Mango Languages

Sharing an American Tradition: Football

It’s the first week of February… which means it’s Super Bowl time. This Sunday, February 6th, two teams will play against each other to receive the ultimate football honor, become the winner of the Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Steelers will be playing against the Green Bay Packers in Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

The Super Bowl championship has been a great American tradition for the past 45 years. However due to the advancement of technology and social media, people all around the world will be able to share this experience, cheering for the Super Bowl. The NFL championship has become an international event, bringing people together from all around the world.

Here are some fun facts:

151.6 million: Number of people who will watch at least part of the game.

194 million: Approximate number of blades of grass on the football field.

232: Number of countries and territories in which the game will be broadcast.

34: Number of languages the game is broadcast in.

1: Number of languages in which the word “football” doesn’t mean “soccer.”

(Source:  www.treehugger.com)

While most people in the United States are gearing up in their favorite NFL apparel in preparation for the game, all over the world people are doing the same.  They’re getting ready to watch some football, but this time around it’s American Football.

Share with us: Have you ever watched the Super Bowl from another country?

It’s football time! Well, sort of

Countries around the world are gearing up for this year’s World Cup, which is set to be held from June 11^th to July 11^th in South Africa.

A little background: the first World Cup was held in 1930 by the Fédération Internationale de Football (that’s soccer in the U.S.) Association (FIFA), and was won by Uruguay.  Since then, it has been held consistently every four years except for 1942 and 1946, when it was not contested due to international involvement in World War Two.  Currently, Brazil leads all other countries in number of titles won (5 cups), followed by Italy with 4, and Germany with 3.

The last cup, in 2006, was held in Germany and saw Italy as its champion. The final match between Italy and France drew an estimated 715.1 million viewers. Compare that to the 106 million viewers who tuned in for the Superbowl, or even the entire population of the U.S., for that matter, which comes in at around 310 million people, and you can see just how popular this event really is.

What country are you rooting for in this year’s World Cup?