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Why The NFL is the Most Popular Sport in America | 6 comments (4 topical, 2 editorial, 0 hidden)

popularity (#2)
by kroberts on Mon Mar 31 2008 at 8:43 PM EST

I would have to disagree that the NFL is the most popular. Most glamorous and competitive? Yes. But not the most popular. It's the only major professional sport with a truly great post-season format, keeping the underdog versus favorite alive, exciting, and relative.

Baseball and basketball have too long of regular seasons, too long of playoff series, and are focused far too much on money, sacrificing the true purpose of the game in an effort to make more money.

But because of their money making format, baseball and basketball will always trump football. Regardless of whether or not we as fans wish to admit it, the sport with the money is the sport with the power. However, football will always hold the richest tradition and value.

Good article, however. Everything you said, for the most part, is true and easily can be backed up. But to say football is at the top of the three headed sports monster is quite a dream.

Popularity of Football (#3)
by mfitz on Tue Apr 01 2008 at 12:00 AM EST

According to USA Today the NFL is America's richest and most powerful sports league.
USA Today Quote: "The NFL takes in more than $6 billion in annual revenue. The average value of NFL teams skyrocketed from $288 million in 1998 to $898 million in 2006, says Mike Ozanian, senior editor at Forbes, which annually publishes its valuations of pro teams. That's more than twice as much as the average $431 million value for MLB franchises last year."
ESPN pays $1.1 billion to cover 17 Monday Night Football games. Fox sports pays an average price of $712 million per year to cover only the NFC and two Super Bowls (Super Bowls will be covered by fox twice over the next 6 years) Fox and TBS combined to pay $400 million per year to cover MLB regular season and playoff games.
In terms of money, the NFL is clearly head and shoulders above any other professional sports league and NFL TV viewership obviously speaks for itself.

[ Parent ]

Popularity of Football (#4)
by mfitz on Tue Apr 01 2008 at 12:01 AM EST

According to USA Today the NFL is America's richest and most powerful sports league.
USA Today Quote: "The NFL takes in more than $6 billion in annual revenue. The average value of NFL teams skyrocketed from $288 million in 1998 to $898 million in 2006, says Mike Ozanian, senior editor at Forbes, which annually publishes its valuations of pro teams. That's more than twice as much as the average $431 million value for MLB franchises last year."
ESPN pays $1.1 billion to cover 17 Monday Night Football games. Fox sports pays an average price of $712 million per year to cover only the NFC and two Super Bowls (Super Bowls will be covered by fox twice over the next 6 years) Fox and TBS combined to pay $400 million per year to cover MLB regular season and playoff and World Series games.
In terms of money, the NFL is clearly head and shoulders above any other professional sports league and NFL TV viewership obviously speaks for itself.

[ Parent ]

: the evidence (#5)
by kroberts on Tue Apr 01 2008 at 7:14 PM EST

while it may be true the NFL garners more money, I wasn't solely saying money in exact numbers makes you number one.
my point was baseball, hockey, and basketball all have very long seasons and post-seasons, attracting more fans for a longer period of time.
You'd have to poll the nation to get the exact outcome, so aside from your little tidbit on the NFL winning out, there really is no proof to back up your claim. It's pretty much just your opinion with no real facts to back it up.
Lastly, your information in your replies doesn't list any concrete numbers to say the NFL makes the most money. And while I still believe it to be true that the sport with the money holds the power, I don't know for certain if the rest of the world agrees with that. And quite frankly, neither do you.

[ Parent ]

Why The NFL is the Most Popular Sport in America | 6 comments (4 topical, 2 editorial, 0 hidden)

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