Level of interest in tennis in countries around the world

[HughJars]

How does tennis shape up in your country in terms of interest and getting in crowds?

Here is Oz its huge around Aus Open time. The whole country gets behind it. And, incidentally, the whole country starts playing the game. In my home town Perth we get the lead up event The Hopman Cup which despite being an exhibition still brings over good players (Djoker, Haas, Tsonga). At the brand new Perth Arena I sat amongst at least 10000 others watching mixed doubles. Was an awesome atmoshpere.

Outside of January, there is little to nothing in mainstream media about the game, except come Wimbledon which draws some hype. Its the only other slam on free to air tv. Australian Rules Football dominates everything sadly, cos its turned into a s*it game with its horrendous and constant rule changes.

I was suprised to see so few people at the Houston Open and the US Davis Cup, what the hell is happening over there?

Was also suprised at Madrid, Barcelona and Portugal being so poorly attended. I thought tennis was huge in these countries? I know the economy is bad, but whats happening on ground level?

The BMW Open seemed well attended. As did Mexico early in the year.

Overall, Im quite worried about the game.

 

[Bartelby]

The Aus Open occurs in the heat of summer before tv ratings start and the tv channel flogs it and the lead-ups to death and saturation coverage works.

For the rest of the year, it is forgotten about.

 

[HughJars]

The Aus Open occurs in the heat of summer before tv ratings start and the tv channel flogs it and the lead-ups to death and saturation coverage works.

For the rest of the year, it is forgotten about.

Yep - AFL, X-Factor, Home n Away and all that total crap are on their end of year breaks, so its smashed in coverage. Then the networks show their true colours when its all over.

 

[adil1972]

very few follows it in cricket mad indian sub conntinent

 

[Walenty]

Maybe this table of US activity by sport might be helpful (I can only speak for the US)?
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s1249.pdf

That being said, the above data is misleading, because tennis is one of those sports where many people may have a racquet and play occasionally, but not as often as say basketball (I'm speaking for the US).

As far as going to the events I can't say. As far as actually watching tv, for people my age (early twenties) are concerned, interest really only swells up around U.S. Open time. Even then it's competing with the start of the NFL season I think. Just watch ESPN highlights of tennis matches, it will only be American players (nowadays the Williams sisters) or Fedalovic being shown. Even then it's only 20-30 seconds of highlights then back to hours of coverage of football. That's just what Americans want, tennis is pretty low on the totem pole for ratings here.

 

[forzamilan90]

I live in USA, but hail from Bulgaria and I've always been under the impression people are somewhat aware of what's happening. I have friends that don't watch the sport but know of the big names or trivia (Djoko is #1, Fed has the most titles, The Nadal looks like a cabybara and scratches his bum, etc.) then I also have friends who have casually followed it, but now with the emergence of Grigor Dimitrov it seems people are following the sport more.

 

[HughJars]

Maybe this table of US activity by sport might be helpful (I can only speak for the US)?
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s1249.pdf

That being said, the above data is misleading, because tennis is one of those sports where many people may have a racquet and play occasionally, but not as often as say basketball (I'm speaking for the US).

As far as going to the events I can't say. As far as actually watching tv, for people my age (early twenties) are concerned, interest really only swells up around U.S. Open time. Even then it's competing with the start of the NFL season I think. Just watch ESPN highlights of tennis matches, it will only be American players (nowadays the Williams sisters) or Fedalovic being shown. Even then it's only 20-30 seconds of highlights then back to hours of coverage of football. That's just what Americans want, tennis is pretty low on the totem pole for ratings here.

Man, from spending a bit of time in the US, the saturated micro-analysed coverage of NFL and baseball is beyond stupid. They talk absolute crap. From what they have for breakfast, to what they deposited into the toilet. 24/7 diarrohea.

 

[tacou]

wow Oz only has 2 slams on TV?

However popular tennis is in the United States, all four slams are covered from morning to night on ESPN2. A few of the masters finals are also aired on cable.

