the list. I'd say it's the likes of Beckham and Madonna. Hell, maybe even Britney lol. Brad and Angelina. And so on.

[Kblaze8855]

Blaze, you're wrong about this subject. I've lived and travelled extensively overseas, and am also very familiar with Jordan's career. The three most famous people in this history of the world are:

Muhammed Ali
Michael Jackson
Michael Jordan

In no particular order. There have been studies done on this issue, etc. etc. Jordan was MOBBED in China like two years ago. This is 10 years after he retired from the Bulls.

I think that being in the US, you really don't have a true grasp on the extend of Jordan's worldwide fame. He wasn't just another very famous athlete, he reached the pinnacle of the famous elite, and I'm talking about on a historic scale.

I just dont see it. The Joe comparison I mean. Everyone I read or hear about it suggests that at his peak Joe Louis was part of the biggest event in America. The most talked about major thing happening...period. Sports or not. America vs Hitler. Saw an HBO documentary on the fight with old people mentioning that every single house with a radio had 40-50 people in it for the fight. Roads shut down so people could play the fight out their windows and people could stand in the streets and watch. I dont think Jordan has ever done anything that relevant to all of America.

As I said worldwide he gets the edge due to technology but in America I gotta think Joe was bigger at his peak.

And really...just as many people who have been all over the world say Beckham. Why should I assume you know more of it than they do? Im not saying I know either way....but just as many who go all over disagree with you. Its insane how big soccer is. I know Jordan had to tell people not to bow to him when he went to China and all...but Beckham sold 250 million La Galaxy jerseys before he played a game. Who the **** are the LA galaxy to be selling 250 million of ANYTHING?

Soccer has a power in the world basketball just cant touch. David Beckham at times has been in games viewed by more than half a billion people at the very least. Hes been the face(justified or not) of the biggest sport the world has ever known.

I love MJ but I cant see anything hes done getting his face in front of 600 million people at once. Over the years Beckham has probably been on over a billion TVs.....a 6th of the world may well have seen him. Gatorade and Nike is big...but 1 out of every 6 people on this earth have been tuned in to soccer at one time. Considering how many people are little kids and people without access to tv.....he could well have been on half the televisions in all existance.

That is fame Spacejam doesnt get you.

Im not saying MJ gets blown away. But I just think its gotta at least be pretty close.

I wouldnt be suprised if almost as many people knew Beckham and MJ as know of Jesus.

[Emile]

How do you do that thing online that measures the popularity and search engine demands of some people?
Well anyhow, I know this is likely basic but..

Just putting their name in Google, I get 16.000.000 results for Beckham, 13.600.000 for Jordan which is a pretty wide margin. Especially I guess since there's only one Beckham and Jordan can also stand for Eddie Jordan for example who is huge himself, the F1 guy, not the Wizards coach, not to mention there actually is a country called Jordan and so on so I guess it's even more lopsided than what the results show.
Oh yeah, also considering that Jordan is better known in parts of the world where internet is more used and accessible while Beckham is better know there as well but the difference is, he is much more known in parts of the world where internet still isn't used as much. Not close.

[Knoe Itawl]

Those writings are possibly from when, 1998? 1996? 1993? Way before the internet? Way before internet became a norm? When mentioning Michael Jackson in a positive context was actually going on?
You cannot begin to believe how many things have changed since. I mean you can..but go back to 1998. Only techies were using internet I believe. Now every family in every corner of the world is. What does internet have to do with this? Well, a lot. The 3 people you listed, it just sounds very outdated. Sure, those are big icons, always will be, but it sounds outdated.
Beckham has reached such an amazing level of fame in this age, when informations travel so fast, when the world is more global then ever so as big as Jordan was, Beckham is bigger now than he's ever been, yeah...and not only then, Beckham's age surely made that a lot more possible for him.
And I'm pretty sure there have got to be more popular persons than Ali, Jordan, Jackson. Ali is an American icon and although wide known, I'd be surprised if he had so much recognition around the world. And yes, I know he boxed in Africa. It just that mainstream world isn't really in the know of those things and a lot of people are too young. Times change. Jackson? Sure. Jordan? Sure. Just doubt they're topping the list. I'd say it's the likes of Beckham and Madonna. Hell, maybe even Britney lol. Brad and Angelina. And so on.

No, you're wrong. The article I posted part from on the other page was from 2003. I think the Internet was around then. Again, Jordan has been written about as one of the most famous people in history. I dont' really think you fully grasp what that means, or how far his reach was. You don't still get mobbed in China almost 10 years after you retired from your main team unless you have an incredible amount of fame. Read the story about how they had to practically shut the city down when he came there. Again, Beckham is a famous person. Very famous. Extremely famous. But the Jordan phenomenon was just much greater.

[Knoe Itawl]

How do you do that thing online that measures the popularity and search engine demands of some people?
Well anyhow, I know this is likely basic but..

Just putting their name in Google, I get 16.000.000 results for Beckham, 13.600.000 for Jordan which is a pretty wide margin. Especially I guess since there's only one Beckham and Jordan can also stand for Eddie Jordan for example who is huge himself, the F1 guy, not the Wizards coach, not to mention there actually is a country called Jordan and so on so I guess it's even more lopsided than what the results show.

Just stop it. This would assume that everyone in the world has the Internet, and that every person who knows who Jordan is does google searches. You can't measure his fame by google hits. But the fact that he still gets that many, despite the fact that Beckham is in the height of his fame, while Jordan retired 10 years ago should tell you something, though it probably won't.

[LJJ]

Just putting their name in Google, I get 16.000.000 results for Beckham, 13.600.000 for Jordan which is a pretty wide margin.

