[Charles Henrickson]

Football is, without a doubt, America's most popular. Football absolutely dominates in the U.S.

False. Baseball is way more popular than football. Compare the total attendance and viewership for MLB games over the course of a year--compare those numbers to the totals for NFL games, and Major League Baseball is far ahead. It's not even close.

I've always been a baseball fan first. I watch some football, but not as much as I did back in the day. Also, I see football going on a bit of a decline in popularity. The concussion and injury issue is leading to fewer kids participating. The thug culture is a turn-off. Football could go the way of boxing.

[Ransomed]

I’m a baseball fan first as well, I especially can’t take the NFL. But I wonder about the TV audiences that tune in to games does the 162 games translate to bigger numbers as opposed to football? And not just actual games, but all the dedicated TV/radio shows in the off season. I mean how many dedicated programs are about football as opposed to baseball in the off-season? Someone is watching them, even if I think football talk in July might be the most boring thing ever.

FReegards

[SoothingDave]

Compare the total attendance and viewership for MLB games over the course of a year--compare those numbers to the totals for NFL games, and Major League Baseball is far ahead. It's not even close.

Really? What if you look at ratings or sales of merchandise?

Since they play 162 games per season instead of 16, wouldn't you expect the total numbers to be higher?

[discostu]

The problem with comparing attendance is sample size. 162 game season is going to have higher total attendance than a 16 game season. But there’s one telling fact that shows that NFL football is the most popular sport in the land: a couple of weeks from now the Pro Bowl game will happen, it will be terrible, the worst football played all year, and it will have higher TV ratings than the vast majority of anything other sports has to offer, including games of the World Series ( http://www.businessinsider.com/more-people-watched-the-pro-bowl-than-game-one-of-the-world-series-2013-1 ). Then in a few months pre-season football will start, and it will also be terrible, and it will also have massive ratings compared to the other sports. When one league’s meaningless games beat everybody else’s championships it is clearly the most popular sport.

[AU72]

Compare the total attendance and viewership for MLB games over the course of a year--compare those numbers to the totals for NFL games, and Major League Baseball is far ahead. It's not even close.

Then why do regular season NFL games get higher ratings going up against the World Series?