Three Most Popular Sports

In the US, according to TV ratings and ticket sales and merchandise sales, it's

1. Football
2. Baseball
3. Basketball

What are the three most popular in the UK and and other countries?

where did you get that information from??


I find it hard to believe that football that has 17 games has more ticket sales and revenue sales than Baseball that has 162 games.

Sorry mate but Football is America's pasttime now, not baseball.

Really, do Americans regard the World Series as an unofficial national holiday like we do for the Super Bowl? NO!

Not to mention that weak-attendance markets like Kansas City, Miami, and formerly Montreal haven't helped out baseball.

ok but do the math. If I held the same event 17 times or I held it 162 times which would make more?

I'm not debating which is more popular based on what people like, I'm debating it based on money.

its not all about money though, dont forget football stadiums generally can hold just as much, if not more people, plus consession sales, merchandise, and all other sales things. baseball doesnt have that kind of grip anymore so people dont follow it as much not to mention baseball isnt always exciting as football.

sctm- he said the 3 were ranked based on tv ratings and sales.

All I'm saying is that how can an event that has the same people or even slightly more that is held 17 times per year make more than an event that is held 162 times per year.

Food and all that aside, if you do something 145 more times then you are going to make more.

That's all I'm saying.

but with costs of tickets for football, all the off season things, and advertising from things as video games all the way up to food and clothes. theres more marketing around for football now than there is for baseball so more people become attracted to it. not to mention season ticket sales waiting list goes on for a long time for football, so theres even more income revenue.

a waiting list for season tickets does not bring in more money.

What you are saying is that the amount of food and clothes sold at 16 football games is MORE than the amount sold at 162 baseball games.

You are also saying that the amount of advertising revenue for football is more than baseball (which it probably is) PLUS the difference in sales from 162 games to 16 games.

I would like to see where SSA got this information from and what the numbers were.

yes more revenue is brought in from clothes. notice more people wear football jerseys than baseball.season tickets for the pats are not only outrageous prices, but also has about a 5-10 year waiting period that people are on and plan to keep. you dont see that kind of backing for baseball.

season tickets do not matter.
1) the price of a season ticket is less than the cost of the seat
2) if the season ticket holder didn't buy the seat than someone else would

There is not some HUGE difference in prices between baseball and football seats.

The amount of signed merchandise for baseball i.e. balls, bats, jersies etc.. is probably the same if not more than football.

A baseball season is about 10 football seasons, there is no way that money is made up in clothing.
There might be tons of people wearing football jersies, but that doesn't mean that there is not a single person wearing baseball. The DIFFERENCE in revenue from clothing, marketing etc.. can not equal 10 seasons of seat revenue.


I also do not think SSA got this information off of any site, I believe this was just what he believes**

i never said no one wears baseball hell i got a yankees jersey on now. you go to fenway the most expensive seat is about $250, yet gillette stadium is about $550-600. thats more than double and as for signed memorabilia, it doesnt always cost anything, all you have to do is go to a game or a public appearance. about 50 years ago i may have agreed with you about football not being the top, but in this day and age football is the top sport.

With the ticket sales part, I was talking percentages. Of course it doesn't sell more tickets in 16 games than baseball with 162.

Anyway... back to the topic... other countries...?

The big difference between the two are the television contracts. I believe that the NFL makes $8 billion and MLB only makes $2.5 billion.

I think the answer to this is obvious and I don't even have to be from another country to know it, but just about every country will have soccer as the number one money-making sport.

Percentages of what?

Of seats sold in a venue for a particular game?

That can be a very misleading number.

If baseball teams played a 16 game season, they'd fill up the stadium every week, too.

Also, in football, almost all of the tickets for each game are bought by season ticket holders. At least that's the case here in New York..

So if all the NFL stadiums have a combined capacity of, say, 2 million, it's gonna be pretty much the same 2 million people who go to all of the NFL games.

In baseball, though, I dunno, maybe a quarter or a third of the tickets are bought by season ticket holders, so there are a lot more different people at each game.

I'm certain that if you could figure out how many people go to at least one MLB game per year, vs. how many people go to at least one NFL game per year, the number for baseball would be several times higher.

Finally, I know have heard this many times before (but I can't find a link to a source):

NASCAR is the most popular sport in the US. I'm not sure what that's based on, though.

In the NFL, the $8 billion is divided equally among all the teams.

Do you know if the $2.5 billion for baseball includes only the money paid by the networks for Playoff and World Series rights, or does it include each team's local deal as well, like the Yankees with the YES Network, or the Mets with MSG?

Also, I think that those billion dollar figures are for extended contracts, not for one season, so to properly compare the deals, you have to know their respective lengths.

