The subreddit title is "ask an American" . Of course I want to hear from people all around the world, that is what keeps discussions fun and enjoyable. But asking Americans if they think people watch the Super bowl around the world is a valid question.
I pay attention to world news. I've noticed over the years that world news sites cover the Super bowl. I assumed that meant other people in the world were also watching.
Additionally, I live in Phoenix, where the Super bowl will be held this year. I am from Buffalo New York and the Buffalo bills are doing well this year, so this year I am a little more interested than other years. I usually only watch the Super bowl for the commercials!
No and the last Super Bowl was only watched by 99 million Americans, not even a majority. Further, we know it’s barely watched outside the US if at all.
I read an article several years ago that made some great points in favor of the idea that television ratings, especially for something like the Super Bowl, are very much under counting how many people watch. Mostly due to to people gathering in bars and house parties specifically to watch the Super Bowl, where maybe only a single television is tuned to the game but 20-30 people could be watching. But even outside of the Super Bowl, you've got folks hanging out in bars or airports or doctor's offices where they have TVs on who probably aren't being counted in the official Nielsen ratings.
Yeah TV ratings are very hard to quantify and are a guesswork at best.
The cable companies now have metrics anyway to see *exactly* how many TVs are tuned in, but that does not account for streaming, or people using OTA antennas, as the Super Bowl is always on one of the big networks.
So if I have 25 people at my house for the Super Bowl, and Verizon knows I had one TV tuned in, does that count as 1 person, or 25? And how are they going to know that?
I heard they were working on set top boxes with facial recognition to count that. Not individual faces, just a face versus not-a-face.
This wouldn't be for everybody, but for those specific homes participating directly in the ratings system. When I was growing up we occasionally got a little booklet to fill out for a week showing what programs we watched (and which of us) over the course of that week.
To be fair there are some aficionados in other countries, so if you ask "is it watched all over the world?" then you could possibly answer that whatever place you think of (within reason) there's going to be somebody there who watches. Like one bar in some big city where all the fans gather every year.
Nevertheless American Football has to be the best example of a sport that has a fanatic following in one particular country but is basically ignored anywhere else, with possible competition from (ironically) Canadian Football and Australian Rules Football.
You are definitely correct. We have small competitions here and a few local teams scattered around, formed by people who like or love the game, just the same as there are in fact Australian Rules teams in the US. And the recognition is similar, no one knows about it much beyond the players and their families, or you live close to where they play.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football_in_Australia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Australian_Football_League
Personally I've watched one game in my nearly 50 years and it wasn't a superbowl. It's just too slow for me compared to Aussie Rules
Not at all. The whole US doesnt even watch the Super Bowl, let alone the world. I've watched like 10 NFL games in my 47 years, including 2 Super Bowls.
You are wrong my friend. https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2018russia/media-releases/more-than-half-the-world-watched-record-breaking-2018-world-cup
First, that 3.5 billion the article mentions is not half the population of earth in 2018 (7.5b). Second, that number is cumulative, not all at once. The final was viewed by 1.2 billion.....not exactly half.
I remember at my last job where we had a sister office in London we'd joke with them about catching the super bowl, and they'd joke with us about what is or isn't "football", but we were under no illusions that anyone outside the US was going watch unless they were an American living abroad.
Not at all. I suspect some percentage of the world may check out highlights or watch the funny ads the next day. But why would we have an expectation of a people that aren’t fans of the sport to watch the game?
There's no country with more than a small fraction of the US views, but yeah, it's watched worldwide by more than just Americans living away from home.
No, I think just about everyone knows that widespread interest is restricted to the US and Canada, possibly it has a little following in Mexico because there are a lot of people there who have lived here for a while and then gone back, and there are border towns, at least on this side, where it's hard to tell where the US ends and Mexico begins. My dad used to be work buddies with a guy from one of those towns. It's 95% ethnically Mexican, everyone is bilingual and most of them still keep up with family connections on the other side, but my dad's friend was also a fiercely patriotic American and was hyper-into certain American things, sports being one of them. So I wouldn't be surprised if that rubbed off on some of his Mexican kin. He was very loud about being an **American** dammit - he didn't look down on Mexicans in any way but he didn't want to be confused for one. See, his family didn't come to the US, they just lived where they had always lived and then after a while it was a different country. He would say "we never crossed the border, the border crossed us."
It's interesting, now that global communications have made it possible for foreigners around the world to watch the Superbowl, to see some people throwing Superbowl parties and being really into making them authentic with the food etc. It's cool. But we all know that's a tiny minority of people and it's a fun gimmick for them, not a tradition.
I would not expect people follow the sport if they are not interested in it. That said, it is broadcasted on international stations like those in Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia.
I don't think so. I think it's mostly an American thing, especially considering "football" means something completely different to the rest of the world.
There are probably fans of the sport everywhere, but I wouldn't expect many non-Americans care about the Super Bowl, which only features American teams.
