The TRUE status of tennis

[Rhino]

OK with all this rubbish floating around that golf is bigger than tennis, etc, I thought it was time to post a thread that dealt with the actual facts.

1. Football (that's soccer not American football) is the world's most popular sport to play and to watch. An estimated 3.5 billion people either watch or play football.
2. Cricket. An estimated 3 billion people watch or play cricket each year.
3. Field hockey, with an estimated 2 billion players or watchers, mostly in Asian countries, European countries, Australia and around Africa.
4. TENNIS. There are an estimated 1 billion players and watchers of tennis around the world.
5. volleyball. An estimated 900 million viewers or players around the world.
6. Table tennis, otherwise known as Ping Pong, with an estimated 900 million watchers or players.

After these sports, we have a triumvirate of more mainstream American sports including baseball, golf, American football and basketball, with each sport attracting between 400 and 500 million players or watchers worldwide.

So you see, tennis is in GREAT shape.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Most-Popular-Sports-Around-The-World&id=551180

 

[ATXtennisaddict]

Golf, football, basketball, baseball are bigger than tennis.

But only in America.

And they don't care what happens outside.

and that's the truth.

p/s : CRICKET?!?! REALLY?!?! FIELD HOCKEY?!?! REALLY?!?!

 

[quicken]

I know, tennis is in great shape, people need to start thinking like a small fish in a little pond and start thinking like a fish living in a big ocean.

 

[Salsa_Lover]

Americans tend to "reinvent" the traditional sports to adapt them to their idiosincracy or probably more to their business model.

American football is their version of rugby.
Baseball is their version of cricket.

So they have at the end sports that are hugely popular there but ignored by the rest of the world.

Other 2 American-made sports are indeed accepted and played elsewhere in the world but with a lot less of success.

Like Golf and Basketball.

It is no wonder that the attention of their sports business and media goes to those sports that generate them bigger revenues, than other more widely practiced and hugely bigger sports like soccer ( our football ), road cycling, tennis, volleyball.

And I am not only talking about profesional competitive sports or sports-business.

I am talking about the sports played by the people on their free times.

You can see plenty of cyclists, soccer and tennis players around here, of all ages.

I don't believe that much people play american football over there. They mostly watch it or play it during college.

 

[gj011]

Great thread. Agree with OP.

 

[Buchhalter]

Golf was not invented by the USA.

 

[jrachiever]

Other 2 American-made sports are indeed accepted and played elsewhere in the world but with a lot less of success.

Like Golf and Basketball.

Golf is not an American made sport.

 

[Salsa_Lover]

Sorry you are right. It was invented by the Scots in the middle ages.

 

[Moose Malloy]

If that is the case, why does the British Open(golf) offer so much more prize money than Wimbledon? look at how much you get for just finishing in the top 5/10 there compared to making the semis of W, its a big gap. So you can't just say this is an American thing(& if it is, that says a bit, that the British Open would offer huge purses at its event just due to American tv deals, no?)

I think advertising $$/tv deals is the only true way to judge how big a sport is, that is what dictates prize money, salaries of athletes etc. The amount of 'watchers' or 'players' doesn't really make a difference unless a large % of those watchers have a lot of disposable income to drop on sporting events, products advertised during sporting events, etc. I imagine some of the African countries where field hockey is #1 aren't exactly full of fans that are paying absurd prices for season tickets or satellite tv to watch all the field hockey they want. And I wonder how much the highest paid cricket players get, if its so 'popular.'

You can't just dismiss the fact that the ATP tour had trouble getting a sponsor recently, or that the ATP CEO(a non American) has said many times that tennis is 'struggling' & has attempted 'experiments(RR, etc)' because of that.

I'd like to see stats on the actual revenue generated by all the sports mentioned(not just stats on 'watchers') I can guess what sports will be at the top(regardless of how many different countries actually watch them)

Year after year, I read about tournament directors(not just in the US) say that their tournament is barely breaking even, so I doubt tennis would be at the top of a 'revenue generated' list.

Money is the only bottom line in pro sports(which should also help answer all those questions about why the US gets to host more pro tennis events than any other country, despite it probably being the 10th most popular sport here, there is a lot of disposable income to go around here)

 

[Rhino]

^^^ OK Moose, this brings up an interesting situation: Formula One Racing has the largest television viewing audience in the world, and yet at this moment there are only 18 people participating in the sport in the world. So would you class Formula One racing as the most popular sport in the world even though there are only 18 people doing it?

