Cricket and rugby held World Cup competitions this year, and billions of fans followed the action. That’s right—no typo there—billions with a ‘b.’
The Cricket World Cup, hosted by England and Wales in May-July of this year, ended up being one of the most-watched TV events in the history of sports. An estimated 2.6 billion viewers tuned in to watch the games. That’s more than the number of people who watched the 2018 soccer World Cup final, the 2018 Winter Olympics, and even the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meaghan Markle.
To the delight of home-standing fans, Britain’s national team won cricket’s grand prize, beating New Zealand in a thriller.
England played in another final this year—the Rugby World Cup in Japan. This time they lost in the finals, upset by South Africa, 32-12. Overall, the just-completed 2019 Rugby World Cup attracted 1.7 billion viewers across digital platforms.
Those numbers are especially impressive when compared to the number of people who viewed our ‘big game’ of the year—the 2019 Super Bowl. Worldwide, Super Bowl TV viewership came in at about 92 million, with about 101 million viewers across all platforms. That’s right—no typo there—millions with a ‘m.’
What does all of this tell us about sports from a global perspective? It’s striking that two sports without much traction in the U.S. have large worldwide followings. And it’s equally striking that football—a game that dominates America’s headlines—doesn’t get equal attention elsewhere.
What’s up? Here are four things to consider. First, American-style football isn’t played in many other places, Canada, excluded. Second, interest in cricket and rugby is a byproduct of England’s colonial reach through Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia. Third, we have American versions of both sports–baseball (cricket) and football (rugby). And, fourth, national teams face off against each other in cricket and rugby.
So when we say ‘World Series,’ it’s not, but when they say, ‘World Cup,’ it is. As for the ‘Super Bowl,’ well, as super as it is to us, it isn’t close to being super globally.
Sporting interests are a matter of taste, coupled with tradition and culture. That’s why it’s interesting to learn about sports that are favored around the world. The contrast with the U.S. is often compelling, including the blending of national and international, which is taking place right now in what the world calls ‘football’ and we call soccer.
Competition is fierce across England in the best soccer league in the world, the eponymous Premier League. That competition takes place mostly on weekends. But something else happens mid-week during a good share of the season, Premier League teams play teams from other European soccer leagues, including La Liga in Spain, Serie A in Italy, and Bundesliga in Germany. At stake is winning the eponymous ‘Champions League,’ that is, becoming ‘the champion of champions’ of the major European pro soccer leagues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTUE_ZveHmQ
And as it relates to collegiate sports, the rest of the world has nothing like America, where colleges and universities go against each other athletically. Overseas, there isn’t anything like Penn State v. Michigan in football. There’s no Big 10 or ‘March Madness,’ either. That’s because college sports don’t have an outsized status internationally as they do here–with millions of fans engaged in what has grown to be a billion-dollar industry.
So the next time you view an American sporting event—especially one of our finals—it’s likely that the words, ‘Made in America,’ apply quite well. Except for NBA basketball, most of the rest of the world won’t be watching.
