What is the biggest sporting event in the world based on viewing figures , is to be dominated by the  two  Harbough brothers

 

One is head coach of The Baltimore Ravens

One is Head Coach of The San Fransisco 49ers

 

I think this is the biggest head to head by two siblings  in sporting history, when yo think a sport as big as the NFL and the size of the USA and the small number of NFL teams it is absolutely incredible

 

The nearest comparison is the Williams sisters , but this is bigger.

 

 N.B. No paint dry cracks or zzzzing  or yawns please. If you don't like NFL, it is a free country and you are entilled to your opinion, but silly cracks are very childlike annd serve no purpose.

 

Non so blind as those who can't see

 

 

Yup, it will be the first time two brothers have ever faced each other from opposite sides in the Superbowl as player or coach. Prior to this SB, there have been 18 sets of brothers who have played in the Superbowl, one of those 'sets' had 3 brothers, but they have always been in different games, or on two occasions, in the same team (Blackwoods with Dolphins in 1983/1985, and Griffin's with the Bengals in 1982. Keith and Jim Fahnhorst were both on the 49ers in 1985 but Jim was inactive for the game.)

 

But it depends on what sport you regard as biggest ?

 

It has happened in the NHL Stanley Cup 6 times and the first time it happened there were actually 2 different sets of brothers facing off against each other ... 

It has happened in the MLB World Series 5 times

 

It has happened once at the World Cup, but not in the final - Germany-Ghana in 2010 featured half-brothers Jerome Boateng (GER) and Kevin-Prince Boateng (Ghana)

What is the biggest sporting event in the world based on viewing figures , is to be dominated by the  two  Harbough brothers

 

One is head coach of The Baltimore Ravens

One is Head Coach of The San Fransisco 49ers

 

I think this is the biggest head to head by two siblings  in sporting history, when yo think a sport as big as the NFL and the size of the USA and the small number of NFL teams it is absolutely incredible

 

The nearest comparison is the Williams sisters , but this is bigger.

 

 N.B. No paint dry cracks or zzzzing  or yawns please. If you don't like NFL, it is a free country and you are entilled to your opinion, but silly cracks are very childlike annd serve no purpose.

 

Non so blind as those who can't see

I'd question whether or not this will be the biggest. It is estimated that the FIFA world cup final 2010 had over a billion viewers. I believe the estimated viewing audience around for last years Superbowl was around 165 million with 111 million of those in US.

 

It will, however, be an interesting contest

What is the biggest sporting event in the world based on viewing figures , is to be dominated by the  two  Harbough brothers

 

One is head coach of The Baltimore Ravens

One is Head Coach of The San Fransisco 49ers

 

I think this is the biggest head to head by two siblings  in sporting history, when yo think a sport as big as the NFL and the size of the USA and the small number of NFL teams it is absolutely incredible

 

The nearest comparison is the Williams sisters , but this is bigger.

 

 N.B. No paint dry cracks or zzzzing  or yawns please. If you don't like NFL, it is a free country and you are entilled to your opinion, but silly cracks are very childlike annd serve no purpose.

 

Non so blind as those who can't see

I'd question whether or not this will be the biggest. It is estimated that the FIFA world cup final 2010 had over a billion viewers. I believe the estimated viewing audience around for last years Superbowl was around 165 million with 111 million of those in US.

 

It will, however, be an interesting contest

 

It is all relative too ..... The (confirmed figure of) 111 million in USA watching the 2011 Superbowl and 111.3m who watched the 2012 game is about 30% of the population. The mens ice hockey final in the 2010 Winter Olympics may only have been watched by 16.6m in Canada, but that is over 50% of the population !!!

 

I find that American broadcasters treat the "biggest" audience ever claims in the same way as they regard the Superbowl as a world championship ... it is not, it is an American championship as no team for any other country can get to the final. Likewise, the claims of biggest TV audience ever is largely based on the fact that consecutive Superbowls have traditionally had the largest TV audience in the states .... not the world .... although, the 2012 London Olympics is said to have blown even the biggest Superbowls out of the water with more than 219m viewers ! http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/08/13/london-olympics-on-nbc-is-most-watched-television-event-in-u-s-history/144780/

 

Look around google for a bit and you will find various claims to the largest audience - over 1billion for World Cup, 400m for a Cricket World Cup game between India and Pakistan and various others - but the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony is (currently) the leader in terms of 'verifiable' viewing figures, followed closely by the 2010 and 2002 World Cup finals: http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2010/06/10/world-cup-final-will-vie-for-record-of-second-most-watched-event-in-human-history-100605/ . I would guess that London 2012 will go into the mix their somewhere but cant find the 'verifiable' numbers right now.

 

I like this quote from that page:

Alavy forecasts that 2010 World Cup matches will see average audiences of around 125m people per match; or in terms that will shock most American TV viewers, 64 Super Bowl-size TV audiences inside a single month.

