[lefty24]

Originally Posted by Towanda

I don't only use the TV ratings as a measure of popularity.

I realize that this is just my experience, but among the people I know who do not follow tennis, not one of them knows who Sharapova is. But, they do know who Serena, Venus, and Clijsters are, and some of them know who Stosur is. Apparently you have to either have a baby or beat Serena to be known amongst the masses here. I do know one guy who knows who Sharapova is, but that is only because he saw her in a camera commercial, and he only paid attention to the commercial because there was a talking dog in it.

I have asked all of my tennis friends if their non-tennis friends know who any tennis players are, and they have had the same experience I have - their friends know Serena and Venus, and Clijsters because such a deal was made over her having a baby. I think some people over-estimate the ability of Americans to pay attention to anything for more than 5 minutes. If Sharapova was on some singing-for-humiliation show, or if she was on some crappy reality show alongside the Kardashians, people might know who she is.

You mentioned Nadal and Djokovic - yes, they are popular among tennis fans, but again, people who do not follow tennis so not know who they are. Regardless, the discussion regarding Sharapova is different, as a few people here have been arging that she has reached a level of celebrity that has made her well-known across the entire world, while Djokovic and Nadal have not become celebrities at the level of Sharapova. That is what I am talking about when I talk about popularity - not the popularity of a tennis player among fans, but the popularity of a tennis player as a celebrity, and among people who are not tennis fans. Seriously, if Sharapova were well-known in the U.S., one of the crappy reality show channels would have offered her a tv show by now.

First of all, to say Stosur is more popular than Maria in the US is just crazy talk. Second of all, I guess we've had different experiences because most people I talk to know who Maria is. They usually also know who Serena and Venus are(though not always by name) but I've rarely seen someone knowing who Serena and Venus are but not Masha.
When I went to the US Open two years ago people went CRAZY when Maria was practicing. They would hide in bushes just to see her. Lots of people also went to an outer court and stood on the highest row that looks over the practice courts to see her practice. We actually got kicked out of the court because so many people came just to see Maria practice.

[Serfpova]

Well I'm not American, but I doubt Maria is a nobody, that said a lot of people do overstate her fame. But she has had a few stints on Letterman, Ellen and I'm sure she got a lot of coverage for Wimbledon and I'm not sure what her coverage for the career slam was like, but it was big over here. Ironically the Canon commercials were the only real U.S. thing she did, a lot of her endorsements were Asian based surprisingly. A lot of my friend who I wouldn't really talk to about tennis know her because she's 'fit' apparently, while just have many has said "that one who screams all the time" or "that one who one Wimbledon". It applies to everyone though, to my astonishment I've yet to meet someone who outright knows Henin, and even with the WS I get responses of "them black girls" or even if they know them they have to ask who's the 'big' and who's the 'skinny' one. It's hard for us as tennis fans to really grasp the players fame outside the sport, as we don't know everyone. But all fanbases like to overstate their fave's fame.

[denny5576]

Originally Posted by Towanda

I don't only use the TV ratings as a measure of popularity.

I realize that this is just my experience, but among the people I know who do not follow tennis, not one of them knows who Sharapova is. But, they do know who Serena, Venus, and Clijsters are, and some of them know who Stosur is. Apparently you have to either have a baby or beat Serena to be known amongst the masses here. I do know one guy who knows who Sharapova is, but that is only because he saw her in a camera commercial, and he only paid attention to the commercial because there was a talking dog in it.

I have asked all of my tennis friends if their non-tennis friends know who any tennis players are, and they have had the same experience I have - their friends know Serena and Venus, and Clijsters because such a deal was made over her having a baby. I think some people over-estimate the ability of Americans to pay attention to anything for more than 5 minutes. If Sharapova was on some singing-for-humiliation show, or if she was on some crappy reality show alongside the Kardashians, people might know who she is.

You mentioned Nadal and Djokovic - yes, they are popular among tennis fans, but again, people who do not follow tennis so not know who they are. Regardless, the discussion regarding Sharapova is different, as a few people here have been arging that she has reached a level of celebrity that has made her well-known across the entire world, while Djokovic and Nadal have not become celebrities at the level of Sharapova. That is what I am talking about when I talk about popularity - not the popularity of a tennis player among fans, but the popularity of a tennis player as a celebrity, and among people who are not tennis fans. Seriously, if Sharapova were well-known in the U.S., one of the crappy reality show channels would have offered her a tv show by now.

