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.

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.

An August 2022 survey in the United States revealed that respondents were fairly divided about their intentions to tune into the new NFL season. While 47 percent of male respondents planned to watch NFL games on TV in the new season, just over 50 percent of female respondents stated that they had no intention of doing so.

The National Football League (NFL) is an American professional football league consisting of 32 teams. During an April 2021 survey in the UK, a majority of male respondents, 47 percent, and a majority of female respondents, 54 percent, stated that they were not a fan of the NFL.

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 36 percent of male respondents stated that they were avid fans of college football in the United States.

Watching sports is one of the most popular hobbies across the world. Whether it be soccer, cricket, American Football, or baseball, live sports has viewers of all ages glued to the screen. During a 2019 survey, it was found that 76 percent of respondents who watched sports more often than any other content were male.

The graph depicts the poll results for a survey about being a football fan, by gender. People were asked whether they consider themselves to be a football fan or not. 74.6 percent of all male respondents consider themselves football fans as well as 51.5 percent of all female respondents.

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.

This statistic shows the level of interest in the National Football League in the United States by gender in 2017. 47 percent of female survey respondents said they are not at all interested in the National Football League.

There are widely considered to be four major professional men's sports leagues in the United States and Canada - NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. The professional soccer league (MLS) has also achieved some popularity in the United States in recent years. During a 2019 survey, 39 percent of male respondents stated that the National Football League, NFL, was their favorite men's U.S. professional sports league to follow.

A survey on online sports consumption in China revealed that about 75 percent of football streaming users were males, as of June 2019. Live sports streaming has become a massive market in China, which is currently led by PP Sports, Tencent Sports, and iQiyi Sports.

The English Premier League is the top division of professional football in England. In 2021, just over 70 percent of viewers of the EPL in the United Kingdom were male. Meanwhile, 29 percent of Premier League viewers were female.

According to a survey from early 2025, men were more likely to watch the Super Bowl than women, with 72 percent of male respondents at least somewhat likely planning to watch the highlight of the NFL season. By contrast, the share of women who planned to watch the Super Bowl in 2025 was 62 percent.

A 2024 survey of female and non-binary football fans in England and Wales revealed that 47 percent of respondents had seen no change to their matchday experience in recent years. Meanwhile, 28 percent of respondents said that their experience had slightly improved.

A 2024 survey of female and non-binary football fans in England and Wales found that one in five respondents had been questioned about their understanding of the rules due to their gender. Additionally, 14 percent reported having felt unwelcome in a football environment.

This graph shows the number of the NFL regular season female television viewers from 2013 to 2015, by age. According to the source, over 2.4 million females aged 18 to 49 watched NFL in the United States in 2015.

In 2019, most Italian fans of Juventus Football Club were men. However, a rather balanced distribution of Italian male and female fans of Juventus was recorded over the period considered. Indeed, the survey conducted by YouGov Italia shows that male fans of Juventus F.C. in Italy accounted for 53 percent of all interviewees in the selected year. Juventus F.C. from Turin, also known as Juve, is one the most successful football teams in Italy. As of 2019, it was the Serie A team that won the highest number of scudetto, namely the Italian football championships.

A 2024 survey of female and non-binary football fans in England and Wales revealed that 58 percent of respondents felt safe and welcome when attending matches. Meanwhile, over one in five respondents reported feeling unsafe.

According to a survey from 2020, roughly one in two female respondents in Italy was not interested in soccer. Specifically, 54 percent of female interviewees was not interested in this sport, while only 26 percent of male Italians stated the same. Moreover, only six percent of female respondents watched matches or read football news daily or almost every day. Overall, most female respondents interested in football claimed to be occasional football fans.

A 2024 survey of female and non-binary football fans in England and Wales found that 30 percent of respondents had witnessed whistling or wolf-whistling during a match. Additionally, 16 percent of respondents reported having seen someone threatened with physical violence.