Guys from the US - rate these sports in order of popularity in USA.

Hockey
Football
Baseball
Basketball
Soccer

would have to say in the usa that basketball, football & baseball are all about equal, with hockey a somewhat-distant 2nd place and soccer way way LAST PLACE. I personally cannot stand basketball.

1. Football
2. Baseball
3. Basketball
4. Hockey
5. Soccer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by InTheNeutralCorner

1. Football
2. Baseball
3. Basketball
4. Hockey
5. Soccer

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I would have to agree with this order.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Diane

Quote:

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Originally Posted by InTheNeutralCorner

1. Football
2. Baseball
3. Basketball
4. Hockey
5. Soccer

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I would have to agree with this order.

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Since you agreed to it, could you have at least given it a cool click? ;D

Pro Football
College Basketball(march madness is huge)
College Football
Baseball
Pro Basketball
Hockey
Soccer

Personally can't stand baseball, and well never gotten into hockey but don't really mind it

Pro basketball sucks, I'd say the MLS is gaining ground due to the lockout

Quote:

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Originally Posted by armin

Pro Football
College Basketball(march madness is huge)
College Football
Baseball
Pro Basketball
Hockey
Soccer

Personally can't stand baseball, and well never gotten into hockey but don't really mind it

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This is a solid breakdown for sure..

Thats quite amazing to think college sport is rated higher than pro versions of the sport :o

College football is surely amateur isnt it?

Do the pro teams get first draft of the college players, how does that work?,

Only knowledge I have of this is from Jerry Maguire :-X

Thanks guys, interesting stuff.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by InTheNeutralCorner

1. Football
2. Baseball
3. Basketball
4. Hockey
5. Soccer

---

<~ This, Football is #1. followed by Baseball @ #2. I hardly know anyone these days who interested in Basketball, but apparently there's still some fans around, I havn't watched a pro basketball game since Larry Bird and the Celtics were still winning championships.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mattyhitman

Thats quite amazing to think college sport is rated higher than pro versions of the sport :o

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Amazes me too mate. Just cant get my head around it, just wouldnt happen here would it? Nearest I can think for prestige/size is the boat race but you wouldnt (I guess) have people packing out stadiums to watch a UK college sports team.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by armin

Pro Football
College Basketball(march madness is huge)
College Football
Baseball
Pro Basketball
Hockey
Soccer

Personally can't stand baseball, and well never gotten into hockey but don't really mind it

---

I would agree with this but flip college basketball and college football.

I would also say that hockey is more regional than any of the other sports. I lived in Michigan and hockey was huge there.

Soccer
The rest are shite.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mars_ax

Quote:

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Originally Posted by InTheNeutralCorner

1. Football
2. Baseball
3. Basketball
4. Hockey
5. Soccer

---

<~ This, Football is #1. followed by Baseball @ #2. I hardly know anyone these days who interested in Basketball, but apparently there's still some fans around, I havn't watched a pro basketball game since Larry Bird and the Celtics were still winning championships.

---

Now you know one more. I prefer basketball among all the above sports but have to acknowledge that it isn't in the top 2 in the US.

Pro/College Football
Baseball
College Basketball
Soccer
Hockey
Pro Basketball - notice all of the fuss over the lockout

Right now I think boxing is more popular than the NBA.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by El Kabong

Pro/College Football
Baseball
College Basketball
Soccer
Hockey
Pro Basketball - notice all of the fuss over the lockout

Right now I think boxing is more popular than the NBA.

---

Maybe it is because i am from the midwest, but I don't know very many people who even consider soccer a legitimate sport.
There are people in the city closest to us (population 12,000) that play but the rest of the schools don't.

Football
College Football
.
.
.
.
Baseball
Soccer
Hockey
Basketball

Just basing this on tv viewership and stadium attendance.

Football and depending on where in the U.S. you live depends on which kind. SE U.S. and Texas are much more into College Football with the NE and west coast being much more about Pro-Football.

Basketball
Baseball
Hockey
Soccer

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

Quote:

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Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

That's crazy!! I never knew it was that big

Quote:

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Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

I would point out that all three of those schools are Big 10 schools.

