Survey Ranks Top Sports Among TV Viewers

With this summer's strikes hurting the flow of new content into TV and streaming platforms, live sports have become an even more important programming staple, with 70% of Americans saying they watch live sports, according to a new survey from Reviews.org.

TVTechnology reports the survey also ranked the importance of the various sporting leagues, with the NFL, not surprisingly ranking as the #1 most-watched live sport, with 65% of live sports fans watching it regularly, followed by the NBA (#2) at 50%, and MLB (#3) at 42% viewership.

Other sports in the top ten include college football (#4) and basketball (#5), NASCAR (#6), NHL Hockey (#7), Formula 1 Racing (#8), UFC (#9), and Bellator Mixed Martial Arts (Bellator MMA) (#10), according to Reviews.org.

The survey also found that tuning in via cable and satellite is still the most popular way to watch, with 35% of live sports fans subscribing to cable or satellite providers for their favorite sports. But Americans are increasingly accessing live sports via streaming platforms, with 28% of Americans using streaming services to watch live sports. Amazon Prime Video is the most popular streaming service for live sports, with 51% of live sports fans using it, Reviews.org reported.

Usage of streaming services also varies by age according to Reviews.org. More than half (52%) of Millennials use on-demand streaming services to watch live sports, compared to only 12% of Boomers. Alternatively, 60% of Boomers use satellite or TV to watch live sports, compared to only 35% of Millennials.


90% of sports fans know where they can watch local sports teams in their area, but only 40% know what a regional sports network is.