 

[JediMindTrick]

If that is the case, why does the British Open(golf) offer so much more prize money than Wimbledon? look at how much you get for just finishing in the top 5/10 there compared to making the semis of W, its a big gap. So you can't just say this is an American thing(& if it is, that says a bit, that the British Open would offer huge purses at its event just due to American tv deals, no?)

I think advertising $$/tv deals is the only true way to judge how big a sport is, that is what dictates prize money, salaries of athletes etc. The amount of 'watchers' or 'players' doesn't really make a difference unless a large % of those watchers have a lot of disposable income to drop on sporting events, products advertised during sporting events, etc. I imagine some of the African countries where field hockey is #1 aren't exactly full of fans that are paying absurd prices for season tickets or satellite tv to watch all the field hockey they want. And I wonder how much the highest paid cricket players get, if its so 'popular.'

You can't just dismiss the fact that the ATP tour had trouble getting a sponsor recently, or that the ATP CEO(a non American) has said many times that tennis is 'struggling' & has attempted 'experiments(RR, etc)' because of that.

I'd like to see stats on the actual revenue generated by all the sports mentioned(not just stats on 'watchers') I can guess what sports will be at the top(regardless of how many different countries actually watch them)

Year after year, I read about tournament directors(not just in the US) say that their tournament is barely breaking even, so I doubt tennis would be at the top of a 'revenue generated' list.

Money is the only bottom line in pro sports(which should also help answer all those questions about why the US gets to host more pro tennis events than any other country, despite it probably being the 10th most popular sport here)

British Open prize money: 4.2 mil pounds
Wimbledon: 11.2 mil pounds

What are you talking about?

 

[Rhino]

British Open prize money: 4.2 mil pounds
Wimbledon: 11.2 mil pounds

What are you talking about?

This is what I thought too, was just going to look that up.

 

[sureshs]

And I wonder how much the highest paid cricket players get, if its so 'popular.'

You have no idea. Their endorsement income is ENORMOUS.

 

[Moose Malloy]

So would you class Formula One racing as the most popular sport in the world even though there are only 18 people doing it?

Probably. If it generates the most $ it is the most popular.

British Open prize money: 4.2 mil pounds
Wimbledon: 11.2 mil pounds

And that 11.2 pounds includes what? prize money for womens singles, men's singles, mens & womens doubles, mixed, etc.

Just compare men's singles.

I saw the list of the top 10/20 finishers at last year British Open, & they made a ton, while the QF's of W really didn't make that much in comparison.

Yes, you make a ton for winning Wimbledon, but I wonder why the drop-off for the prize money for the rest of the draw is so big.

 

[Salsa_Lover]

Sorry sir,

But in my book an sport is something you practice, not something you watch or pay for it.

Tennis and Soccer are my sports.

I play them every week.

And I dont care how much money is some people making out of it.

my 0.02

 

[Moose Malloy]

You have no idea. Their endorsement income is ENORMOUS

Well, educate me then. Did any cricket players make the Forbes list of highest paid athletes world-wide? Does any cricket player have 100 mill contracts? from Nike?

 

[Rhino]

^^^ You know, of course revenue generated is a big factor, but that isn't always an indication of a sports popularity.
America is a very rich country, so of course sports like baseball or golf are going to generate large sums of money.
Cricket is big in Pakistan and India, where they don't have much money. i.e. many members of the public don't even own TV's so are unable to watch their beloved sport.
So by saying that 'it's all about the money', you are discounting the fact that many poorer countries cannot be 'counted' towards contributing to a sports popularity by virtue of the fact that they are not spending as much on it.
If a rich country invents it's own sport and throws billions of dollars at it, that doesn't automatically make it the most popular sport in the world. Of course the actual people playing it and watching it around the globe is the true indicator of a sports popularity, not just how much revenue it makes because it's audience happens to be from a rich country.

So there really are 3 categories here.
1. Amount of people playing the sport
2. Amount of people watching the sport.
3. How much money the sport makes.

For me numbers 1 and 2 are the true indicator of a sports popularity amoungst the worlds people.

 

[sureshs]

Well, educate me then. Did any cricket players make the Forbes list of highest paid athletes world-wide? Does any cricket player have 100 mill contracts?

I have lost touch with cricket. I will have to dig it up.

 

[sureshs]

Well, educate me then. Did any cricket players make the Forbes list of highest paid athletes world-wide? Does any cricket player have 100 mill contracts? from Nike?

Actually, you are correct. The income is huge in terms of local currency, but in $ terms, not comparable. But that is because of the currency of the places where cricket is popular. How do we adjust for that?

