How popular is football (NFL) in the US really?

37 comments

1. It’s the most popular pro sport in the U.S. I’d guess way more than 1 in 10 follow, probably more like 3-4 in 10.

2. I’m one of the 9 that doesn’t.

3. by revenue and TV viewership the NFL is the most popular sports league. I’m a big fan, watching a game right now! Sadly my team is dogshit.

4. It’s probably 1/10 are like “keep up with everything” fans, and then another 3-4 fans watch it.

   I myself am in that 1/10.

5. It is by far the most popular sports league in the US. 10% of the country being fans is a severe underestimate.

6. 1 in 10 sounds a little low, honestly.

7. It’s huge. over 17 billion dollars a year in revenue.

   College football is also very popular

8. I only watch the Super Bowl, but it’s by far the #1 sports league in the US. 1 in 10 might be right for those that actually keep up with it.

9. 1-10 seems way low.

10. 1/10 is undershooting it alot

    Probably closer to 3.5/10

11. I’d say 6-8/10 people I know keep up with our city’s team (watch most games and know our record), and maybe one in 20 keeps up with *all* the teams and is actually an avid football fan.

12. Let’s put it this way. MANY churches, which traditionally start at 6pm on Sundays, will hold an after-church super bowl party just to get people to show up. Sunday football in-general has gradually taken a huge share of the market away from God.

13. I work in Seattle. Our fans call it “Blue Friday” when the Friday before a game everyone wears fan gear. It is one of the officially sanctioned dress code violations at my work. We’re not strict about dress codes; it is more of a ‘keep it tasteful’ kind of scenario. Plenty of people in my office building wear their jerseys and t-shirts on Blue Friday. A lot of my coworkers are immigrants born in the Philippines. Even though they came over high school aged and older they’ve embraced the game.

14. Some people are saying that 1/10 isn’t right, but I bet it is. We like to associate with those that are like us. That said, the NFL dominates top television broadcasts each year. Also, 1/10 of the population is still like 33 Million people.

15. 1/10 is probably low depending on how you define “keeps up with.”

    https://www.samford.edu/sports-analytics/fans/2022/Die-Hard-or-Fair-Weather-Fans-Ranking-All-32-NFL-Fan-Bases

    Almost half the country watched a game last year. More than a third say football is their favorite sport.

    Football is the most participated in sport in high school and college. It is the most watched on TV. It is the most attended and lucrative in person sporting league in the US and the world.

    Football is very popular. Some people don’t watch it or don’t care for sports in general but if you watch one sport it is most likely football in the US.

16. I have worked in shops full of guys for decades. Literally all most of them talk about.

17. I don’t know about keeping up but about a third of our population watches the superbowl. Crazy, right??

18. It depends on what “keeping up with” means. If they’re keeping track of all the league’s news, it’s probably around 1 in 10. If we’re talking about anyone who at least watches their closest NFL team infrequently, it’s definitely way higher than that.

19. It’s very popular. For lots of people watching football on weekends(college football on Saturdays and NFL on Sundays) is a weekly tradition from September through January. I don’t know the exact numbers tho.

20. Very popular.

21. Unimaginably so for Europeans, as with so many other American things.

22. It’s way more than 1 in 10, unless you’re counting toddlers and babies.

    Though a lot of this depends on what you mean by “keeps up.” If you’re talking about people who regularly buy merchandise and watch every game their team of preference plays, then it may be 1 in 10 (and is possibly less). But if you’re talking about people who pay attention, then it’s undoubtedly higher.

23. I’m watching football right now lol

24. I don’t care about football.

25. Extremely popular. Likely the most popular sport in the country. 1 in 10 sounds like an underestimate.

26. Every stat I can find on this says it’s more like 50-60% which sounds more accurate in my experience.

27. Very very popular. American kids grew up knowing the NFL as the ultimate football league in the nation. Those who dream to become a successful football player wants to be noticed by the NFL. It is a very competitive league to be apart of. You have to be better than good at football. You need to be exceptional.

28. It can vary depending on where you are. In the area where I grew up, the majority of people are big nfl fans. Even older women. I’d say 60-70% are at least casual.

    Where i live now in a different state, even 10% is probably too high. As a diehard fan, I know very few others who care deeply about it. It was quite a culture shock.

29. Extremely popular. 1 in 10 is probably low, I’d say 3 or 4 people out of 10 are at least casual fans

30. I’ll say as a guy it’s almost impossible to go to lunch with coworkers or salesman and NOT hear about the NFL, almost year-round. And they all act like I’m the only person they’ve ever met who doesn’t follow the NFL (or any sport).

31. It’s very popular amongst those who like to get absolutely cripple dummy drunk on a Sunday and then show up to work on Monday morning. The nfl sucks in my opinion. EPL is where it is at. You can wake up in the states on a Saturday morning and have a breakfast beer and watch some footy. It’s better

32. I guess it’s like (based on my limited experience) EPL in UK. Not many actually follow it fervently, but they know what is going on because of media talking. It’s definitely the most popular sport (or league) out there. Just not as popular as people seem to think at the first glance. Just like a sizable group of brits who don’t like EPL, a sizable group of americans don’t like NFL.

33. Popular but not as much when I was younger. I used to watch 2 or 3 games every week years ago but haven’t watched more than a quarter or so in the past five years. I guess I lost interest in it

34. I’d say it depends on your region. I live in a city with an NFL team and I’d say it’s around 6-8/10 people that closely follows the NFL. Lots of people here do fantasy football so they are following the whole league. Football in general is huge here and people actively follow college and high school football as well.

35. It’s only the dominant religion.

36. It’s huge here. For some people it’s their whole life.

37. 1/10 sounds about right for those who follow everything and try to watch every game, but I’d say about 1/3rd of the country regularly watches the NFL each week. You probably still have another third who have a favorite team, but don’t closely follow them. Then a third who just don’t care about the NFL at all.

    Super Bowl parties are very common, but a lot of people just go to those for the party and aren’t too interested in the actual football aspect.