Stephen A. Smith Wylin

[Kinfolk]

messi is extremely popular in the USA.
not sure where you got that from

this was from 2013 so it's not even in question now

Lionel Messi's nine seasons as a professional have been notched by eye-popping achievement, be it the record-breaking 324 goals he has netted for Barcelona, the 91 goals struck for club and country in 2012, or the four Ballons d'Or landed along the way. Yet the Argentinian star's most recent accomplishment may prove to be among his most astonishing: The 26-year-old has just become the first international footballer to break into the top-10 list of America's favorite athletes, according to the vast ESPN Sports Poll (October 2012-September 2013.)

"It is a staggering statistic" said Seth Ader, ESPN's senior director of marketing who oversees the company's soccer-related World Cup marketing strategy. "It is the first time in the history of this poll that a soccer player has shown up inside the top 10 for entire year."

Messi's achievement is even more seismic when viewed through the lens of the 12- to 24-year-old demographic, who proclaim the Barcelona star to be the fourth-favorite athlete in the United States (the study tracks the fan base sizes and demographic trends for all major sports through a monthly telephone survey of 1,500 Americans ages 12 and over).

Ronaldo is more popular here because he speaks English.

Where would Messi be if he could conduct interviews and sell cleats in English?

Speaking English isn’t mandatory it just helps if you’re gonna do business here.

There was a lot of speculation as to why Time Magazine put messi onits covers for Europe and Asia but left him off the US cover for the same issue:

Not saying his lack of English speaking is the only reason but it is a factor. You guys can disagree all you want but it doesn’t change the facts.

 

[VARNELL HILL]

So is my man gonna get a sig shoe if he can speak english or something?

 

[dman14]

So is my man gonna get a sig shoe if he can speak english or something?

missing out on selling GMC trucks

 

[blastercombo]

If he wants to do Pepsi ads here that require more than holding up a can and smiling- English required

If he wants to do an MLB ad here that consists of any dialogue- English required.

The argument here isn’t “who will want to watch that?” It’s will baseballs core demographic be able to relate to him beyond just enjoying his play on the field.

Stop trying to make this something that it isn’t.

If he wants to go the same route Mike Trout went which is “hey I don’t want to be involved, leave me alone and let me collect my $340M in relative anonymity” that’s alright.

BUT THE QUESTION WAS IS OHTANI BAD FOR BASEBALL AS FAR AS NOT BEING ABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH AND THE ANSWER REMAINS YES!

Now if you want to debate whether that reflects poorly on American society that’s an entirely different discussion.

Nawzlew there’s other examples besides Messi… musiscians, other athletes etc. if you want to do more than just passive aggressively take shots I got time.

You have zero facts associating English speaking and not being able to “help the sport”. To top things off, he actually DOES SPEAK ENGLISH. A lot of your arguments went right into the garbage.

 

[Master Zik]

The whole thing is dumb cuz its a topic SAS shouldn't have even bothered to talk about.

 

[JPS]

How MLB Superstar Shohei Ohtani Made $6 Million In Endorsements Without Even Trying

The first two-way All-Star in baseball history, Ohtani is a hit with marketers on two continents, with a league-best endorsement portfolio. Is he willing to capitalize?

www.forbes.com

 

[Nawzlew]

the "evidence" being used my god

 

[blastercombo]

the "evidence" being used my god

Right? Better to just say you don’t like it as an individual than to look a full and complete *** presenting “facts” totally pulled out of your pooper

 

[JPS]

the "evidence" being used my god

Not only is ignorance bliss. For some stupidity is facts

 

[Nawzlew]

guy thinks ronaldo is more popular because he speaks english

bruh if you follow these two dudes careers its easy to see messi is more introverted and private. marketable, but maybe not as marketable as someone like ronaldo

 

[Kinfolk]

the "evidence" being used my god

Right? Better to just say you don’t like it as an individual than to look a full and complete *** presenting “facts” totally pulled out of your pooper

So why didn’t Time put him on the US cover?

Since nobody here is going to reach out to Time Magazine all you guys are gonna be able to do is speculate.