Greg, is soccer popular with Texas because of its demographics?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

I would point out that all three of those schools are Big 10 schools.

Greg, is soccer popular with Texas because of its demographics?

---

I think so, well as far as Houston goes anyway. As I stated Dallas has one of the worst attendance levels in MLS and in NHL for that matter. Houston Dynamo are also owned by Oscar de la Hoya, just as a fun fact. I know out here in Arizona I went to a New York Red Bulls vs. Atlas (Mexican premier league team) and we got 24,000+ on a Wednesday night with very little advertising and a majority of the fans were hispanic.

As far as demographics go the highest attendances are in predominantly anglo markets....Seattle, Portland, Vancouver and Toronto

You mentioned being in the midwest, Sporting Kansas City sold out almost every game in their shiny new stadium. vs. Royals avg. 21,290 and Chiefs avg. 70,843 Sporting came in at 17,594 not too bad considering that's just under their capacity there were also 3 games this season in which Sporting oversold tickets for standing room only for 1,500 over capacity. Again the demographics at Sporting KC's games are predominantly white.

Furthermore, there has been enough money to make new or renovate many stadiums in MLS.

2011
Portland Timbers rennovated JeldWen Field to make it soccer specific (capacity 18,627)
Sporting Kansas City opened Livestrong Sporting Park, state of the art stadium (capacity 18,467)
Vancouver Whitecaps rennovated BC Place (capacity 21,000)

2012
Houston Dynamo will be building a soccer specific stadium (capacity 22,000)
Montreal Impact will be upgrading Saputo Stadium (capacity 20,341)

2013
San Jose Earthquakes will be upgrading their stadium (capacity 15,000)

2014
Philadelphia Union phase 1 of PPL upgrade adds 3,000 seats (capacity 21,500)

2018
Philadelphia Union PPL park all upgrades complete (capacity 35,000)

Those are very interesting facts Killer.

It is neat how sports gain or wane in popularity.

But it seems to me that all sports seem to gain?? I mean with ESPN and all the different channels out there, almost all sports have seen increased exposure over the last several decades.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

I stand corrected. I guess I just know more people that care about hockey than MLS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

I would point out that all three of those schools are Big 10 schools.

Greg, is soccer popular with Texas because of its demographics?

---

I can tell you that when I attended the U.S. National Team vs Mexico a few years back in Houston you would have thought we were in Mexico City by the attendance.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Those are very interesting facts Killer.

It is neat how sports gain or wane in popularity.

But it seems to me that all sports seem to gain?? I mean with ESPN and all the different channels out there, almost all sports have seen increased exposure over the last several decades.

---

Yeah I think that's right, however with more exposure the coverage also becomes more diluted, for example ESPN3 can have 10 events going on at the same time, plus ESPN, ESPNU etc. etc. It will be interesting to see how the popularity of individual sports trend over the next decade. Football will always be king in this country followed by Baseball, but between NBA, NHL and MLS it's really anyone's guess who will take up that third position.

Another factor that really affects popularity of sports overall is which teams are succeeding at the time. Rangers/Cardinals in the world series do horrible numbers compared to Yankees/Sox and this is true throughout the season as higher profile franchises have success or faulter. The same can be said of the NBA, NHL and MLS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VictorCharlie

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

I would point out that all three of those schools are Big 10 schools.

Greg, is soccer popular with Texas because of its demographics?

---

I can tell you that when I attended the U.S. National Team vs Mexico a few years back in Houston you would have thought we were in Mexico City by the attendance.

---

Yeah the USMNT really needs to have some games in the Pacific Northwest where Americans will go out of their way to buy tickets to support our team. The Gold Cup final was another example 93,420 in attendance and based on noise levels 5 people were there to support the US. There is no home advantage.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VictorCharlie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

I stand corrected. I guess I just know more people that care about hockey than MLS.

---

It's definitely an understandable viewpoint. Hockey has had a place in the American sports world for much longer and at a much higher level by the standards of the world, the NHL is the premier hockey league worldwide. MLS on the other hand is definitely in the top 100 soccer leagues ;D The thing with soccer right now is it's going through a growth phase where it is actually on stable financial footing and now trying to become a serious league.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by killersheep

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VictorCharlie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

I stand corrected. I guess I just know more people that care about hockey than MLS.

