The NFL is #1

[Jeremy D. Scott]

So we might call baseball "America's Pastime," but it's clearer and clearer that the NFL is #1 in the United States and perhaps even in the world. Maybe you saw the recent list of most valuable sports franchises in the world according to Forbes (1 - Manchester United, 2 - Dallas Cowboys, 3 - New York Yankees, 4 - Washington Redskins, 5 - New England Patriots). But the remarkable thing to me was that all 32 NFL franchises made the Top 50. That means that the worst of the NFL franchises (interestingly, the Oakland Raiders) is worth more than every single NHL team (none made the Top 50), every single NBA team (only the Lakers and Knicks made the Top 50, but were below all NFL teams), and all baseball teams except the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets.

Now there are other ways to look at ranking the popularity of different sports (television ratings, etc.), but I would think that this is the #1 determining factor, for where people place their time and money pretty much dictates where they place their most "care."

The NFL is far above all others. I found it interesting.

[Scott Hilton]

I just know I'm ready for football to start. =)

[Greg Farra]

Most of the people here in Columbus that I know are baseball fans are transplants. OSU football is king here, but the NFL is almost as popular. People talk NFL all year, with the Bengals, Browns, Colts, and Steelers close by. I think the NFL has done a great job marketing its product, and all the teams are able to compete on the same level. In MLB, it seems that small market teams have little chance to win it all. Baseball could becoming a bicoastal sport, with the exception of Chicago.

[Ryan Scott]

I think the NFL has so many franchises so far up, partly because of their popularity - they make a lot of money from TV rights - but also from their revenue sharing arrangement. TV money is split evenly between all the teams. Some make more money because of merchandising and other marketing deals, but in the long-run their revenues are pretty standard.

Baseball has a lot of lopsided revenue streams, which makes the richest teams worth quite a bit and the poorest teams not so much. I wonder what the overall revenue picture would look like between the major sports leagues if you added individual revenues together.

Incidentally, the revenue sharing that made all NFL owners equally rich is something the owners of the most lucrative teams are looking to change in upcoming negotiations. I'm not sure it will be good for the league, but if it happens, it will change the team values dramatically, especially for the small market teams.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

I wonder what the overall revenue picture would look like between the major sports leagues if you added individual revenues together.

I don't get what you're saying. Do you mean including revenue streams that Forbes didn't include?

Because if every single NFL team is in the Top 50 (all 32 NFL teams), then it wouldn't even be close. That was my point in the first post.

[Ryan Scott]

I don't get what you're saying. Do you mean including revenue streams that Forbes didn't include?

Because if every single NFL team is in the Top 50 (all 32 NFL teams), then it wouldn't even be close. That was my point in the first post.

Right. That's what I was saying that it's partly because the NFL makes more money - that's why they're all in the Top 50. But there is a big factor in that they all share the money. You wouldn't see Jacksonville or Tampa in the Top 50 without the equal revenue sharing they have in the NFL.

The NFL is king - they make the most money - but I don't think it's as dominant as is indicated by all its teams being in the top 50.

[Benjamin Burch]

Yea, well everyone knows deep down inside that Baseball is better.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Yea, well everyone knows deep down inside that Baseball is better.

If by "deep down" you mean "in my childhood," then yes. Even as recently as two years ago I would have cared more about the Red Sox than the Patriots. But I've changed. Perhaps it's the amount of time I'm willing to put into watching sports, but baseball has fallen off dramatically for me. They need to speed the game up considerably. The NFL takes way less of my time and is definitely more exciting over the whole course of the season. I'd take another Lombardi over a Commissioner's any day.

[Benjamin Burch]

If by "deep down" you mean "in my childhood," then yes. Even as recently as two years ago I would have cared more about the Red Sox than the Patriots. But I've changed. Perhaps it's the amount of time I'm willing to put into watching sports, but baseball has fallen off dramatically for me. They need to speed the game up considerably. The NFL takes way less of my time and is definitely more exciting over the whole course of the season. I'd take another Lombardi over a Commissioner's any day.

I think the pace of the game, only a 2-day commitment to watching games, and the added excitement of having to wait a whole week to see another game are big factors in the NFL's favor.

[Ryan Scott]

If by "deep down" you mean "in my childhood," then yes. Even as recently as two years ago I would have cared more about the Red Sox than the Patriots. But I've changed. Perhaps it's the amount of time I'm willing to put into watching sports, but baseball has fallen off dramatically for me. They need to speed the game up considerably. The NFL takes way less of my time and is definitely more exciting over the whole course of the season. I'd take another Lombardi over a Commissioner's any day.

For me it's more about how hard a team is playing. With the NFL there is just no chance for guys to take it easy. To win, everyone has to give it their all every game (with the exception of a few late season match-ups). With the NBA or the NHL, guys can take games or weeks or months off and know their team will still be in it come playoff time when they can step it up.

With baseball it's a little different. There are so many games that guys do have a chance to get a break. Then it's more of two teams who don't care much about each other or playing games that don't matter. Now I look more for pitching - a good pitcher works hard every start because he doesn't get too many, or teams with lots of young guys. I just want to see a good baseball game and it's becoming more difficult with how many teams there are out there.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

For me it's more about how hard a team is playing.

Right - that's what I meant when I said "more exciting over the whole course of the season."

[Jeremy D. Scott]

If by "deep down" you mean "in my childhood," then yes. Even as recently as two years ago I would have cared more about the Red Sox than the Patriots. But I've changed. Perhaps it's the amount of time I'm willing to put into watching sports, but baseball has fallen off dramatically for me. They need to speed the game up considerably.

I'm sick of Bill Simmons stealing my stuff.

Ever since my friend and I asked him to come to our journalism class our junior year of high school when he was pretty much a nobody writing for AOL Digital City Boston (he agreed, but it never materialized), I feel like sometimes I'll read his columns and see that he has a direct line to my inner head. Simmons is way funnier than I could ever be though.

(By the way, my friend eventually went on to sports journalism. I went on to the ministry.)