Source: Statista

As the NFL playoffs proceed and we’re drawing closer to what is arguably the biggest game in any sport, millions of Americans are looking forward to Sunday’s championship games which will determine who will face off in Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on February 2.

While Baseball is often referred to as “America’s favorite pastime”, the NFL has long surpassed the MLB as the nation’s favorite professional sports league. For several reasons, including first and foremost its better suitability for television, football flew by baseball as Americans’ favorite sport to watch in the 1960s and hasn’t looked back since. If anything, baseball is on the verge of being surpassed by basketball as well, as younger audiences prefer the action-packed, instagrammable NBA over what many young viewers consider the dragging affair of a three-hour baseball game.

According to a poll conducted by Morning Consult in July 2019, the NFL is the no. 1 league to follow for 33 percent of U.S. adults, followed by the MLB (16 percent) and the NBA (10 percent). The NFL shouldn’t be resting on its laurels, however, as its popularity fades with younger audiences. Among 18- to 22-year-olds, the youngest cohort in the survey, only 23 percent picked the NFL as their favorite league, with the NBA a not-too-distant second (19 percent).

Interestingly, Major League Soccer still plays a minor role in the U.S. sporting landscape despite the sport’s popularity among younger Americans. Despite efforts to make the league more attractive, it is still considered a second-tier league in the global sport of soccer, which is why many American soccer fans follow the English Premier League instead.