The last Super Bowl, the American football championship final, was watched on average by 125.6 million viewers. It means that more than one in three Americans was in front of the TV following the match, as if in Italy the same event was followed by almost 22 million people, figures reached in our country only on a handful of occasions by football during the World Cup between the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s. Football remains the sport that Americans watch the most and the one that generates the most business, but in the last year basketball, hockey and soccer have also had ratings that have not been seen for some time. At the same time, curiously, the number of those who say they have no favorite sport is growing.
American football, a national ritual: the most popular sports
According to data from Nielsen, the “American Auditel”, the final won by the Seattle Seahawks over the New England Patriots last February was the second most watched ever, behind only that of 2025. But it’s not just the Super Bowl that sets one record after another: last year 89 of the 100 most watched television programs were American football games.
One of the reasons lies in the NFL calendar, because each team in the professional league plays only 17 championship games, compared to 82 in basketball and 162 in baseball, and consequently every game becomes an event not to be missed. As a result of all this attention, the league brings in about $23 billion a year in television rights, sponsorships and tickets, nearly double that of baseball and basketball. For comparison, the English Premier League, the richest football league in the world, grossed 6.8 billion pounds, around 9 billion dollars, in the 2024-25 season, while Serie A stopped at around 3 billion euros.
What are the other most followed in the USA: basketball and football are on the rise
The most sensational return is that of basketball, after years of difficulty. In 2025 the NBA Finals had stopped at just over 10 million average spectators, this year the match between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs doubled the audience, reaching 20.6 million on average, the highest figure since 1998, the year of Michael Jordan’s last title. Even more eloquent is the share, i.e. the share of families watching the game among those with the television on, which according to the NBA reached 38.3%, the highest ever recorded for a final. Thanks to the Knicks, the New York team that has returned to winning ways after 53 years, and to the curiosity for the young Frenchman Victor Wembanyama, a phenomenon who represents the present and future of the league.
Hockey is also experiencing a particularly brilliant moment. The NHL finals averaged 1.8 million viewers, small numbers compared to football but the highest ever for the sport, up 68% in one year. Among the reasons there is also the effect of the Milan Cortina Games, where the ice hockey tournament brought the NHL champions back to a global showcase after 12 years of absence in five circles.
Finally there is football. The World Cup final between Spain and Argentina last July 19 was seen in the United States by almost 63 million people. It is half the audience of the Super Bowl, but also the highest figure ever for a football match in the country, thanks above all to the media success that the event organized between the United States, Canada and Mexico had.
Which disciplines come down and the paradox of the fans
Baseball is the sport that has lost the most ground in the hearts of Americans over the years. Today it is the favorite sport of only one in 10 Americans, even if it defends itself well on television, so much so that Game 7 of the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays was the most watched baseball game since 1991. Even football, while remaining by far the leading sport, is losing some affection. In polls he is chosen by 31% of Americans, the lowest figure since 2001, and between 18 and 34 years old just one in five.
The most surprising number, however, is another, because 20% of adults say they have no favorite sport, the highest share ever recorded. Part of the reason lies in the fact that big events can be watched even without being fans: the Super Bowl has been a kind of national holiday for decades, with dinners with friends, advertisements that are almost as awaited as the game and a concert at halftime, and you can very well not have a favorite sport and still find yourself in front of the television that evening.
How to watch sports on TV in the United States
In the United States, the major free-to-air networks such as CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC can be received with a simple antenna and the main events, including the Super Bowl, are shared. Then there are cable channels like ESPN, and especially streaming services.
The leagues have taken advantage of this to sell the rights piecemeal, and basketball is the clearest example of this: since last season, national NBA games have been divided between three television groups: Disney, NBC and Amazon, based on the day of the week. Mondays are played on Peacock, NBC’s streaming platform, Tuesdays on NBC, Wednesdays on ESPN and Fridays on Amazon Prime Video, while the weekend is divided between the various platforms. The other matches, which represent the majority, are broadcast on the regional channels of the individual teams, almost always for a fee.
For the fans it’s a little labyrinth, but for the leagues it’s a deal because by dividing the games into many packages, the NBA was able to sell them to multiple competing televisions and platforms, and the price went up. The agreements signed with Disney, NBC and Amazon cover eleven seasons, from 2025-26 to 2035-36, and are worth a total of around 76 billion dollars, that is, almost 7 billion for each season. With previous contracts the league grossed around 2.7 billion a year, less than half.
Who watches what according to polls
Polls show a country divided above all by age. Among those over 55, football is the favorite of almost 4 out of 10 people and baseball holds up well, while younger people are almost equally divided between basketball, baseball and soccer. Origins also count, because basketball is particularly loved by African Americans and football by Hispanics, and it is no coincidence that almost 24 million people followed the World Cup final with commentary in Spanish.
The World Series at the end of October and the new NBA season will tell whether the 2026 numbers were an exception, linked to particularly beloved teams and champions, or the beginning of a different way of experiencing sport in the United States.
