I recently had a discussion about the "Big 3" of American sports - football, baseball and basketball - and television revenue, as it shed light on their relative popularity. Well, this morning, I serendipitously discovered the following chart:
TOTAL REVENUES Average TV Rights Fees
NFL $5.86B $3.1B
MLB $5.2B $670M
NBA $3.13B $765M
NHL $2.2B $70M
NASCAR $1.27B $560M
*figures courtesy of Sports research Guide Book, Plunkett Research, Forbes.
No real surprises here. No one watches hockey on TV, and while in terms sheer numbers Nascar is supposedly the most popular sport in America, most Nascar fans likely don't own TV's. Moreover, it's not a sport.
Football is king of spectator sports. The game translates very well to television, as most Americans with a penis will likely attest. Plus, with the benefit of a shorter season, and the corresponding added importance of each game, as compared to the MLB and NBA, it's television deals translate to big bucks. (Please note that the league's television deals are increasingly lucrative as respective lengths of their seasons shorten).
Baseball and basketball's figures are somewhat misleading as they take into account only the deals with Fox, ESPN, TBS, and ABC, ESPN, and TNT, respectively. Though I am not sure what sort of kickback the MLB and NBA get from television stations like YES and MSG in New York, NESN and FSN in Boston, WGN in Chicago, and TNT for Atlanta, the thriving underlying television deals of individual franchises surely benefit both sports' governing bodies, while also lending credence to their popularity. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Hockey's figure is even misleading in assessing popularity because it fails to note increasing attendance and a burgeoning internet presence, though I only know two people that follow the game closely.
In conclusion: G - I - A - N - T - S !!!!!!
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