By Each continent or country has specific sports that represent them and the cultural landscape of the region. In North America, the four sports leagues that are more popular are referred to as the “Big Four” and are considered the highest level you can reach in the respective sports. The Big Four leagues are Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL).
Though all these sports are played internationally, it is widely known that these respective leagues breed the biggest names. Each league has its own unique cultural impact and which that comes different levels of popularity and wealth.
Major League Baseball
Considered “America’s Pastime”, baseball has a long and rich history in the states. It is easy to say that the NBA and NFL bring in more eyes, which is true, but baseball is cemented in America’s bedrock.
The first professional baseball team was the Cincinnati Red Stockings formed in 1869 (MBL created in 1903), but it would not mold into the sport we know today till the baseball boom of the 1920s.
The breaking of the color barrier in the MLB is still one of the most iconic sports moments to this day. Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, and the rest is truly history.
There have been many eras in baseball, and it has stood the test of time, but there has been changes to how people view the game. It has affected the overall popularity of the sport. The games are long and often seen as tedious. The MLB has tried to make strides to make the game shorter or more interesting but at the end of the day most of the people tuning into games are already fans.
The MLB ranks second in revenue with on overage 10.7 billion dollars being made but is ranked third in franchise valuations.
National Football League
Despite baseball being America’s Pastime, football is undoubtedly the most popular sport in North America. The eyes the NFL brings in crazy, and that doesn’t even consider the booming popularity of college football.
The NFL was started in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before the renaming. The first Super Bowl was held in 1967, and now it is a sport and pop culture yearly staple thanks to the Pepsi Halftime show.
The NFL is the wealthiest professional sports league by revenue and the sports league with the most valuable teams. Much of the revue comes from TV deals. The NFL has the largest tv contracts and earns over 6 billion dollars annually from Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN, and DirecTV.
National Basketball Association
The sport and league most cemented in the modern pop culture zeitgeist. The NBA rules the online chatter when it comes to sports, and it has mainly to do with the big personalities meeting extreme talent.
The NBA was founded in New York City in 1946 and was originally named the Basketball Association of America. The name later changed in 1976 after adding four new franchises.
In terms of wealth and popularity, since 2020, NBA players are the world’s best paid athletes by average annual per player. The league is third in revenue with 8.8 billion, second in television revenue with 2.7 billion, and second in franchise valuations.
The thing that truly makes the NBA stand out is its ability to set trend amongst the other sports teams. It is considered a more progressive league in values and ideas.
National Hockey League
Canada’s sport is unsurprisingly more niche than the other sports, and with that comes a dip in popularity. The NHL began in Montreal as the National Hockey Association with the original six teams.
The NHL had the lowest average attendance, the lowest tv revenue deals, the lowest annual revenue, and lowest franchise valuations. A lot of people chalk the dip in popularity compared to other leagues to how late the NHL is to everything.
The cost of hockey is another reason for the decline in popularity specifically in the states. Hockey was once considered a working man sport and now is one of the most expensive to play.
The stuffiness of hockey culture leaves much to be desired and is extremely exclusive to those that don’t fit a certain way of life.
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