 

[Nawzlew]

because in 2013 soccer was the 30th most popular sport in america behind lacrosse

 

[JPS]

Doesn’t that mean all you’re going to be able to do is speculate?

 

[JPS]

because in 2013 soccer was the 30th most popular sport in america behind lacrosse

Get outta here with your “evidence”

 

[Kinfolk]

guy thinks ronaldo is more popular because he speaks english

bruh if you follow these two dudes careers its easy to see messi is more introverted and private. marketable, but maybe not as marketable as someone like ronaldo

Ronaldo is also a narcissistic jerk. But if you’re gonna sit there and deny that endearing yourself to the people you’re peddling products and services to by speaking their language I doesn’t matter at all then I don’t know what to tell you.

 

[Kinfolk]

Doesn’t that mean all you’re going to be able to do is speculate?

What an astute observation.

 

[JPS]

What an astute observation.

Ok TIME magazine expert

 

[Kinfolk]

Ok TIME magazine expert

???

 

[Kinfolk]

You have zero facts associating English speaking and not being able to “help the sport”. To top things off, he actually DOES SPEAK ENGLISH. A lot of your arguments went right into the garbage.

For some reason I’m not surprised that you don’t know the difference between knowing a few phrases and actually speaking the language.

Does Lionel Messi Speak English? The answer may shock you!

 

[JPS]

Top 10 Most Popular Soccer Players In The World In [year]

Here goes the list of the top twelve most popular soccer players in the world. See if your favorite player has made it to the list.

sportsshow.net

Apparently you don’t need to know English to be the most popular player in a sport

 

[VARNELL HILL]

Can someone quantify this for me? Like give an actual tangible example of how not speaking english is holding him back or hurting the MLB?

I remember when Bryce Harper hit the scene in HS and they were calling him the Lebron of Baseball and saying he was the star with the facecard that the MLB desperately needed. He speaks english and seems to check off every other box of what a "baseball star" looks and sounds like. He's got endorsements out the ***, which includes a 10+ year shoe deal. Has it mattered? Bryce Harper cleats flying off shelves? Did his brash personality, "good pure American looks", and bat flips "bring the sport back"?

Could there perhaps be....a BIGGER issue at hand than player marketability?

 

[Kinfolk]

Top 10 Most Popular Soccer Players In The World In [year]

Here goes the list of the top twelve most popular soccer players in the world. See if your favorite player has made it to the list.

sportsshow.net

Apparently you don’t need to know English to be the most popular player in a sport

What on earth are you talking about?

Where are the majority of their fans?

 

[elpablo21]

Could there perhaps be....a BIGGER issue at hand than player marketability?

This is what it's always been

Nitpicking the use of the English language is the least of the leagues problems to grow moving forward

 

[jccw011]

Ronaldo is more popular here because he speaks English.

Where would Messi be if he could conduct interviews and sell cleats in English?

Speaking English isn’t mandatory it just helps if you’re gonna do business here.

There was a lot of speculation as to why Time Magazine put messi onits covers for Europe and Asia but left him off the US cover for the same issue:

Not saying his lack of English speaking is the only reason but it is a factor. You guys can disagree all you want but it doesn’t change the facts.

How many Time Magazine covers--US edition or international--does CR7 have?

And if we're using US magazine covers as a metric for popularity, how come Sports Illustrated (which used to have the same ownership as Time) has more covers w/ Messi than with CR7, despite CR7's purported advantage in marketability bc of his language skills that you're claiming?

 

[Kinfolk]

Can someone quantify this for me? Like give an actual tangible example of how not speaking english is holding him back or hurting the MLB?

I remember when Bryce Harper hit the scene in HS and they were calling him the Lebron of Baseball and saying he was the star with the facecard that the MLB desperately needed. He speaks english and seems to check off every other box of what a "baseball star" looks and sounds like. He's got endorsements out the ***, which includes a 10+ year shoe deal. Has it mattered? Bryce Harper cleats flying off shelves? Did his brash personality, "good pure American looks", and bat flips "bring the sport back"?

Could there perhaps be....a BIGGER issue at hand than player marketability?

Yeah.

Ty Cobb is still held in high regard in the baseball record books.

That’s just the tip of the ice berg of this bigger issue…