Poll: Billions watching World Cup, but do you care?

As the World Cup kicks off in Brazil, the world will truly be watching. But will you be among the over 3 billion people expected to tune in to the world’s biggest sporting event?

Nearly half of the world’s population will watch some part of the month-long soccer tournament on TV, with CNN Money estimating the World Cup could surpass the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which reached a global audience estimated at 3.6 billion people.

Sure, it’s a big deal across the globe. But what about in America, where the other football dominates?

“Projections are gigantic,” said Bimal Kapadia, ESPN FC’s senior director of global business and brand development, in a recent interview with CNET. “ESPN is expecting this to be the biggest event in the history of the world.”

Non-soccer fans continue to scoff at the mere mention of the original football, especially here in the United States. But it’s clear from the sellout crowds swelling CenturyLink Field whenever the Sounders play that the game continues to grow in popularity.

A recent Nielsen study found the number of Americans who have watched, attended or listened to a major soccer match has increased by 32 percent since the 2010 World Cup. Still, it’s a tough sell to many in the United States who didn’t grow up with the game. But soccer continues to gain significant ground with the most important audience for the future.

ESPN reports Major League Soccer has matched Major League Baseball in popularity among 12-to 17-year-olds who called themselves avid fans, with 18 percent expressing their affinity for each sport for the first time in the 20-year history of the ESPNSports Poll. In 2012, the poll determined soccer was America’s second-most popular sport for those aged 12-24, ahead of NBA, MLB and college football.

It’s still far behind the NFL, which led the poll with 39 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds saying they are avid fans. The NBA, NCAA football and NCAA basketball were all over 23 percent.