Gareth Bale- The BPL's poster child.

Most people know who messi is = people who casually follow sports. Anyone who watches sportscenter will have heard his name and seen him on top 10, but if you think he has higher name recognition (and ESPECIALLY face recognition) than say... jimmie johnson, a freaking nascar driver, than you're definitely offbase.

by the same token, most of those same people are plugged enough into the sports world to have heard of bale as well, just from the madrid rumors and top 10 plays getting airtime on sportscenter - aka for the exact same reason.

my point was simply that nbc isn't advertising to people who need star power to get into the league. it's going to take quite some time for ANY soccer player to compete in face recognition with lebron/kobe/jeter, or even second tier stars below that, and it's definitely not going to happen through 8 am or noontime broadcasts (conflicting with nfl games, no less) on nbc sports. the move to pick up the epl in the us was driven by the growth of interest that has already occurred in the us, and will certainly help inspire more such growth in the future, but for their first season picking up these games? they're advertising to the people who already want to watch epl and might not have realized nbc sports is now airing the games, NOT to the super casual fans who will only recognize a player from sportscenter clips (at best). and that final part applies equally to bale, balo, neymar, messi and anyone else you want to name who plays the sport.

Diego Armando Maradona wrote:Balotelli has star power because

A) he is the public face of an ethnic minority with an unusual story

And
B) He acts like a crazy fool

But there is ceiling to how much stardom he can have, because tbh he just isn't THAT good. He was not respected as a player in England, the general idea was was that he was not good enough to get away with his his behaviour. Only a REAL talent can act like a fool but still be a big asset to his team. Balotelli was just a fool. The fact that he is succeeding in serie a is just embarrassing for for the state of Italian football

 wat ? The lad is one of the most talented player in Serie A. I'd take him , based on pure ability, over any of Arsenal's striker right now.

Should have gone with Rooney. He's the most popular player in the EPL in America. Or rather, the only one people have really heard about lol

Giggity5313 wrote:Everyone knows who ronaldo is in the us... handegg fans and basketball fans, you name it. Messi, neymar.. not so much

People actually know balotelli here lol too

You can always count on Thuggity to deliver some grade a Harmonica level bias...

jibers wrote:

Giggity5313 wrote:Everyone knows who ronaldo is in the us... handegg fans and basketball fans, you name it. Messi, neymar.. not so much

People actually know balotelli here lol too

You can always count on Thuggity to deliver some grade a Harmonica level bias...

i'm not a big cr fan, but he's right. messi really doesn't have any advertising power, and that's the main way athletes get face recognition in the states. the population who watch sportscenter have heard of both, and the population that don't still couldn't pick messi out of a lineup of NBA players if you spotted them his height.

i do have to retract my earlier statement about bale, though. i asked a few friends of mine (all avid sports fans, although not into european football) and none of them had heard of him. when i tried other names to figure out who should've gone on that billboard, the only one that rang any bell was rooney, though, so it's not like i was that far off base. there just aren't many epl players with star power in the US right now.

What?

Messi is definitely more recognizable than Ronaldo.

For the simple reason that people see Messi being plastered as the "best soccer player in the world", whereas Ronaldo doesn't get that luxury, because he's not. As for advertising, I see Messi around more than I see Ronaldo.

Players will have to be like celebrities in order for their star power to increase. Hopefully that never happens though.

CBarca wrote:What?

Messi is definitely  more recognizable than Ronaldo.

For the simple reason that people see Messi being plastered as the "best soccer player in the world", whereas Ronaldo doesn't get that luxury, because he's not. As for advertising, I see Messi around more than I see Ronaldo.

No he isn't tbh. Ronaldo is in bloody entertainment mags and fashion mags.

75% of the people in US believe Christiano Ronaldo and Fat Ronaldo are the same people.
and lol at Messi not being known in the states.

Donuts wrote:75% of the people in US believe Christiano Ronaldo and Fat Ronaldo are the same people.
and lol at Messi not being known in the states.

Wot? They're not?!!

jibers wrote:

CBarca wrote:What?

Messi is definitely  more recognizable than Ronaldo.

For the simple reason that people see Messi being plastered as the "best soccer player in the world", whereas Ronaldo doesn't get that luxury, because he's not. As for advertising, I see Messi around more than I see Ronaldo.

No he isn't tbh. Ronaldo is in bloody entertainment mags and fashion mags.

If true then point conceded. Not things I ever look at

Well, Ronaldo parties with people like Paris Hilton, Rihanna, etc, so his exposure to the non "soccer" crowd benefits

Humble Messi isn't that type of person, he prefers to make headlines on the pitch

Not using El Blanco Pele is blasphemous to be honest..

