AMERICAN SPORTS

TROLE OF THE SPORTS IN US

• Sports play an important role in American society. They enjoy tremendous

popularity but more important they are vehicles for transmitting such values as
justice, fair play, and teamwork. Sports have contributed to racial and social
integration and over history have been a "social glue" bonding the country together.
• To better understand what Americans believe about the role and significance of sport in society and to
assess their views on sport ethics and values, role models, and aspirations, in 2010, USADA
commissioned a survey of nearly 9,000 Americans, representing the general population, coaches,
athletes, and parents of athletes involved in Olympic-path sports and non-Olympic level sports (e.g.
community-based, school-based, informal). The major study highlights are as follows:
• More than three-fifths of U.S. adults—approximately 162 million Americans claim some relationship to
sport-related activities
• Parents overwhelmingly cite personal and social values when describing their hopes for their children in
playing sport
• Coaches rank as the #1 positive influence on today’s youth involved in sport
• Two-thirds of Americans agree that sport overemphasizes the importance of winning
• Americans rank the use of performance-enhancing drugs as the most serious problem facing sport
today, closely followed by issues such as the focus on money, and the criminal behaviour of well-known
athletes
• Nearly 90% of U.S. adults agree that well-known athletes have a responsibility to be positive role
models for young people, and by wide margins agree that the personal conduct of well-known athletes
is as important as their athletic accomplishments
 MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

• Mixed Martial Arts has made the successful leap from underground circuits to
mainstream sports. It can thank the Ultimate Fighting Championships for that.
The UFC has placed MMA in the global map and its helped MMA become one
of the fastest growing sports in America.
• With 11 weight classes including two for women ( a third one is coming up
soon ), the UFC holds regular pay per view and TV events. The UFC reached
its peak in 2016 with female champion Ronda Rousey and Irish superstar
Conor McGregor helping the promotion break attendance and PPV records.
Because of its popularity, the UFC was bought for $4B last year, the biggest
such sale in the history of sports.
PRO WRESTLING
• While not considered a sport by most it is
widely and wildly popular among many
Americans the wrestlers are considered
athletes
• Attendance in 2018 was as low as 15,000+ to
78,000+ for certain events
• Television viewership was around 2-3 million
viewers with these numbers expected to rise
in 2019
TAILGATING
 TAILGATE PARTY

• Massive social events that take place before

and during sporting events
• Most commonly held during football games
• Named for people using their vehicles and
letting the tailgates of their trucks down to
serve as tables
 TENNIS

• In 2013, ESPN estimated that tennis was the seventh most popular
sport among American adolescent boys, as only eight percent played it.
Ahead of tennis were football, basketball, baseball, soccer, track, and
wrestling.A similar study has not been done in Europe, but tennis is
believed to be the continent’s second most popular sport, behind, of
course, soccer. The more popular the sport, the more people play.
• Golf in the United States is played by about 25 million people, or 8% of the population.
• The United States Golf Association has about 10,000 club members and courses. The
organization is responsible of the Rules of Golftogether with the British-based R&A.
• The USGA conducts national championships open to professionals: the U.S. Open (since
1895), U.S. Women's Open (since 1946), U.S. Senior Open (since 1980), and U.S. Senior
Women's Open (since 2018), as well as national championships for amateur, juniors, seniors
and four-ball teams.
• Half of the current Top 10 golfers in the PGA Tour today are Americans,
including #1 Dustin Johnson and #3 Jordan Spieth.
• The USGA co-organizes the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup together with the respective British
& Irish organizations, and competes at the Eisenhower Trophy and Espirito Santo Trophy, which
are amateur tournaments for national teams. Also, the USGA gives the Bob Jones
Award recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf since 1955.
FANTASY SPORTS
 FANTASY SPORTS

• People ‘draft’ real players to create their own teams

on paper
• Use player performances and statistics to earn
points
• Mostly free and for fun as well as bragging rights
• Many pay leagues with huge financial rewards
 AUTO RACING SPORT

