World's Playground

This is a list of the most popular sports in the world. Its actually from a Wiki page and came across it courtesy of my main man J.Mills I was actually surprised by a couple on here but not that many. The list is such:

1) Football: 3.3-3.5 billion fans (Europe, Africa, Asia, Americas, etc.)
2) Cricket: 2-3 billion fans (India, UK, Pakistan, Asia, Australia, etc.)
3) Field hockey: 2-2.2 billion fans (Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia)
4) Tennis: Around 1 billion fans (Europe, Americas, Asia)
5) Volleyball: Around 900 million fans (Asia, Europe, Americas, Australia)
6) Table tennis: Around 900 million fans (Asia, Europe, Africa, Americas)
7) Baseball: Around 500 million fans (US, Japan, Cuba, Dominican Republic)
8) Golf: Around 400 million fans (US, Canada, Europe)
9) Gridiron (American football): 390-410 million fans (US mainly)
10) Basketball: Not more than 400 million fans (US, Canada mainly)

I have to admit i didn't expect Table Tennis to topple every sport that it did, and even field hockey for that matter. The amazing thing is look at the drop off from Table Tennis to Baseball though, it's like the great divide that separates the sports have's from the sports have-nots. I think this also explains why Roger Goodell and the NFL are pushing so hard to attain the worldwide following that the other leading sports have, by placing games in London and such he's trying to make up a lot of ground in the cash race. As my friend and i dialogued about it, we've concluded that you have to get into the habits of fans to really reel them in. One game a year in London won't really do it. For instance with Soccer (or what they call Football) these people grow up with this and its as innate to them as American Football is to us, you have to penetrate the habits and the cultures to really make a difference. I also contend that another way American sports can make a difference is to essentially get some global opinion leaders on board and the rest will follow but the important demographic to snag is the youth.

I will say i always wanted to play soccer as a kid but never really had the opportunity, I love watching the World Cup every 4 years, and as a matter of fact i have a special video for you to watch; presented by my friends over at Swoosh or Nike as many of you say.