---

It's definitely an understandable viewpoint. Hockey has had a place in the American sports world for much longer and at a much higher level by the standards of the world, the NHL is the premier hockey league worldwide. MLS on the other hand is definitely in the top 100 soccer leagues ;D The thing with soccer right now is it's going through a growth phase where it is actually on stable financial footing and now trying to become a serious league.

---

Greg you are going to laugh at this now, but the Kansas City League was for sell not that many years ago....and it wasn't for millions of dollars.
A couple of friends and myself talked about getting the financing and how neat it would be to own a professional sports team.

We were even going to leave roster spots open for ourselves. LMFAO.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by VictorCharlie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

I stand corrected. I guess I just know more people that care about hockey than MLS.

---

It's definitely an understandable viewpoint. Hockey has had a place in the American sports world for much longer and at a much higher level by the standards of the world, the NHL is the premier hockey league worldwide. MLS on the other hand is definitely in the top 100 soccer leagues ;D The thing with soccer right now is it's going through a growth phase where it is actually on stable financial footing and now trying to become a serious league.

---

Greg you are going to laugh at this now, but the Kansas City League was for sell not that many years ago....and it wasn't for millions of dollars.
A couple of friends and myself talked about getting the financing and how neat it would be to own a professional sports team.

We were even going to leave roster spots open for ourselves. LMFAO.

---

You should have done it man! I would have loved to see you uniform #10 with the moniker "Booze" over it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by VictorCharlie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

I stand corrected. I guess I just know more people that care about hockey than MLS.

---

It's definitely an understandable viewpoint. Hockey has had a place in the American sports world for much longer and at a much higher level by the standards of the world, the NHL is the premier hockey league worldwide. MLS on the other hand is definitely in the top 100 soccer leagues ;D The thing with soccer right now is it's going through a growth phase where it is actually on stable financial footing and now trying to become a serious league.

---

Greg you are going to laugh at this now, but the Kansas City League was for sell not that many years ago....and it wasn't for millions of dollars.
A couple of friends and myself talked about getting the financing and how neat it would be to own a professional sports team.

We were even going to leave roster spots open for ourselves. LMFAO.

---

You should have done it man! I would have loved to see you uniform #10 with the moniker "Booze" over it.

---

Well honestly I didn't have the money back then to pull it off, and I was scared of reading all about the failings of the CBA.

I guys my whole point is that there are opportunities out there!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by killersheep

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VictorCharlie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

I stand corrected. I guess I just know more people that care about hockey than MLS.

---

It's definitely an understandable viewpoint. Hockey has had a place in the American sports world for much longer and at a much higher level by the standards of the world, the NHL is the premier hockey league worldwide. MLS on the other hand is definitely in the top 100 soccer leagues ;D The thing with soccer right now is it's going through a growth phase where it is actually on stable financial footing and now trying to become a serious league.

---

Greg you are going to laugh at this now, but the Kansas City League was for sell not that many years ago....and it wasn't for millions of dollars.
A couple of friends and myself talked about getting the financing and how neat it would be to own a professional sports team.

We were even going to leave roster spots open for ourselves. LMFAO.

---

You should have done it man! I would have loved to see you uniform #10 with the moniker "Booze" over it.

---

Well honestly I didn't have the money back then to pull it off, and I was scared of reading all about the failings of the CBA.

I guys my whole point is that there are opportunities out there!

---

Absolutely there are opportunities out there. As much as I hate the Packers, they have an interesting ownership structure as a non-profit publicly owned corporation, I believe we will see a few more instances of this going forward in other sports.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by killersheep

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by killersheep

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by VictorCharlie

Quote:

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Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

I stand corrected. I guess I just know more people that care about hockey than MLS.

---

It's definitely an understandable viewpoint. Hockey has had a place in the American sports world for much longer and at a much higher level by the standards of the world, the NHL is the premier hockey league worldwide. MLS on the other hand is definitely in the top 100 soccer leagues ;D The thing with soccer right now is it's going through a growth phase where it is actually on stable financial footing and now trying to become a serious league.