Google results using just their name:

Results 1 - 10 of about 47,200,000 for beckham. (0.18 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 247,000,000 for jordan [definition (http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&oi=dict&q=http://www.answers.com/jordan%26r%3D67&usg=AFQjCNGXzjWP4FGnbPa_KHb2G_HxNh4OGA)]. (0.24 seconds)

lol.

[Emile]

Google results using just their name:

Results 1 - 10 of about 47,200,000 for beckham. (0.18 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 247,000,000 for jordan [definition (http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&oi=dict&q=http://www.answers.com/jordan%26r%3D67&usg=AFQjCNGXzjWP4FGnbPa_KHb2G_HxNh4OGA)]. (0.24 seconds)

lol.




:roll: :roll: :roll:

Might wanna check that definition link in your post. Tells an interesting story.

[QUOTE]Jor

[Emile]

Just stop it. This would assume that everyone in the world has the Internet, and that every person who knows who Jordan is does google searches. You can't measure his fame by google hits. But the fact that he still gets that many, despite the fact that Beckham is in the height of his fame, while Jordan retired 10 years ago should tell you something, though it probably won't.

Well, those who don't have the internet are far, far more likely to know about Beckham since you"ll likely find far more people in the 3rd world countries knowing about Beckham. I mean, I bet that many people in Brazil and other parts of South America don't have the internet. Who are they more likely to know? Beckham. Arabic people? The same.
Yet Beckham blows Jordan away even on the internet. And no, Beckham isn't at the height of his fame, he's playing soccer in America for God's sakes. That's like a famous basketball player, say Kobe coming to play basketball in Saudi Arabia. I mean, USA is basically the only country where soccer isn't popular. Beckham is much bigger than Jordan, sorry.
But see, he still is big, his fame still is overwhelming because of his celebrity status. Not just iconic soccer status. He doesn't have that. He doesn't need it. He's much bigger. So even in the USA, where the sport of soccer has very little following, he's still HUGE, because it's David Beckham who's there, not the sport of soccer. No one cares for the sport. Everybody cares about Beckham, from all walks on entertainment, from all areas of it. Imagine how a player can be so big in a country that doesn't care about his sport one bit, never did, but he's still the biggest thing going on there? Beckham > Jordan. End.

[gotbacon23]

No, it's football. It's only known in the USA as soccer. It's football. WTH do helmets and pads, even if they're worn on sundays have to do with the name football, something that would indicate a freaking game being played with geez....I dunno...foot? and a ball?

i realize that its called football elsewhere. my point is that its a crappy sport. the only good sport thats called football is american football. soccer is boring and lame.

[Emile]

i realize that its called football elsewhere. my point is that its a crappy sport. the only good sport thats called football is american football. soccer is boring and lame.

One man's opinion against a huge majority? Take a seat, son. We will never welcome the day when American football overtakes soccer or comes close. But you're entitled to your own opinion, of course. You just need to know that you're speaking for yourself only when you talk like that and it's impossible for that to be backed up by any analysis, research or anything else.

[Knoe Itawl]

Well, those who don't have the internet are far, far more likely to know about Beckham since you"ll likely find far more people in the 3rd world countries knowing about Beckham. I mean, I bet that many people in Brazil and other parts of South America don't have the internet. Who are they more likely to know? Beckham. Arabic people? The same.
Yet Beckham blows Jordan away even on the internet. And no, Beckham isn't at the height of his fame, he's playing soccer in America for God's sakes. That's like a famous basketball player, say Kobe coming to play basketball in Saudi Arabia. I mean, USA is basically the only country where soccer isn't popular. Beckham is much bigger than Jordan, sorry.
But see, he still is big, his fame still is overwhelming because of his celebrity status. Not just iconic soccer status. He doesn't have that. He doesn't need it. He's much bigger. So even in the USA, where the sport of soccer has very little following, he's still HUGE, because it's David Beckham who's there, not the sport of soccer. No one cares for the sport. Everybody cares about Beckham, from all walks on entertainment, from all areas of it. Imagine how a player can be so big in a country that doesn't care about his sport one bit, never did, but he's still the biggest thing going on there? Beckham > Jordan. End.

Look, being long winded doesn't = saying something intelligent.

first of all, is Beckham TEN YEARS past RETIREMENT, or is he still playing? Michael Jordan still has that many google hits WELL past his retirement.

Secondly, I've travelled EXTENSIVELY in the middle east, and have known quite a few Arabs, and I can tell you that his fame was just as big in the middle east as anywhere else in the world.

As for the US, give me a break. Most of Beckhams' fame comes from the media hype of him, not because the average American gives a shyt about soccer or watches his games. Please.

[gotbacon23]

One man's opinion against a huge majority? Take a seat, son. We will never welcome the day when American football overtakes soccer or comes close. But you're entitled to your own opinion, of course. You just need to know that you're speaking for yourself only when you talk like that and it's impossible for that to be backed up by any analysis, research or anything else.

i agree with that. in MY opinion its boring. but i dont care what the masses say. Lots of people read the bible. Its the most read book ever, but that doesn't mean its not a boring book cause it is. its hard for football to go global because its a sport that takes a lot of money to play. thats the appeal of sports like bball and soccer (excuse me, football), worldwide as opposed to american football. all you need is a ball and a field, or a ball and a hoop, so people of all incomes can play.

[Emile]

[QUOTE]Look, being long winded doesn't = saying something intelligent.

Yes it actually does because there's no way you can argue any of those points.


first of all, is Beckham TEN YEARS past RETIREMENT, or is he still playing? Michael Jordan still has that many google hits WELL past his retirement.


Technically, Jordan is 5 years past retirement. He's big, no doubt. Not arguing that. But 2 million and 400 internet results more speak more than anything I can say. And of course, soccer being so much popular in parts of the world that aren't technologically up to date makes that even more lopsided. And oh yeah, Beckham isn't at the height of his fame either.



