Most Popular Football in America - NFL or College?

[slydways]

OK...you say the NFL gets 18.7 Neilson...College 15.7 for Championship and 9 for average game.

1. Neilson Ratings are suspect ...small sample groups...basically a "Poll"...Ticket sales are pure math.
2. NFL is shown around the world...College is usually not...and I am only discussing American popularity.
3. You mentioned "success" several times...success comes from spending millions on advertizing ...something the NFL does well. But I'm not discussing success.
4. All 32 NFL teams are televised every week. Only a small fraction of College Football is shown. A few select teams of the 126 members of the FBS Division. Can you imagine what the "Neilson Ratings" would be if ALL 710 College Teams were shown every week?

Sorry....If we had "equal time" in TV broadcasting...instead of the richest guys buying up all the programming time....College football would still clobber the NFL. Do the math. All those fans making College Football so much more popular out there going to stadiums...would LOVE to have their team on TV...they just don't have the money to "Buy" the time from the networks or local stations. It is impossible to gauge the popularity of College vs NFL by using TV ratings...they are unequally broadcasted. So...College Football...by using the only reliable and statistically accurate measurement (ticket sales)...is the more popular...by more than 4x.

[BelieverInTeal]

OK...you say the NFL gets 18.7 Neilson...College 15.7 for Championship and 9 for average game.

1. Neilson Ratings are suspect ...small sample groups...basically a "Poll"...Ticket sales are pure math.
2. NFL is shown around the world...College is usually not...and I am only discussing American popularity.
3. You mentioned "success" several times...success comes from spending millions on advertizing ...something the NFL does well. But I'm not discussing success.
4. All 32 NFL teams are televised every week. Only a small fraction of College Football is shown. A few select teams of the 126 members of the FBS Division. Can you imagine what the "Neilson Ratings" would be if ALL 710 College Teams were shown every week?

Sorry....If we had "equal time" in TV broadcasting...instead of the richest guys buying up all the programming time....College football would still clobber the NFL. Do the math. All those fans making College Football so much more popular out there going to stadiums...would LOVE to have their team on TV...they just don't have the money to "Buy" the time from the networks or local stations. It is impossible to gauge the popularity of College vs NFL by using TV ratings...they are unequally broadcasted. So...College Football...by using the only reliable and statistically accurate measurement (ticket sales)...is the more popular...by more than 4x.

1. That's why I used games on the same weekend for the comparison as well as games that had similar amount of time to build up. If you're concerned about great variability in the numbers based on a small sample, we can add the number of cases to our study. The highest rated conference championship was the Auburn-Mizzou game, coming in at 8.6 or 14.4 million households. Through Nov. 7, 2013, 19 of the 20 highest rated TV programs were NFL games, each averaging over 20 million viewers. 20 million vs 14.4 million is no small difference and certainly not one you can chalk up to variability unless you had some evidence of what the variability might be.

It's also telling that CBS was more than happy to post their 9.0 rating from the A&M-Alabama game instead of holding it back and appealing to Nielsen to check the numbers again and see if it was higher.
2. I thought it was understood that we are only talking about American popularity. All of the TV numbers I posted are from American TV sets only.
4 It would make no difference because unlike you, I am not using total numbers when I'm talking about ratings. I'm matching best against best.

NFL teams are not "buying" time on CBS, NBC, FOX or ESPN because they themselves are the ones being paid. The league as a whole will make $6.9 billion a year in TV revenue which also doesn't include the costs that each network pays to produce hour long pre and post game shows. Speaking of the FBS teams in particular, they are also getting paid to have their games broadcasted. But by no means are they being paid the billions that the NFL gets. This isn't because college football is some overlooked, diamond in the rough because it's been around for longer than pro football has existed. The fact of the matter is that college football rights just aren't worth as much as NFL rights.

Your other point where you added the total attendance in both systems is amusing. Under that same logic, Bowling Green was better at running the ball than Alabama last season because they gained 2,762 yards to Alabama's 2,673.

[superben21]

In the question of popularity Pro Football is obviously the winner. Counting fans in the stands as a total number has nothing to do with popularity of the sport. TV is what the country goes by. Ratings determine popularity. NCIS is the #1 drama on TV, that doesn't mean it is the best television show. Pro Football is the #1 Sport on TV (by such a landslide its not even fair), doesn't mean its the best product.

I live decently close to Pittsburgh and I'm a Browns fan. Around here there is no such thing as a casual fan. Fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters all go nuts for their team. Every single weekend. Throughout the week its trash talking like usual. Doesn't matter if its April or May, Browns and Steelers fans never stop.

