Play Ball! What’s America’s favorite Sport?
The Pro-Bowl is this weekend and the Super Bowl is next weekend…so is football or baseball America’s favorite sport? We call baseball the National Pastime but is it really. Most die-hard fans will always say both.
But if they are forced to choose, football wins. According to the annual Harris Poll 34% of those who follow at least one sport say professional football is their favorite spectator sport. Coming in a distant second is baseball, which is favored by 16%. Since this question was first asked in 1985, professional football has gone up 10 points from 24% of sports fans saying it was their favorite sport then to 34% saying so now. Baseball has gone down 7 points, from 23% in 1985 to 16% today.
Our favorite sports and the percentage who like them the best:
- Professional football: 34%
- Professional baseball: 16%
- College football: 11%
- Auto racing: 8%
- Men's professional basketball: 7%
- Hockey: 5%
- Men's college basketball: 3%
- Men's tennis: 2%
- Swimming: 2%
- Men's golf: 2%
- Men's soccer: 2%