A billion people I don’t think so…
I read a rather funny article recently that pointed out that a billion is likely to be the number of people who COULD view it (if there was a man in the room pointing a gun at their head!) The event is touted as the 3rd biggest sports event in the world blah blah blah but in 2004 it failed to rank in the top 15…

In 2004, the last time the Ryder Cup was played, the competition failed to make the top 15 most-watched sports events of that year. Data collected from 57 major TV markets accounting for 90 per cent of TV households globally had the European Championship final between Portugal and Greece comfortably ahead with 153 million viewers. Next came the Olympic Games opening and closing ceremonies, bafflingly popular. The list continues on down through the Superbowl and Monaco Grand Prix and other events.