Which is more highly regarded, WBC or Olympics?

[NorCal]

Here in the U.S. we always hear that winning the World Championships is considered a higher honor than winning the Olympics in most countries.
Is that true?

[rikhardur]

Here in the U.S. we always hear that winning the World Championships is considered a higher honor than winning the Olympics in most countries.
Is that true?

For some sports it is, like football, but I don't think it applies to basketball in most countries. What I do think is that the WC is unjustifiably underrated in the US

[mvblair]

What I do think is that the WC is unjustifiably underrated in the US

I think that it's finally become important here. There is a lot of media coverage these days. Most basketball sites are talking about it and there is more and more coverage in the wider sports media, including magazines and cable TV. It's become much bigger.

Here in the U.S. we always hear that winning the World Championships is considered a higher honor than winning the Olympics in most countries.
Is that true?

Personally, I think both are equally important. It's basically the same tournament. I like which ever one is happening next.

[NorCal]

For some sports it is, like football, but I don't think it applies to basketball in most countries. What I do think is that the WC is unjustifiably underrated in the US

I wholeheartedly agree, it is way underappreciated in the U.S. I've never understood why. Many casual basketball fans here don't even know it exists.

I just always wondered because the line 'the WC are more important and thought higher of than the Olympics' is a standard line that you hear on almost every broadcast/tv commentary regarding this tourney.

[Alvertis4]

FIBA World Championship>>>> Olympics

More teams, that says everything really.

I prefer the Eurobasket to both. (if only we could add Brazil & Argentina to make it even more exciting)

[NorCal]

I understand why most of us hold the WC at the same or greater level than the Olympics but I was hoping some of you could speak to the general level of interest amongst basketball fans in your country- is it held at the same level as the Olympics?

[mbenga]

FIBA World Championship>>>> Olympics

More teams, that says everything really.

I prefer the Eurobasket to both. (if only we could add Brazil & Argentina to make it even more exciting)

Olympics >> FIBA World Championship

Look at the number of players who skipped this tournament who would never skip the Olympics, and not only in the US team.

And, at least here in Spain, bbll in the Olympics have a lot more attention from the casual fans than the WC also.

[JGX]

Olympics >> FIBA World Championship

Look at the number of players who skipped this tournament who would never skip the Olympics, and not only in the US team.

Exactly, top players are skipping the WC in order to make sure they can play in Olympic qualifying.

Of course, there are some countries whose chances of qualifying for the Olympics are not that good and so they have to focus on the WC.

[Mindozas]

Olympics >> FIBA World Championship

Look at the number of players who skipped this tournament who would never skip the Olympics, and not only in the US team.

And, at least here in Spain, bbll in the Olympics have a lot more attention from the casual fans than the WC also.

The same goes for Lithuania. Olympics is way ahead of WC, the same goes for Eurobasket before Olympics

[Genjuro]

Here in the U.S. we always hear that winning the World Championships is considered a higher honor than winning the Olympics in most countries.
Is that true?

I guess it depends on the country. For example, In Spain we consider the Olympics over the World Championships, but not for a big margin (meaning it's not like the USA).

Lithuania for example, seems closer to the USA vision. They always send their best teams to the Eurobaskets that qualify for the Olympics. They don't seem to care that much for the World Championship.

For Serbians it could be very different. They have a great history at the World Championships and they might see them as more important than the Olympics, but I'm not sure.

In general I think countries around the world usually consider Olympics over World Championships, but not by a big margin.

Players skipping this tournament should be a significant sign, although we have to be careful evaluating the absences. If we focus on the favourites, Gasol skips the tournament because he has already won a WC (same reason why he played the last Eurobasket), Papaloukas has probably retired from NT, Serbia and Brazil aren't missing anybody, and Ginobili is the one that clearly tells you that Olympics are more valued than WC in Argentina as well.

[asdzas]

Here in Brazil both are very important. Brazil is a former world champion so they always want to do well in every WC, specially after the awfull position they finished in the last one. But the Olympics are a little more important, much more because of the Olympics games itself.

It's not like football where the Olympics games are just patetic. U-23 teams. Of course everybody wants to win, we always go there to win, but it's A LOT less important than the WC.

[sinobball]

I think this fact holds:

Olympic Women's Basketball Attendance >>>>> WBC Men's Basketball Attendance

[Franz]

More fans, from around the world, attended the 2006 WC than the 2008 Olympics. I don't have anything to back that up except for what I saw on TV in 2006. Vividly, I remember seeing more Spanish fans in attendance for Final than I did in Beijing final which only had Spanish athletes. The same goes for the Greek fans. Maybe 10 years ago, the Olympics was the most regarded throughout the world. But as times have changed and more teams are competing, I think the WC and Olympics have close to equal significance.

All that said, I still believe FIBA holds the Olympics as the premier tournament in the world. They provide more coverage and promotion for the Olympics than the WC. They've lengthen the duration of the Olympics with three days between games, while WC has games happening almost every day. And lastly, they're planning on increasing participating teams to 16 for Olympics. This shows they're more concerned with raising the quality of the Olympics at the expense of the WC, which a lot of players are skipping out on.

As much as I would like to see the WC gain prestige like the FIFA World Cup, I don't think it will given the current position of FIBA and their preference for the Olympics.

[Levenspiel]

The aura of whole Olympics contribute a lot to the basketball competition imo. The enthusiasm and excitement caused/started by other sports just culminates with basketball. Plus, with less number of teams, the competition is on a higher level at least perceptionally than a world cup game, which is a single event and has to ignite itself.

As for Turkish public, i believe it's the Olympics, even though we have never been able to participate. But WBC is close, as we managed to take part in the last 3 cups somehow.

[sinobball]

More fans, from around the world, attended the 2006 WC than the 2008 Olympics. I don't have anything to back that up except for what I saw on TV in 2006. Vividly, I remember seeing more Spanish fans in attendance for Final than I did in Beijing final which only had Spanish athletes. The same goes for the Greek fans.

I think this only illustrates that attendance for WBC is a lot poorer -- the Spanish fans couldn't get Finals ticket in Beijing because they were sold out quickly. Such is not the case for WBC finals.


World Championship (2002)


Olympics Women (2008)

Certainly this may not be scientific, but you get the idea.