most popular professional sports in the united states
Sports in the United States Sports in the United States are an important part of the country's culture. Based on revenue, the four major professional sports leagues in the United States are Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL). The market for professional sports in the United States is roughly $69 billion, roughly 50% larger than that of all of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined.[1] Major League Soccer is sometimes included in a "top five" of leagues of the country. All four enjoy wide-ranging domestic media coverage and are considered the preeminent leagues in their respective sports in the world, although only basketball, baseball, and ice hockey have substantial followings in other nations. Three of those leagues have teams that represent Canadian cities, and all four are the most financially lucrative sports leagues of their sport. Football is the most popular sport in the United States followed by basketball, baseball, and soccer[2]. Tennis, golf, wrestling, auto racing, arena football, field lacrosse, box lacrosse and volleyball are also popular sports in the country.
Sports in California California currently has 19 major professional sports franchises, far more than any other US state. The San Francisco Bay Area has seven major league teams spread amongst three cities: San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. The Greater Los Angeles Area has twelve major league teams. San Diego and Sacramento each have one major league team.