I may be wrong, but if one is considering the attendance at sporting events as the benchmark for determining what is the most popular sport, then horse racing wins.

in England

1)Football
2)Rugby
3)Cricket

Fishing is also very popular

I will ask for the third time now:

Show me the link where you got this information from.


As I've said before as well, I highly doubt these "rankings" have any meaning behind it besides your opinion.

Here's one study, conducted in 1992, based on a 64-page questionnaire to which there were 1,479 responses:


124 Most Popular Sports in the U.S. (1992)

1. NFL football
2. Women's figure skating
3. (tie) Women's gymnastics; Major League baseball
8. NBA Basketball
9. NCAA/CFA college football
13. NASCAR stock car racing
14. Indy car racing
15. NCAA men's college basketball
18. Little League baseball
21. (tie) Rodeo; Thoroughbred racing
23. Boxing
24. Billiards/pool
29. Arena football [before hockey?!?!]
30. NHL ice hockey
39. WWF wrestling
40. Tractor pulls [before golf?!?!]
44. PGA men's golf

JG- From what I've heard Golf did not become as popular as it is today until around 96/97.


Tractor pulls are great though, I love watching those on espn.

True that.

I do question the veracity of this study, though. While using 1,479 responses is technically statistically valid (similar numbers you see in polls on TV), I'd like to know more details about how/where they conducted that survey. I can't find any more info about it online.

that is a good point.

Me thinks it was primarely in the south, going back to 1992- nascar racing, bullriding, tractor pull.

Those weren't exactly your espn primetime events back then lol

The only other reference I see online is:

National Sports Study II Summary (1993). Dallas, TX: The Sport Marketing Group


But I can't find out anything else...

A redneck at heart, huh? :p

40 Things Never Said By Rednecks

40. Oh I just couldn't. Hell, she's only sixteen.
39. I'll take Shakespeare for 1000, Alex.
38. Duct tape won't fix that.
37. Lisa Marie was lucky to catch Michael.
36. Come to think of it, I'll have a Heineken.
35. We don't keep firearms in this house.
34. Has anybody seen the sideburns trimmer?
33. You can't feed that to the dog.
32. I thought Graceland was tacky.
31. No kids in the back of the pickup, it's just not safe.
30. Wrasslin's fake.
29. Honey, did you mail that donation to Greenpeace?
28. We're vegetarians.
27. Do you think my gut is too big?
26. I'll have grapefruit and grapes instead of biscuits and gravy.
25. Honey, we don't need another dog.
24. Who's Richard Petty?
23. Give me the small bag of pork rinds.
22. Too many deer heads detract from the decor.
21. Spittin is such a nasty habit.
20. I just couldn't find a thing at Walmart today.
19. Trim the fat off that steak.
18. Cappuccino tastes better than espresso.
17. The tires on that truck are too big.
16. I'll have the arugula and radicchio salad.
15. I've got it all on the C drive.
14. Unsweetened tea tastes better.
13. Would you like your salmon poached or broiled?
12. My fiance, Bobbie Jo, is registered at Tiffany's.
11. I've got two cases of Zima for the Super Bowl.
10. Little Debbie snack cakes have too many fat grams.
09. Checkmate.
08. She's too young to be wearing a bikini.
07. Does the salad bar have bean sprouts?
06. Hey, here's an episode of "Hee Haw" that we haven't seen.
05. I don't have a favorite college team.
04. Be sure to bring my salad dressing on the side.
03. I believe you cooked those green beans too long.
02. Those shorts ought to be a little longer, Darla.
01. Nope, no more for me. I'm drivin tonight.

DMC, there are more sources than the internet... I heard it on TV before and I pulled it oput from memory... plus I remember reading stats about total popularity and everything, including tv ratings and merchandise as the biggest with ticket sales quite a distant third. Percentages somehow with ticket sales, I don't know. But in any case that was included with the other two. I don't know why you had to make a big deal about it because you didn't want the order of popularity to look that way. But whatever... I got like one actual response.

I don't know what cricket is? Isn't that sort of like baseball or something?

No if you would have bothered to read my other posts I said I would not debate that football is more popular right now, I DID say that in terms of money it does not add up.

You are saying that this is true yet now you claim it was on tv and then "percentages somehow, I don't know"- that doesn't exactly sound confident in what you said.


I made a "big deal" about it because it does not add up, and when asked for you to back it up you have offered nothing except for me to take your word for it, that's not backing it up.

Mine, right?

Y'know, this DMC cat is a trouble-maker. I'm thinking about banning his ass....

In Ireland:
1) Gaelic
2) Hurling
3) Soccer