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i had to laugh when i saw that one poster say mlb and nfl were on the same level.
nfl is king.
mlb is second, slightly ahead of nba. i give the nod to mlb because it has more prominent franchises, but nba has better tv deals and it has more fans globally by far.
nhl is irrelevant, far behind the nba. no national tv network, low ratings, its a cult league with slightly larger following than say mls.
i had to laugh when i saw that one poster say mlb and nfl were on the same level.
nfl is king.
mlb is second, slightly ahead of nba. i give the nod to mlb because it has more prominent franchises, but nba has better tv deals and it has more fans globally by far.
nhl is irrelevant, far behind the nba. no national tv network, low ratings, its a cult league with slightly larger following than say mls.
So will you remain consistent and now laugh at yourself?
In 08-09, the NBA averaged 60 more fans per game over all markets. Being that they play the same amount of games, attendance is directly comparable between the NBA and NHL. This year, in markets with both leagues, the NHL drew higher in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Toronto, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Washington. Talk about TV money and the ability to sell ugly shoes to idiots, but when it comes right down to it, on 41 nights a year, more people in these cities would rather go see the NHL than the NBA. The gap is not as you describe.
money is huge and remember, the US is much larger than just the cities that host teams .... ticket prices are also a bit different (the NBA tends to be higher)
also when you look at average attendance you are taking into context the rabid canadian following for their 6 .... which may or may not be relevant depending on if you want this to be a US discussion or how the leagues can do in a multinational market
Well seeing as the NFL, MLB, NBA and the NHL are considered the four main sports leagues in America, I would say yes it is a Major Professional Sports League.
there is a decent gap though
money is huge and remember, the US is much larger than just the cities that host teams .... ticket prices are also a bit different (the NBA tends to be higher)
So the NBA is boosted by smaller urban and rural areas? I find that hard to believe. Outside the big cities, if there's any love for basketball, it's a passion for the college game and a disdain for the NBA. The NBA is a much more marketable product and brings bigger ad dollars (Nike, Sprite, etc). Reaching into your wallet and actually heading out to the arena says a lot more than turning on a TV.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Finger Laker
also when you look at average attendance you are taking into context the rabid canadian following for their 6 .... which may or may not be relevant depending on if you want this to be a US discussion or how the leagues can do in a multinational market
Heh, so Canada is more passionate for their sport than Americans are for theirs? I don't see why we're drawing the line there, anyway. They are part of the league so they are part of the discussion.
So the NBA is boosted by smaller urban and rural areas?
They are also boosted by larger urban areas - NY, LA, Houtson all definitely lean towards pro-basketball.
Not to mention there are other cities out there that are small/midsized that don't have any team but would lean towards professional basketball (albuquerque, san diego, baltimore and even a place like seattle)
Getting a great following in a small market (like calgary, edmonton, ottawa, etc) doesn't have the same impact as having a solid following in a major market (houston, LA, NY)
attendance numbers alone can't come close to capturing this impact
if both the lakers and flames sell out their buildings then by your arguement they are equally popular - though no one could logically make that arguement
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