Most popular sports in America

Football (American Football) is the most popular sport in United States of America. Ohio league was the first professional football league established in 1903. About 20 years later, name Ohio league was replaced with National Football League(NFL). The highest level competitions in the USA are organised under the NFL. As of 2012, American Football was also the most watched sports on television in country.

Baseball, also known as United State's "national pastime" is one of the most popular sports in the country. Broadly, competitions are held at two levels - minor league baseball and major league baseball (MLB). These leagues are followed by audience not only in United States, but worldwide.

Baseball and American Football are closely followed by Basketball in terms of sports popularity in the United States. The NBA (National Basketball Association) competitions, like the MLB and NFL, are followed not only in the United States but throughout the world.

Ice hockey is the next in the list of most popular sports in USA. Ice hockey originated in the neighbouring country - Canada and soon gained popularity in North America. National Hockey League (NHL), the oldest international Ice Hockey competetion, was founded in Northen America. In 1960, America obtained its first Gold Medal in Winters Olympics. With the introduction of artificial ice rinks, Ice-Hockey has today become a very popular passtime indoor sport.

The United States of America is one of the few countries where Soccer does not enjoy a top spot in terms of popularity.

Next in the list is Lawn-Tennis - a sport in which the United States has had a glorious record.

Golf is the next most popular sport in the USA, with Tiger Woods arguably the most popular contemporary Golf figure in the world.

Pro-wrestling is the next most popular sport in United States.

Motor Sports (auto-car and motorcycle racing) come next in the list. Motor Sports became famous in America in a very small span of time after getting introduced as an official sport. NASCAR is the biggest organisation in USA, which organises motor sports races. As of 2011, it was the second most watched sports <i>on television</i> in America (after Football). There is a very popular museum in the USA named as Motor Sports Hall of Fame.

Badminton got estabished in 18th centuary in America. It has very strong roots with a rich history in this country. The first club for badminton was formed in 1878 and with time many institutes started offering badminton training.

Cricket is slowly becoming popular in United States, partly due to the Asian immigrants in the country. The United States national Cricket team has also done well at the interntional level (among the non-test playing nations). Another reason for the growing popularity of Cricket in the country is that it is the closest in form to Baseball and the reduced format of the game (T20 cricket) has made it more accessible and easy to take up.

Volleyball is among the top 5 most popular sports among American girls, more so among school going students. Volleyball is the one of the most popular passtime at beaches.

The huge coastline in the country has made water sports of various kinds very popular as a hobby as well as a competitive level in the USA.

Cycling is enjoyed by millions of people in United States as a hobby, exercise as well as competitive level. The popularity is indicated by the fact that the country's infrastructure (roads and public transport) is a cyclist friendly one.