It's no secret that Americans love their football. TV ratings will tell you that the NFL is easily the most popular sport. However, a recent Harris poll released by the NFL will still probably surprise you and football's lead is growing. 36% of people polled, better than a 3rd of the country, say that the NFL is their favorite sport. That number is up from 31% last year and the growth seems to come directly at baseball's expense. 17% of people reported that baseball was their favorite sport last year, but its down to 13% this year.
↵When you factor in that college football is now tied with baseball at 13%, it means that nearly half of all Americans see football of some kind as their favorite sport.
↵Here's the full ranking of American's favorite sports according to the Harris Poll.
↵↵ RANK ↵ | ↵↵ SPORT ↵ | ↵↵ PERCENT ↵ | ↵
↵ 1 ↵ | ↵↵ Pro Football ↵ | ↵↵ 36 ↵ | ↵
↵ 2 ↵ | ↵↵ Baseball ↵ | ↵↵ 13 ↵ | ↵
↵ 3 ↵ | ↵↵ College Football ↵ | ↵↵ 13 ↵ | ↵
↵ 4 ↵ | ↵↵ Auto Racing ↵ | ↵↵ 8 ↵ | ↵
↵ T5 ↵ | ↵↵ Men’s Pro Basketball, Men’s College Basketball, Hockey ↵ | ↵↵ 5 ↵ | ↵