Unless there is a very significant match though it doesn't get much attention. The Rafa/Roger 2008 Wimbledon was pretty big here, but the recent Nadal/Djokovic AO final did not get much attention other than a recap on ESPN

 

[batz]

Here in the UK the tennis coverage is fantastic if you have Sky. Between Sky and council TV, we get wall to wall coverage of every slam, every MS, and whole bunch of ATP 250/500s.

Even you you only have council TV, you can still watch the finals of the AO, all of Roland Garros, all of Queen's, and all of Wimbledon - plus the semis and finals of the WTF.

Tennis is covered pretty well in the UK.

 

[m2nk2]

Tennis since the 90's isn't big in Sweden anymore and media doesn't report about it. Like when Thomas Johansson won a GS in 2002 I think, only tennis fans knew about... There was a short segement in the sport news where you'd see the match ball.

In UK I'd say that more people are playing tennis than actually following atp/wta. There are courts in almost every park and we play outdoors all year round, in minus degrees on wet courts if we have too (which we do, 9 months of the year).

Sadly it's almost impossible to find a real court (clay, hc or grass)...

All of this multiplies by a factor of 5 during Wimbledon... There are huge queues outside public courts.

 

[wy2sl0]

Here in the UK the tennis coverage is fantastic if you have Sky. Between Sky and council TV, we get wall to wall coverage of every slam, every MS, and whole bunch of ATP 250/500s.

Even you you only have council TV, you can still watch the finals of the AO, all of Roland Garros, all of Queen's, and all of Wimbledon - plus the semis and finals of the WTF.

Tennis is covered pretty well in the UK.

This is as good as it gets. Here in Canada Sportsnet tried last year to up its coverage, and this year it has gone back to terrible. The last 4 days of an MS are covered, and they are all tape delayed.

As for level of interest, I started playing in 07 I believe. Just on and off for fun. All my friends were obsessed with the NFL and just wanted to play football, and a few soccer. Well now almost all of my friends are up for playing tennis whenever I ask them to, although only a couple are decent at it. My father is pretty good and so is my uncle, but of people I know, only my father watches the sport, and only the majors. I am the ONLY person I know that watches matches outside the slams

 

[HughJars]

Here in the UK the tennis coverage is fantastic if you have Sky. Between Sky and council TV, we get wall to wall coverage of every slam, every MS, and whole bunch of ATP 250/500s.

Even you you only have council TV, you can still watch the finals of the AO, all of Roland Garros, all of Queen's, and all of Wimbledon - plus the semis and finals of the WTF.

Tennis is covered pretty well in the UK.

Just out of interest, does county cricket get much coverage?

 

[HughJars]

wow Oz only has 2 slams on TV?

However popular tennis is in the United States, all four slams are covered from morning to night on ESPN2. A few of the masters finals are also aired on cable.

Unless there is a very significant match though it doesn't get much attention. The Rafa/Roger 2008 Wimbledon was pretty big here, but the recent Nadal/Djokovic AO final did not get much attention other than a recap on ESPN

On free to air, we only get the two slams (Im pretty sure). But luckily Ive got Foxtel (pay TV) and Ive got to say the coverage is very good. 250, 500, 1000 and all Grand Slams, Davis Cup, even Champions tour with McEnroe etc gets a highlights show. Dont know how it weighs up to the Tennis Channel in the States but

 

[MonkeyBoy]

If my memory of living in the UK serves, professional tennis is actually a bit more popular to the general public than rugby and cricket — Perhaps not the general tour, but certainly Wimbledon gets more coverage than any rugby or cricket event. Somewhat surprising the UK haven't been able to produce more top quality players.

 

[SLD76]

Tennis is a niche sport in the us. Meaning, there will always be a segment of people who follow the game but it will never compete with the NFL, NBA, or MLB.

The game has of course, greater popularity when there are dominant americans. I think interest surged a bit when the WS first emerged and were dominant, but they have been in the game along time now so, its not how it was circa 99-2003. Still alot of people if they nothing else about tennis, they know the WS.

That said we'd need a few dominant, slam winning males for the sport to take center stage again in the US. As it is, Id rank the sports in the us like so:

NFL
NBA
MLB
MMA
NHL
GOLF.





