Settle bet - most famous US athlete, all time

[philliesfan]

I would think this order:

Ruth
Ali
Jordan

[jp1216]

I went down this path with a 20 something year old 'sports guy' I worked with last month. His last name was Cobb - so naturally I asked him if he was related to Ty Cobb. Blank Stare. Ok maybe he didn't grow up in a sports family... I asked if ANYONE had ever asked him this question - 'yeah a few times but I don't know why'....

That led me to dig deeper. Babe Ruth - not a clue. I didn't strike gold until I mentioned Griffey and Jordan. So anything pre-1980 was dinosaurs and cavemen to this guy. He does know his sports though - just nothing more than 40 years ago. He did know every NFL, MLB, NBA champion, MVP, #1 pick etc from the past 15 years.

I didn't mention Ali - but I'd bet he didn't know.

He did also know Jackie - but only from the movie 42...

So to settle this kind of bet - I'd vote Jordan.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by jp1216

I went down this path with a 20 something year old 'sports guy'...

Anyone who has never heard of Cobb or Ruth does not meet my definition of a "sports guy."

But then, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for shiny, newly printed cardboard doesn't meet my definition of "investment."

[Republicaninmass]

Caitlyn Jenner. Over 15 million "followers"

[Carter08]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Caitlyn Jenner. Over 15 million "followers"

Michael Jordan does not do social media I believe but one of his sneakers has 28 million followers.

[G1911]

It was once Ali, but it is almost certainly Jordan now, more for the sneakers that are one of the most globally recognized symbols of American culture than his immense skill.

[edtiques]

I can't think of anyone close in football. Brady's probably the most well known but he's not at Jordan's level. Not even close.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by G1911

It was once Ali, but it is almost certainly Jordan now, more for the sneakers that are one of the most globally recognized symbols of American culture than his immense skill.

Jordan shoe revenue
When the 2023 Nike fiscal year ended in May, Jordan accumulated $6.6 billion in revenue.
This is its highest total revenue to date. It also signifies a staggering 29.4% increase from the $5.1 billion mark the recent year.
Compared to its revenue in the 2016 fiscal year, which tallied $2.8 billion, the Jordan brand has grown by over 135%.
Surprisingly, while most brands suffered losses during the pandemic in 2020, the Jordan footwear brand raked in $4.8 billion and enjoyed a 29.7% growth—the brand’s highest jump since 2016.
Even in 2021, Jordan’s revenue showed steady gains with a 6.3% increase, totaling $4.8 billion by the end of the fiscal year.
The only time the revenues plummeted for the past seven years was recorded in 2018 when the Jordan brand scored $2.9 billion, 6.5% lower than the $3.1 billion total sales in 2017.

[D. Bergin]

I might be biased, but I gotta go with Ali on this one.

[D. Bergin]

Is the question:

"The most famous US athlete, in the US?"

or

"The most famous US athlete, in the World?"





If it's the 1st one, maybe we can consider some baseball, football players....if it's the 2nd one, Babe Ruth might have a hard time cracking the Top 10.

[Ulidia]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Is the question:

"The most famous US athlete, in the US?"

or

"The most famous US athlete, in the World?"





If it's the 1st one, maybe we can consider some baseball, football players....if it's the 2nd one, Babe Ruth might have a hard time cracking the Top 10.

If it is from a World context, and you ignore more recent decades where globalisation has made that World smaller in terms of stars (so discounting Tiger Woods, Williams, even Jordan etc), then the most famous US sportsperson through the ages globally, or at least in Europe, is likely Jesse Owens.

Owens and the 1936 Olympics story transcends sport. I’m late 40s and, here in British Isles, everyone of my vintage would certainly know of Jesse Owen’s irrespective of whether they had any knowledge or interest in sports.


As an aside, in terms of baseball, when we talk about sports (mainly soccer) in the UK and when occasionally US sports have come up, I’ve sometimes referenced vintage baseball. Babe Ruth is the one common name that everyone appears to know. Very few of these people would know of Mickey Mantle.

In fact, a number of years ago I asked my mother (in her 70s) and my partner (in her 40s) which baseball players they could name. Neither has any interest in sport but both named Babe Ruth. The only other name referenced was Joe DiMaggio. Again, there is a recognition here partly for non-sport reasons i.e. the Marilyn Monroe connection and then Simon & Garfunkel song.



Interestingly, notwithstanding the Jesse Owens reference to transcending sport, very few people with an interest in sport on this side of the pond would have heard of Jackie Robinson.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Most famous world-wide, or in the US?

I think I lean towards Ali for global fame.

[steve B]

The global vs "local" thing is a solid dividing line.

Just in the US, I'd think Ruth, although many would be more popular briefly, I don't think brief fame counts. Or mor that it counts as an entirely different discussion.

Internationally I'd go with Ali. Jordan and Lebron are up there but I think it's too soon for them.

Then there's the who is the most popular right now question.

Right now locally? Maybe Caitlyn Clark? Getting tons of press, and a lot of attention.

early on? Major Taylor. Not as popular here, but very popular in Europe and Australia.

[D. Bergin]

Even during Babe Ruth's prime years, Jack Dempsey would have been more famous world-wide than him. Much more!