In a September 2024 survey, ** percent of respondents in the United States identified as college football (NCAA) fans. Meanwhile, ** percent of respondents described themselves as diehard fans.

There are millions of sports fans across the United States, from those religiously following an NFL team to avid tennis fans or those who watch every Formula One Grand Prix. During an April 2023 survey in the United States, 44 percent of male respondents stated that they were avid sports fans. Meanwhile, this figure was just 15 percent among female respondents.

National Football League fans in the U.S.

Football is a widely enjoyed sport in the United States, as is evident from the millions of fans who tune in to watch their favorite teams compete every Monday night. The sport enjoys a diverse viewer demographic, with more than two thirds of white, Hispanic, and Black participants in an online survey identifying as either an avid or casual fan of football in January 2023. The survey also investigated the level of interest in the NFL in the U.S. broken down by gender, with a significantly larger share of men identifying as avid fans of the sport than women.

Women’s professional sports fans in the U.S.

Women’s professional sports viewership in the U.S. has grown significantly in recent years, helped at least partially by tournament victories across a wide range of sporting categories. When asked about the reason behind their interest in women’s sport in the U.S., nearly a third of respondents highlighted international events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup as primary motivators for their interest. Meanwhile, when asked about the role of advertisers in promoting the growth of women’s sport in the U.S., more than half of survey participants believed that media agencies had a responsibility to do so.

In the 2023 NFL season, the average number of a "Thursday Night Football" (TNF) game exclusively available on Amazon Prime Video peaked at around ***** million in the U.S., up from **** million in the previous season. Younger audiences in particular tend to watch NFL games on streaming services. Among the age group 18 to 49 years, the viewership of TNF grew by around ******* between 2022 and 2023.

The National Football League comprises 32 teams from across the United States competing in two conferences split roughly by region. The NFL is one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the United States, with televised games attracting millions of viewers each week. A January 2025 survey found that 24 percent of women in the U.S. considered the NFL to be their top interest. Meanwhile, the share of American men who considered the NFL their top interest was 36 percent.

The NCAA college football semifinal on January 1, 2021 was disputed between the teams Notre Dame and Alabama. The game had the highest rating and number of viewers of the whole season, with 9.6 and approximately 19 million viewers. Given the popularity of college football in the U.S., it is no surprise that the league’s playoff and championship games are among the most watched sporting events in the country year after year.

What is the significance of TV ratings?

TV ratings are a type of audience measurement system which determine the percentage of TV-households that tune in for a certain program. The shows or events that capture the highest share of available viewers earn the highest ratings numbers, and high ratings attract advertisement and sponsorship money, as companies battle to get air-time in front of large national audiences.

College football as an industry

Although technically not a professional sport, hundreds of millions of dollars are on the line each year in the world of college football. Tens of millions of fans attend games each year, crowding inside some of the largest stadiums in the entire world to watch their favorite teams battle for wins. Unpaid student-athletes generate massive revenues for their school, with many college football programs generating revenue numbers that would draw the envy of large companies.

College football takes place in organized leagues between teams of students from different universities in the U.S. and Canada. The leagues are organized by the NCAA, which is the sports association that organizes a wide range of sports for colleges and students. In a survey conducted in April 2023, around ** percent of respondents aged 35 to 44 stated that they were avid fans of college football in the United States.

Monday Night Football on ESPN averaged around 15 million viewers in the United States during the 2024 NFL regular season. This marked a fall from the previous season's figure, but an increase of 12 percent on the average audience during the 2022 season. Sunday, Monday, happy nights The NFL has primetime games that are broadcast across the entire United States by one major network on Thursday night, Sunday night, and Monday night – these games start at around 8:30 pm Eastern Time. Sunday Night Football consistently remains the most viewed television show in the United States, with other NFL broadcasts also featuring high in the ranking every ear. TV networks pay top dollar The NFL generates an estimated 10 billion U.S. dollars per year from broadcasting rights deals, a figure that has increased significantly over the years. ESPN agreed on a nine-year deal with the NFL – at an average annual cost of 2.7 billion U.S. dollars, ensuring the network has the rights to show Monday Night Football until at least 2032. Following on from this, Amazon Prime won the rights to Thursday Night Football for an estimated 1.2 billion U.S. dollars annually.

