Yep, you can bet lots of people, specially small children, in in Asia and South America know Nike...

[img]smile.gif[/img]

I'm not talking about apparel, but of sporting teams and their branding. So Ferrari would count, technically, though their branding doesn't come from purely being a sporting team, more so from the fact that they sell some seriously pretty machinery.

As Link said, the US teams have huge branding power in the US and in terms of merchandising they have a lot of global reach, but aside from basketball (which is a global sport) the other big sporting team brands in the US (Yankees, Cowboys, etc) all play sports which are US-centric, not global. So a lot of people buy the Yankees or the Dodgers cap because it looks cool, not necessarily because they know who those teams are.

I'd have thought the two at the top of the list from a GLOBAL point of view would have to be football teams - Man U and Real Madrid. They're known throughout Europe, South America, Asia and Africa, and even if their penetration is poorer in the US, it's probably greater in the US than the Yankees et al have in Africa, Asia, etc...

It was either Real Madrid (I think it was them) or Man Utd (definately one of the two) who actually claimed this title, or something very similar. I would probably say Real Madrid would be one of the biggest, as although basketball is popular, here in Europe only people who actually like the game would have heard of the various teams. Baseball doesn't really concern us in Britain, and I've yet to meet someone who actually follows the game.

<font color="cyan">I'd say Ferrari can't count, as they made their name by selling their cars first and foremost, the sports division came later.

I'd have to go with Manchester United, even over Real Madrid. It's definately not the New York Yankees, as baseball is only really popular in the US.

Real Madrid are popular, yes, but Man Utd have the whole of the far east in their pockets, a lot of Europe, a high percentage of England, South America, (now big in Portugal with Ronaldo), Ji Hi will increase revenue and awareness from South Korea etc...And now, Glazer may even make them very popular in the USA.

I know I'm a Man U fan, but they are (were lol) the richest football club in the world. That pertty much means the most famous. Plus, football is probably the most globally watched sport (bar Formula 1).

So i'd say Man Utd!

Just have to see what Glazer does to us!</font>

Ferrari made his/their name first and very much foremost through motor racing, not by selling cars such as Henry Ford did. Scuderia Ferrari started in 1929 (with the prancing horse logo) as a team sponsoring drivers and building racing cars. Independant sports car manafacture didn't start until the late 1940s. Their logo comes to them from purely sporting means, infact the actual logo came about after winning a particular race. [img]smile.gif[/img]

<font color="cyan">I still disagree.

I'm not arguing that Ferrari started by being a sports team, but in the modern day world they are not remembered for that, or for their F1 team now. Most people know them because of their cars, such as the F40, 360M, F50 etc...

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Real Madrid, Nike, Donald Trump. :D

This was the reason I thought maybe Ferrari shouldn't be included - because then you'd have to include Mercedez Benz, McLaren, Ford etc with that as well. I was thinking more traditional "team sports" like basketball, football, rugby, baseball, cricket, hockey, etc...

1. Who? What do they play? Sounds like a subway station.
2. Who? What do they play? Sounds like a wine.
3. Ok, from up North, hit a ball with a stick from Louisville, KY. Silly Yanks.
4. Who? What do they play? Sounds like a shoe, maybe from Nike.
5. Ok. Who really cares?
6. Add in Ferrari, and we all can say F1, Shell, and Michael Schumacher!

Who? I see F1 on my keyboard, Shell is a company that (over)charges me for gas, and Schumacher? Wasn't he a jockey? Oh, wait - that was Shoemaker... :D