You are very ill informed. Sharapova is much more popular in US than Rafa and Novak, Venus and Kim. Only Serena is more popular than Maria.

[stegall]

I live in America and Serena and Maria are both very popular amongst tennis fans. ATM .I would say overall The Williams sisters are the most well known by non fans...

[Anthony.]

Lest you forget that even if tennis is the number 5, 6 sport in the United States, it's still the largest market by far, and it's viewing numbers even as a niche sport rival the rest of the world. That's why the American market is so coveted.

Tennis Channel opens itsself every year for free to several cable providers during the French Open. The potential viewing numbers alone for that period - when available as a niche channel to all, is extremely profitable for them.

As well - Venus has only added to Serena's legacy in recent years to be completely honest. The package of the sisters is a big sell, but more often than not, it's Serena who's the main attractor. I'd rate Venus below Maria and Serena as the top 3 players in the United States. Wozniacki was groomed as the successor to them, although Vika is climbing now.

[Towanda]

Originally Posted by lefty24

First of all, to say Stosur is more popular than Maria in the US is just crazy talk. Second of all, I guess we've had different experiences because most people I talk to know who Maria is. They usually also know who Serena and Venus are(though not always by name) but I've rarely seen someone knowing who Serena and Venus are but not Masha.
When I went to the US Open two years ago people went CRAZY when Maria was practicing. They would hide in bushes just to see her. Lots of people also went to an outer court and stood on the highest row that looks over the practice courts to see her practice. We actually got kicked out of the court because so many people came just to see Maria practice.

I never said that Stosur was popular in the U.S. What I said was,

"some of them know who Stosur is. Apparently you have to either have a baby or beat Serena to be known amongst the masses here."

How in the world is that saying she is popular? You know after she beat Serena, the media beat that to death. Most people I know who don't follow tennis told me that they were shocked that some girl that no one ever heard of beat Serena. They had no clue that she was ranked 7 or 8 or whatever she was before that match. After that match, they knew who she was, even if they only knew her as the girl that beat Serena. I know I said later in that post or another post that the people who knew who Stosur was after that match will probably forget who she is in short time, which is, once again, not implying in any way that I think she is popular here.


As far as people hiding behind bushes to see Sharapova, I guess you missed the thousand times that I said that I'm not talking about tennis fans. If you've read the threads proclaiming Sharapova the biggest tennis icon ever, you would have seen that the argument is that she is extremely popular among non-tennis fans all over the world. I am guessing that the vast majority of people who actually buy tickets to the U.S. Open are tennis fans, and not just celebrity groupies who decided to spend a thousand dollars or more to see Maria from behind a bush. Also, I think there are lots of players who fans awarm around. When I went in 2010, they were stalking Clijsters, but I would never argue that that means that she is the greatest tennis icon in the world and that even non-tennis fans all over the world know who she is.

I think you are right that we have had different experiences, because the people that I know that do not follow tennis have no clue who Sharapova is. My tennis friends of course know who she is, and a few of them are big fans of hers. This might also be affected by the areas of the country we live in, but I'm just guessing on that. I'm in Chicago. Maybe if you're somewhere that has warmer weather year round, more people might play tennis and follow tennis, but again, I'm just guessing. Seriously the only non-tennis person I know who knows who she is only knows her because of a commercial, and when he saw that commercial, he didn't even know she was a tennis player.

Can we just finally end this conversation? I am not ever going to proclaim Sharapova the biggest tennis icon ever, known the world over by non-tennis fans. And I can't help that I think the fact that the FO final ratings were low is some indication that she is not as beloved in the U.S. as many think she is. You are free to disagree with that, and I couldn't care less. But you don't have to twist everything I say - like acting like I said Stosur is so popular in the U.S. - to try to prove a point. We just need to agree to disagree on this.

