Research — JUNE 12, 2025
State of US sports viewing, 2025
By Keith Nissen
Nearly three-quarters of surveyed internet adults in the US watch sports and the majority watch at least one of the four top US professional sports leagues: NFL football, MLB baseball, NBA basketball and NHL hockey.
➤ The most popular sport in America is football, with approximately half of surveyed internet adults watching the sport and 43% watching NFL games.
➤ Eight in 10 basketball fans watch the NBA, while two-thirds watch men’s college basketball. WNBA viewership has increased substantially over the past two years.
➤ Among viewers of the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, 61% watch more than one sport and 31% watch three or more of the leagues.
➤ Besides watching live games on TV, watching online sports highlights, clips and interviews is the most popular way for sports fans to engage with their favorite sport, league or team.
The S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan US first-quarter 2025 Consumer Insights survey found that 73% of internet adults watch sports. The most popular, by far, was football, with viewership totaling 51% of surveyed adults. About one-third of internet adults cited watching the Summer (35%) and Winter Olympics (32%), closely followed by 31% watching basketball and/or baseball. Sports such as ice hockey, soccer, golf and tennis have substantially lower viewership. Combat sports, motorsports and professional wrestling each have a small but not insignificant following among Americans.
Among total US internet adults, 43% said they watch NFL football games. Three out of 10 (29%) Americans reported watching MLB baseball and one-quarter (24%) typically watches NBA basketball games. Another 17% cited watching NHL hockey games. Viewership of all four major professional sports leagues has remained stable over the past two years.
Digging a bit deeper into the survey data shows that 87% of football fans watch NFL games and 55% watch college football. Similarly, basketball viewership is dominated by the NBA (87%) and NCAA men’s basketball (62%). Among basketball fans, WNBA basketball has grown in popularity, with viewership increasing from 19% in 2023 to 32% in 2025. The vast majority of US soccer fans (76%) said they watch FIFA men’s soccer matches and 50% cite watching FIFA women’s soccer matches, as well. The majority (55%) of soccer fans also reported watching MLS professional soccer matches.
Among total surveyed internet adults, 39% said they watch only one of the top four professional sports leagues, either NFL football, NBA basketball, MLB baseball or NHL hockey. However, another 30% reported watching two sports leagues, and 22% watch three of the four major sports leagues. Only 9% said they typically watch all four professional sports leagues.
Sports fans exhibit varying levels of sports engagement. For instance, over two-thirds (68%) of US sports fans indicated they watch live sports on TV or through an online streaming service and one-quarter (25%) indicated they attend sporting events in person. Only 12% said they pay for premium sports channels and 9% watch pay-per-view sporting events.
Besides watching sporting events, fans can also engage with their favorite sports and teams through other activities. Approximately four in 10 (38%) Americans said they often watch online sports highlights, clips and interviews and 19% listen to sports radio or podcasts. About one-quarter (22%) of internet adults have bought team merchandise and 12% interact with players’ social media accounts or fan forums. Overall, 12% of surveyed Americans bet on sports and/or participate in either paid or free fantasy sports contests.
This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.
Consumer Insights is a regular feature from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan.
The Kagan first-quarter 2025 US Consumer Insights survey was conducted in March 2025. The survey consisted of 2,501 internet adults with a margin of error of +/-1.9 ppts at the 95% confidence level. Survey data should only be used to identify general market characteristics and directional trends.