Dallas Cowboys Aren’t ‘The Best Sports Franchise In The World’
By Beaker
I heard Michael Irving say on “4th and Long” that the Dallas Cowboys were the “best team in all off professional sports around the world.”
Meh.
I’m not even sure if they’re the best in the NFL. I mean, what, the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers are chopped bladder?
When one ponders his comment further, the less it holds fresh water.
If it’s debatable in the NFL how can it extend to other sports? Baseball has the New York Yankees. Let’s throw the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals in the mix for fun. Hockey has the Montreal Canadiens - and more recently the Detroit Red Wings. If you’re in a good mood, and I mean you have to be essentially drunk, you can add the Toronto Maple Leafs. Basketball has the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. Can it be claimed the Cowboys are bigger than all these franchises in terms of dominance and titles?
I could have digested “best in North America” but the former WR had to go all Texan and claim “best in the world.”
To anyone who follows soccer, there are many great European sides with legendary status. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester United, Ajax, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus immediately spring to mind.
Again, are the Cowboys bigger than these teams? I’m willing to go out on a limb and say…what’s the word…nope.
14 Responses to “Dallas Cowboys Aren’t ‘The Best Sports Franchise In The World’”
Leave a Reply
As a Leafs fan, I say screw you and your snide comment. As for the rest of it - meh!
It all depends on what you measure a franchice by.
As far as richest franchise in the world, I think they win that one obviously. If you don’t believe refrence the forbes list.
As far as fan base, I am pretty sure they have a larger fan base than any team in the world.
As far as championships they are now 1 behind the team with the most superbowls. I don’t really calculate Green Bays championships back in the day when the leage was 8 teams strong with no salary cap or no TV time.
So take a combination of Championships/ Net Value/ Fan Base, and they are definitely one of the top franchises anywhere in the wrold if not the top. Yet, this also leads them to be the most hated franchise in the world as well which will lead to many bias negative attention and opinions.
As this writer is more than likely a Packer fan and is upset by only having one championship in 30 plus years, and just lost the only guy that gave that to them a year ago.
P.S. *franchise
Sorry for spelling mistakes. Typing in an office after a long day leads to spelling errors.
Yet, this article comes from a guy who literally sat and watched the whole 4th and long series not even being a Cowboys fan. That says enough as it is, b/c even a die hard fan didn’t watch that show knowing that the player who got roster spot 80 out of 80 would never make it past all the final cuts.
Obviously this guy has too much time on his hands.
JB, I like where you went with that but they’re not the best in the world in my opinion. They’re among the best I’ll give you that. I don’t know, I think the Steelers give them a real run for their money. As a matter of fact, which organization is a model right now?
As for financial value, while it may be an important criteria, it doesn’t mean a team is the best. The most recent Forbes list has Manchester United worth 1.8 and Dallas 1.6. The Redskins are third. Let’s look at this a sec: Man U are at the top but are they the best soccer team in the world? No. They’re among the best and historically they don’t win nearly enough major trophies like, say, Real Madrid and AC Milan.
The ‘Skins, well, enough said. I mean, the list has the Jets at 9 and Texans at 10. So I’m inclined to go with dominance/titles.
Besides, these lists will always reflect more about the strength of a particular league than anything. English clubs have two spots in the top 10, but neither can be considered the greatest soccer clubs ever.
The question remains and I think Beaker made a fair argument: Are they clearly at the top? I think the Packers (history) and Steelers (present) make very strong cases to challenge “America’s Team.” If so, how can they indeed be considered the “best” team? If you go by branding alone, maybe, but it shouldn’t be just about that.
As for fan bases, that’s hard to nail down. I know a soccer site once tried to cull that but it wasn’t scientific. I seem to recall Juventus had the largest fan base in the world followed by Real Madrid.
Thomas, I think that was specious logic at play. Why does one have to be a “diehard” to watch a show about the Cowboys? And who cares if he watched the entire thing? I watch it and I could care less about the Cowboys. It’s a good show even if it’s just for a chance to go to training camp. What, being an Eagles fan.
