Is Canada A "Sports" Country?

[GGG]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...sports_leagues

Check out the above link.
In terms of average attendance per game for indoor sports Hockey is number 1. Lacrosse is number 3 at over 10,000 per game. This list ignores amatuer sports like CHL or College football.

In terms of outdoor sports the CFL (Canadas second most popular League) outdraws Mexican and French Soccer, all Cricket, all Rugby?

Soccer in Canada and the US draws 17800 a game, about the same as Englands 2nd tier of soccer which makes sense as athletes are comparable? (tfc averages over 20k). Soccer in canada outdaws almost every non top level soccer leauge.

So our sports which arent popular still outdraw popular sports in other countries.

[Lego Man]

Originally Posted by GGG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...sports_leagues

Check out the above link.
In terms of average attendance per game for indoor sports Hockey is number 1. Lacrosse is number 3 at over 10,000 per game. This list ignores amatuer sports like CHL or College football.

In terms of outdoor sports the CFL (Canadas second most popular League) outdraws Mexican and French Soccer, all Cricket, all Rugby?

Soccer in Canada and the US draws 17800 a game, about the same as Englands 2nd tier of soccer which makes sense as athletes are comparable? (tfc averages over 20k). Soccer in canada outdaws almost every non top level soccer leauge.

So our sports which arent popular still outdraw popular sports in other countries.

Those figures may have more to do with the fact that Canada has a lower amount of active sports leagues then France, England, or Germany. There are simply less sporting entertainment events for Canadians to realistically take part in.

I do agree with you in a way though. While Canadian people may enjoy sports, Canada isn't really a "sports" country. It probably has more to do with low population density and our huge neighbour to the south.

[Lego Man]

In Europe most cities have two, three, or even four teams playing the same sport- sometimes all in the same division. Cities half the size of Calgary have three D1,D2 soccer teams, two hockey teams, and two basketball teams.

You can't just compare attendance - it's apples to oranges.

[aaronzaski]

The Briar.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by mpaca

Those figures may have more to do with the fact that Canada has a lower amount of active sports leagues then France, England, or Germany. There are simply less sporting entertainment events for Canadians to realistically take part in.

I do agree with you in a way though. While Canadian people may enjoy sports, Canada isn't really a "sports" country. It probably has more to do with low population density and our huge neighbour to the south.

Do we have a lower amount of active sports leauges than other countries? We have NHL, AHL, CHL, Junior B in hockey.
The CFL, MLS, the other soccer league, NLL.

This doesnt even consider the amount of NFL support there is in Canada.

We have 5 leauges that outdraw everything but the top level soccer around the world. Someone really needs to define sports country though because in terms of raw attendance, variety of pro sports, dollars spent on tickets, canada is number two in the world on a per capita basis behind the US.

Can some one on the canada is not a sporting country side provide one measurable way that a european country is more of a sporting country than Canada.

In fact the rest of the worlds obsession with soccer makes them less sporting than Canada. Canada has 3 MLS teams and are expanding to add more. Soon our annual soccer attendance will exceed any european countries non soccer, non rugby attendance and it will only be the fourth most popular pro sport in our Counrty.

So before you say we arent sporting, define the term and produce measurables to prove your case

[Lego Man]

Originally Posted by aaronzaski

The Briar.

Canada only started paying attention to The Briar when Tim Hortons started sponsoring.

Typical Canadians

In fact, I'd be willing to bet ALL Canadian sports were somehow made popular by Tim Hortons.


THE TIMBITS LEAGUES! CROSBY

[GGG]

Originally Posted by mpaca

Canada only started paying attention to The Briar when Tim Hortons started sponsoring.

Typical Canadians

In fact, I'd be willing to bet ALL Canadian sports were somehow made popular by Tim Hortons.


THE TIMBITS LEAGUES! CROSBY

Not true, briar was very popular as the Labatt briar and Nokia Briar.

Curling increased in popularity significantly with the introduction of the free guard zone. The first and third most attended briars were Timmys, 2 and 4 were nokia and labatte. The real driver of briar attendance is putting it in Alberta or Saskatchewan.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

What we have here is soccer fans saying that because Canada doesn't do well in international soccer events that this means it is not a sporting country. Again, what this means is that Canada is not a strong soccer nation, relatively. It is a strong sporting nation.

There's also implied sexism in that argument, as what they really mean is, Canada doesn't do well in international men's soccer. The Women's team is consistently ranked in the top ten in the world, just won an Olympic bronze (and may have been silver or gold if not for incompetent officiating), are the defending Pan-Am Games and CONCACAF champions

[valo403]

Originally Posted by GGG

Not true, briar was very popular as the Labatt briar and Nokia Briar.

Curling increased in popularity significantly with the introduction of the free guard zone. The first and third most attended briars were Timmys, 2 and 4 were nokia and labatte. The real driver of briar attendance is putting it in Alberta or Saskatchewan.

I wouldn't bother responding to him anymore, it's a troll routine.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by mpaca

Those figures may have more to do with the fact that Canada has a lower amount of active sports leagues then France, England, or Germany. There are simply less sporting entertainment events for Canadians to realistically take part in.

