The sporting transatlantic divide (as played out on Google)

Working in a transatlantic company by day, I'm always struck by just how different the American and British cultures are - and nowhere is that much more evident than in sport.

Reflecting on that, I thought I'd check how the difference in our sporting cultures played out on the internet by looking at Google Trends. Just how real is the transatlantic divide in sport? Are we really two sporting countries divided by a common language?

Top Sports Searches in the last 12 months

The differences really are remarkable.  Looking first at the UK, over that last 12 months, the only entries in the top searches that really match up are golf and the generic "sports". Of course both share the top entry of "football" but of course the term has a completely different meaning in the two countries.

Both top search lists reflect the popularity of specific sports in each country. "Football" in the UK (soccer) is followed by golf, rugby and cricket. Sadly, WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment, which markets itself as "sports entertainment) makes the British top ten. In the US, the big sports by searches are football (American football), golf, basketball and baseball, with soccer (perhaps surprisingly) making it too.

While the big news agencies are also represented, another noticeable difference is that while in the UK two football clubs make the top ten (Liverpool and Arsenal - I suspect that Manchester United do not make it because there are more ways of searching for them e.g. "Man United", "Man Utd") while it is the leagues themselves that are the bigger brands in the US - NFL & NBA.

Rising Searches in the last 12 months

The top spots in the rising search reflect the sports that are most searched for, but while in the US it is an event (Superbowl 09), in the UK it is a computer game (Fifa 09). Unsurprisingly, the Olympics made a big splash in both countries. More surprisingly so did Euro 2008. Otherwise, both lists to some extent represent the teams and athletes that were in the spotlight. In the US, we see Michael Phelps, then the (Boston) Celtics (NBA "World" Champions), (Philadelphia) Phillies (World Series Champs) and the (LA) Lakers (NBA Finalists). In the UK, the obsession with football comes out again, with Hull City (newly promoted to the Premier League) and Ronaldo (World Player of the Year).

Rising Searches in the last 30 days

If you want to see the transatlantic sporting divide in action, however, just look at the last 30 days, and the rising searches in particular. While the Americans have been going crazy for NCAA (college) Basketball's 'March Madness', the UK seems most concerned with the knockout states of the UEFA Champions league.

If anything, the UK shows slightly more diversity, with horse racing (and the Cheltenham festival) and the start of the Formula 1 racing season coming into focus.

I hope you found that interesting. It is just a surface skim of our sporting cultures, but the differences are stark. It would appear that the transatlantic sporting divide is alive and well!

Top searches in Sports,  United Kingdom, Last 12 months

   
1.     football 
2.     club   
3.     golf
4.     bbc   
5.     sports    
6.     rugby    
7.     cricket    
8.     wwe    
9.     liverpool    
10.   arsenal    

Rising searches in Sports,  United Kingdom, Last 12 months

   
1.     fifa 09     Breakout
2.     beijing 2008     +4500%
3.     surf the channel     +1750%
4.     olympic games     +650%
5.     euro 2008     +250%
6.     olympics     +200%
7.     hull city     +140%
8.     soccer manager     +130%
9.     wiki     +90%
10.   ronaldo     +40%

Top searches in Sports,  United States, Last 12 months

1.      football     
2.     golf    
3.     basketball    
4.     sports    
5.     nfl    
6.     baseball    
7.     soccer    
8.     olympics    
9.     nba    
10.     espn    

Rising searches in Sports,  United States, Last 12 months

    
1.     superbowl 2009     Breakout
2.     nbc olympics     Breakout
3.     beijing 2008     Breakout
4.     michael phelps     +1900%
5.     2008 olympics     +1000%
6.     olympics     +500%
7.     euro 2008     +500%
8.     celtics     +100%
9.     lakers     +90%
10.     phillies     +70%

Rising searches in Sports,  United Kingdom, Last 30 days

1.     champions league draw     Breakout
2.     champions league     +450%
3.     cheltenham     +350%
4.     uefa     +250%
5.     carling cup     +130%
6.     jumpers for goalposts     +100%
7.     inter     +100%
8.     real madrid     +90%
9.     f1     +90%
10.     racing results     +70%

Rising searches in Sports,  United States, Last 30 Days

1.     ncaa bracket     Breakout
2.     2009 ncaa bracket     Breakout
3.     march madness     +1250%
4.     ncaa tournament     +1200%
5.     world baseball classic     +1100%
6.     ncaa tournament 2009     +1050%
7.     ncaa     +600%
8.     ncaa basketball     +550%
9.     cbs     +450%
10.     college basketball     +80%


--
Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com