Tennis

 

[m2nk2]

If my memory of living in the UK serves, professional tennis is actually a bit more popular to the general public than rugby and cricket — Perhaps not the general tour, but certainly Wimbledon gets more coverage than any rugby or cricket event. Somewhat surprising the UK haven't been able to produce more top quality players.

UK lacks good courts. They have a million of worn out macadam courts but that wont do. Murray even had to move to Spain!

 

[thisiscrazy]

Man, from spending a bit of time in the US, the saturated micro-analysed coverage of NFL and baseball is beyond stupid. They talk absolute crap. From what they have for breakfast, to what they deposited into the toilet. 24/7 diarrohea.

Are you saying you have no interest in the bowel movements of your favorite sport stars?? How strange!

 

[HughJars]

Here in Oz it feels like there are more tennis courts than people. Empty courts everywhere. No doubt we are massive underachievers at the moment given the weather, resources we have available and coaches going around. For sorry for the UK folk and their weather. Look at Serbia - Djokovic and Ivanovic were brought up playing in swimming pools admist civil war and look where they are. Maybe thats why we arent at the top anymore - talented players dont understand the sacrifices it takes to be the best and how fortunate they are (Tomic, Phillipousis)

 

[Sentinel]

Here in the UK the tennis coverage is fantastic if you have Sky. Between Sky and council TV, we get wall to wall coverage of every slam, every MS, and whole bunch of ATP 250/500s.

Even you you only have council TV, you can still watch the finals of the AO, all of Roland Garros, all of Queen's, and all of Wimbledon - plus the semis and finals of the WTF.

Tennis is covered pretty well in the UK.

Great coverage in India - slams and Masters, and most 500's and a few 250's.

Only issue is the time zone for the US series, but one can watch the replay in the day.

 

[cknobman]

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that trying to get seats in some of these stadium courts suck big time.

Most of the seats are bought by corporations with big $$$.

Then everything that is left is freaking sky high cost. Day session tickets for NOSE BLEED seats in Arthur Ashe stadium at the US Open are $85 after fees but before taxes. Trying to take my family to ONE SESSION would cost $400 just to sit in seats so high we need binoculars to see the damn players!

 

[tusharlovesrafa]

Great coverage in India - slams and Masters, and most 500's and a few 250's.

Only issue is the time zone for the US series, but one can watch the replay in the day.

I would say coverage is great,problems at times arises when you don't have HD tv and satellite tv.I have a digital set top box and i dont get ten hd or star sports 2 or any hd channels..

 

[FreeBird]

Some Indians have already told about the coverage above. This country is cricket obsessed. Even football finds it difficult to make its presence felt.In tennis, Most of my friends only know Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray. Sania Mirza, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati are very popular.I can say that there are only around 10 people in my college (out of 3500) who follow every Master 1000.

 

[spinovic]

In the US, it rarely even warrants a spot on ESPN's bottom-of-the-screen scroller. Sometimes they'll put the score of a Masters 1000 final on there.

Luckily we have the Tennis Channel, if you choose to pay for it. But, as stated earlier, its a niche sport. Guys like McEnroe, Sampras and Agassi can raise interest in it while they're playing, but it will never be elevated to the level of the more popular American sports.

1. NFL
2. NBA
3. MLB

After that - NHL, NASCAR, PGA Golf are significantly more popular. Boxing is more popular. MMA is probably more popular. I'm sure there are others. Tennis is pretty far down the list. The slams warrant some decent coverage and interest, but generally speaking, many Americans probably aren't aware that they play tennis 11 months of the year and have tournaments every week when slams aren't being played.

 

[Goosehead]

batz has already stated the tv scene in Britain so I will add also that radio 5live give updates on tennis and they cover matches live on radio 5live xtra if you want..

written media coverage is good throughout the year..i think tennis viewing has been enhanced to improved technology and growth of satellite telly (skysports)..

by coincidence I found on youtube the 1985 mens u.s open final from the uk side of things, (not the usa version I mean) when I was a kid I stayed up extra late to watch..'a special live satellite transatlantic link-up'..dan maskell etc..in those days if you got wimby and the final of u,s/French opens only..

fings is much better now though.