[NashaMasha]

ok, let's imagine Kvitova had reached the final , what ratings would have had the final Kvitova- Errani )))))

it's not Sharapova fault, becaue some of my friends were not watching as " the result was never in doubt" for them

WTA needs Sharapova-Azarenka, Sharapova-Serena finals to be competitive with ATP finals in which only top stars are taking part

By the way, The Clijsters/Wozniacki U.S. Open women’s final drew a mere 1.1 U.S. rating )))) and US Open was always more popular than Roland Garros in USA

[Towanda]

Originally Posted by jameshazza

Well I'm not American, but I doubt Maria is a nobody, that said a lot of people do overstate her fame. But she has had a few stints on Letterman, Ellen and I'm sure she got a lot of coverage for Wimbledon and I'm not sure what her coverage for the career slam was like, but it was big over here. Ironically the Canon commercials were the only real U.S. thing she did, a lot of her endorsements were Asian based surprisingly. A lot of my friend who I wouldn't really talk to about tennis know her because she's 'fit' apparently, while just have many has said "that one who screams all the time" or "that one who one Wimbledon". It applies to everyone though, to my astonishment I've yet to meet someone who outright knows Henin, and even with the WS I get responses of "them black girls" or even if they know them they have to ask who's the 'big' and who's the 'skinny' one. It's hard for us as tennis fans to really grasp the players fame outside the sport, as we don't know everyone. But all fanbases like to overstate their fave's fame.

I watch a lot of ESPN, and I don't recall them ever mentioning that she won the career slam. They did show on the ticker that she won the final but never mentioned the career slam. Before the final, SportsCenter was periodically showing highlights from her SF against Kvitova, and mentioning that she would play Errani in the Final, without showing any highlights from the Errani-Stosur SF, so apparently they did think her SF was more worthy of highlights than the other SF. After the Final, they showed highlights of that periodically, but again, I don't recall them ever mentioning the career slam.

They showed highlights of the men's SFs and F much more frequently, and whenever there were rain delays, both ESPN and NBC chose to show reruns of the men's matches rather than show reruns of women's matches. One day, they showed reruns of both of the men's SFs twice. I don't have tennis channel, so I can't speak for what they did.

[dany.p]

In defense of the ratings, it was a superstar against a relative unkown, 2 non-american players (i know Sharapova is bascially American, but still), and people would've assumed that it would be a blow out. The ratings weren't horrible either. Nothing is going to come close for the ratings of 2 american sisters competing for the second time in a grand slam final. Poeple should just give up on that comparison.

[Towanda]

Originally Posted by denny5576

You are very ill informed. Sharapova is much more popular in US than Rafa and Novak, Venus and Kim. Only Serena is more popular than Maria.

All I'm getting from those graphs is that she was very popular in 2004, and that many people became interested enough in her after she won the FO to do a web search on her. Sorry, but people searching for her after she won is no indication of her popularity prior to that match. I think you could look up any player and you would see that they get a lot of web searches after they win a major. It looks to me like her popularity went down a lot after 2004. If she was as popular as many claim she is, I would think web searches for her would not have taken such a dive.

[Mashi]

What a dumbass thread opener... :split:
Of course, if these are US ratings the Williams final will be the most viewed, it's a nationalist reaction and clearly not an indication of popularity! Useless thread, only trying to bash Maria and yet still failing.
PS: the USA are not the world, so change at least the title

[NadalSharapova]

Some people are so ridiculous, I wonder if they are even capable of thinking with any logic at all.

Its like saying the NBA finals is more popular than the champions league final

Sure, on american tv the NBA finals will get a much higher rating. However worldwide there is NO comparison, it is not even close.

[Chrissie-fan]

More a question than a remark: Are those ratings for tennis matches not influenced more by whatever else is going on at other channels than by whoever is playing? It's like, I'm sure that in Europe a respectable number of people were watching the Nadal/Djokovic match, but I bet that as soon as the European football cup started half (or more) of them switched channels and left the tennis for what it was.

[Towanda]

Originally Posted by Chrissie-fan

More a question than a remark: Are those ratings for tennis matches not influenced more by whatever else is going on at other channels than by whoever is playing? It's like, I'm sure that in Europe a respectable number of people were watching the Nadal/Djokovic match, but I bet that as soon as the European football cup started half (or more) of them switched channels and left the tennis for what it was.

They probably are influenced by whatever else is on, but, U.S. time, the finals started saturday morning for the womens and sunday morning for the mens, and if I recall correctly, the FO finals are generally played the same times/days every year. On weekends in the U.S., the morning shows pretty much include only political debate shows and cartoons, so I'm not sure how much that would affect viewership.

[Chrissie-fan]

Originally Posted by Towanda

They probably are influenced by whatever else is on, but, U.S. time, the finals started saturday morning for the womens and sunday morning for the mens, and if I recall correctly, the FO finals are generally played the same times/days every year. On weekends in the U.S., the morning shows pretty much include only political debate shows and cartoons, so I'm not sure how much that would affect viewership.

I see. Thanks.