Secondly, I've travelled EXTENSIVELY in the middle east, and have known quite a few Arabs, and I can tell you that his fame was just as big in the middle east as anywhere else in the world.

So what, we"ll take your opinion based on speaking to 10 people about only one of them, that being Jordan over the general statistics of how popular soccer and basketball are in those parts of the world and who naturally people are more likely to know, that of course being Beckham? Not to mention, the people you spoke to probably spoke English and I suppose in way represented the majority? Yeah...


As for the US, give me a break. Most of Beckhams' fame comes from the media hype of him, not because the average American gives a shyt about soccer or watches his games. Please.


Duh, that's the point. No one gives a **** about soccer. Doesn't affect Beckham's popularity. Still is enormous. Why? Because he's David freaking Beckham and everybody care about him. If there's so much media hype as you say and there is, even more in fact, isn't there a high demand as well? Beckham isn't popular for being a great soccer player. He's mainstream popular for everything. He's a celebrity. An entertainment juggernaut. All of it. Even in the USA.

[Sharas]

Most of Beckhams' fame comes from the media hype of him, not because the average American gives a shyt about soccer or watches his games. Please.

it's still the fame, one way or the other.

in fact that's the biggest reason beckham is much more famous than many players who are higher on the GOAT list. he goes far beyond football. he's the half of the second most famous celebrity couple in the world. he is sex and fashion icon. he's famous for sake of being famous, just like paris hilton. and the important difference is - he appeals to women more than any athlete ever. and women consist more than half of the world.

that's the reason he is probably more famous than football GOATs like pele, maradona, ronaldo, zizou and so on. and i definitely think, more than jordan too. jordan transcended the basketball and took it to the different level - but he still can't compete with the world cup or champions league finals.

[Lax4422Chik1342]

Are these based on fact because I'm surprised to see Hitler and no Stalin. I have met a Vietnamese man who didn't know of Hitler I was kind of surprised but then if a country doesn't have do much world history and the kids don't go to school it doesn't surprise me. Because the regions they influenced I wouldn't surprised if Stalin is more famous than Hitler. SE Asia and the istans didn't have any contact with Hitler and poorer countries typically don't have as much attention to world history.

I also really doubt Mohammad Ali is that well known don't know what kind of study that was.

Mohammad Ali is not famous at all however Muhammad Ali is still one of the most recogonizable faces in the world and at his apex was far more well known around the globe than Michael Jordan ever was, it's not even close

[Chicago76]

One thing people are overlooking when they cite the Air Jordan brand as evidence that MJ is more globally known is that many people wearing the Jordan brand now have no idea who Michael Jordan even is. It is its own standalone sports fashion label. Kind of like Polo. Few people could pick Ralph Lauren out of a crowd on the sidewalk, but his name is everywhere w/ Polo Ralph Lauren. Lacoste/Izod lost favor in the US, but it's still big in the rest of the world. 1 in 100 people who wear Lacoste clothing are aware that a French tennis player named Rene Lacoste is the man behind the brand. Jordan is entering that kind of territory. You don't see Michael Jordan popping up in non-North American news articles anymore because he is not as relevant to today's news. The media is searching for the lowest common denominator, so a Chinese or Japanese, or Indian, or French media outlet does not care where he ate dinner. He's no longer an entertainer, but only a business man.

Many of you will not believe this because this is a North American web site and Beckham's awareness and popularity is lower in N America than anywhere else in the world, while Jordan's is higher here than anywhere else in the world. The fact that this argument is still close in a basketball message board from the US should tell you something: it's Beckham and it's not even close.

[gotbacon23]

it's still the fame, one way or the other.

in fact that's the biggest reason beckham is much more famous than many players who are higher on the GOAT list. he goes far beyond football. he's the half of the second most famous celebrity couple in the world. he is sex and fashion icon. he's famous for sake of being famous, just like paris hilton. and the important difference is - he appeals to women more than any athlete ever. and women consist more than half of the world.

that's the reason he is probably more famous than football GOATs like pele, maradona, ronaldo, zizou and so on. and i definitely think, more than jordan too. jordan transcended the basketball and took it to the different level - but he still can't compete with the world cup or champions league finals.


id actually say its easier to become famous today then it was when jordan was at his peak. no disrespect to beckham, but it is a lot easier for him. i mean think of all the people that are popular that have accomplished absolutely NOTHING... the people on the hills, paris hilton, the karasidian wh0res, brooke hogan, anyone on american idol etc, etc etc. now i am not comparing beckham to those people. ill admit, i now jack crap about soccer. i know he has accomplished a lot. but his accomplishments came in a time where people with NO accomplishments can become famous. im sure he would be famous regardless, very famous even, but its hard to compare when jordans peak ended in 1998 when the world of internet blogging, message boards, etc, etc didnt exist. even then jordan was widely popular.

[Lax4422Chik1342]

When I really think about it...is Jordan more famous in his time than Joe Louis in his? In America that is. technology gives more worldwide access to modern guys but hearing about Joe makes me think he may have been bigger here. As popular as Jordan was you wont have damn near all of america sit down to watch/listen(as the case may be at the time) to his games. I dont think anyone modern can approach the level of interest over the Joe Louis/Max Schmeling fight. Hearing about the level of interest....entire towns meeting in one place with dozens of radios so everyone could hear? Nationwide parties after Joe won? Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, and guys like that were probably as big as Jordan for the people who had access to them.

When Joe Louis fought, the United States came to a stand still, families all around the country, black, white-whatever were glued around the radio, if they didn't have one they went to the neighbors who did. There were crowds of people listening to the radio on the streets-in front of stores, in bars-wherever listening to the fight, there is no comparison. It was not a boxing or sporting event, it was a national "holiday" for those few hours.

