Super Bowl will be watched by less than half the number of people that participated in Live Earth

KFYI | 1/31/08 | Wil H

[Wil H]

Last night saw a glitering celebrity gala, headlined by Jay Leno, at The Phoenician as one of THE events of the Super Bowl social circuit.

It was a $1000 a seat and attended by Howie Long, Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Bart Starr, Gale Sayers and many others.

During the proceeding NFL Commisioner Roger Goodell boasted that 900 Million would watch Sunday's game.

Frankly I think he is blowing smoke - even if the entire nation watches (which it won't) that would only be 300, million, and you won't get another 600 million to watch worldwide, the interest in American Football just isn't there on other continents, American Football is a North American phenomenon, it is not like Soccer which is played professionally in over 130 countries.

No matter, the point is this... at 900 Million the Super Bowl viewership is less than half of the Two Billion repeatedly claimed by Al Gore for his Live Earth event.

Of course, in reality, online statistics and TV ratings can only account for about 2% of Al Gore's actual claimed attendance, but isn't it interesting that even a great American cultural event like the Super Bowl only claims 45% of Al Gore's outrageous claims.

[Myrddin]

I won't be watching. The last time I watched a football game from kickoff to the end was 1981. I'm just not interested. The only reason I ever took note of Superbowl Sunday was to do some inline skating around Miramar Lake in San Diego. It was much less crowded while the game was underway.

[dr_lew]

“We’ve forgotten Billy Preston!”

[HungarianGypsy]

I was live streaming radio stations from Germany this morning. I knew Super Bowl was big to us, but was surprised to see this website from a radio station in Hamburg advertising Super Bowl Party.

[Wil H]

And the game doesn’t start till 11.00PM there, does it.

I’m sure there are pockets of genuine interest all over the world but it won’t add up to 700 million outside of the US. Most of Asia, including China, will be fast asleep while the game is being played. India and Pakistan are passionate about cricket, not football, and all of Africa are right now engrossed in the African Nations Cup (soccer) which is a HUGE deal there.

Unless the soccer-crazed South Americans have suddenly gone’NFL crazy, I don’t see where the world wide numbers are coming from.