 

[mightyrick]

Some Indians have already told about the coverage above. This country is cricket obsessed. Even football finds it difficult to make its presence felt.In tennis, Most of my friends only know Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray. Sania Mirza, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati are very popular.I can say that there are only around 10 people in my college (out of 3500) who follow every Master 1000.

I think Indians would be incredible contenders. A good friend of mine (from Chennai originally) told me that courts really aren't publicly accessible, though. She told me that tennis is more like golf. Only rich people play it because you have to belong to the equivalent of a country club.

I play several Indians in my own USTA leagues... I have to say... they are really good. Most are talented racquet players due to having played a lot of badminton and table tennis.

 

[rainingaces]

Here in the UK the tennis coverage is fantastic if you have Sky. Between Sky and council TV, we get wall to wall coverage of every slam, every MS, and whole bunch of ATP 250/500s.

Even you you only have council TV, you can still watch the finals of the AO, all of Roland Garros, all of Queen's, and all of Wimbledon - plus the semis and finals of the WTF.

Tennis is covered pretty well in the UK.

Coverage is good on sky better then it used to be but you have to pay for it on terrestrial you get the wtf, some Aussie, French open, Wimbledon and Queens which I guess is good.

Nobody plays tennis is Scotland, ireland is going to overtake Scotland soon. Thet don't have the facilities just something in Glasgow where Jamie Bakers from. Murray trained in Spain and his mum is a tennis coach. In England we have a lta club system and national tennis centre, still far behind most of Europe in development and affordability.

 

[Humble forehand]

Nadal has a large following in Spain, but outside the whealthier areas in cities where the rich live very few spaniards do actually play Tennis. I think there are something like 30 soccer licenses per each tennis license. Many spaniards play Paddel Tennis (most middle-class communities have a paddel court). Tennis matches are normally not aired on mainstream TV, only like Finals/SF/QF of majors and perhaps the last few matches of tournaments if Nadal or Ferrer are playing.

 

[PaulFCB]

There is a big interest in tennis in Romania especially when it comes to the middle and upper class. It's not obvious, of course, because you only have an ATP Tournament per year but it was full Monday-Sunday. Students also had free entrance from Monday to Thursday but tickets were cheap anyway ( 4 euro Monday-Thursday, 6 Friday, 8 Saturday and 10 for the final ).
They also want to expand the main arena to at least 7.500 and the 2nd one to 2.500 so they can host the tournament as ATP 500 ( minimum requirements ).
An hour of tennis is about 12 Euro in a place downtown in the park or at the BNR Arenas where the tournament is held but i can reach half that price some place less classy like near the National Arena. Usually the summer season is 1 April-30 October, but depending on the weather you can easily play outside for 2 more months.
We have 3x Grand Slams on Eurosport and the Wimbledon on Digi Sport, who also hold all the Mens Master 1000, sometimes they also have some women tournaments but not the top ones and want to buy as many 500 ATP depending on what's on the program in that period, it's hard cause they have the TV Rights for La Liga, Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1 and our local Football League, the Champions League, Europa League, Formula 1, Moto GP, Handball Champions League and Local Championships, Same for Basketball Euroleague and Local, while Eurosport has Bundesliga on 3 Channels with 2 having HD ( tennis is usually in HD, especially when it's red clay it's kinda mandatory ), what can't be shown on TV, you can watch for free on their internet site, only costs 8 euro/month for TV and 5 or 10 for Internet, so anybody can afford a full package, what in England may cost like 20 times more for the same service. AFAIK, audiences for tennis are very good and have constantly gone up for non-GS tournaments.

 

[batz]

Just out of interest, does county cricket get much coverage?

County not so much. Plenty of 20:20 and test coverage though.

Looking forward to the Ashes mate?

 

[tusharlovesrafa]

County not so much. Plenty of 20:20 and test coverage though.

Looking forward to the Ashes mate?

Talking about Ashes,I think 2005 Ashes was one of the best Test series that I have ever seen.At that time Australia was invincible,never seen a team so dominant.I think England played superb in the whole series,they were lead by Michael Vaughan and kevin peteresen made his debut IIRC.After winning that series 3-2 they even had a open Bus parade.