---

Greg you are going to laugh at this now, but the Kansas City League was for sell not that many years ago....and it wasn't for millions of dollars.
A couple of friends and myself talked about getting the financing and how neat it would be to own a professional sports team.

We were even going to leave roster spots open for ourselves. LMFAO.

---

You should have done it man! I would have loved to see you uniform #10 with the moniker "Booze" over it.

---

Well honestly I didn't have the money back then to pull it off, and I was scared of reading all about the failings of the CBA.

I guys my whole point is that there are opportunities out there!

---

Absolutely there are opportunities out there. As much as I hate the Packers, they have an interesting ownership structure as a non-profit publicly owned corporation, I believe we will see a few more instances of this going forward in other sports.

---

The Packers actually had some shares released on the market the other day. A couple hundred bucks a share. Wouldn't that be neat to own part of your favorite team>?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by killersheep

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by killersheep

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by boozeboxer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VictorCharlie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killersheep

To give an example of how popular college football attendance is here's some numbers

top three college average attendance per game
1. Michigan - 111,825
2. Ohio St. - 105,278
3. Penn St. - 104,234

This by far eclipses any pro sport in the world.

Van from a Texan's perspective how can you state that Hockey is more popular than soccer now? FC Dallas has one of the worst attendances in MLS and still pulls in 3k more per game than the Stars. TV ratings for MLS have remained flat while NHL has declined. How popular is the NBA right now?................LOCKOUT

---

I stand corrected. I guess I just know more people that care about hockey than MLS.

---

It's definitely an understandable viewpoint. Hockey has had a place in the American sports world for much longer and at a much higher level by the standards of the world, the NHL is the premier hockey league worldwide. MLS on the other hand is definitely in the top 100 soccer leagues ;D The thing with soccer right now is it's going through a growth phase where it is actually on stable financial footing and now trying to become a serious league.

---

Greg you are going to laugh at this now, but the Kansas City League was for sell not that many years ago....and it wasn't for millions of dollars.
A couple of friends and myself talked about getting the financing and how neat it would be to own a professional sports team.

We were even going to leave roster spots open for ourselves. LMFAO.

---

You should have done it man! I would have loved to see you uniform #10 with the moniker "Booze" over it.

---

Well honestly I didn't have the money back then to pull it off, and I was scared of reading all about the failings of the CBA.

I guys my whole point is that there are opportunities out there!

---

Absolutely there are opportunities out there. As much as I hate the Packers, they have an interesting ownership structure as a non-profit publicly owned corporation, I believe we will see a few more instances of this going forward in other sports.

---

The Packers actually had some shares released on the market the other day. A couple hundred bucks a share. Wouldn't that be neat to own part of your favorite team>?

---

Yeah I would be all over that (IF it was a team I liked of course.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by InTheNeutralCorner

1. Football
2. Baseball
3. Basketball
4. Hockey
5. Soccer

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From what I've seen and know, I wouldn't contest one single sport in that order.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by InTheNeutralCorner

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mars_ax

Quote:

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Originally Posted by InTheNeutralCorner

1. Football
2. Baseball
3. Basketball
4. Hockey
5. Soccer

---

<~ This, Football is #1. followed by Baseball @ #2. I hardly know anyone these days who interested in Basketball, but apparently there's still some fans around, I havn't watched a pro basketball game since Larry Bird and the Celtics were still winning championships.

---

Now you know one more. I prefer basketball among all the above sports but have to acknowledge that it isn't in the top 2 in the US.

---

I have no interest in Basketball, either Pro or College, and I can't remember the last time I watched a Baseball game. I've nearly lost all interest in Pro Football, but I still follow College FB, mainly my team = the Texas, Longhorns.

Boxing doesn't have huge fanbase like Football does, but make no mistake, boxing has millions of hardcore and casual fans and despite all the talk about it's demise, pro boxing is alive and well. For me, boxing is easily my favorite sport, something I can follow year around, unlike College FB, which is seasonal.

badminton, ping pong and thumb wrestling are sports for gays