I have a running argument going with a friend of mine about how high
in the single sporting event viewing figures the Superbowl is
worldwide. He finally conceded that the World Cup Final is the most
watched but I would like a list of the top ten watched sporting events
(single game). I had the idea that test cricket may be bigger than the
superbowl. 100 metre sprint final in the olympics etc is permissable.
The main figures I would like is the english fa cup final (soccer)
wimbledon mens/womens final, test cricket, ryder cup, european cup
final (soccer)(also known as champions league final) and the top
figures from the olympics and obviously some accurate figures on the
world cup final (soccer) paying 10 bucks but will tip if done very
well.

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Request for Question Clarification by rainbow-ga on 29 Sep 2005 06:34 PDT

Hi applecore2000,

I have located a list of the Top 15 (with audience numbers) most
watched sporting events worldwide for the year 2004.

"Initiative collected data from 57 major TV markets, accounting for
over 90% of TV households globally."

However, you should note that since the World Cup and other events did
not take place that year, they are not listed.

Would this information interest you?

Best regards,
Rainbow

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Request for Question Clarification by rainbow-ga on 29 Sep 2005 08:11 PDT

I have also located a figure for the number of viewers of the 2002
World Cup Final, Brazil vs Germany.

Rainbow~

Hi applecore2000,

The following table is cited from an article in the Media Guardian on
Dec 23, 2004, titled "Euro final tops TV sports league":

1. Football: Euro 2004 final Portugal v Greece 153 million
2. Olympic Games: opening ceremony 127 million
3. Olympic Games: closing ceremony 96 million
4. American football: Super Bowl 95 million
5. Olympic Games: men's 100m metres 87 million
6. Olympic Games: men's 200m freestyle swimming 66 million
7. Formula one: Monaco grand prix 59 million
8. Football: Champions League final Porto v Monaco 56 million
9. Basketball: NBA finals 25 million
10.= Tennis: Wimbledon women's singles final 21 million
10.= Tennis: Wimbledon men's singles final 21 million
12. Cycling: Tour de France final stage 16 million
13.= Football: FA Cup final Millwall v Man Utd 9 million
13.= Horseracing: Grand National 9 million
15. Rowing: University Boat Race 5 million

Initiative collected data from 57 major TV markets, accounting for
over 90% of TV households globally.

In addition to reading the above on the Guardian website (you must be
a registered user), it is also found on the XBOX365 forum.

http://forum.xbox365.com/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=016799;p=1

===========================================

Regarding the World Cup:

"A cumulative total of 30 billion viewers tuned into the FIFA World
Cup 2002, of which one billion watched the Brazil-Germany final
alone."

Stadt Koeln
http://www.stadt-koeln.de/fifawm2006/english/faq/ 


"Footnote: we checked the FIFA World Cup site and they report that the
viewership for the 2002 World Cup exceeded 1 billion."

Answer Bag
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/32295


"Today in the world stage, there is no other event like the FIFA World
Cup. The 98 France World Cup was watched by an accumulated audience
totalling over 37 BILLION viewers, with 1.3 billion watching the Final
alone. The competition is not limited to any one nation, instead this
is held among the very best of the whole world, where some entire
nations come to a stop when the whistle of a referee blows for
kick-off..."

Encore Tickets
http://www.encoretickets.com/app/World_Cup_tickets.asp 


"For instance, the estimated audience for the soccer World Cup is more
than 2 billion viewers worldwide for the single-day championship
match. Cricket's World Cup has an estimated 2 billion viewers
worldwide, but receives scant attention in the United States. The
Rugby World Cup claimed 2.5 billion viewers for its 1995 broadcast
from South Africa..."

University Marketing and Public Relations News Release
http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/releases/012301.html 


Here's more:
2003?s biggest sporting event

"By collecting data across 49 markets, we have been able to rank the
nine selected events in order of popularity. The Super Bowl was easily
the most popular event of the year, with a global audience of 93
million individuals.
(...)
The next biggest events of the year were the final of the Champions
League, which attracted 67 million individuals, and then the Brazilian
Grand Prix, the most popular of this season?s Formula 1 races, with 56
million individuals.
Next came the final of the Men?s 100 metres at the World Athletics
Championships, with 28 million individuals, in fifth place the Rugby
World Cup final, with 23 million viewers, and then the Cricket World
Cup final, with 20 million viewers.
Bringing up the rear came the final stage of the Tour de France which
featured the entry into Paris, with 19 million individuals, followed
by the final of the Men?s Singles at Wimbledon, watched by 15 million
individuals, and then finally the last game of the NBA Finals between
San Antonio and New Jersey, watched by only 12 million people."

31st December 2003 
Source: Initiative Futures, 2003; Initiative local offices & partners

Cached version of Planet Rugby Forum
http://forum.planet-rugby.com/index.php?t=msg&goto=907936&rid=&S=1289e34b42118b54d79471f913785215


Search criteria:
"top 10" "most watched" "sporting events" worldwide
"top *" "most watched" "sporting events" worldwide
"world cup" "top *" "most watched" "sporting events" "* million OR billion"
"world cup final" watched "sporting event" "* billion"
"FIFA world cup" finals viewers million OR billion
"ryder cup" "most watched" "sporting events" worldwide
"cricket world cup final" viewers million OR billion


I hope the information provided is helpful.