• With the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500 among the most prestigious races in
the world, auto racing is one of the most popular sports in America. But while
auto racing comes in many forms, stock car racing tops the field in the United
States with NASCAR being the biggest brands in all of racing.
• Mario Andretti and Phil Hill are the only Americans to win an F1 championship.
Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt are the biggest names in NASCAR. There’s
something about racing that drives Americans crazy. It’s more of the machines
rather than the man. The adrenaline rush and the need for speed.
 BOXING

• The Greatest boxer of all-time is American. Muhammad Ali was the greatest
fighter the sport ever saw. He didn’t just float like a bee and sting like a
butterfly. Ali was gifted with the gift of gab that made him boxing’s first true
superstar. It helped that his chief rival Joe Frazier was also American. In the 80’s
three of the four horsemen of the middleweight division were Americans:
Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns.
• When boxing reached the Pay Per View era, the biggest pay per view draw in
the history of the sport was American - Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather
broke one pay per view record after another. He made boxing more than a
sport by adding entertainment value to it. Americans bought Mayweather.
THE NUMBER OF PLAYERS
CONTINUES TO RISE
 SOCCER

• In the olden days, soccer was very popular globally but not so much in the
United States. But after Team USA’s great run at the 2014 FIFA World Cup,
new TV ratings were set. With the Major League Soccer continuing to grow as
a global competition, Soccer continues to flourish in the United States market.
• David Beckham’s arrival in Los Angeles upped the bar for American soccer.
From being mere casuals, fans went all-in. Although it will never surpass
American Football as the most popular foot driven sport in America, soccer
will remain as one of the most popular, even rivaling the so-called Big 4 North
American Sports.
 ICE HOCKEY

• Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky are Canadians. So was Mario Lemieux.
Lemieux played for the Pittsburgh Penguins while Howe for the Detroit Red
Wings so the Americans were also endeared to ice hockey. Not to mention
that while Gretzky began his career for the Edmonton Oilers, he reached mega
star status while playing for the Los Angeles Kings.
• The New York Rangers are obviously, a team from New York and who play at
the Mecca of Sports- the Madison Square Garden as their home arena. The
Rangers are the first American team to win the Stanley Cup and they’ve won it
four times, the latest being in 1994.
SPORTS BARS
 BASKTEBALL

• Both collegiate basketball and professional basketball are very popular in the
United States. That’s because most of the stars from the college ranks are the
ones who get drafted by NBA teams in the annual NBA Draft. This
interconnection make basketball among the Top 3 most popular sports in the
United States.
• Michael Jordan took the NBA into another stratosphere. He made the NBA
into one of the most lucrative professional leagues in America. With Kobe
Bryant and now LeBron James keeping the fire alive and the arrival of
international players in the scene, the NBA isn’t just one of the most popular
sports in America. It’s one of the most well-loved sports all over the globe.
 BASEBALL

• There is only one American pastime and it’s baseball. It’s popularity began in
the early 20th century and has never gone far from America’s conscience. If
you base your argument on history and culture, baseball is America’s favorite
sport.
• Jackie Robinson broke the racial barrier while Babe Ruth captured the
imagination of fans. The New York Yankees are the most popular team in all of
baseball and even during the 90’s era tainted by performance enhancing drugs
 AMERICAN FOOTBALL

• While baseball will forever be America’s favorite pastime, it is a distant second

to American Football in terms of popularity. In fact, if you add college football
as a separate category in this ranking, baseball could easily fall to third place.
That’s how popular American Football is in America.
• The annual Super Bowl is the most anticipated game in America. Heck even the
Super Bowl’s halftime performance is more anticipated than the NBA Finals.
The NFL is the most popular league in America. NFL quarterbacks like Johnny
Unitas, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Brett Favre and Tom Brady easily are the
more popular names in the sport.