UNITED STATES—Americans are famous worldwide for loving sports of all kinds, so much so that companies that make up the sports market earned more than $4.4 billion in 2018. But what are the most popular sports in the United States? Here are the top six in the list.
- American football and the Super Bowl
Undoubtedly, American football is the king sport in the United States.
Both in universities and in the national football league, the NFL, the stadiums get filled every weekend.
They also hold all the audience records with millions of spectators every game, especially during the playoffs, the famous Super Bowl, and the NFL final.
Especially the Super Bowl is an event that literally paralyzes the entire country and is already part of the traditions of the United States and American culture.
All families gather on that day and enjoy the game together. For example, in 2018, more than 103 million people watched the Super Bowl that pitted the New England Patriots against the Atlanta Falcons.
Tickets to be able to enjoy the Super Bowl live are expensive. However, the prices are much more affordable if you want to enjoy a regular-season NFL game.
The NFL has 32 teams across the country’s major cities that compete from August through February.
- Basketball and NBA
Basketball in the United States has crossed borders and is gaining increased popularity worldwide, especially thanks to the NBA, which has more and more foreign players daily.
To date, the ratings are high enough to place basketball in the number 2 position among the most popular sports in the United States.
In addition, especially in recent years, since online betting has exploded, many Americans have decided to learn more about basketball betting odds, always hoping that their favorite team will dominate the others!
- Baseball and the World Series
This is the official national sport of the United States, which has lost popularity in recent years in favor of American football and basketball.
The national league of Baseball in the United States is the MLB (Major League Baseball), better known as the Major League Baseball. It is divided into the National League and the American League, founded in 1901 and 1876, respectively.
The champions of both leagues meet in the World Series, which last year had an average audience of 18.9 million viewers.
The major leagues have 30 teams, with 15 teams in the National League and 15 in the American League, spread throughout the Americas.
The season runs from April through October, making it an ideal sport to attend during your summer vacation in the United States.
- Ice Hockey and the Stanley Cup
Although ice hockey is Canada’s national sport, it has gained much popularity in the United States due to sharing the same league.
The NHL is the national field hockey league in both the United States and Canada and has 31 teams: seven from Canada and 24 from the United States.
Although more teams are in the United States than in Canada, more than half of the league’s players are Canadian.
What most characterizes this sport are the multiple fights you may have seen in viral videos, which the referees allow.
Beyond that, it’s a great sport with many fans in the United States: the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals were watched on television by more than 4 million American viewers.
- Soccer and the World Cups
Unlike in Europe or South America, soccer is not the king sport in the United States. In fact, as you may have seen before, they call American football “football” and European soccer “soccer.”
However, it is a sport that is gaining more and more critical in the country thanks to the arrival of Latin American immigrants and thanks to the appearance of world stars in their league, the Major Soccer League, such as David Villa, Andrea Pirlo, Kaka, Ibrahimovic, Beckham, Henry, Gerrard or Lampard.
In addition, it is worth mentioning the high level of the American women’s national soccer team, which is considered the best team in the world. It has won the World Cup twice and obtained second and third place.
Finally, it has also won four gold medals and one silver medal in five editions of the Olympic Games.
- Boxing and fights in Las Vegas
If you’ve seen any Hollywood action movies, you’ll have noticed that Americans love to watch people fight each other. That’s why boxing is so prevalent in this country.
American boxing has stars like Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Oscar de la Hoya, and Floyd Mayweather.
In addition, Las Vegas has historically been the world capital of boxing and is precisely where the greatest fights in history have been held.