Best regards,
Rainbow

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Request for Answer Clarification by applecore2000-ga on 30 Sep 2005 21:39 PDT

this is along the lines of what I am looking for. Could I get a
definitive top ten spanned over the last few years with the last time
the event was played if it wasn't that current year. 2004 would be
fine if 2005 figures are not available. Obviously I don't want just a
list of the last ten world cup finals just one from each event.
Although Champions League Final, Fa Cup Final and World Cup Final
should all be treated as separate events and same in other sports like
the olympics 100 metres would be one event

 Top ten most popular sporting events in recent times.

 1 . 2002 Soccer World Cup Final (1.3 billion viewers) 
 2 . Euro 2004 Soccer Final  (153 million viewers) 

 etc etc etc 

 Thanks

---

Clarification of Answer by rainbow-ga on 01 Oct 2005 00:23 PDT

Top ten most popular sporting events in recent times.

1. 2002 FIFA World Cup Final (1.3 billion viewers) 
2. Euro 2004 Soccer Final  (153 million viewers) 
3. 2004 Olympic Games: opening ceremony (127 million viewers)
4. 2004 Olympic Games: closing ceremony (96 million viewers)
5. 2004 Super Bowl (95 million viewers)
6. 2004 Olympic Games: men's 100m metres (87 million viewers)
7. 2003 Champions League (67 million viewers)
8. 2004 Olympic Games: men's 200m freestyle swimming (66 million viewers)
9. 2004 Formula One: Monaco Grand Prix (59 million viewers)
10. 2004 Basketball: NBA finals (25 million viewers)

Best regards,
Rainbow

good answer

The Oxford and Cambridge boat race claims to have a worldwide TV
audience of 400 million.  No idea how they calculated this.

Many of these viewership totals, especially the high ones, are more
marketing hype than anything measured. Often they estimate the total
*possible* viewership, so if my tv is capable of tuning in to the
Super Bowl I get counted, whether I watched it or not.

That's how you get numbers in the billions. 

Here's a good link:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB112180840215889963-0heH1LSDovgHdjc0ribnrPO2TbY_20060721.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

The sporting events can't really be relied to report their own numbers
reliably. And many developing nations don't have accurate audience
measurement tools in place.

The numbers from the Guardian don't seem right, since Monday Night
Football regularly grabs 20+ million viewers according to Nielsen.

I quite agree with Scotchex-ga.  
If we accept that 95 million watched the Superbowl, that would be
about 1/3 of the US population, which  - including some Canadians and
viewers further afield -  may be a fairly accurate Nielsen-type of
figure.

But it seems most unlikely that 1/6 of the world's population viewed
the World Cup final, 1/3 of whom are Chinese and Indians.

I wonder what statistics about TV penetration/availability in these
and other countries suggest.

Chawky's comment referred perhaps to a statement that the Oxbridge
race "was broadcast to an audience of 400 millions," i.e., if the
audience wanted to look, it could click on a local or satellite
channel.

seriously dude, the football(soccer) world cup really does have that
amount of viewers, they have viewers from all over europe, south
america, Africa, and even north america (although they arnt too
interested in it ) chinese and indians hardly watch the world cup!!!!
the world cup is by far the most watched sports event ever , by far!!!!!!!

in britain, everytime the english national team start a world cup
game(kick off) the whole nation comes to a stand still, the population
of the uk is 60 million and 45 million of them watch the world cup,
and seriously the superbowl doesnt appeal top anyone outside of north
america(it might appeal to a few people though)

Wow, what an interesting list!

The 1.3 billion figure for the 2002 FIFA World Cup final includes
reruns and highlights. It looks as if the figures in your list are
just for live viewing so they are not really comparable.

Initiative, who compiled your original list, have said that the figure
for the 2006 World Cup Final is 300 million live viewers, which is
probably more useful when comparing it with the other viewership
figures.

A representative from Initiative has been quoted as saying the 2006
FIFA World Cup Final has about three times the audience of the
Superbowl.

The final list would look like:

1. 2006 World Cup Final (300 million viewers)
2. Euro 2004 Soccer Final  (153 million viewers) 
3. 2004 Olympic Games: opening ceremony (127 million viewers)
4. 2004 Olympic Games: closing ceremony (96 million viewers)
5. 2004 Super Bowl (95 million viewers)
6. 2004 Olympic Games: men's 100m metres (87 million viewers)
7. 2003 Champions League (67 million viewers)
8. 2004 Olympic Games: men's 200m freestyle swimming (66 million viewers)
9. 2004 Formula One: Monaco Grand Prix (59 million viewers)
10. 2004 Basketball: NBA finals (25 million viewers)


Furthermore, from the link you provided, Initiative compiled the list
by first selecting 15 events and then gathering the viewership
numbers, so there could well be other events that belong in the top 15
that are not present.

Source:

http://blogs.rockymountainnews.com/denver/soccer/2006/07/abcs_ratings_for_the_final.html

"Initiative estimates that 300 million watched the [2006] final [...].
Sponsorship Intelligence expects at least a billion for the final
[...].

Initiative counts only the live World Cup coverage; Sponsorship
Intelligence counts the live coverage and replays and highlights shown
in news and magazine shows."

"'The World Cup final has the single largest global audience in
sports,' Kevin Alavy, a senior analyst for the media agency Initiative
Futures Worldwide, said from London. 'It doubles the audience for the
Olympic opening ceremony in Athens and triples the Super Bowl.'"