[Emile]

One thing people are overlooking when they cite the Air Jordan brand as evidence that MJ is more globally known is that many people wearing the Jordan brand now have no idea who Michael Jordan even is. It is its own standalone sports fashion label. Kind of like Polo. Few people could pick Ralph Lauren out of a crowd on the sidewalk, but his name is everywhere w/ Polo Ralph Lauren. Lacoste/Izod lost favor in the US, but it's still big in the rest of the world. 1 in 100 people who wear Lacoste clothing are aware that a French tennis player named Rene Lacoste is the man behind the brand. Jordan is entering that kind of territory. You don't see Michael Jordan popping up in non-North American news articles anymore because he is not as relevant to today's news. The media is searching for the lowest common denominator, so a Chinese or Japanese, or Indian, or French media outlet does not care where he ate dinner. He's no longer an entertainer, but only a business man.

Many of you will not believe this because this is a North American web site and Beckham's awareness and popularity is lower in N America than anywhere else in the world, while Jordan's is higher here than anywhere else in the world. The fact that this argument is still close in a basketball message board from the US should tell you something: it's Beckham and it's not even close.

:rockon: :rockon: :rockon:

[iamgine]

I can't imagine David Beckham being more popular than Michael Jordan. No one here know for sure, of course, but I would think Pele, Maradona or even Ronaldo is currently more famous than Beckham. This is due to England never winning the world cup in Beckham's era. He would be far more popular if they did.

Anyways, the other MJ and is more popular than both Jordan and Beckham. Also, Mike Tyson is currently more famous than Muhammad Ali :D

[Sharas]

id actually say its easier to become famous today then it was when jordan was at his peak. no disrespect to beckham, but it is a lot easier for him. i mean think of all the people that are popular that have accomplished absolutely NOTHING... the people on the hills, paris hilton, the karasidian wh0res, brooke hogan, anyone on american idol etc, etc etc. now i am not comparing beckham to those people. ill admit, i now jack crap about soccer. i know he has accomplished a lot. but his accomplishments came in a time where people with NO accomplishments can become famous. im sure he would be famous regardless, very famous even, but its hard to compare when jordans peak ended in 1998 when the world of internet blogging, message boards, etc, etc didnt exist. even then jordan was widely popular.

OK, i'd say that's definitely true, i think some people even already mentioned that on the pages before. the hype machine is getting stronger by the day, and beckham benefited from it like very few others. that's basically what allowed him to venture so successfully into non-sport areas of life and become basically more famous that GOATs of the football. (while he was top 3-5 in the world for a few years, some people even proclaimed him #1 for a time, although i myself don't think so, he definitely isn't in GOATs discussions)

[Knoe Itawl]

Yes it actually does because there's no way you can argue any of those points.

Then why am I doing so?


Technically, Jordan is 5 years past retirement. He's big, no doubt. Not arguing that. But 2 million and 400 internet results more speak more than anything I can say. And of course, soccer being so much popular in parts of the world that aren't technologically up to date makes that even more lopsided. And oh yeah, Beckham isn't at the height of his fame either.

First of all, he's 10 years past retirement at the height of his fame. BECKHAM IS STILL PLAYING, AND IS AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS FAME. Yet he doesn't trail Jordan all that considerably, all things considered.

But anyway, I already explained why you can't use Google hits as an indicator since it doesn't take into account those that don't have the Internet, nor those that know Jordan but don't do google hits on him.

Even so, the difference in hits considering the stages in their careers actually helps my argument more than it does yours.



So what, we"ll take your opinion based on speaking to 10 people about only one of them, that being Jordan over the general statistics of how popular soccer and basketball are in those parts of the world and who naturally people are more likely to know, that of course being Beckham? Not to mention, the people you spoke to probably spoke English and I suppose in way represented the majority? Yeah...

The point, my intellectually challenged friend, is that I have been in the Arab world, know Arabs and your suggestion that his fame is diminished there is patently false. But since you have travelled there extensively and know about the culture, why don't you tell me all about it?


Duh, that's the point. No one gives a **** about soccer. Doesn't affect Beckham's popularity. Still is enormous. Why? Because he's David freaking Beckham and everybody care about him. If there's so much media hype as you say and there is, even more in fact, isn't there a high demand as well? Beckham isn't popular for being a great soccer player. He's mainstream popular for everything. He's a celebrity. An entertainment juggernaut. All of it. Even in the USA

First of all, Jordan's popularity and fame far trancended basketball. How else do you think he became one of the most famous people in history, and at one time the most famous person in the world by playing a sport that is NOT the biggest in the world? THINK. That says something right there.

Your problem is that you're talking based on what you THINK, rather than what actually IS.

[Emile]

LOL, I'm going to post this on a soccer board, just flat out do a V Unit and copy paste the whole OP. Let's see what they say.

[Emile]

Then why am I doing so?



First of all, he's 10 years past retirement at the height of his fame. BECKHAM IS STILL PLAYING, AND IS AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS FAME. Yet he doesn't trail Jordan all that considerably, all things considered.

But anyway, I already explained why you can't use Google hits as an indicator since it doesn't take into account those that don't have the Internet, nor those that know Jordan but don't do google hits on him.

Even so, the difference in hits considering the stages in their careers actually helps my argument more than it does yours.




The point, my intellectually challenged friend, is that I have been in the Arab world, know Arabs and your suggestion that his fame is diminished there is patently false. But since you have travelled there extensively and know about the culture, why don't you tell me all about it?



First of all, Jordan's popularity and fame far trancended basketball. How else do you think he became one of the most famous people in history, and at one time the most famous person in the world by playing a sport that is NOT the biggest in the world? THINK. That says something right there.

Your problem is that you're talking based on what you THINK, rather than what actually IS.