Meh. I’m just a sports fan and I’ll be damned if someone ridicules me for enlightening and expanding my interest!
I never did get this “local” mentality about sports. I have no problem with people following all teams and sports for pure love of game.
Oh, here’s the latest link (I could find) to Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/13/nfl-cowboys-yankees-biz-media-cx_tvr_0113values.html
Eoin, mind offering a real opinion?
Everyone is soooo shmart ons de intersnet.
As for the Leafs, nothing personal. I actually hope they win a Cup one day.
Look, it’s simple. My point is Dallas is among the best sports franchises; not the best as asserted by Mr. Irving and Cowboys fans.
Thomas please. Seriously. Put away the spoon before you hurt yourself.
@ Exposrip,
With regards to Man Utd not winning enough major trophies such as Real Madrid or Milan to be regarded as the best team in the world, you have to remember that 5 of the 9 European titles Madrid hold were in the first 5 competitions held in the 1950’s.
In term of recent times when money is the biggest element in football, the European cup has been shared out quite evenly.
Milan 3
Real Madrid 3
Man Utd 2
Barcelona 2
Juventes 1
Liverpool 1
Beyern Munich 1
Ajax 1
These are the winners since the European Cup became the Champions League in 1992.
United have also won the Premier League 11 times out of 17, and considering the Premier League is considered the hardest league in the world, this might help to explain why they are the largest sports franchise in the world.
Also, look up Martin Edwards… That man began it all!
Hope this helps
Regards Nick
Hello Nick,
They’re the largest financially. I’m not disputing this. However, financial might does not equal dominance.
Easy there big fella define “toughest.” Not sure I agree with that line of argument.
No way Man Utd. , or the Cowboys are more valuable than Real Madrid. Madrid has fans all over the world and though Man Utd. has fans in all parts as well, they are mainly in dirt poor countries in Africa with no buying power. Real is the most popular team in both Europe and Latin America.
Of course Irvin thinks the Coybows are “the best in the world”, because well, 1) he was one; and 2) he’s American, so his “world” is defined by one country.
Now, being a Cowboys fan myself, I’m not gonna knock him for showing his support and pushing “our” team, but I’m going to say that if the ‘Boys aren’t #1 in the world, they’d definitely be top 5…
BTW, the Steelers seem to have a load of bandwagon jumpers lately… Don’t remember people cheering so loudly when they weren’t a contender.
all of you who think the green bay packers have the most fans in the world are idiots.
real idiots…you think anyone outside of america cares about american football…no…soccer is the sport of the world…and the club who has the most supporters is Manchester United and Real madrid..
green bay packers…what rubbish
Well, American “Football” is only popluar in north america. The REAL FOOTBALL (Soccer you people call) is very tough and teams from all over europe compete for the european cup. There’s also a league for teams who finish a bit lower than 5th in their country’s league. I would say SOCCER is more difficult in terms of competition and ability. Its not all about brutal strength as is in AMERICAN FOOTBALL!
Big Al, be that as it may, the article wasn’t about who’s more popular. But, they do have more success in terms of CL and other tournament titles - which was the point - I think.
BSR - Good observation. But that’s par for the course. People side with the winning team for a while. I remember when Oakland A’s caps, San Francisco 49ers jerseys and Chicago Bulls gear were popping up everywhere.
But I think the Steelers have a devoted fan base. There are many fairweather Cowboys fans too.
Carlos, before you call people idiots I’d invite you to actually read - or if you did to read properly. No one said that. The Packers were discussed within the pro football confines and in relations to its titles.
By the way, Juventus ranks right up there with the two you mentioned. Man Utd also gained a few bandwagoners.
Shaq. Stay within the point of the topic. No one even remotely brought that up. It’s not about football versus, erm, football. And clearly you don’t get pro North American football because it’s not just all brute force. Those guys are remarkably athletic.