The National Football League comprises 32 teams from across the United States competing in two conferences split roughly by region. The NFL is one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the United States, with televised games attracting millions of viewers each week. This survey depicts the level of interest in the NFL in the United States, and it showed that 42 percent of Black respondents were avid fans of the NFL as of April 2023.

The graph depicts the poll results for a survey about watching football games. Football fans were asked whether they prefer watching college football games or NFL football games. 43.6 percent of the respondents said they prefer NFL football games, 33.2 percent prefer college games, and 22.3 percent of football fans like both equally.

This graph shows the public opinion towards football fans in France in 2019. It appears that ** percent of respondents stated having a rather good opinion on football fans.

In February 2023 it was found that Instagram was home to ** percent of followers of the ten most popular football clubs on social media. Overall, one third of leading football clubs' audience could be found on Facebook, and ** percent could be found on Twitter. TikTok held just **** percent of the audience of the top ten football clubs on social media.

The NFL is one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the United States, with televised games attracting millions of viewers each week. As of April 2025, a survey determined that 26 percent of respondents in the United States considered the NFL to be their top interest.

The statistic shows figures on the television ratings and viewership figures for NCAA college football games in the United States from August 25, 2016 to January 9, 2017. The ACC conference game in Week Five between Louisville and Clemson, broadcast on ABC on Saturday, October 1, was watched by a total of 9.3 million viewers.

The figures for the 2017/2018 season can be found here.

This graph shows the distribution of the NCAA football Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games television audience in the United States in the ******* Series, divided by age group. Viewers aged 18 to 34 comprised ** percent of the BCS bowl games television audience during the ******* Series.

The 2025 edition of the Super Bowl, which saw the Philadelphia Eagles emerge victorious against the Kansas City Chiefs was watched by ***** million viewers in the United States, making it not only the most watched Super Bowl in history, but also the most popular TV program of all time in the U.S. The second most watched Super Bowl was aired in the previous year, when the Kansas City Chiefs won against the San Francisco 49ers. What is the Super Bowl? The Super Bowl is the last game of the NFL season with the winners of the two football conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC), competing with each other. The game determines the champion of the National Football League. The first Super Bowl was played on January 15, 1967, following the 1966 football season. In that game, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, then of the American Football League, with a score of 35 to 10, winning the first-ever Super Bowl championship. Super Bowl giants The Super Bowl came into being as part of a merger agreement between the two rival football leagues (National Football League and the American Football League) at the time. From 1967 to 1970, the game pitted the champions of the two rival leagues against each other. Since 1971 and the completion of the merger agreement, the winners of the two conferences have squared off against each other. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots have won the most Super Bowl titles, with a total of * each. The Patriots have also appeared in the National Football League’s annual championship game a record ** times, thereby topping the list for Super Bowl appearances.

There are millions of sports fans across the United States, from religiously following an NFL team to being avid tennis fans or watching every Formula One Grand Prix. During an April 2023 survey in the United States, 37 percent of respondents aged 35 to 44 stated that they were avid sports fans. This figure dropped to 17 percent among respondents aged 65 and older.

In 2022, an estimation of about *** million people in China were football enthusiasts. As the country's disposable income level is on a rise, more fans would be willing to pay to watch football matches.

According to a survey on the consumer behavior of football fans in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in 2022, ** percent of respondents were receptive to ads associated with big football events. On the other hand, ** percent of respondents have found most ads during big football events to be interesting in that year.

The statistic displays the average number of travelling fans per match in the Football League 2 in the United Kingdom (UK) from season 2010/2011 to season 2016/2017. During the 2016/2017 season, there were 484 travelling fans on average per match in the Football League 2.

American Football is one of the most popular sports in the United States, enjoyed by thousands of people live in the stadiums and millions more back home. A January 2020 survey showed that 33 percent of respondents very much enjoyed watching American Football on TV.