Which sport in the U.S has the biggest fan-base/draws the most crowds out of: American Football, Ice Hockey, Baseball and Basketball?

I don't have any documentation to back it up (I can't find it!), but at one time, NASCAR was the biggest spectator sport in the US. I don't know if that is still true or not.

I'm sorry, but I couldn't find stats on your specific question. My guess (and it's only a guess) would be this order:

1. Baseball
2. Basketball
3. Football
4. Ice Hockey

No particular reasoning. However, if I used an approximate number for attendance for each sport, multiplied times the number of games per season, then I would get this:

1. Baseball (30 teams x 81 games x 8000 attendance/game = 19,400,000)
2. Basketball (30x41x14,000 = 12,300,000)
3. Hockey (30x41x9,000=11,070,000)
4. Football (31x8x40,000=9,920,000)

Not very scientific, I'm afraid and I made up the numbers!

i do not follow sports in the slightest, so my method of determining the order is rather unique. its depending on how much info about the sport filters through to me.

it goes like this:

Baseball,
Football,
nothing,

The Company, you're forgetting one sport, which might be more popular than all those other sports: NASCAR. Yeah, i know, it's not really a sport. But for those that live in the red states it is. Just ask them.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mark M:
I don't have any documentation to back it up (I can't find it!), but at one time, NASCAR was the biggest spectator sport in the US.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Trespasser:
The Company, you're forgetting one sport, which might be more popular than all those other sports: NASCAR. Yeah, i know, it's not really a sport. But for those that live in the red states it is. Just ask them.

---

Hey guys, did you know that NASCAR is the most popular sport?

I don't consider Nascar to be the same kind of "sport" that baseball or basketball are. I mean, u sit in a car for the duration of a race, other than having good bowel control, i don't see all that much in the way of physical demand, no offense

quote:

---

Originally posted by Hill Dawson Kane:
I don't consider Nascar to be the same kind of "sport" that baseball or basketball are. I mean, u sit in a car for the duration of a race, other than having good bowel control, i don't see all that much in the way of physical demand, no offense

---

You're right, it's not the same in the way of physical demand, but your notion that you just "sit in a car" is so far from correct. Racing takes an immense amount of knowledge of physics and such, and requires great control, coordination, timing, and instincts. It's by far the most dangerous sport; more people have died racing than in all the other "major" sports combined. It's not quite as physically demanding, but it's way more mentally demanding, and a lot more dangerous.

Anybody can shoot a basket or hit a ball with a bat, but I'd like to see you drive a car at 175 MPH inches away from other cars and a wall while maintaining your thoughts and your composure and keeping it while you do 500 or so laps.

quote:

---

The Company, you're forgetting one sport, which might be more popular than all those other sports: NASCAR.

---

Technically, I didnt ask what the most popular sport was, I only asked what was the most popular out of the sports I said. I'm not a big fan of NASCAR. I'm not saying its not challenging and demanding. I have respect for all those who do it for a living, but I just find the sport boring. The only good bits are the very start, the very end, and when people crash. Everything else just seems...repetitive.

Nascar is nothing(as far as entertainment goes) compared to the V8 supercars down here in Oz.

quote:

---

Originally posted by JW:
Anybody can shoot a basket or hit a ball with a bat

---

Unfortunately, that is not the case with some people i know.

quote:

---

Originally posted by JW:
Anybody can shoot a basket or hit a ball with a bat

---

That is SO not true. I know people who cannot do either. PLUS, the skill level required to be a professional baseball player or basketball player or football player...or any other player for that matter...is EXTREMELY high. I mean, we're talking about less than 1% of the nation here. a fraction of 1% will make it to a professional basketball/football/baseball team.

Oh, and professional hockey is non existant right now in the USA. striking. College still goes on though. but nobody watches.

I might have to say that it's baseball, then football, then basketball. But football could have a bigger fan base than baseball. there are TONS of football fans. especially for college teams.

NASCAR is boring anyway. I couldn't just sit there and watch cars do 500 laps in a row. I'm not saying it's not a sport and that it's not hard, but you can't compare it to baseball and basketball and football (and hockey when it gets started again).

quote:

---

Originally posted by Durden:

quote:

---

Originally posted by JW:
Anybody can shoot a basket or hit a ball with a bat

---

That is SO not true. I know people who cannot do either. PLUS, the skill level required to be a professional baseball player or basketball player or football player...or any other player for that matter...is EXTREMELY high. I mean, we're talking about less than 1% of the nation here. a fraction of 1% will make it to a professional basketball/football/baseball team.

---

I know, I never said it was easy. I know saying that "anyone" can do it is an exaggeration, and I wasn't saying that anyone can do it on the professional level. I was just responding HDK saying that racing doesn't take skill and it's just sitting in a car. That's ludicrous. And I fully realize that all pro sports take an immense amount of skill, but some do more than others.

And I agree that racing is a little boring, but that's completely irrelevant to this discussion.

quote:

---

I know, I never said it was easy. I know saying that "anyone" can do it is an exaggeration, and I wasn't saying that anyone can do it on the professional level. I was just responding HDK saying that racing doesn't take skill and it's just sitting in a car. That's ludicrous. And I fully realize that all pro sports take an immense amount of skill, but some do more than others.

---

I wasn't saying anything about the required skill, of course there is an emense amount of skill needed to drive Nascar, I was referring to the lack of physical demand on the driver's, cause I tend to define a "sport" as being more to do with physical aspects in the activity, cause or else you would call chess a sport, and that just ain't right.

Hockey has been on strike for the past season, so they're getting ZERO in attendance.

The hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a round ball traveling 95 miles per hour with a baseball bat. Trust me I plated baseball up into college and play most other sports in HS. Hitting a baseball on a consistant level is extremely hard. Much harder than driving a car real fast.


Cammo

a drive doesnt just have to drive the car, he has to know the car, both in a physical sense and a mechanical sense. Much of motorsport isnt just the driver as well, it is a team thing, to push pieces of metal to their ultmate maximum.
other than cricket, motorsport is my favourite sport

Go Australian Football League!

To answer the original question:

1)Baseball (by far)
2)Basketball
3)Football
4)Hockey

Here's my chance to defend my sport, hockey:
Much harder to learn because you first have to learn to stand up on skates, not like football/baseball/football where you're on your feet. After you can skate, then you can start to learn the actual game and develop skills. Extremely physically demanding because you are carrying about 30 pounds of extra weight with you.

Unfortunetly, not much of america likes hockey, and their on strike, which doesnt help.

I'm not a NASCAR fan, but I try to put that kind of driving into perspective. If you have ever driven a three or four hour trip, gotten to your destination and were tired, cramped, irritated, then multiply that by about 1000!

You have 40(?) cars, going nearly 200 mph (at times), no AC, no music, no comfortable leather seating, every other driver trying to either cut you off, pass you or ride your a$$, no power steering, power brakes (I assume), dirt and dust flying in everywhere - I just think it would take a tremendous physical and mental effort to do that each week.

Just seems it's harder than it looks.