 

I hate to quote Wikipedia as a 'factual' reference as anyone can say anything, but many of the claims on this page link to sources that are credible: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_watched_television_broadcasts

Argue amongst yourselves - it will all be academic if Andy Shinne moves to Aberdeen next season

I find that American broadcasters treat the "biggest" audience ever claims in the same way as they regard the Superbowl as a world championship ... it is not, it is an American championship as no team for any other country can get to the final.

Yes the Americans are the world's best at inventing sports for themselves, which tend in any case to be corruptions of British ones, and then having "World Series" in them.

Edited January 22, 201313 yr by Charles Bannerman

I like this quote from that page:

>Alavy forecasts that 2010 World Cup matches will see average audiences of around 125m people per match;

 

Hey buddy... is that Sackurr?

Edited January 22, 201313 yr by Charles Bannerman

Still, to be fair, who else in the world could attract crowds of tens of thousands to watch a protracted game of rounders ?

Still, to be fair, who else in the world could attract crowds of tens of thousands to watch a protracted game of rounders ?

Or indeed rugby with crash helmets and steel cages inside the shirts?

 

I once attended an American Football game at Telford Street (Ness Monsters I believe - one of Brian Turnbull's marketing gimmicks) and quite frankly I was never so bored in my life. It went on for hours, most of which seemed to involve people hanging about doing nothing.

On the other hand it was difficult to have commerical breaks at Telford Street!

 

It was the same when I went to a shinty on ice... sorry - ice hockey - game at Aviemore. Lengthy tracts of total inactivity and colder than the Caledonian Stadium.

They have a funny old sport called  Primories , where members of the same political parties , slag each other off, spend more money than the Greek debt, then , afterwards smile and say the other guy ( who won) is fantastic and should become President.

I once attended an American Football game at Telford Street (Ness Monsters I believe - one of Brian Turnbull's marketing gimmicks) and quite frankly I was never so bored in my life. It went on for hours, most of which seemed to involve people hanging about doing nothing.

On the other hand it was difficult to have commerical breaks at Telford Street!

 

It was the same when I went to a shinty on ice... sorry - ice hockey - game at Aviemore. Lengthy tracts of total inactivity and colder than the Caledonian Stadium.

 

I have been to one Ice Hockey game - Toronto Maple Leafs -v- Vancouver Canucks about 12 years ago (before I even moved here). It was a pre-season game and was quite entertaining. Yes there were breaks and stuff and no I didnt understand everything that was going on but it was fun. Shame that most "normal" fans cant afford to go see the Leafs though. Tickets are routinely several hundred dollars and most seats are owned by corporate season ticket holders. The entire league has been on strike for the last six months and the shortened season just started last weekend.

 

I have been to several Baseball games over the years and that is more boring. It gets a little exciting when the ball is hit for a home run but way too much stopping and starting between innings for me. Plenty of seats available cheaply though given that the Blue Jays play in a 50,000 seat stadium they can barely fill when they are doing well (and it has been a while since they were doing well ... although 2013 is a year of expectations as they have made some big signings).

 

Just before Christmas I went to my first NBA Basketball game. Toronto Raptors -V- Detroit Pistons. I have to say I quite enjoyed it. Not sure what I was expecting, but I got into it as the game wore on and it was pretty fast paced.

 

Of these three traditionally North American sports (albeit ones lifted from other countries over the centuries), I have to say that I enjoyed the basketball the most ... fast paced action interspersed with breaks, but not a huge amount of them, and all of them quite short. 

 

The Buffalo Bills from the NFL have been struggling for crowds at home for years, so for the last 2 or 3 years they have played a few "regular season" home games in Toronto at the Rogers Centre (formerly called Skydome, and home of the Blue Jays). Its only a short hop from Buffalo to Toronto, maybe a 2 hour drive so no big deal for many diehard Bills fans. I havent managed to get to a game yet to complete my set of North American sports, but this has to be the worst for breaks and stop-start action so I am not really enthused by it .... I used to like watching NFL on Channel 4 many years ago, but that faded a long time ago.

 

The other sports over here are Lacrosse, which is officially Canada's national sport (yes, even ahead of Ice Hockey), and the CFL which is like NFL but with lower crowds and 3 downs instead of 4 per play. I haven't been to either.

 

The big problem I have with most of these sports is the manufactured atmosphere. Baseball is the worst for me, they blare out music or stick words up on the big screen, karaoke style, to try and build atmosphere but it just feels forced. there was less of that in Hockey and at the Basketball, but still enough for me to know I couldn't go there every week !

 

 

That's why I am sticking with MLS footy. At TFC there is none of this bull about forcing an atmosphere, it has developed and exists organically via the supporters groups. It is fun and the clubs, for the most part are on board with letting the fan culture grow and develop. The (diehard) fans are knowledgeable and don't call it soccer, they call it football like it is supposed to be, and other than half-time there are no breaks or other gimmicks. It may not be an elite league, but trust me, there are plenty of decent players and the standard has increased year on year. Many clubs who once played in NFL or other sport stadiums as a tenant have now built their own stadiums and despite what the media would have you believe, it was growing before David Beckham came along and will continue to do so now that he is gone ....