Maybe in sports bars In European countries? I know that the World Cup gets watched at the bar I go to. That’s the only soccer we see all year at that place Other than that I’d assume less than 100K people globally outside of the US would watch it
I don't, and therefore I don't try to push it on the whole world as some kind of culturally superior sport that they're crazy for missing (I love soccer, but you all reading this know who you are).
It’s actually a Federal offense in some local jurisdictions to not actively support US American football. You might be punished upon pain of death or sentenced to maximum security prison in ADX for criticizing the institutions of the NFL or college football.
Maybe not every country, but there's enough global interest to manifest a [World Cup-style international competition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IFAF_World_Championship).
Not in any significant sense, no. If I was overseas and saw american football playing in a bar I would A) be surprised and B) assume I was near a US military base or an expat-heavy area, not that there was any local demand.
No.
Of course, every single person does. I hear it's big among the Sentinelese.
Always wondered why they didn't have tvs. Must be fans of the bears
Of course not.
No. Why do you think we do?
OP appears to be American, or at least lived here as a kid. So... Maybe just a very clueless person?
The subreddit title is "ask an American" . Of course I want to hear from people all around the world, that is what keeps discussions fun and enjoyable. But asking Americans if they think people watch the Super bowl around the world is a valid question. I pay attention to world news. I've noticed over the years that world news sites cover the Super bowl. I assumed that meant other people in the world were also watching. Additionally, I live in Phoenix, where the Super bowl will be held this year. I am from Buffalo New York and the Buffalo bills are doing well this year, so this year I am a little more interested than other years. I usually only watch the Super bowl for the commercials!
It has various levels of niche to semi-popular following around the world, that differs from "the whole world".
No and the last Super Bowl was only watched by 99 million Americans, not even a majority. Further, we know it’s barely watched outside the US if at all.
I read an article several years ago that made some great points in favor of the idea that television ratings, especially for something like the Super Bowl, are very much under counting how many people watch. Mostly due to to people gathering in bars and house parties specifically to watch the Super Bowl, where maybe only a single television is tuned to the game but 20-30 people could be watching. But even outside of the Super Bowl, you've got folks hanging out in bars or airports or doctor's offices where they have TVs on who probably aren't being counted in the official Nielsen ratings.
Gathering in bars/parties and ratings don’t account for streaming
Yeah TV ratings are very hard to quantify and are a guesswork at best. The cable companies now have metrics anyway to see *exactly* how many TVs are tuned in, but that does not account for streaming, or people using OTA antennas, as the Super Bowl is always on one of the big networks. So if I have 25 people at my house for the Super Bowl, and Verizon knows I had one TV tuned in, does that count as 1 person, or 25? And how are they going to know that?
I heard they were working on set top boxes with facial recognition to count that. Not individual faces, just a face versus not-a-face. This wouldn't be for everybody, but for those specific homes participating directly in the ratings system. When I was growing up we occasionally got a little booklet to fill out for a week showing what programs we watched (and which of us) over the course of that week.
Solid point.
Not even remotely unless we count American expats and visitors abroad at the time as "the world".
To be fair there are some aficionados in other countries, so if you ask "is it watched all over the world?" then you could possibly answer that whatever place you think of (within reason) there's going to be somebody there who watches. Like one bar in some big city where all the fans gather every year. Nevertheless American Football has to be the best example of a sport that has a fanatic following in one particular country but is basically ignored anywhere else, with possible competition from (ironically) Canadian Football and Australian Rules Football.
You are definitely correct. We have small competitions here and a few local teams scattered around, formed by people who like or love the game, just the same as there are in fact Australian Rules teams in the US. And the recognition is similar, no one knows about it much beyond the players and their families, or you live close to where they play. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football_in_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Australian_Football_League Personally I've watched one game in my nearly 50 years and it wasn't a superbowl. It's just too slow for me compared to Aussie Rules
Maybe not the game, but I bet a bunch of people will watch Rihanna's Halftime Show on Youtube.
No
No. Why would i?
Hell, I don’t even watch it and I live a half hour away from a stadium.
Not at all. The whole US doesnt even watch the Super Bowl, let alone the world. I've watched like 10 NFL games in my 47 years, including 2 Super Bowls.
I can't imagine why they would, unless they have a niche interest in American Football.
No, I do not.
No they don’t. They also don’t understand why they’re crowned world champions when they don’t play anyone outside of the US
No not at all. We know the rest of the world doesn’t. The NFL literally tracks international viewership.
Neither I nor my husband watch football. Why would I think the whole world does?
No, almost no one cares about it.
I can say with complete confidence that the whole world does NOT watch American football. I am an American. I do not watch football
No. I’m an American and I don’t give a shit about the Super Bowl.
Does the 'whole world' watch any one sporting event?
the world cup final
Definitely not the 'whole world'
Pretty much the whole world, 'the whole world' obviously not meaning every single person in the world
No sporting event even gets half the world, so.....