 

[TheF1Bob]

Here in the UK the tennis coverage is fantastic if you have Sky. Between Sky and council TV, we get wall to wall coverage of every slam, every MS, and whole bunch of ATP 250/500s.

Even you you only have council TV, you can still watch the finals of the AO, all of Roland Garros, all of Queen's, and all of Wimbledon - plus the semis and finals of the WTF.

Tennis is covered pretty well in the UK.

Yep, even Eurosport are getting some of the 250 ATPs now.

But I will be without SKY by the end of the month.

County not so much. Plenty of 20:20 and test coverage though.

Looking forward to the Ashes mate?

20:20 is great but boy ain't half dear to watch the blooming thing in person.

 

[FreeBird]

I think Indians would be incredible contenders. A good friend of mine (from Chennai originally) told me that courts really aren't publicly accessible, though. She told me that tennis is more like golf. Only rich people play it because you have to belong to the equivalent of a country club.

I play several Indians in my own USTA leagues... I have to say... they are really good. Most are talented racquet players due to having played a lot of badminton and table tennis.

Tennis is considered very costly game. It is quite possible that we might see a Top 20 player from India in the coming 5 years. There have been some funded institutions which are working to carve local talents. I had high hopes from Yuki Bhambhri but he seems to have disappointing start.

If Tennis authorities want to make Tennis more popular, India is the country they need to aim. A masters 500 in Delhi or Mumbai (Chennai crowd is nice but arena is pathetic for 500 Standards) would be good.

 

[PaulFCB]

Yep, even Eurosport are getting some of the 250 ATPs now.

Yes, they had the Estoril Tournament the week before Madrid.

 

[onehandbh]

Sadly, the level of interest is very low in the US.

If you look at the top rated sporting events on TV and the amount
of coverage each sport gets in the press, tennis is seriously lagging
many other sports. If you took a poll of the average high school kid,
tennis probably wouldn't even be in the top 3. Basketball & football
players in high school are often treated like rock stars vs the #1 tennis
player on the team.

 

[heninfan99]

In the New York tri-state area there are a LOT of people playing tennis. I believe half watch matches at home but once in a while we'll go to the US Open or qualies. The other half don't watch tennis much but love to play.

Also, every French person I've encountered in France and in the US that plays tennis plays very well. I also saw some really nice courts over there.

 

[batz]

Talking about Ashes,I think 2005 Ashes was one of the best Test series that I have ever seen.At that time Australia was invincible,never seen a team so dominant.I think England played superb in the whole series,they were lead by Michael Vaughan and kevin peteresen made his debut IIRC.After winning that series 3-2 they even had a open Bus parade.

Agreed mate - it really was a great series - although I'm old enough to remember Botham and 1981.

 

[FreeBird]

Yep, even Eurosport are getting some of the 250 ATPs now.

But I will be without SKY by the end of the month.



20:20 is great but boy ain't half dear to watch the blooming thing in person.

Agreed mate - it really was a great series - although I'm old enough to remember Botham and 1981.

Diverting from Tennis a little bit. Don't you think it would have been better to have 5 tests instead of Double Ashes. It is astonishing to see Ashes but 10 test, Seriously??

 

[Feña14]

Here in the UK the tennis coverage is fantastic if you have Sky. Between Sky and council TV, we get wall to wall coverage of every slam, every MS, and whole bunch of ATP 250/500s.

Even you you only have council TV, you can still watch the finals of the AO, all of Roland Garros, all of Queen's, and all of Wimbledon - plus the semis and finals of the WTF.

Tennis is covered pretty well in the UK.

I agree, the coverage here has improved a lot over the last few years. I've heard that BT will be showing most of the WTA tour, when the channel launches in a month or so.

As for the general interest in the game, it sounds alot like what people from Australia have posted. Around Wimbledon time the Country goes mad for it, after that it gets totally forgotten. The only people using the tennis courts are the ones who play basketball, or use the net to play football tennis.