Interesting comments by Charles and Scotty.

 

In the first place  all I can do is ask Charles whether he has ever seen a live NHL (Natinal Hockey League) ice hockey game on T V or at a game in North America. Apparently not.

I can no longer afford the cost of the tickets to these games but can attest to the fact that this game is undoubtedly the fastest in the world and some of them show such effort and skill and passsion that anyone who does not get emotionally carried away big time must be dead or something.

A Finnish Guy named Temu Selanne is 42 and still plays with such intensity and brilliance that he is acknowledged as probably the fittest athlete for his age in the world,. He oustripped his opponents to score twice in the opening game of this truncated season for the Anaheim Ducks against Vancouver two nights ago and was instrumental in handing the latter a bad 7-3 beating which just happened to be the largest goals against for Vancouver at home in franchise history. On the same night this drubbing, which was just awful to watch, was repeated many times around the league in other games. Why? During the lengthy lockout some of the players went overseas to keep in shape at other rinks whereas many stayed at home and lost their edge. Many games showed scores of 5 and 6 goals scored against  top goalkeepers whose timing was just a half-second off due to their lack fo games.

 

The top speed of the hit puck from a standing positionhas been clocked at about 110 MPH and so, if you are not completely sharp and focused as a goalie, you are going to have a torrid time of it. I did have a hard time understandingt he game and it's rules at first but after repeated watchings on T V  it sort of  suddenly clicks. After this most recent lockout  it was even hard to ge tback into it though and the excitement level was muted to say the least.

 

I bought a large screen T V mostly for the ice hockety and the MLS soccer games with the Whitecaps and in H D it was well worth it.

 

These hockey players  are fantastic skaters and the speed of the top games is mind blowing, So I have to admit that it is  more exciting than the current MLS soccer on show here in North America. And  I also agree that David Beckham's appearance in Los Angeles was as much a passing phase of  interest as it was a permanent lift to the game which was already on the rise.

With 54 thousand fans pouring through the turnstyles last season per game at Portland, Oregon, and a minimum of 19,000 through those at Vancouver  as well, then it can be solidly stated that MLS footie is on the move in a big way--and it's really big businesss I can assure you.

 

Barry may not have settled terribly well here in Vancouver (Yeah! Yeah!) but who does immediately after moving from a European Country to the very multi-cultural and energetic atmosphere of Canada  or the States? The truth probably is that he  is just about past it and , although he still shows all the skills he has developed over the years,  he also probably feels that he doesn't need to work THAT hard even if his monstrous salary should have demanded something more .

 

Kenny Miller appears to maybe be staying on  for another season though,  but  this too may be another very costly mistake for the man from Golspie, MartinRennie, the HEAD COACH of the Whitecaps. For over a million dollars per year his impact on the team was not significant and his lone-wolf production way up front was not a constructive use of his supoposed talents. 

 

So, Charles, rent the game between Vancouver and Detroit from the advanced stages of the last season's final Play-offs and you will witness everything good that ice hockey has to offer. Undoubtedly one ofthe most fantastic, exciting and thrilling games I have ever seen since I came to Canada some 38 years ago. 

 

As for basketball and the National Football League I havev virtually no interest I'm afraid.

Scarlet.... for stick games, I'll stick with Shinty. Otherwise within the realm of ball games I'll settle for Sackurr!

I sometimes go along to watch the braehead clan in the elite ice hockey league. I'm not a great fan of ice hockey and wouldn't watch it on the tv but being there is enjoyable. Beer before face off and a couple during the breaks makes it worth it. It's entertaining with a fair few goals normally scored and being in an arena it's not got the chill of a football match.

I do agree though that these sports have manufactured supports and it feels a little cringy at times.

I once went to see a fight and a Ice Hockey match broke out - Te he

IMO, Ice Hockey offers the best experience in terms of "entertainment value" of any sport I have ever watched live....both in the UK and abroad (although it's been a few years since I have been to a game here).

 

Right up there with the most violent of sports, yet fans of both teams share seating with no segregation and they are actively encouraged to get carried away, jump around, stand up, cheer and all the rest of it.  I witnessed people throw/spill whole cups of drinks over opposition fans and everyone just laugh it off together.

 

All breaks (and you get plenty with televised games) are filled with entertainment of some form or other and stadiums employ people like Johndo to get in among the fans to gee them up instead of treating them like sociably unacceptable outcasts.

 

Streamers, glitter "bombs" are given out to people and fans have no desire for smoke bombs and the like because all the pyro is laid on for them.

 

Football could do worse than take a leaf or two out of the book on providing entertainment and value for money from Ice Hockey.