Soccer Kicking Hockey, Baseball for U.S. Popularity (2024)

FAQs

What is more popular in the US, hockey or soccer? ›

Baseball and basketball have generally vied for second place since 1995. No other sport is currently named by more than 5% of U.S. adults, with soccer at 5%, ice hockey at 4%, auto racing at 3% and figure skating at 2%.

More than half of Americans (53%) say America's sport is football – about twice the share who say it's baseball (27%). Much smaller shares choose one of the other four sports we asked about: basketball (8%), soccer (3%), auto racing (3%) or hockey (1%).

1. American Football. Also known as gridiron and the most watched sport in the US, American football is a team sport played by two teams of eleven. Evolving from rugby and soccer, it's the most popular US sport in terms of viewership.

These statistics show that the two sports are equally popular in the USA. However, that was baseball's lowest popularity figure since 1937. There is a possibility that Major League Soccer (MLS) will overtake Major League Baseball (MLB) as America's third most popular sports league.

The most popular team sports in the United States are American football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, and soccer.

Among these, five sports stand at the top; football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and soccer. While some teams are more popular than others millions of Americans attend sports venues around the country to root for their favorite sports teams each year.

Major professional sports leagues

Today, the major northern North America professional team sports leagues are Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL) and the National Hockey League (NHL).

American Football

The National Football League (NFL), which combines physicality, strategy, and intense competitiveness, enthralls fans all around the country.

2. Baseball. Known as “America's pastime,” baseball is the second most popular sport in the United States and is the 7th most popular sport in the world. Professional baseball in the United States is played by the teams that make up the Major League Baseball (MLB).

Recent studies show that soccer has supplanted Ice Hockey as Americans' fourth favorite sport and catching baseball soon is not at all out of the question. There are a lot of factors that have boosted that growth in recent years. First, soccer is one of the most popular youth sports in the country.

What is the fastest-growing spectator sport in the United States? ›

Pickleball is often compared to a combination of ping-pong and tennis. Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America, and it has been for the past couple of years.

In 2023, 41% say their favorite is football, followed by 10% for baseball, 9% for basketball, and 5% for soccer. The first three times Gallup asked this question (1937, 1948, 1960), baseball was the favorite, with football second. The high reading for baseball is 39% in 1948.

We all have our favorite sports, but which sports are the most popular around the world? The problem is coming up with a clear defining meaning for popular - by popular do we mean most watched, the most played, or the sport with the most passionate fans! Soccer is clearly the most popular sport in terms of fans.

Soccer is not popular in the U.S. for a few reasons: Soccer historically hasn't been seen as an "American" sport, the men's team hasn't fared well in the World Cup, tie games don't sit well with the U.S.'s culture of competition, most popular spectator sports have high scores, and there is little opportunity to ...

1- Soccer / Football

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, with an estimated 4 billion fans globally. Its widespread appeal can be attributed to its passion, rivalries, and drama, which transcend cultural and linguistic barriers.

As of 2015, 24.4 million Americans played soccer on a regular basis, which is more than the entire population of 140 countries. It is the third most-played sport in the country, after basketball and American football, and the fastest-growing, in part because of the country's increasing Latino population.

Let's set the stage with the Super Bowl, an event that commands an American audience like no other. With over 115 million viewers tuning in annually, it's a blend of sports spectacle, musical extravaganza, and commercial powerhouse. The Super Bowl is an annual tradition that gets bigger every year.