By Brody Goucher Posted March 20, 2015
It’s clear that in the 21st century football has surpassed baseball as America’s favorite sport; other sports like, hockey, and basketball have taken a back seat to the rapidly growing sport.
So just how popular is football? According to the NFL 64% of Americans watched a football game in 2011, in the 2014 season at least 80% of Americans watched an NFL game, and over 200 million people worldwide watched a game at some point in the 2011 season. The numbers have risen even more since then and give football an edge in TV ratings over every sport except soccer globally. But who really cares what the French are watching?
So is it simply that football is easier to watch because it is shorter than baseball and other sports? No, in fact the average NFL game lasts longer than a baseball game. Football is just a more intense sport and knowing that a big play or comeback can happen at any time is what is captivating America.
Another thing that makes the NFL so popular is the great marketing job by the NFL. They use their players to promote the sport using everything from commercials to advertising. Football consists of the best athletes in the world, no other sport can compete with the level of athleticism that football brings.
Another aspect of football that people enjoy is the playoff system which is by far the best out of all American sports. Only six teams from each conference make the playoffs, while in basketball and hockey, nearly half the teams make it into the playoffs which makes them drag on.
Football simply has more to offer than the other major sports. Don’t be one of the few who doesn’t know what everyone is talking about when it comes to their favorite team or other big news when it comes to the quickest-growing sport in America.