Amazing. :roll:
So why don't you actually explain the part where you say that google doesn't take into account people that don't use internet, which is true but why don't you explain the part that those folks are so much more likely to know Beckham that it's not even funny? And lol, doesn't take into account those who have internet but don't search for Jordan? LOL, there are only those who know Jordan but don't search for him? So I guess it's no other way around, everyone who knows Beckham search for him, right? Hilarious.

And why the hell would I talk about what I know about Arab world, that would in fact be me, doing what you said I do, say what I know and not what it is. So yeah, since that is blatantly incorrect I won't do that...my intellectually challenged friend. What I do know however that soccer, just like most the world is the most popular sport there while basketball really isn't big. That I know. That is.

So keep ignoring everything, keep ignoring google that shows the overwhelming difference of 2.5 million more results for Beckham, keep ignoring the size of soccer audience, keep ignoring the internetless part of the world favoring Beckham in this debate, keep ignoring the appeal to women, keep ignoring the mainstream recognition, the ratings of world cup, champions league compared to that of the NBA and so on. It isn't close. Deal with it. Beckham > Jordan. Regardless of what you want to think is true and defy any common sense and every other proof put in front of you to make it look as it's true.

[yobore]

I can't believe this is still being discussed. MJ was the most popular athlete in the world to a level that has never been matched, certainly not by Beckham, who isn't really more popular than many players of his own era like Ronaldinho, Zidane, and the Ronaldos. I think the thing is when people say "the world" means UK and Western Europe (though in most of Europe Zidane and Ronaldo was/are as or more popular). In fact the world includes other places like Asia and Africa, where generally, even in countries where soccer dominates, MJ is much more well known and popular than Beckham.

[gotbacon23]

I will settle this once and for all with one question.

what was a better movie: space jam or bend it like beckham?

these debates can be resolved so simply.

[Emile]

And one more thing since I"ll know you"ll bring up "Jordan was at the top of his fame in 98". Beckham practically retired from soccer as well. I mean, playing in America, not playing for his national team, it's as if he's retired. I mean, it's like Scottie Pippen playing in Sweden. What's his status? Retired. It's like it doesn't matter that he's playing.
But thats just the thing. Beckham doesn't need to play, be in his prime or whatever. He's famous and known for reasons beyond that. So being practically retired, he's still one of the hottest celebrities. How's that? You rarely see or hear about Jordan, other than America, even more so. Beckham? All around the world aya ya ya... Even if he still isn't relevant to the soccer world. That's one of many differences in favor of David Beckham over Michael Jordan.

[Emile]

I will settle this once and for all with one question.

what was a better movie: space jam or bend it like beckham?

these debates can be resolved so simply.

Beckham still didn't really have a movie. If some day he does, most say he's eying Hollywood, of course it"ll be bigger and more publicized than anything Jordan's ever done in that venture because Beckham is so much bigger as far as entertainment goes. That of course being the USA, we're talking about, the place where MJ's bigger than everywhere else and soccer smaller than anywhere else. Well, Becks still trumps MJ, of course.

[yobore]

And one more thing since I"ll know you"ll bring up "Jordan was at the top of his fame in 98". Beckham practically retired from soccer as well. I mean, playing in America, not playing for his national team, it's as if he's retired. I mean, it's like Scottie Pippen playing in Sweden. What's his status? Retired. It's like it doesn't matter that he's playing.
But thats just the thing. Beckham doesn't need to play, be in his prime or whatever. He's famous and known for reasons beyond that. So being practically retired, he's still one of the hottest celebrities. How's that? You rarely see or hear about Jordan, other than America, even more so. Beckham? All around the world aya ya ya... Even if he still isn't relevant to the soccer world. That's one of many differences in favor of David Beckham over Michael Jordan.it's still not enough sorry. There is a whole lot more world out there than the USA and UK. And MJ way more popular in the USA, and most other places as well. You can break it down all you want but picking random people from around the world and ask them who is the more popular athlete you will always get MJ.

[Sharas]

I think the thing is when people say "the world" means UK and Western Europe (though in most of Europe Zidane and Ronaldo was/are as or more popular). In fact the world includes the continents of Asia and Africa, where generally, even in countries where soccer dominates, MJ is much more well known and popular than Beckham.

you're kidding yourself. just compare the part of the world that watches world cup and champions league and the part that watches NBA, and you need nothing more. that last sentence is right out of your ass.
basketball in africa, especially compared to football? you got to be joking. not to mention latin america.

[gotbacon23]

Beckham still didn't really have a movie. If some day he does, most say he's eying Hollywood, of course it"ll be bigger and more publicized than anything Jordan's ever done in that venture because Beckham is so much bigger as far as entertainment goes. That of course being the USA, we're talking about, the place where MJ's bigger than everywhere else and soccer smaller than anywhere else. Well, Becks still trumps MJ, of course.

it was just a joke anyway.

[Emile]

it's still not enough sorry. There is a whole lot more world out there than the USA and UK. And MJ way more popular in the USA, and most other places as well. You can break it down all you want but picking random people from around the world and ask them who is the more popular athlete you will always get MJ.

:oldlol:

[yobore]

you're kidding yourself. just compare the part of the world that watches world cup and champions league and the part that watches NBA, and you need nothing more. that last sentence is right out of your ass.
basketball in africa, especially compared to football? you got to be joking. not to mention latin america.
lol I am not talking about basketball in africa compared to football in africa. I am talking about MJ vs. Beckham. It is not close. Beckham may be popular in Europe but he is not a super-international-phenom like Jordan. He has never dominated soccer. He does get some boost from his celebrity status and the women vote, but really this is not a fair competition. MJ is by far more popular. Most african countries dont even have basketball but people know who MJ is.

