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Football is one of the most popular sports in America; with some claiming it is the largest. One way to measure a sport’s popularity is by looking at viewership numbers, and on this front football dominates. In 2012, 158 million people watched an NFL game on TV (nearly half of America). This was more than any other major televised sporting event that year (the Super Bowl or World Series). On top of that, 45% of all TV households in the United States tuned into a professional football game at some point during its season. Compare this to Major League Baseball where only 4% of all households watched a game during its season. Similarly, basketball has significantly less viewers than football: 33 million compared to 158 million in 2012.
So it is not so strange that according to the popularity of this sport, there is a big number of the people who are betting on it. Online sports betting websites often require you to make a deposit before they give you free NFL picks, and depositing isn’t something anyone wants to do before they know if the sportsbook is legit or not. To help you avoid that problem, some sites offer NFL picks without requiring deposits or any other obligations on your part (though we offer some exclusive features that come with membership).Socheck free NFL picks.
Soccer also falls behind football as far as total viewing hours. However, soccer appears to be gaining momentum with younger audiences. The NFL also struggles when it comes to social media channels like Twitter, which is dominated by NBA athletes such as Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant who have over 2 million followers each. And while social media isn’t a primary metric for determining popularity of a sport, these statistics suggest the public prefers watching basketball stars’ Instagram photos than those from football players such as Richard Sherman. For now, many are still content believing football is America’s favorite sport – but if trends continue, we may soon find ourselves cheering for another team altogether!
The Popularity
The National Football League has been around since 1920. It is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football League’s two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of North America’s four major professional sports leagues, which includes Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), and the National Basketball Association (NBA).
In 2017, there were an estimated 17.4 million people that attended at least one game in person. That number does not include those who watch on TV or online. On average, it is estimated that 161 million people watched at least one NFL game in 2017. With these numbers, the NFL is considered to be one of the most popular sports in North America. It attracts more viewers than other well-known sports such as soccer, baseball, basketball and hockey.
Some fans think that the rise in popularity of American football can be attributed to its high level of competitiveness compared to other team sports like soccer or basketball. However, others argue that this increased popularity can also come from how easily accessible it is with many different games being aired nationally throughout the week by ESPN and Fox Sports alone. Either way, football games are entertaining for all audiences including both men and women. For example, the Super Bowl is seen by about one billion people worldwide. And even though football may be seen as a manly sport, today there are female players who have their own opportunity to play in college or even professionally.
There are three women’s pro leagues: Legends Football League, Women’s Professional Football League and Women’s Tackle Football League. These women face the same physical risks as their male counterparts so they wear just as much protective gear. Just because it isn’t often talked about doesn’t mean females aren’t present in the sport!
The Players
The National Football League (NFL) is considered to be one of the most watched sports in America. You could say it’s even more popular than baseball. But does that mean it’s actually bigger than Major League Baseball (MLB)? The answer is not as simple as it seems.
The NFL has 32 teams and 17 games played on Sundays, whereas MLB has 30 teams and 162 games played throughout a season. This means that more people would have to watch football on TV or in person at a stadium than baseball, which means more money being made by sponsorships and ticket sales for each sport respectively. It also may take more skill to play the game itself, but this doesn’t seem like an accurate factor in determining size. What matters is who has been able to draw a larger audience and make more money from them over time – as far back as 1975, when both leagues had only 26 total teams. In 1990, when there were 27 NFL franchises and 24 MLB franchises, both leagues earned about $1 billion annually from sponsorship deals alone.
In 2010-2011 with 31 franchises for the NFL and 29 for MLB combined, the difference was even greater – with revenues reaching $3 billion per year for the former league versus $2 billion per year for Major League Baseball. So it’s pretty clear that the NFL generates more revenue than MLB. Even though baseball still gets a lot of attention and can still bring in some good ratings, football just might be America’s favorite sport.
Conclusion
The NFL is the most watched league in America, which is why they are often considered to be one of the biggest sports. However, there are many other leagues and games around the world that can also be considered to be big sports. Soccer, for example, is a popular league around the world with teams in all but four countries. So while it may not be fair to say that football is ‘the’ largest sport because there are so many other factors to consider like global popularity and viewership, it can certainly still be argued that it is one of them.