I dunno, looking at Birmingham, with a 2011 population just under 1.1 million, it seems they have a Premier League team in Aston Villa (two if you want to count West Brom, which is in Sandwell, adding another 350,000 popuation), an nPower Championship team in Birmingham City - all of which draw very well, then lightly attended county cricket and division 2 rugby teams. The rugby team, I would note, appears to average as many fans as many Junior A hockey teams. Not seeing much else for team sport aside from all the clubs lower on England's soccer pyramid.

Calgary, by contrast, has the Flames, Stampeders and Roughnecks as top-level pro teams. The Hitmen are one of the top drawing junior hockey teams in the world. Three AJHL teams (including Okotoks), and a college level baseball team (in Okotoks) that appears to outdraw county cricket in England.

Certainly few places in Canada will compare to London or Paris or Berlin, but comparing like for like, I don't think your argument holds water.

[yads]

I came into this thread with the opinion that Canada was not a sports country, but I've been swayed by the arguments. Canadians love their sports, but as another poster said, don't feel like supporting them with public money.

Originally Posted by mpaca

In Europe most cities have two, three, or even four teams playing the same sport- sometimes all in the same division. Cities half the size of Calgary have three D1,D2 soccer teams, two hockey teams, and two basketball teams.

You can't just compare attendance - it's apples to oranges.

Calgary has:
Football - Stampeders, Colts, Dinos
Hockey - Flames, Hitmen, Dinos, Trojans
Lacrosse - Roughnecks
Basketball - Dinos, Trojans

[polak]

I was going to come in here and form a big long retort and try and argue my point, but then I logged on to Facebook and saw someone posted the video compilation of all of the celebrations when Canada mens hockey won gold and I realized that I don't really have any ground to stand on.

That moment, brought the country closer then ever before

[Maritime Q-Scout]

I'm curious, to put a different spin on things:

I follow my NHL and MLB teams very closely. I catch as many games as I reasonably can. I know the players, lineups and prospects. I have in depth opinions on coaching, off ice/field personnel, even marketing.

However, I don't follow the CFL anymore, nor the EPL. I used to follow them to the point that I knew the star players, a few others, how they are doing relative to the rest of the league, and a bit of strategy.

I can't get into the NFL or NBA. Despite my handle I really stopped following the CHL closely, but that's because you can only tolerate so many years of incompetence with no sign, I mean zero sign, of hope before you can't take it anymore.

I tend to check out the CIS if my alma mater is in the playoffs regardless of the sport.

I will watch just about any sport with a group of people from the beforementioned sports to Ausie Rules, the World Cup, to any international competition Canada is in.

I can carry on a conversation regarding just about any sport, my level of ability varies such as, I am competant with my knowledge of the NFL, you'll get in depth conversations about baseball and hockey, and I'll ask a lot of questions regarding cricket and rugby.

Based on the criteria set forth on whether Canada is or is not a sports country, am I a sports fan?

[Plett25]

Lots of people like to belittle the CFL by pointing to the larger NFL attendances. But during an average week in football season, 0.32% of Canadians go to a CFL stadium and 0.33% of Americans go to a NFL stadium.

That's surprisingly close.

[Flames0910]

What about participation in sports outside of professional leagues? Seems to me like Canadians are pretty active, especially in Calgary where we benefit from the mountains. Things like canoeing, kayaking, hiking, climbing, skiing, snowboarding, skating, swimming, backpacking, and on and on.

I've met people from Australia who are floored by our outdoor activity.

Does that make us a "sports" country? By the OP's definition, I'm not sure, but if you expand the discussion, I'd say we certainly are.

[Rudee]

As someone who's traveled considerably abroad, we're definitely not a sports Country outside of our glorious hockey.

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by GGG

Not true, briar was very popular as the Labatt briar and Nokia Briar.

Curling increased in popularity significantly with the introduction of the free guard zone. The first and third most attended briars were Timmys, 2 and 4 were nokia and labatte. The real driver of briar attendance is putting it in Alberta or Saskatchewan.

You left out Manitoba

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by Plett25

Lots of people like to belittle the CFL by pointing to the larger NFL attendances. But during an average week in football season, 0.32% of Canadians go to a CFL stadium and 0.33% of Americans go to a NFL stadium.

That's surprisingly close.

But to be fair If we usually use a 10 to 1 ration of US to CDN wouldn't the NFL need to be an 80 team league?

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Rudee

As someone who's traveled considerably abroad, we're definitely not a sports Country outside of our glorious hockey.

Go on...

This seems to be pretty much the norm for people taking this position. Can we hear something beyond garbage anecdotal claims? Or if you're going to go that route can we perhaps hear some examples and arguments? Oddly enough it seems that when people have done that their claims are quickly torn to shreds (see the rugby and cricket example above).

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Rudee

As someone who's traveled considerably abroad, we're definitely not a sports Country outside of our glorious hockey.

We're looking for one measurable indicator where a european country is more of a sports country than Canada.