What happens if Madrid buy Bale though?  

'Murica would give Tottenham 250M just to KEEP Bale, to avoid this embarrassment. And inadvertantly make Tottenham one of the best teams in the world with that investment.

Swagg wrote:Not using El Blanco Pele is blasphemous to be honest..

What happens if Madrid buy Bale though?  

He'd flop and be playing the in the PL in 2 seasons.

CR7 is a lot more marketable than Messi. Saying that, Messi is still a poster boy of the game.

Bénin wrote:

Diego Armando Maradona wrote:Balotelli has star power because

A) he is the public face of an ethnic minority with an unusual story

And
B) He acts like a crazy fool

But there is ceiling to how much stardom he can have, because tbh he just isn't THAT good. He was not respected as a player in England, the general idea was was that he was not good enough to get away with his his behaviour. Only a REAL talent can act like a fool but still be a big asset to his team. Balotelli was just a fool. The fact that he is succeeding in serie a is just embarrassing for for the state of Italian football

 wat ? The lad is one of the most talented player in Serie A. I'd take him , based on pure ability,  over any of Arsenal's striker right now.  

He was the best young striker in the PL too. Not his fault Mancini is stupid and believe everything in the press. Would of rathered him at Liverpool, but I'm glad he went to Milan. Can finally shut up his doubters.

Tomwin Lannister wrote:'Murica would give Tottenham 250M just to KEEP Bale, to avoid this embarrassment. And inadvertantly make Tottenham one of the best teams in the world with that investment.

 

ynwa wrote:

Swagg wrote:Not using El Blanco Pele is blasphemous to be honest..

What happens if Madrid buy Bale though?  

He'd flop and be playing the in the PL in 2 seasons.

I meant what would happen to NBC's advertisement campaign?

Swagg wrote:

I meant what would happen to NBC's advertisement campaign?

It'd stall for 2 years or so or whenever he comes back.

Ronaldo appeals to the gay community, pop culture and the female contingent.

Messi doesn't.

Ronaldo is clearly the most popular football player on the planet now that Beckham's retired and it isn't even a debate.

I might be a CR fan but trust me, him being more popular or recognizable than messi in america is not even arguable.

jibers wrote:

RED wrote:

jibers wrote:LOL. Face indeed. The prem has no 'star' power. Bar Ronaldo and Messi football has no stars atm. Bale is being force fed to everyone, but let's be honest here. The EPL is in decline.

No it's not. If you're judging it in terms of the CL, then maybe....but I call it a bad year. For instance we were one bad call away from atleast reaching the semi's....maybe even the final. And Chelsea did win the EL.

As for the league itself, I think it's more of a level playing than it's ever been, and with the new TV income small clubs will get, it will be even more competitive.

So competitive that City needed a Sheikh to compete with United and Chelsea. So competitive that we ran away with the league last season. EL is a mickey mouse cup. EPL is behind BUndesliga and La LIga and is slightly ahead of Serie A, but not for long. The star power is waning.

Funny that you mention "competitive" and "ran away with the league last season" and then you mention Bundesliga & La Liga. Remind me what the margin between Bayern & Dortmund or Barca & Madrid were last season.


We're still talking competitive and "running away with the league" right?

lol. either way the quality of the epl is embarassing. there is a clear gap at the top


madrid beat us
madrid beat city
dortmund embarrassed city twice
atletico madrid raped chelsea
schalke beat arsenak twice and even topped the group


the mighty epl indeed. lol. minors like mechu are coming to the league and scoring for fun. in terms of quality and tactics we are below germany and spain. tacticalky behind italy

jibers wrote:lol. either way the quality of the epl is embarassing. there is a clear gap at the top


madrid beat us
madrid beat city
dortmund embarrassed city twice
atletico madrid raped chelsea
schalke beat arsenak twice and even topped the group


the mighty epl indeed. lol. minors like mechu are coming to the league and scoring for fun. in terms of quality and tactics we are below germany and spain. tacticalky behind italy

Oh c'mon.

Get a grip, you talk about the Prem as if it is some obscure random league in Peru ffs.

 
 

Hawky wrote:Looks like the BPL is already helping in bolstering Real Madrid's future T-shirt sales in the US.

EPL relieving the burden off Perez's shoulders

imagine the scenario. Bale used as the posterboy for EPL, next season he signs for Real Madrid for a record fee. American fans like this

Gil wrote:Ronaldo appeals to the gay community, pop culture and the female contingent.

Messi doesn't

I must've hit my head and imagined all those Pepsi adverts and the vs Kobe Bryant airline advert, as well as numerous global Adidas commercials