[Sharas]

lol I am not talking about basketball in africa compared to football in africa. I am talking about MJ vs. Beckham. It is not close. Beckham may be popular in Europe but he is not a super-international-phenom like Jordan. He has never dominated soccer. He does get some boost from his celebrity status and the women vote, but really this is not a fair competition. MJ is by far more popular. Most african countries dont even have basketball but people know who MJ is.

sorry, that's not "some boost". beckham is a global sex and fashion symbol. he is a regular in every celebrity gossip magazine. he appeals to women in a way no athlete has ever appeared before. him never being a dominant on court player has nothing to do with it. he has reached paris hilton status now, famous for being famous. he transcended the sports themselves and became an worldwide icon in many other ways.

[yobore]

sorry, that's not "some boost". beckham is a global sex and fashion symbol. he is a regular in every celebrity gossip magazine. he appeals to women in a way no athlete has ever appeared before. him never being a dominant on court player has nothing to do with it. he has reached paris hilton status now, famous for being famous. he transcended the sports themselves and became an worldwide icon in many other ways.
The tabloid boost is good in the USA and Europe. But it doesn't happen everywhere in the world.

[west]

beckham receive one red card is bigger deal than jordan win 6 championship,or anything he has done,that's the fact

[Trax416]

More people know Beckham. You can go into the most ghetto area of thailand or Congo and people know who he is.

Only the rich countries know who Jordan is. Most based off his name. They don't actually know who he is, just his brand of clothes and shoes.

[hateraid]

See the way that I hope it would be debated was to take it in all context:

basketball vs. soccer
corperate Jordan vs. celebrity Beckham
male appeal vs. female appeal

Every angle is in favor of Beckham on a world-wide stage. Soccer is much larger than basketball. One continent that seemed to be ommitted was South America. In that regard I'd say soccer and it's not even close.
Corperate Jordan does not have as many outlets as celebrity Beckham. Jordan apperell only appeals to the sports apperell enthusiast whereas celebrity Beckham has some sport corperate appeal but has a much greater celebrity fanbase.
Male appeal may be very close but worldwide you have to give a huge advantage to Beckham.

The question was about popularity, not greatness in their own sport. Becks just has way too many outlets to be more recognized.

[Sharas]

^^^just the truth. i've explained every one of those angles in my posts, and worldwide beckham has advantage in all three.

[Fiyah]

jordan should've married scary spice then he'd be #1

[brantonli]

LOL, I'm going to post this on a soccer board, just flat out do a V Unit and copy paste the whole OP. Let's see what they say.

The football fans would, and I am not joking, hunt you down and burn your house down. Then they would have an argy-bargy over who's more famous, Beckham or Ronaldo (pick any of them).

Famous:
Beckham=Jordan

Popular:
Jordan>Beckham

That's my personal opinion anyway, because of football's many great and existing legends, there is a great deal of diversity between support for the best footballers, but Jordan is the face of basketball.

And there was somebody who said that Tiger Wood was overrated, I can tell you, with quite a lot of certainty, that gather a thousand non-basketball, non-golf people in a place and ask each of them 'Who is Michael Jordan, who is Tiger woods, and what do you know about them?" They would answer, "Jordan plays basketball, Woods play golf.' Woods is by no means unknown in this world.

Also, just because Jordan got mobbed by fans in China is no indication of how popularh e is, I mean, McGrady and Garnett visited Hong kong last summer and people were mobbing for them too, does that mean they are as famous as Jordan? Of course not.

I'm not sure I actually understood what I typed.

[hateraid]

Sounds like what your saying is Jordan is greater to basketball than Beckham to soccer. The average basketball fan will adore Jordan more than the average soccer fan will adore Beckham. It does not however conclude more popularity.
Remember, popularity does not always entail likabilty. Birittany Spears is popular, but not exactly likable.

[Good Old Willy]

Take into account how popular futball is in comparison to basketball on a worldwide stage. Not only the fact that Beckham has some sort of celebrity status being married to Posh. I don't think it's as lopsided as people are thinking. Think outside the North American box.

Don't be silly. Beckham is not #23, as already pointed out above.

This is not a soccer vs. baskeball popularity issue.

[hateraid]

Don't be silly. Beckham is not #23, as already pointed out above.


Well that's not were this thread ends, read on, oyes we know it's been established.


This is not a soccer vs. baskeball popularity issue.

Who said it was? It's a question of who's more popular between two individuals. That's just the main platform.

[lakers_forever]

Pele is the most popular athlete in the history of sports.
He retired more than 30 years ago and still is one of the most recognizable faces in the world. There isn't one real football/soccer fan who does not know Pele.
He was so popular in his prime that Nigeria stopped its civil war to watch him play. The number "10" is the games most admired number because of Pele. All the great playes like Zidane, Maradona, Zico, Ronaldinho, Platini wore the 10 because of the fame Pele gave to the number.
Pele was like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell combined, since he had all the scoring records (+ 1000 goals) and the record 3 world cups won.
And last, the brazilian black kid in the late 50's , 60's and early 70's was the hero of people all over the world. Therefore, He also surpassed the race barrier, since racism was much bigger in those days, hell, there's racism in european football today.

And the main argument Pele and Jordan have over a guy like Beckham, is that their popularity and fame were the consequence of what they had done for their sport, for their game that was never seen before in soccer/football and basketball.

So, if you ask me who's the most famous or popular athlete? Jordan or Beckham? I'd say MJ , no doubt. Who is more famous , in terms of the ****ty tabloid media , fake talentless celebrities and brainless fans we have today, Jordan or Beckham ? Beckham , no doubt. And that trophy , we , as sports fans, really don't care.

