Sports in the United States


Sports in the United States are a significant aspect of the nation's culture. Historically, the most popular sport has been baseball. However since the mid 20th century American football has slowly become the most popular spectator sport. Additionally, basketball and ice hockey saw a significant growth during this period due to the advent of television. As such, the sanctioning bodies of these sports comprise what broadcasters refer to as the "Big Four" of the sport industry. These sports, with the addition of soccer, are the most popular sports played at the youth level.
In the first half of the 20th century boxing, collegiate rowing, and collegiate football were among the most popular sports after baseball. Soccer has emerged as the fourth most popular sport in the 21st century, surpassing ice hockey. Roughly 27% of United States-based sports fans show an interest in soccer, compared to a global average of 40%. By contrast, American football is the most popular sport in the United States with 52%. Basketball with 43% and baseball with 37% are further behind. Approximately 17% of the people in the United States follow ice hockey.
Golf, tennis, and collegiate basketball are other spectator sports with longstanding popularity. Tennis is currently considered to be the sixth most popular sport in the United States. Most recently, mixed martial arts has been breaking records in attendance and broadcast viewership for all combat sports.
Based on revenue, the Big Four of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada are the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League, with Major League Soccer gradually developing in popularity. Just in the year 2024, the NFL generated over $23 billion, making them the most valued professional sports league in the United States and the world. With the addition of multiple TV/Streaming contracts that have been recently signed, we can only expect for this number to continue to increase.
The market for professional sports in the United States is about $69 billion, roughly 50% larger than that of all of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined. All these leagues enjoy wide-ranging domestic media coverage and, except for the Major League Soccer, all are considered the preeminent leagues in their respective sports in the world. Although American football does not have a substantial following in other nations, the NFL does have the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world. MLB has the second highest average attendance of any sports league in the United States, followed by the MLS, the NBA, and the NHL. Of these five American-based leagues, all but the NFL have at least one team in Canada.
Professional teams in all major sports in the United States operate as franchises within a league, meaning that a team may move to a different city if the team's owners believe there would be a financial benefit, but franchise moves are usually subject to some form of league-level approval. All major sports leagues use a similar type of regular-season schedule with a post-season playoff tournament. In addition to the major league–level organizations, several sports also have professional minor leagues, active in smaller cities across the country.
As in Canada and Australia, sports leagues in the United States do not practice promotion and relegation, unlike most sports leagues in Europe. Another notable distinction is that most sports fans in the United States tend to follow more than one team sport, depending on the time of year, unlike the case in many parts of the world where fans might avidly follow only one team sport such as soccer or baseball. Thus, it is possible for an American sports fan who follows multiple sports to spend practically every single day of the year watching professional sports, since there is no time of year when all the Big Five leagues would be off-season.
Sports are particularly associated with education in the United States, with most high schools and universities having organized sports, and this is a unique sporting footprint for the American College sports competitions play an important role in the American sporting culture, and college basketball and college football are more popular than professional sports in some parts of the country. The major sanctioning body for college sports is the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Colleges collectively receive billions of dollars from TV deals, sponsorships, and ticket sales. In 2019, the total revenue generated by NCAA athletic departments added up to $18.9 billion.
Based on Olympic Games, World Championships, and other major competitions in respective sports, the United States is the most successful nation in the world in baseball, basketball, athletics, swimming, lacrosse, beach volleyball, figure skating, tennis, golf, boxing, diving, shooting, rowing and snowboarding, and is one of the top five most successful nations in ice hockey, wrestling, gymnastics, volleyball, speed skating, alpine skiing, bobsleigh, equestrian, sailing, cycling, weightlifting and archery, among others. This makes the United States the most successful sports nation in the world. The United States has been referred to by some as the Hegemon of World Sports. The United States has placed first in the Summer Olympic medal table 19 times out of 30 Summer Olympics and 29 appearances. Unlike most other nations, the United States government does not provide funding for sports nor for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. The United States Olympic contingent is additionally the only Olympic contingent in the world to receive no government funding; neither training and development costs nor prize money are provided by the U.S. national government.

History

, Arena football, baseball, softball, and indoor soccer evolved out of older British sports. However, basketball, volleyball, beach volleyball, racquetball, pickleball, skateboarding, snowboarding, Ultimate, wind-surfing, and Water Skiing are fully American inventions, some of which have become popular in other countries and worldwide.
Up until the American Civil War, cricket was a somewhat popular sport in the United States, with presidents such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln having played or watched the game. However, cricket at the time was a sport played over several days, and during the Civil War, troops preferred to play the newly rising game of baseball, which was much shorter in duration and did not require a special playing surface to be played.

Olympics

American athletes have won a total of 2,764 medals at the Summer Olympic Games and another 330 at the Winter Olympic Games, making the United States the most prolific medal-winning nation in the history of the Olympics. The U.S. is ranked first in the all-time medal table even if all the incarnations of Russia and Germany are combined, leading the second-placed Russians by 430 gold and 957 total medals. These achievements are even more impressive considering the fact that the American Olympic team remains the only in the world to receive no government funding.
The United States hosted both Summer and Winter Games in 1932, and has hosted more Games than any other country – eight times, four times each for the Summer and Winter Games:
Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics for a third time in 2028. Salt Lake City will host the Winter Olympics for a second time in 2034, marking the tenth Olympics hosted in the United States.
The United States has won the most gold and overall medals in the Summer Olympic Games, even if the medal totals of the Soviet Union/CIS and Russia are combined, and has topped the medal table 19 times. The country has won the second most gold and overall medals in the Winter Olympic Games, behind Norway, but has topped the medal table only one time, in 1932. If all of Germany's and Russia's incarnations are combined, the United States slips to fourth in the all-time Winter Olympic Games table.

Individual sports

Golf

Golf is one of the most popular participation sports in the United States, with approximately 24 million people playing golf on a regular basis as of 2023. Golf's origins can be traced back to 15th century Scotland, where players would hit a pebble around sandy dunes using a stick or primitive club. The game has evolved over centuries into the version played today, which involves hitting a small, dimpled ball into each hole on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Introduced to America in the late 19th century, it quickly gained favor among the upper class. The United States Golf Association was founded in 1894 to establish rules. Iconic courses like Augusta National and Pebble Beach have hosted legendary tournaments.
Since the 1970s, the landscape of golf in the United States has seen significant advancements, particularly in the recognition of female players. This has been highlighted by increased support for women's golf programs, the expansion of women's tournaments, and greater representation of female golfers at all levels of the sport. Babe Zaharias won 10 major championships and was an Olympic gold medalist. Nancy Lopez claimed 48 LPGA Tour titles, including three majors, in the 1970s and 1980s. Patty Berg, a founding member of the LPGA, won 15 majors. Juli Inkster, a two-time Solheim Cup captain, captured seven major championships. More recently, Lexi Thompson has emerged as a top player, winning multiple LPGA events, including a major championship.
In 2020, nearly 25 million people or around 8% of the total population of the U.S., played golf on a golf course in the United States, according to the National Golf Foundation.