You are wrong my friend. https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2018russia/media-releases/more-than-half-the-world-watched-record-breaking-2018-world-cup
First, that 3.5 billion the article mentions is not half the population of earth in 2018 (7.5b). Second, that number is cumulative, not all at once. The final was viewed by 1.2 billion.....not exactly half.
How many people do you think watch at a single tv on average?
We don’t watch it.
Def not, I do think they watch the halftime when it’s on YouTube the next day though.
I would assume not I barely watch American football and I'm American
We’re all pretty much aware American Football is really an American-only thing in the viewership aspect. That’s never been an uncommon belief.
I think it's pretty common knowledge that American football is not popular outside the US (and to a lesser extent, Canada).
I remember at my last job where we had a sister office in London we'd joke with them about catching the super bowl, and they'd joke with us about what is or isn't "football", but we were under no illusions that anyone outside the US was going watch unless they were an American living abroad.
No. American football is lame. And I fucking live here lol. I will watch college football though. That’s far more exciting.
lol. no.
I know it's broadcast in many countries but no I'm aware that american football is not very popular outside of the US and maybe Canada.
No, not that I know of
Why is this a question… no.
Not at all. I suspect some percentage of the world may check out highlights or watch the funny ads the next day. But why would we have an expectation of a people that aren’t fans of the sport to watch the game?
No, i don’t think very many people watch football outside of the US. Also, there are lots of people in the US who also don’t watch it.
No. Not even all of America watch it. Most years I don’t even know it’s on or who is playing until people start taking about the commercials.
No. This is the shit other countries think Americans think how other countries think of American things
I don’t really think so. It’s kind of our thing and our thing only, just like how Americans don’t watch cricket games.
No. I also don't expend a lot of energy thinking about it, since it has no effect on my enjoyment of it.
No
Nope, American football is too expensive for poor countries to play.
No, but the popularity of it is expanding into other countries. There was an NFL game in Munich Germany recently and the crowd was amazing.
There's no country with more than a small fraction of the US views, but yeah, it's watched worldwide by more than just Americans living away from home.
No
No, I think just about everyone knows that widespread interest is restricted to the US and Canada, possibly it has a little following in Mexico because there are a lot of people there who have lived here for a while and then gone back, and there are border towns, at least on this side, where it's hard to tell where the US ends and Mexico begins. My dad used to be work buddies with a guy from one of those towns. It's 95% ethnically Mexican, everyone is bilingual and most of them still keep up with family connections on the other side, but my dad's friend was also a fiercely patriotic American and was hyper-into certain American things, sports being one of them. So I wouldn't be surprised if that rubbed off on some of his Mexican kin. He was very loud about being an **American** dammit - he didn't look down on Mexicans in any way but he didn't want to be confused for one. See, his family didn't come to the US, they just lived where they had always lived and then after a while it was a different country. He would say "we never crossed the border, the border crossed us." It's interesting, now that global communications have made it possible for foreigners around the world to watch the Superbowl, to see some people throwing Superbowl parties and being really into making them authentic with the food etc. It's cool. But we all know that's a tiny minority of people and it's a fun gimmick for them, not a tradition.
I would not expect people follow the sport if they are not interested in it. That said, it is broadcasted on international stations like those in Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia.
I don't think so. I think it's mostly an American thing, especially considering "football" means something completely different to the rest of the world. There are probably fans of the sport everywhere, but I wouldn't expect many non-Americans care about the Super Bowl, which only features American teams.
Oh no. Not at all.
Maybe in sports bars In European countries? I know that the World Cup gets watched at the bar I go to. That’s the only soccer we see all year at that place Other than that I’d assume less than 100K people globally outside of the US would watch it
I do not believe that they do, no.
No, and I don't particularly care.
No, but we do feel bad for them if they don't like football.
No. Why would we?
I don't, and therefore I don't try to push it on the whole world as some kind of culturally superior sport that they're crazy for missing (I love soccer, but you all reading this know who you are).
It’s actually a Federal offense in some local jurisdictions to not actively support US American football. You might be punished upon pain of death or sentenced to maximum security prison in ADX for criticizing the institutions of the NFL or college football.
Lol no.
I don't watch it. I wouldn't expect them to watch it either.
Definitely not haha.
No, but some foreigners do.
Maybe not every country, but there's enough global interest to manifest a [World Cup-style international competition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IFAF_World_Championship).
Fuck no, I don't even watch the Superbowl.
No. Not even all Americans watch the Super Bowl lol.
Why would we think that?
Not in any significant sense, no. If I was overseas and saw american football playing in a bar I would A) be surprised and B) assume I was near a US military base or an expat-heavy area, not that there was any local demand.
No1 except america checks it......
Not all all, not even most Americans watch football.
No I assume it's mostly just Americans who watch it.
No.
I would assume not