[lakers_forever]

Pele is the most popular athlete in the history of sports.
He retired more than 30 years ago and still is one of the most recognizable faces in the world. There isn't one real football/soccer fan who does not know Pele.
He was so popular in his prime that Nigeria stopped its civil war to watch him play. The number "10" is the games most admired number because of Pele. All the great playes like Zidane, Maradona, Zico, Ronaldinho, Platini wore the 10 because of the fame Pele gave to the number.
Pele was like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell combined, since he had all the scoring records (+ 1000 goals) and the record 3 world cups won.
And last, the brazilian black kid in the late 50's , 60's and early 70's was the hero of people all over the world. Therefore, He also surpassed the race barrier, since racism was much bigger in those days, hell, there's racism in european football today.

And the main argument Pele and Jordan have over a guy like Beckham, is that their popularity and fame were the consequence of what they had done for their sport, for their game that was never seen before in soccer/football and basketball.

So, if you ask me who's the most famous or popular athlete? Jordan or Beckham? I'd say MJ , no doubt. Who is more famous , in terms of the ****ty tabloid media , fake talentless celebrities and brainless fans we have today, Jordan or Beckham ? Beckham , no doubt. And that trophy , we , as sports fans, really don't care.

Forget it. Said enough

[Vendetta]

When I really think about it...is Jordan more famous in his time than Joe Louis in his? In America that is. technology gives more worldwide access to modern guys but hearing about Joe makes me think he may have been bigger here. As popular as Jordan was you wont have damn near all of america sit down to watch/listen(as the case may be at the time) to his games. I dont think anyone modern can approach the level of interest over the Joe Louis/Max Schmeling fight. Hearing about the level of interest....entire towns meeting in one place with dozens of radios so everyone could hear? Nationwide parties after Joe won? Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, and guys like that were probably as big as Jordan for the people who had access to them.

Joe Louis was a boxer. He fought 72 times his entire career. Michael Jordan played in 1264 NBA games (1072 regular season).

It's hardly fair to compare the two because obviously when you get to see a guy that much his games mean a whole lot less.

The only two US athletes that belong in the same sentence as Michael Jordan when it comes to worldwide or even just US fame are Muhammad Ali and Tiger Woods.

[canadianballer]

I didn't even know David Beckham wears # 23. There you go:banana:

[crisoner]

Soemone made a great point about Beckham not being number 23 earlier in his career........

and of course on a pro B-ball and mostly American site we will be yelling Micheal.

But....soccer (really Futball) is the biggest sport in the world period.
B-ball is my favorite sport but even I recognize that.

And when you travel outside of this country you will see that.

Beckham still plays NOW.

So if you ask the question who is the most popular athlete in sports its Beckham...

But to ever wear the number 23.........of course its Mike!

[aznboy2k2]

I can't believe youre asking this on a basketball forum.
How seriously bias of opinions do you want?

[hateraid]

I can't believe youre asking this on a basketball forum.
How seriously bias of opinions do you want?

Looks like people have been answering unbiased.

[nbastatus]

who is beckham?

[bleedinpurpleTwo]

MJ? gimme a break.
first of all, bball isn't even the most popular sport in the U.S.
there are hoards of American males who don't watch the NBA, don't care for it, and couldn't care less about the MJ.

[shortlunatic]

MJ. As someone who knows both sports, MJ is easily the most known athlete. MJ is what made basketball huge and hes arguabley the greatest player to ever play the game. He is not only an icon for basketball, but for the sports world in general, and he is known worldwide. I think he even topped the list of top 100 american celebreties known outside of the US. Beckham was just a soccer superstar, who never came close to being the greatest to ever play the game. And in terms of just popularity, wasnt he run out of Manchester??

[Fedor - Laker]

Michael Jordan is almost as iconic as Michael Jackson.

I bet more people in Europe know who Jordan is than Becham.

Also, take into account people in China, Korea, Japan, Russia, who do you think they recognize more?

[Fedor - Laker]

MJ. As someone who knows both sports, MJ is easily the most known athlete. MJ is what made basketball huge and hes arguabley the greatest player to ever play the game. He is not only an icon for basketball, but for the sports world in general, and he is known worldwide. I think he even topped the list of top 100 american celebreties known outside of the US. Beckham was just a soccer superstar, who never came close to being the greatest to ever play the game. And in terms of just popularity, wasnt he run out of Manchester??

exactly, Jordan's name is probably the most commonly used for a benchmark along with Tiger woods.

I.E. So and so is the MJ of MMA, or so and so is the MJ of baseball.

[Floppy]

Even the brits know who Jordan is and knowing 100s of them only one of them even followes basketball. And Becks picking 23 (I didn't even know he was wearing that # cause nobody outside of the US or UK cares about him anymore) was definately a marketing decision.

Jordan by a mile.

[shawbryant]

MJ by numerous miles

[adiedanny]

When I really think about it...is Jordan more famous in his time than Joe Louis in his? In America that is. technology gives more worldwide access to modern guys but hearing about Joe makes me think he may have been bigger here. As popular as Jordan was you wont have damn near all of america sit down to watch/listen(as the case may be at the time) to his games. I dont think anyone modern can approach the level of interest over the Joe Louis/Max Schmeling fight. Hearing about the level of interest....entire towns meeting in one place with dozens of radios so everyone could hear? Nationwide parties after Joe won? Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, and guys like that were probably as big as Jordan for the people who had access to them.
Good observation and your right. Joe Luis was huge in his time especially the Schmeling bout. That was like the USA vs. The Evil Nazi Empire. There was a ton of emotion whenever they met.

[magnax1]

Beckam isn't even the current most popular soccer player. You'd have to be one of the most popular of all time to be more popular than Jordan. Well, at least Beckam ins't the most popular everywhere except the US.

[adiedanny]

I didn't know the question of the thread was who was more popular. That answer would be Jordan but to answer the question who is more popular for wearing number 23 the answer has to be Jordan again. I have to admit Beckham is very popular world wide but Jordan is the Pele of baketball for all you soccer fans.

