Which professional sports league is most popular?

College Life
21

<p>Why do people continue to say the NBA? It’s a distant third, and falling. </p>

<p>I think the fact that the NBA is so overwhelmingly dominated by one race turns off a country occupied by another ethnicity.</p>

22

<p>baseball gets most ticket sales (because the long schedules) while football gets the most TV views</p>

23

<p>Nfl>nba>mlb>nhl</p>

24

<p>MLB has way more support than the NBA IMO.</p>

25

<p>I find that surprising, given how slow-paced MLB games are. :(</p>

26

<p>depends. In canada it’s NHL. Hockey rules!!!</p>

27

<p>This order is not my preference, but the popularity nationwide. Some of you guys are just so totally off in thinking what the biggest sports are.</p>

<p>NASCAR > NFL > MLB >>> NBA >>> NHL >>>>> MLS</p>

<p>My preference would be:</p>

<p>NFL > NHL ~ MLB > NBA</p>

28

<p>Just cause Detroit historically has a strong NHL team means sh!!t compared to the hockey tradition all across Minnesota (the state of hockey). We sell out the Xcel Energy Center (Wild’s arena) for every game of the high school state tournament and the Wild have sold out every game in their existence. You guys average around 3000 fans for your state championship game with nearly twice the population (I laugh at you BAHAHAHAHA). And here is a few stats for you: Players in the US hockey hall of fame - Minnesota-52, Michigan 13. NHL players produced: Minnesota-200, Michigan- 118. Players drafted into the NHL from the US 2000-2009: Minnesota- 133, Michigan- 67. Despite having half of Michigan’s population Minnesota has 3000 more players, coaches, and officials registered with USA hockey. Minnesota had 12 players and the head coach from the 1980 miracle on ice including 2 from St. Paul. The entire state of Michigan had exactly 1. St. Paul and the entire state of Minnesota are simply better places for hockey than anywhere else in the country.</p>

29

<p>///&lt;/p>

<p>Yeah, I might as well chime in: Detroit is NOT Hockeytown.</p>

<p>Minnesota destroys Detroit and all of Michigan in this sport. I was visiting U of Iowa and this girl on the tour, who was from MN, said she played high school hockey like no big deal. How many girls play hockey in Detroit? She was smoking hot, by the way.</p>

<p>Hell, I would go further to say that Pittsburgh and Boston rank ahead of Detroit at the moment. I see games in Detroit with empty seats. It isn’t hockey town, and if it was, it wasn’t anymore.</p>

30

<p>Check out a few of these links to try to understand the atmosphere of minnesota hockey:</p>

<p><a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/2009_MN_Boys_Hockey_State_Championship.jpg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/2009_MN_Boys_Hockey_State_Championship.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
[YouTube</a> - 2010 Minnesota Boys High School Hockey Tournament Open](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuV9ULoU9hE]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuV9ULoU9hE)
[YouTube</a> - Broadcast Yourself.](<a href=“YouTube”>YouTube)
[YouTube</a> - Broadcast Yourself.](<a href=“YouTube”>YouTube)</p>

<p>These are all just for high school games btw. The gophers also sell out every night and have a full season tv contract with fox sports. The entire state tournament is also televised as well as some regular season games and of course every wild game is on tv. The minnesota high school boys hockey state tournament is also the most viewed high school tournament in the country, even outdoing texas football in terms of attendance + tv viewership.</p>

31

<p>Your arguments are futile. This is not up for debate. :stuck_out_tongue: </p>

<p>I can’t even imagine this being worth arguing about. It’s a nickname for crying out loud.</p>

32

<p>Does anyone in this thread realize that besides the northeast, nobody in the rest of the county CARES about hockey? I mean common - the lower states don’t even have hockey teams. In terms of popularity, I think its most defiantly NFL>NBA=MLB (NBA has en edge though - its more contemporary)>Everything else. </p>

<p>For the northeast, Hockey is probably tied with football, I guess - although thats a regional thing. The northeast ≠ rest of the country.</p>

33

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<p>I think this is more of just your ignorance. There are hockey teams in Florida (x2), Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, California (x3!), and Arizona!</p>

<p>Not saying they’re the most attended hockey games in the world, but neither are Clippers games and LA’s pretty big for the NBA.</p>

34

<p>

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<p>Nope. We don’t realize that at all. </p>

<p>Post **5 **:

</p>

<p>:rolleyes:</p>

35

<p>hehehe the Gophers LOST!!! good bye for the season. GO SIOUX!</p>

36

<p>Dude, Minnesota absolutely destroys every other state in the country in hockey, including Michigan. Just look at the above stats from jkaufman for proof. I was just at the state tournament this weekend- Hill Murray vs Minnetonka went for four OTs and didn’t end till 12:30AM and every one of the 19,000 seats was filled. You can’t match that anywhere else, not even Canada draws that many for HS games. Ever hear of Edina, Eden Praire, Hill-Murray, Wayzata, Duluth East, Moorhead, Blaine, Bloomington Jefferson, White Bear Lake, Minnetonka, or Holy Angels? Every single one of these teams could beat any HS team in the country not in MN. Two towns, Warroad and Roseau up near the Canadian border near Lake of the Woods have less than 3,000 people each in the towns and both HS teams could kill the best HS team in Michigan year in and year out.</p>

<p>BTW, the Gophers may have been down this year, but we’ll be back soon. </p>

<p>Hockeytown may be your little nickname in Detroit, but as far as love of the game goes, St. Paul is the true hockey town and Minnesota is the State of Hockey.</p>

<p>GO GOPHERS!</p>

37

<p>Well, I’ll say this- you Minnesotians (??) are a sensitive bunch.</p>

38

<p>Nicknames are serious business.</p>

39

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<p>… Except I am pretty sure it isn’t a nickname. It is trademarked.</p>

40

<p>Well shucks, sucks to be Minnesota!</p>