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Raw numbers won't do it. More people speak Chinese than English, but Chinese is (not yet) the most important language in the world.

How can "raw numbers [not] do it," when the premise of your argument is numbers? In terms of money, the NFL is probably ten times more popular than the World Cup in the U.S.

That's completely fine, but you can't turn around and claim "them's just numbers" when you are using them.

How can "raw numbers [not] do it," when the premise of your argument is numbers?

I mainly used raw numbers for stating the the sport wasn't popular in the U.S. "Popular" and "prestige" are two different things. For instance, I believe the most prestigious trophy in world is the Stanley Cup. There is only one, it is incredibly recognizeable, the whole history of the sport is inscribed on it, people who have never seena hockey game know of it, and there are numerous tales of folklore associated with it. The Super Bowl trophy looks like what it is, a work of the sixties. The most prestigious championship in the world would need to truly be of the whole world. WW II wasn't a World War until the U.S. got into it. I would actually maintain that there is no world-wide most prestigious sport. Olympic gold medals in popular events might come closest.