[hateraid]

Michael Jordan is almost as iconic as Michael Jackson.

I bet more people in Europe know who Jordan is than Becham.

Also, take into account people in China, Korea, Japan, Russia, who do you think they recognize more?


Have you ever been to these countires? There are more soccer fields than basketball courts by a LOOOONGSHOT. Plus have you taken into account continents such as South America, Africa, Australia... Soccer is a much more known sport.

I think you guys are misreading the OP. The question wasn't who's better at their perspective sports. Jordan being better at basketball compared to Beckham at soccer is IRRELEVANT. It's about who's more known.

[adiedanny]

I didn't know the question of the thread was who was more popular. That answer would be Jordan but to answer the question who is more popular for wearing number 23 the answer has to be Jordan again. I have to admit Beckham is very popular world wide but Jordan is the Pele of baketball for all you soccer fans.
I'm not saying Pele is more popular than Jordan but he is a legend and in his time he was huge. Due to marketing Jordan is probably more popular than Pele but then again I live in the U.S. so this is just my american observation and opinion.

[Mr Clutch Melo]

Gotta be Beckham! Soccer is a bigger sport than basketball around the world.

[Butters]

Beckham.

Jordan is way way way more well known in The U.S.A.

But in the world,famous soccer player>famous basketball player.

[adiedanny]

I'm going to get a foreign opinion. My brother-in-law from Argentina who is 6'4" and does not know anyhting about basketball and loves soccer.

[Doko]

i'm from Europe and it's not even close.
Jordan by something like a million miles.
even Europeans who don't even know what bball is know about MJ.
he's probably the best known sporstsman around the world.

[adiedanny]

I'm going to get a foreign opinion. My brother-in-law from Argentina who is 6'4" and does not know anyhting about basketball and loves soccer.
He said Beckham big time. He is more popular than Pele. He did say Jordan id known in Argentina but he is not as popular than Beckham. I imagine this probably would apply the same to other soccer ruled countries which probably out number basketball countries.

[adiedanny]

i'm from Europe and it's not even close.
Jordan by something like a million miles.
even Europeans who don't even know what bball is know about MJ.
he's probably the best known sporstsman around the world.
Wow! That is interesting. I guess this is really harder than first expected.

[Mor'Fiyah]

No need. We have plenty foreign opinions right here. I am one of them:

While the superior popularity of soccer over basketball gives Beckham a huge leg up on Jordan, this is more than tempered by the fact that Beckham isn't considered world class by the soccer purist. Beckham is a fashionista athlete. And athlete known more for his exploits, behaviour, looks, and fashion sense OFF the field than his skill on it. Beckham is Anna Kournikova to the nth degree before Anna Kournikova was Anna Kournikova. If the question is who is more a household name... its likely a tie. They are both household names that just about everyone in the world knows. If the question is who is more popularly known for excellence in their sport (which is what the question would seem to generally imply), the answer is Michael Jordan. Easy.

[Mor'Fiyah]

He said Beckham big time. He is more popular than Pele. He did say Jordan id known in Argentina but he is not as popular than Beckham. I imagine this probably would apply the same to other soccer ruled countries which probably out number basketball countries.

Ah. But popular for what? Soccer? Or being a gay/fashion icon?

[adiedanny]

No need. We have plenty foreign opinions right here. I am one of them:

While the superior popularity of soccer over basketball gives Beckham a huge leg up on Jordan, this is more than tempered by the fact that Beckham isn't considered world class by the soccer purist. Beckham is a fashionista athlete. And athlete known more for his exploits, behaviour, looks, and fashion sense OFF the field than his skill on it. Beckham is Anna Kournikova to the nth degree before Anna Kournikova was Anna Kournikova. If the question is who is more a household name... its likely a tie. They are both household names that just about everyone in the world knows. If the question is who is more popularly known for excellence in their sport (which is what the question would seem to generally imply), the answer is Michael Jordan. Easy.
That is true but this is a basketball forum. How do think it will pan out in a soccer forum. My point is we are all a part of this forum because we love baskeball American or Foreign

[adiedanny]

Ah. But popular for what? Soccer? Or being a gay/fashion icon?
:confusedshrug: It's all foreign to me:roll:

[Mor'Fiyah]

That is true but this is a basketball forum. How do think it will pan out in a soccer forum. My point is we are all a part of this forum because we love baskeball American or Foreign

But I gather there are many poster who love basketball and love soccer/football. Some, like me, may even prefer football hands down any day of the week over basketball. But can still appreciate basketball. If anything it would make those posters more cognizant of Jordan's popularity in comparing it to Beckham's.

[Mor'Fiyah]

:confusedshrug: It's all foreign to me:roll:

I can tell you this. If we were to list the greatest soccer players in this era only... Beckham isn't even in the top ten.

[joshwake]

cuz the US is the only country in the world right?

Popularity is measured by how many people know who you are and what you do right? So it's Beckam and it is not even close. Ever heard of a couple countries called India and China? Yea, they have a few people that live in them

[LJJ]

No need. We have plenty foreign opinions right here. I am one of them:

While the superior popularity of soccer over basketball gives Beckham a huge leg up on Jordan, this is more than tempered by the fact that Beckham isn't considered world class by the soccer purist. Beckham is a fashionista athlete. And athlete known more for his exploits, behaviour, looks, and fashion sense OFF the field than his skill on it. Beckham is Anna Kournikova to the nth degree before Anna Kournikova was Anna Kournikova. If the question is who is more a household name... its likely a tie. They are both household names that just about everyone in the world knows. If the question is who is more popularly known for excellence in their sport (which is what the question would seem to generally imply), the answer is Michael Jordan. Easy.

Spot on.

And popularity is not measured by how many people know you, but by how many people like you. Hitler isn't popular.