Why is the Super Bowl winner called a "world champion"?

We call the champions of all of our major sports "World Champs". We have this idea as Americans that we are the best at everything until somebody proves us otherwise. I think in recent years with our futility in basketball at the Olympics and the Worlds, in baseball at the WBC, and in other sports like soccer, boxing, and hockey, that we need to get away from this moniker and simply call the league champions.

In reference to American football, however, we are still the best, so I don't think any amount of arrogance in this area is uncalled for. Go Colts, future World Champions!

The winners of the Super Bowl are world champions because no one else really plays this game. Yeah, I know there's the Canadian Football league and NFL Europe, but those are like farm systems for the NFL. Those leagues are where guys who can't make an NFL roster end up. I guess the NFL champion could play the CFL champion but what's the point?

Your question would be valid if there were other countries in the world with *American Football* teams/leagues.. As it is now, the big 3 are the CFL, the NFL and NFL Europe (which is basically just an NFL "farm").. So calling the Super Bowl winners "World Champions" is perfectly okay.

Inasmuch as playing with the semantics of a thing can be fun in such a creative manner as you have done, it is not as clever as you might think. It all depends on which world you are referring to. Since there are no foreign teams playing American style football under the rules of the NFL and in direct competition with the 32 teams in our league such as The Mexico City Matadors, The London Royals, The Berlin Bombers, The Montreal Maulers The Rio Riots, The China Cheetahs, The Saudi Arabian Horses or The Australian Outbackers; whoever wins The Super Bowl is indeed the world champions of American style football. Our champions do not claim to be Global Champs of all forms of football as it is presently practiced. We leave such assertions to events such as The Olympics and The World Cup in soccer. The closest we can come to the spirit of what you allude to would be a world cup in baseball. This would be one annual global competition I would like to see replacing our World Series which truly is a misnomer as I doubt we would win it as much as we think we might. Since basketball has deteriorated so much in America to the point of becoming nothing more than WWE wrestling with a bouncing ball, I seriously doubt we would win a world championship in that if it were played under the rules that endeared us to the sport in the first place. In some respects, both golf and tennis truly are genuine world competitions on the professional level. In any event, kudos to you for creative effort even though it is somewhat manipulative in its intent. I rather suspect you and I haranguing over coffee about sport would end up being a world series of semantics. LOL But, why not? Thank U 4 leting me B Mice Elf, again!

What other country in the world has a first class football program? No one. So the Super Bowl champ is best in the world. Sailing? You have to be kidding me.

Because the team is the best (American) football team in the world. Is there another team that's better who would more rightly be called World Champion? ...Besides, the Super Bowl Champ usually isn't referred to as World Champion. They're usually called Super Bowl Champion.

No they do not play internationally.

However, it would be a big joke if they did. The CFL and NFL Europe will agree that whoever wins the NFL title are in fact World Champions. They just dont' compete.

So, all we really need to do, then, is to have more countries playing American Football. Works for me!

Why don't more countries have teams, for pete's sake? It's a great game (certainly more exciting than sailing!)!

because america is the only team that is actually really really in to football so that makes us the world champions because no other countries playes it as much

Great question, considering they are the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE. But same in baseball basketball too,National league...world champions.