 

[Goosehead]

Diverting from Tennis a little bit. Don't you think it would have been better to have 5 tests instead of Double Ashes. It is astonishing to see Ashes but 10 test, Seriously??

the 4 year schedule was altered because England were playing in the world cup In the same away winter as the away ashes test series..

having two big away tours in the same winter was thought to be too much physically for the players...

sooo this time we got the usual 5 ashes at home, then the 2014-15 away ashes series in Australia has been brought forward a year to the coming winter 2013-14..so its 10 in a row ashes tests.

 

[World Beater]

Its a question of marketing.

Most of my friends who had never seen tennis got hooked when i introduced them to it.

Most people just dont get coverage because the media wants to keep feeding them Football, baseball, basketball etc.

 

[Amelie Mauresmo]

In Canada, we get the four grand slams sometimes we get ESPN coverage which I hate. Around the French Open and Wimbledon though it is a mixture of NBC, ESPN, but sometimes the BBC. The BBC coverage is the best better than the Americans who are far too comfortable talking about their lives during the points. The American tennis commentators talk too damn much.

In Canada, we also sometimes get the Masters events in the summer and fall like the Canadian Open, Paris indoors ect.

 

[HughJars]

Some Indians have already told about the coverage above. This country is cricket obsessed. Even football finds it difficult to make its presence felt.In tennis, Most of my friends only know Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray. Sania Mirza, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati are very popular.I can say that there are only around 10 people in my college (out of 3500) who follow every Master 1000.

Not tennis related I know, no doubt cricket is massive in India - why the woeful crowds for Test matches but?

 

[HughJars]

County not so much. Plenty of 20:20 and test coverage though.

Looking forward to the Ashes mate?

As always, cant wait for the Ashes. Love it when its in England - come hoem from work and its on, and I watch it late into the night. The 2005 series was awesome. So many dramas - Flintoff's epics, Ponting being run out by a sub-fielder :evil:, Pieterson's knock at The Oval.

Sadly I reckon we are going to be pushing it all uphill this time round. Our batting line-up especially is very fragile, after our belting from India, with only Clarke being able to hold his own. The likes of Dave Warner, Hughes, Cowan and Wade should not be in the team. Bowling looks ok though.

Still, you guys almost lost to NZ! Thats pretty much all we can hold on to.... ;-)

 

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

Agreed mate - it really was a great series - although I'm old enough to remember Botham and 1981.

and I remember Thommo and Lillee and the mighty Chappells..

oh, and Boycott.. (he was the most annoying cricketer in history, unless you count Mike Brearley, but he wasn't really a cricketer as such)

(vale Tony Greig, the coverage just isn't the same..)


oh, Tennis?

going to the AO again this year, have to book months in advance to have any chance of a decent seat in Rod Laver...

 

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

As always, cant wait for the Ashes. Love it when its in England - come hoem from work and its on, and I watch it late into the night. The 2005 series was awesome. So many dramas - Flintoff's epics, Ponting being run out by a sub-fielder :evil:, Pieterson's knock at The Oval.

Sadly I reckon we are going to be pushing it all uphill this time round. Our batting line-up especially is very fragile, after our belting from India, with only Clarke being able to hold his own. The likes of Dave Warner, Hughes, Cowan and Wade should not be in the team. Bowling looks ok though.

Still, you guys almost lost to NZ! Thats pretty much all we can hold on to.... ;-)

this team selection is a total joke, actually.

Brad Haddin? Just no...

Chris Rogers? Who?

Not sure I agree with you on Cowan, he has done far better than anyone else except for Clarke, but I am with you on the rest.

Might as well pick Hodge, the best player of the non-moving ball in the game...

You have Tasmania dominating the Sheffield Shield and Alex Doolan making 165 not out in the tour match and they pick a pair of has beens from 'traditional states'

hopeless

What does George Bailey have to do, exactly? And wasn't Tim Paine tehe Test keeper ahead of Haddin before he was injured?? He's not injured now!

 

[LaneMyer]

Man, from spending a bit of time in the US, the saturated micro-analysed coverage of NFL and baseball is beyond stupid. They talk absolute crap. From what they have for breakfast, to what they deposited into the toilet. 24/7 diarrohea.

right because the rest of the world doesn't do that with soccer.