In this same geographical area, everyone is a fair weather Ohio State fan. If OSU is doing well they get talked about, if they're not, they don't. They never get talked about during the offseason barely. I personally am a Notre Dame fan (family tradition) which allows me to watch my team almost every week. I recognize, however, the college football base here is much weaker probably because this is the hot bed for Pro Football and is within distance of one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports, the Pro Football HOF, and within five hours of at least four pro teams (1/8 of the league if you think about it).

Personally, I prefer watching either my teams or simply close, competitive games. I enjoy watching big college games such as Alabama-LSU, Notre Dame-Stanford, Texas-Texas A&M, and Ohio State-Michigan. I watch every Notre Dame game I get a chance too until a blowout occurs. I hate blowouts. I don't care if my team is winning or losing, watching a blowout is plain boring to me. I would define a blowout as +24 point differential. On the flip side I enjoy watching any close NFL game except maybe Jacksonville-Houston

When comparing the two sports I enjoy watching my broken, dysfunctional Browns team play more than watching ND play even though ND is very respectable and never awful. Cleveland is ALWAYS awful! Yet I go to their games when I get a chance, watch them on TV if I get the game, and listen on the radio if I don't watch (or when the TV announcers suck so bad because the Browns radio announcers are just the best).

I see both sides of the argument for why you would like NCAA or NFL better. When asking which one is more popular it is obviously the NFL. Then again as long as it stays tackle I like it

[RevanFan]

I know that, personally, the area in which I live is loaded with rabid pro football fans right now. Everyone is trash talking everyone, people are going crazy. Sure, that might be because just down the thruway and across the river is the Super Bowl, but the fans in the Hudson Valley are usually very committed, even when their team is being slaughtered.

[slydways]

Half the people... that will watch the Superbowl on TV this week....are only there to see the commercials and the halftime show. The NFL to me...has...over the years... become nothing more than a "show". I am old. I remember the old NFL. I liked it...a lot. No celebrations , no fist or chest bumping , no dancing in the end-zone. Just Jim Brown...running around and through the best defenders in the league. And they would pile on and pummel him and give him everything they had. And after he got up...slowly...ever so slowly...without the hint of any pain...he would simply turn to them and smile. And do it again. That was NFL Football.




In closing....if you use TV ratings as your guide for popularity.( TV is on that station...even though dad is sleeping on the couch...and not watching)..then the NFL is more popular. If you use real people , who actually go to the stadium...who actually watch their beloved team...then it is college football... hands down...do the math.

[Littleware]

In my opinion college football in America is more popular than NFL. The NFL just promotes, advertises and markets it's product on a higher level than the NCAA can match! The diehard fan base of college football is unrivaled. I attended Western Michigan, I went to every home game and we loaded the vans to go on the road to support the team across the MAC conference. My oldest bro played for Ohio U Bobcats, another played for Northern Illinois Huskies. My family did not miss a home or road game until both got injured and ended their playing careers! How many people do you know drive 5,7,10 or 14 hours to see a game in the NFL? Here is Michigan that happens every weekend during college football season!

NFL teams give away hundreds/thousands of unsold tickets every game to fill seats to gain televised coverage! So just because a fan is there, is it really for the love of the game?

Ahh yes, the casual NFL fan, not a season ticket owner. There are100x more casual fan's in NFL than in NCAA football. NFL has millions of casual fans, while NCAA football has way more diehard fans that gladly pay and travel to see the rising stars of their community. NFL fans get complimentary tickets to the games by working for a company that sponsors the team. He tail gates, get totally drunk and then wants to talk drunken sports, just for the sake of debating anyone who says something different with no real point to prove. Casual fans don't count. Casual fans are the one who showed up because tickets are free, and only want to get out of the house for the day.

Casual fans are here in Detroit, lots of them. I go to at least 3 Lions games every year and I'm amazed on how quiet 20,000+ so-called diehard, yet uninspired fans can be if the game gets dull and uninteresting(meaning the home team is getting waxed)! In Detroit, at the lions home games you will see groups of single women dawning NFL apparel, sexy as heaven can be, watch the game on TV's from the bar inside the stadium, never goes to their seats to actually see the live game, only there to flirt with the guys, no interest in the game, just looking for a good man! I'm pretty sure that goes on in other NFL stadiums across the nation!

I have worked for two of the big three auto makers here, and I tell you tickets to all the home games are like Burger King Coupons. I never heard of any college giving away tickets to any sporting evens, maybe a raffle to win a pair, but no regular freebees!
College football rules!