 

[daddy]

Money is the only bottom line in pro sports(which should also help answer all those questions about why the US gets to host more pro tennis events than any other country, despite it probably being the 10th most popular sport here, there is a lot of disposable income to go around here)

I know reality is hard to accept sometimes and yes, in PRO sports money is the single most important thing. But to judge popularity of certain sport by the revenues means to overlook common sence my friend. Sport is more popular if there are more viewers and players, as simple as that. Golf is less popular then tennis and because it is rich people's sport it has more revenues and prize money alocation is different.

Check out the orgin of the word popular - lat. and you will know what I mean.

 

[zagor]

Fantastic thread,thanks for making it.I'm really becoming sick of hearing how the whole game of tennis is declining on a global level just because it's not popular as before in America because there aren't American players winning majors at the moment.Tennis is a GLOBAL sport and America is not the world(I know that's hard to accept).How many people in America follow soccer(not American football) which is the most popular sport in the world?

 

[Rhino]

^^^ What's funny is that you'd think it might be different on a tennis forum, because tennis is so global.
Surely people can't help but be a little bit more educated about the outside world because pro tennis players are from all over the globe and the tour moves constantly around the world.... right?
Well, no. There is still this weird notion amongst Americans that what happens in a country of 300 million somehow represents the position of the sport beyond it's borders, where a further 6 billion people are going about there business, most of whom couldn't name a single baseball or American football player if their life depended on it, and yet consider Roger Federer to be a household name.

It's actually very sad.

 

[daddy]

^^^ What's funny is that you'd think it might be different on a tennis forum, because tennis is so global.
Surely people can't help but be a little bit more educated about the outside world because pro tennis players are from all over the globe and the tour moves constantly around the world.... right?
Well, no. There is still this weird notion amongst Americans that what happens in a country of 300 million somehow represents the position of the sport beyond it's borders, where a further 6 billion people are going about there business, most of whom couldn't name a single baseball or American football player if their life depended on it, and yet consider Roger Federer to be a household name.

It's actually very sad.

Well just to confirm, I can not name one Baseball player, I know a few Football players but lets say two or three. I know a few NHL guys also, that makes it around 10 people max out of those 3 sports for whom I heard of. I can tell you the complete squad of Villareal if you are interested though.

 

[gj011]

^^^ What's funny is that you'd think it might be different on a tennis forum, because tennis is so global.
Surely people can't help but be a little bit more educated about the outside world because pro tennis players are from all over the globe and the tour moves constantly around the world.... right?
Well, no. There is still this weird notion amongst Americans that what happens in a country of 300 million somehow represents the position of the sport beyond it's borders, where a further 6 billion people are going about there business, most of whom couldn't name a single baseball or American football player if their life depended on it, and yet consider Roger Federer to be a household name.

It's actually very sad.

Word. 10 chars

 

[daddy]

http://eurosport.yahoo.com/

One more thing - go visit the web page and check. Sports are arranged in this order : Football, Tennis, F1, Basketball etc.

 

[Moose Malloy]

Remember when Hamburg & Monte Carlo were getting downgraded? Someone in the atp gave an interview where he said that the US masters series made far more money than the European masters series, & that they wouldn't dream of downgrading the US masters series status instead.

You can't just say the US is just another country as far as being important to the health of the sport, when the US generates more money for the game(3 masters series, 1 grand slam, 10 other atp events, has the 3 largest tennis stadiums in the world, they pay more for TV deals, etc) than any other country.

Plus the ATP headquarters is in the US as well.

We'll see what the state of the sport(meaning revenue) becomes like if China eventually gets to host the most big events.

The ATP is very concerned what the state of the game is like in the US, since it is their primary meal ticket(& has been since the Open Era started, the US is the country that started the prize money boom in tennis, there is a long history of pro tennis in the US) And like I said before the ATP CEO said the game was 'struggling,' so this isn't just someone's imagination on a message board.

 

[Moose Malloy]

Well just to confirm, I can not name one Baseball player

what about Roy Hobbs? or Crash Davis?

 

[West Coast Ace]

OK with all this rubbish floating around that golf is bigger than tennis, etc, I thought it was time to post a thread that dealt with the actual facts.

1. Football (that's soccer not American football) is the world's most popular sport to play and to watch. An estimated 3.5 billion people either watch or play football.
2. Cricket. An estimated 3 billion people watch or play cricket each year.
3. Field hockey, with an estimated 2 billion players or watchers, mostly in Asian countries, European countries, Australia and around Africa.
4. TENNIS. There are an estimated 1 billion players and watchers of tennis around the world.
5. volleyball. An estimated 900 million viewers or players around the world.
6. Table tennis, otherwise known as Ping Pong, with an estimated 900 million watchers or players.