 

[LaneMyer]

Tennis is a niche sport in the us. Meaning, there will always be a segment of people who follow the game but it will never compete with the NFL, NBA, or MLB.

The game has of course, greater popularity when there are dominant americans. I think interest surged a bit when the WS first emerged and were dominant, but they have been in the game along time now so, its not how it was circa 99-2003. Still alot of people if they nothing else about tennis, they know the WS.

That said we'd need a few dominant, slam winning males for the sport to take center stage again in the US. As it is, Id rank the sports in the us like so:

NFL
NBA
MLB
MMA
NHL
GOLF.

Tennis

you must live in an alternate US than I do. MMA? The UFC PPVs do ok, but those weekly shows on Spike and FX don't draw flies. Consistent sub 1.0 ratings.

by Harris Poll

1. NFL
2. MLB
3. College football
4. Racing
5. NBA
6. NHL
7. College basketball

If one is an avid ESPN watcher you might be under the impression that the NBA is bigger than it really is. That's because ESPN has broadcasting rights to a ton of games so they shove it down our throats on the talking head shows like PTI and on SportsCenter. That's why they barely bother with covering hockey. They don't own the rights to anything in the NHL anymore. You can rearrange some sports by region ie college football and racing in the south or college basketball in the Carolina region, hockey is often more popular than basketball in northern markets, MLB is still more popular than football in NY, but this is where they rank nationally. Tennis does not even register...which should surprise no one under 40.
http://adage.com/article/news/baseball-college-football-hot-cleats/239014/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+AdvertisingAge/LatestNews+%28Advertising+Age+-+Latest+News%29

By TV ratings (via Sports Business Journal)

1. NFL
2. MLB
3. College Football
4. Auto racing (presumedly NASCAR + Indy Car)
5. NBA
6. NHL
7. Men's soccer (MLS + INTL)
8. College basketball
9. Men's golf
10. Track & Field
11. Bowling
12. Men's tennis
13. Boxing
14. Horse racing
15. Women's tennis

and then a bunch of other women's sports. So yeah, bowling > tennis in the US in terms of overall ratings.

 

[HughJars]

right because the rest of the world doesn't do that with soccer.

Nothing Americans do better than flogging a dead horse, then dissecting it to a million pieces and flogging it all over again. Sport, news, celebrity gossip. You are the masters.

 

[HughJars]

this team selection is a total joke, actually.

Brad Haddin? Just no...

Chris Rogers? Who?

Not sure I agree with you on Cowan, he has done far better than anyone else except for Clarke, but I am with you on the rest.

Might as well pick Hodge, the best player of the non-moving ball in the game...

You have Tasmania dominating the Sheffield Shield and Alex Doolan making 165 not out in the tour match and they pick a pair of has beens from 'traditional states'

hopeless

What does George Bailey have to do, exactly? And wasn't Tim Paine tehe Test keeper ahead of Haddin before he was injured?? He's not injured now!

Cowan still only averages 30 odd. But, at least he can stick around I guess. Better than 'feast or famine' Warner.

And I think Chris Rogers definetly deserves his spot. He averaged over 50 last Shield Season. Has been around forever and always near the top run getters. Plus he's played a lot of cricket in England. The only common sense choice the selectors have made for years.

George Bailey averaged 17 last Shield Season. Defiently doesnt deserve a test cap. Hodge was averaging 50 in test cricket before falling out with Ponting and getting axed. I agree, he should be there with his experience and technique alone, despite his age and generally ******-bagness.

Paine had a poor season too. But he's got the goods for international cricket and showed it when he toured India 4 years ago as a kid. I reckon he would thrive.

Doolan had a woeful second half to the Shield season. But he's got to be a better candidate than the likes of Huges surely.

 

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

no, I was kidding, Hodge is a flat track bully, can't play a swinging ball, would be a disaster in England.

That 50+ average includes 203 not out on a Bellerive pitch on which Australia failed to bowl out the oppostion in 120 overs.

And he only made one other fifty being dismissed caught in slips for less than 20 in every other innings..

I really don't think Rogers is up to it at the next level, never mind the issue of his age.

ah well, we will see..