NFL: America’s Favorite Spectator Sport

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

The NFL has been acknowledged as America’s most popular sport for the past 43 years, rated #1 by fans in the Harris Poll since 1965. In fact, for the fifth consecutive year, twice as many people named professional football (30%) as their favorite sport over baseball (15%). NFL popularity can be measured in other ways as well. For instance:

• Nearly 158% more women ages 18-to-49 watched Super Bowl XLII (22.1 million) than the 2008 Academy Awards (8.5 million).
• Viewership for 35 NFL games during the 2007 season would rank among prime-time’s five most-watched May 2008 season/series finales.
• The NFL is the most popular sport among teens ages 12-17, according to the ESPN Sports Poll, with 76% of that age group responding that they are NFL fans.

Furthermore, the NFL dominates team logo clothing. Ask a sports fan which team logo he or she has on their clothing and an NFL club will likely be identified loud and clear. That’s what a recent ESPN Sports Poll indicates. Seven of the top 10 spots of teams with the most popular clothing went to the NFL, led by the Dallas Cowboys in first place. The other favorites are Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Chicago, Indianapolis, Philly and New England.