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What is the most successful professional sports league in NA?

Which professional sports league is the most successful?

  • Total voters
    30
Middleground

Middleground

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It's simple.

Please vote on what professional sports league that you believe to be the most successful.

How do you deem success?
1) Public interest
2) Revenue generation through ticket sales, merchandising, radio and TV
3) The health of the teams and game itself (i.e. officiating, fairness between markets, level of excitment)

Please note that the results of this poll will lead to other related polls.
 
You're Canadian, so I'm just going to give you the heads up.

Most Americans don't care at all about hockey. I'm a diehard Sabres fan, so believe me, I know.

The #1 sport used to be baseball. It had fans, ticket sales, and tradition.

Now it's football. Baseball is increasingly looked at as an elitist sport. Football can be played by anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Hockey's always been looked at as elitist because of how much time and money it takes to learn to skate, shift lines, and get onside with your teammates. Some people even treat it as racist without saying. Even roller hockey rarely has blacks, Asians, or Hispanics playing...

...but hockey is hands down the most exciting out of your poll options. Its closest rivals are lacrosse, rugby, and Formula 1.
 
Daktoria said:
You're Canadian, so I'm just going to give you the heads up.

Most Americans don't care at all about hockey. I'm a diehard Sabres fan, so believe me, I know.

The #1 sport used to be baseball. It had fans, ticket sales, and tradition.

Now it's football. Baseball is increasingly looked at as an elitist sport. Football can be played by anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Hockey's always been looked at as elitist because of how much time and money it takes to learn to skate, shift lines, and get onside with your teammates. Some people even treat it as racist without saying. Even roller hockey rarely has blacks, Asians, or Hispanics playing...

...but hockey is hands down the most exciting out of your poll options. Its closest rivals are lacrosse, rugby, and Formula 1.
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No need for the head's up. I know the NHL mostly does lousy in the US.
 
To be fair, the NHL has made a solid comeback since the lockout however many years ago. Organizations have consolidated, and the drop in ticket prices has definitely spurred interest.

The main problem is Americans just don't get hockey. We're stupid, and in turn, we like our sports to be stop-go. Even basketball's shot clock resets after every basket is attempted.

The fluidness of hockey takes an attention span most Americans just aren't cut out for.
 
Daktoria said:
The fluidness of hockey takes an attention span most Americans just aren't cut out for.
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I don't know. Maybe that could be part of the reason, but I'm more inclined to think that our colder climate is more of a factor. I think hockey popularity starts at a grassroot level, and hockey leagues are not very common in the southern part of the US.
 
Middleground said:
I don't know. Maybe that could be part of the reason, but I'm more inclined to think that our colder climate is more of a factor. I think hockey popularity starts at a grassroot level, and hockey leagues are not very common in the southern part of the US.
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Yea... that's NASCAR country. :p

"Make a left turn, hurrrr...."
 
The NFL, mainly because it's the only sport on the list that's actually fun to watch.

Baseball is pretty fun to play. Mind numbingly boring to watch though.
 
The MLB has a legacy behind it, but it hasn't been "America's game" in quite a while now. In some ways that is unfortunate. I don't quite see it as an elitist game, since it was the example of democratic practices for a century, a game enjoyed by many segments of society for relatively cheap purchases of equipment. Basketball also had that appeal.
 
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Fiddytree said:
The MLB has a legacy behind it, but it hasn't been "America's game" in quite a while now. In some ways that is unfortunate.
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It's still pretty profitable. Baseball is no longer really "America's pastime," but i see that simply as a sign of the times. For the life of me i can't stay awake watching baseball. I love football but there are just times when i can't really stay awake watching that either. Too many damn commercial breaks.
 
StillBallin75 said:
It's still pretty profitable. Baseball is no longer really "America's pastime," but i see that simply as a sign of the times. For the life of me i can't stay awake watching baseball. I love football but there are just times when i can't really stay awake watching that either. Too many damn commercial breaks.
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Dangit. I edited the post again after someone responded. I agree with you on both counts.
 
I am shocked only 8 people voted so far... I thought there were a lot more sports fans at DP.
 
As far as making money, it is the NFL.

As far as attendance, it is MLB.

Neither of those affect me personally, so the criterion I care about is which has the most entertaining product, and that is clearly the NHL, with only MLB being anywhere close. Of course entertaining is entirely subjective.
 
Middleground said:
I don't know. Maybe that could be part of the reason, but I'm more inclined to think that our colder climate is more of a factor. I think hockey popularity starts at a grassroot level, and hockey leagues are not very common in the southern part of the US.
Click to expand...

Patience my friend.

NHL sees hockey love build in South | CharlotteObserver.com & The Charlotte Observer Newspaper


Atlanta may not be able to hold onto an NHL team, and ponds in the South are for fishing and swimming. But the league's Southern strategy is paying dividends where children now dream of playing in the NHL and winning Olympic gold medals.

Pat Kelleher said USA Hockey's membership has grown significantly in each of the Southern states where the NHL put teams.
The numbers are growing all around the South - including in Georgia, where Atlanta lost the Thrashers to Winnipeg last summer.

Between 1998-99 and 2010-11, USA Hockey went from 911 members in Georgia to 2,287, an increase of 151 percent.

North Carolina boomed to 170.5 percent with a high of 5,812 players last year. Florida, which had about four ice rinks in the 1990s, now has 25 with players jumping from 5,606 to 11,571 (106.4 percent).

Tennessee had 2,573 players this past season for 118.8 percent jump.

USA Hockey's national membership is up 18.8 percent in that span.
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StillBallin75 said:
1) nfl
2) mlb
3) nba
4) nhl
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yep this is accurate

for me personally its NFL, NBA and then MLB/NHL are tied for a distant 3rd.

Id actually watch womens fastpitch softball over both of them ;)
 
NFL by far. But the amount of kids playing "soccer " in the US is crazy and EPL games are being shown live on cable tv now, Soccer will have its day in the US but nothing will get near the NFL
 
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1. Nfl
2. Mlb
3. Nhl
4.nba
 
I guess it depends on whether you are talking about the most popular spectator sports or the most popular participant sport. I thought I read somewhere that more people play football (proper football, the one you play with your feet) in the US than any other team sport because it doesn't need any equipment, not even a ball ( a tin can or some rolled up socks will suffice). This is almost certainly why it is the number one sport globally.
 
The NBA is the most successful for no other reason than this is the sport that I care about and watch the most... pretty obvious really.
 
spud_meister said:
Cricket, Americans love cricket.
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Cricket is the second most stupid sport and was just nudged out by netball... man I hate those two "sports".
 
Bodhisattva said:
Cricket is the second most stupid sport and was just nudged out by netball... man I hate those two "sports".
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I think Netball is one of the most popular participation sports in the world. Cricket, meh. I don't mind watching an ODI a 20/20 or (very) edited highlights of a Test. It's not as boring as Baseball, surely.

As a spectator, I really don't like stop-start sports. I watched the Superbowl and while I enjoyed the action, all the breaks made me lose the will to live.
 
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