> I would guess an average soapie episode has more viewers than an average match
Very few of these are special events; most of the games on this list are roughly the equivalent of, like, an Everton-Burnley match on a random Tuesday in February. Imagine if that match drew more viewers than the Eurovision final - that is the level of dominance that sports have over the American entertainment landscape.
There’s a reason Amazon is paying the NFL $1 billion per year for a single weekly game package.
> we're comparing stadium visitors with the draw of netflix, social media, games, etc.
Even on this basis, it’s clear that sports are still thriving. Once this NBA season is over, total attendance for the 2021-22 MLB, NFL, and NBA seasons is likely going to be ~90 million. Obviously many people go more than once, but still: 90 million people through the gates in one year, and that doesn’t even include the NHL or college football.
It’s also worth pointing out that two of the top five and three of the top 15 best-selling video games in 2021 were sports games licensed by those three leagues.
Very few of these are special events; most of the games on this list are roughly the equivalent of, like, an Everton-Burnley match on a random Tuesday in February. Imagine if that match drew more viewers than the Eurovision final - that is the level of dominance that sports have over the American entertainment landscape.
There’s a reason Amazon is paying the NFL $1 billion per year for a single weekly game package.
> we're comparing stadium visitors with the draw of netflix, social media, games, etc.
Even on this basis, it’s clear that sports are still thriving. Once this NBA season is over, total attendance for the 2021-22 MLB, NFL, and NBA seasons is likely going to be ~90 million. Obviously many people go more than once, but still: 90 million people through the gates in one year, and that doesn’t even include the NHL or college football.
It’s also worth pointing out that two of the top five and three of the top 15 best-selling video games in 2021 were sports games licensed by those three leagues.