Baseball continues to be one of the most popular games in America, despite a recent decline in popularity. Some places, including New York and Cincinnati, are even referred to as “Baseball Cities.”
Baseball is the sport that most locals in these places favor over other sports. Major League Baseball is the premier and most well-known baseball league in the United States (MLB). The oldest professional sports league in the world is this one.
There is an ever-lasting debate about whether baseball (MLB) or basketball (NBA) is more popular in America.
The NBA had over 66 million Instagram followers at the end of the previous season, making it the most popular professional sports account and the ninth most popular “brand account” overall.
Additionally, games on ESPN averaged 1.4 million viewers on average, a 17 percent rise, while the NBA on ABC package averaged 3.03 million people, a 13% gain.
However, due to the numerous variables, the answer to the question is complicated.
In order to determine whether baseball is more popular than basketball, we delve deeper into the statistics.
Is Baseball More Popular Than Basketball?
Globally, basketball is more popular than baseball. According to the Federation of International Basketball Associations, at least 450 million individuals worldwide participate in the sport.
In contrast, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) has been citing a figure that about 65 million people worldwide play baseball or softball.
There are also roughly 75,000–150,000 professional basketball players worldwide, while supporters are in the billions, and about 17-18 million people regularly watch the NBA.
As the numbers indicate, basketball is more popular globally than baseball; we explain this in more detail below.
A Comparison Between the Popularity
Due to the prevalence of the question, “is baseball more popular than basketball?” we decided to contrast the two sports’ statistical data.
In this approach, the differences in the viewership and participation statistics between the two are evident:
- As per Statista, the average NBA regular season home attendance from 2006/07 to 2021/22 hovers at around 17000 visitors.
- In contrast, as per Forbes, MLB attendance is down from 28,339 visitors in 2019 to 26,483 in 2022.
Take into account that MLB is played in stadiums and basketball in arenas.
- The average number of TV viewers in the USA hovers around 13 million for the NBA and around 9 million for MLB.
We can see from the data above that baseball and, consequently, the MLB has less attraction in America than basketball does.
However, attendance figures of the MLB are higher than those of the NBA and basketball, more generally in the United States.
Therefore, it’s easy to say that in the United States, the NBA is more popular than MLB. Also, globally, basketball is more popular than baseball.
How Much is Live Action There in Basketball vs. Baseball?
I began searching for “Ball in Play” studies for basketball and baseball in order to compare and contrast the TV viewer experience.
Below is what I’ve discovered (all sources are referenced inline).
In basketball, it’s quite simple to assume that there’s action if the clock is ticking.
However, details for baseball are more difficult to come by due to the lack of a clock.
Baseball
Baseball games last 17 minutes and 58 seconds, according to a 2013 WSJ survey.
Baseball games have grown in duration over the years, thanks in part to the eighteen yearly four-hour marathons between the slow Boston Red Sox and equally slow New York Yankees.
However, the level of activity has remained essentially constant. For example, a 1952 television broadcast had approximately 13 minutes of action but only 9 minutes and 45 seconds of ads.
According to the most recent WSJ analysis, 42 minutes and 41 seconds of inactivity between innings would be solely commercial time on TV broadcasts.
That implies there are approximately five times as many commercials now as there were 50 years ago.
The average baseball game time decreased by 6 minutes in 2015, thanks to the revised tempo of play restrictions.
In 2017, ESPN conducted a study of the 2017 playoffs, which have been lagging.
The average MLB postseason game last year lasted 3 hours and 35 minutes, an increase of 10 minutes from 2016 and an astounding 21 minutes over 2015.
I see that the playoff is more strategically oriented and that pitchers are on quick hooks since there is little time, but 3hrs 35mins is awful.
Basketball
NBA games last an average of 2 hours and 18 minutes.
Working backward (because the clock only runs while the ball is in-play, and we know there are exactly 48 minutes of playtime), we know that a normal NBA game has 138-48 = 90 minutes of “downtime” of some kind.
That is not all commercial time, but it is all inactivity. Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate any data on the average number of ads, so I split the difference in the table below between on-screen inaction and off-screen advertising.
As far as participants are concerned, baseball and basketball have the most in America.
Is Basketball the Most Popular Sport on Earth?
No, basketball is not the most popular sport in the world in terms of spectators and participation, according to estimations.
The five most popular sports in the world, according to World Atlas, are soccer (4 billion fans/participants), cricket (2.5 billion fans/participants), hockey (2 billion fans/participants), tennis (1 billion fans/participants), and volleyball (900 million fans/participants).
What can we infer from this? Actually, soccer is much more popular than most other sports. Therefore, despite the impression that baseball stories, games, and discussions permeate daily life in the US, the sport is actually only particularly well-liked there.
When you travel outside of North America, you’ll notice that basketball and soccer are the most popular sports and that only a few isolated regions actually support Major League Baseball.
Besides Basketball and Baseball, Which are the Most Popular Sports in the US?
Although basketball and baseball are exceptionally popular in the USA, they’re not the only sports, nor the most popular.
The three additional most popular sports in America are listed in the table below:
| Sport | Viewership % of the population | Participants |
| American Football (NFL) | 38.80% | 6-9 million |
| Soccer (MLS) | 8.20% | 13.6 million |
| Ice hockey (NHL) | 3.80% | 3.1 million |
Source: Sports Browser, 2022
The table shows us that American football is the most popular sport in the United States regarding viewership and the fourth most popular in terms of participants (after basketball, baseball and soccer).
As far as participants are concerned, baseball and basketball have the most in America.
The table shows us that American football is the most popular in the United States regarding viewership and the fourth most popular in terms of participants (after basketball, baseball, and soccer).
The Verdict: Is Baseball More Popular Than Basketball?
As you have learned from this article, the answer to the question – is baseball more popular than basketball – isn’t straightforward. Here’s a recap of what we’ve learned:
- Globally, in terms of participation and supporter base, basketball is more popular than baseball.
- More people (13 million) watch the NBA on TV in the US than the MLB (9 million).
- More fans attend MLB matches in the US (around 26000) than in basketball matches (around 17000).
- More people play basketball in the US and globally (450 million) than baseball (75-150 million).
Therefore, we conclude that basketball is more popular than baseball globally, as well as in the United States.
The NBA is watched by more people and enjoys much more air time in the country, and the times when the MLB and baseball match the incredible popularity of the wonderful game of basketball are likely behind us.