"Liars figure and figures lie" - as the old saying goes... I'd like to know how they get these #'s - most polls are fatally skewed. Did they count (my guess) people who've ever watched 10 minutes of a tennis match or hit tennis balls once a year? If they asked who 'regularly plays or follows' tennis the number would be dramatically lower.

I know reality is hard to accept sometimes and yes, in PRO sports money is the single most important thing.

Amen. Money talks and 'you know what' runs the marathon (line from New Jack City). #120 on the PGA golf tour made US$780k. Alexander Peya was 120 on the ATP tour - made US$220k. So much for the 'rubbish'...

There is still this weird notion amongst Americans that what happens in a country of 300 million somehow represents the position of the sport beyond it's borders,...

No one ever said that. Bitter people around the world love to draw up generalizations about American's - like the dull-witted Brits who REALLY believe that The Simpsons are typical of an American family. We don't like your football because it's painfully boring - and we're not a country that believes in playing for ties.

Remember when Hamburg & Monte Carlo were getting downgraded? Someone in the atp gave an interview where he said that the US masters series made far more money than the European masters series, & that they wouldn't dream of downgrading the US masters series status instead.

Moose, please don't use facts and spoil all these Euro's fun!



http://www.angrybackhand.com

 

[daddy]

what about Roy Hobbs? or Crash Davis?

Bojan Krkic Perez on the menu tonight, sorry mate.

 

[Rhino]

Moose, firstly, the ATP head office is in London, not the US. De Villiers oversees the office of ATP executives in London and works with regional CEOs in the three ATP offices in Monte-Carlo, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and Sydney.

I am not denying that revenue is of paramount importance to the ATP CEO, because his job depends on making as much of it as possible. The ATP like every other business in the world will chase money as best it can. The problem they have though is they they are not involved with the 4 biggest events in world tennis, now are they? The Grand Slams and the Davis Cup are run by a separate body, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), and I've yet to hear of them complaining about popularity.
Even with dwindling US interest in tennis, the grand slams continue to break attendance records and TV audiences are bigger than ever for the Rafa/Fed Wimbledon/RG finals, not to mention that the US Open is the world’s largest attended annual sporting event.

The fact is that the other 5 out of 6 most popular sports in the world survive quite nicely without being popular in America, and tennis can do the same.

 

[daddy]

Amen. Money talks and 'you know what' runs the marathon (line from New Jack City). #120 on the PGA golf tour made US$780k. Alexander Peya was 120 on the ATP tour - made US$220k. So much for the 'rubbish'...

No one ever said that. Bitter people around the world love to draw up generalizations about American's - like the dull-witted Brits who REALLY believe that The Simpsons are typical of an American family. We don't like your football because it's painfully boring - and we're not a country that believes in playing for ties.

Moose, please don't use facts and spoil all these Euro's fun!



http://www.angrybackhand.com

Money determines pro sports today. Amen. But sport in general, like guys who watch and play recreational or watch and do not play at all ? You think money has anything to do with this? I think it is the simplicity, like football ( soccer ) is as simple as you get, all you need is a ball and a dosen square metars and there you go. Thats why its THE most popular sport in the world.

As for the prejudice towards US people, it goes bothways as you clearly proved. 'Our' football would mean whos exactly ? Rest of the world's football ? You are officialy too smart for such a boring game right, even though you have never been to a single game ..

 

[daddy]

The fact is that the other 5 out of 6 most popular sports in the world survive quite nicely without being popular in America, and tennis can do the same.

6th being the basketball probably ? Which is quite popular all around the world not only in usa - conclusion, all 6 of the most popular sports are popular in the rest of the world incl tennis, while only one of those is popular in usa ? Just checking if I got my facts ok ?

 

[Rhino]

daddy, ^^^re:West Coast Ace: Never argue with a fool, they will lower you to their level and then beat you with experience.

 

[daddy]

daddy, ^^^re:West Coast Ace: Never argue with a fool, they will lower you to their level and then beat you with experience.

Danke ...

 

[Rhino]

6th being the basketball probably ? Which is quite popular all around the world not only in usa - conclusion, all 6 of the most popular sports are popular in the rest of the world incl tennis, while only one of those is popular in usa ? Just checking if I got my facts ok ?

6th is table tennis (or ping pong). baseball is somewhere further down.

 

[daddy]

6th is table tennis (or ping pong). baseball is somewhere further down.

I said basketball. It is clearly the most popular here in Serbia. Anyways I used to play a lot of table tennis, its catchy. I prefer 9ball billiard lately besides basketball and tennis.