In the United States, the NFL is the dominant sports league, and combined with the college game, American football effectively stands as the most popular sport in the country. However, the NFL and the sport, in general, are sliding, as is the other giant and former holder of the top spot, MLB and baseball. So, given how quickly it’s taken to new modern trends like social media, and the reach of the sport, could the NBA muscle its way up the popularity charts over the coming decades?

NFL remains dominant, but the NBA is getting stronger

Basketball is seeing increases in participation and viewership in the US, and while these gains are fairly incremental, the slide of football and the NFL is quite profound. Tackle football participation has sunk to its lowest since 1998, top college game attendances have dropped by around ten per cent, and the Super Bowl continues to hit new ratings and viewership bracket lows since peaking in 2015.

As astutely discussed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a column for The Guardian, the decline of football seems to be a result of a changing perception of the sport. This spans from the indisputable fact that the sport causes chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), with the brain damage being found in the brains of professionals and pre-pro players. This is much more than an image problem, and likely something that the NFL can’t ever shake.

The NBA, on the other hand, is fast-moving, incredibly athletic, and doesn’t inherently cause long-term harm to the players’ brains. While the NBA is still quite far behind the NFL in terms of profit, it’s starting to encroach in some ratings – some late playoffs games can even rival Thursday Night Football viewership figures.

Still, though, all ten of the most-watched sports events in the US in 2020 were NFL games according to Statista. Even then, the NFL recognizes that the NBA is encroaching on their American sports dominance so much so that the football league recently scheduled games on Christmas day, a day that was and has been owned by the NBA for decades. We read that as the NFL grasping for eyes; knowing that the NBA is growing rapidly.

Plenty of room for growth with basketball

The MLB and NFL have soared to the top of the US profits rankings by positioning themselves exclusively as America’s games. American football is all but non-existent elsewhere, and baseball is secluded to some Caribbean nations and Japan – which has its own wildly popular major league. Basketball, on the other hand, is much more of a global sport.

There are several European leagues that garner decent attendance and viewership figures, the NBA is a respected presence in many regions, and the major league has broken into China. Some estimates even put basketball as the third-most supported sport in the world – behind golf and the insurmountable football. Back home – for the NBA, that is – the sport can already go toe-to-toe with the NFL in at least one regard.

As found across Europe, basketball is an incredibly popular sport for bettors. While the NFL is dominant across its much shorter season, the sheer volume of games and betting options available for the NBA holds it as a massive draw. In fact, across the legal sports betting sites in the country, there’s also March Madness to consider, which is a gargantuan betting event in the US. From betting on specific game events to futures, basketball has a lot to offer, and even if a fan only follows one team, that team plays multiple games each week, which can each be bet on online.

The incredible popularity of March Madness may also hold the secret to growing the NBA too. Despite not being a professional league with players at the highest level, the most-watched games of March Madness fall less than a million viewers short of the most-watched NBA game ever. The shorter format makes games more intense, as does the chance for an underdog to steal the show – which the 2021 NBA Playoffs format may be able to showcase somewhat.

Culturally and socially, the NBA is more influential

Given the NBA’s quick adoption of social media and the kind of flash-driven content prioritized, it seems as though the March Madness format would be more appealing to these more modern fans who perhaps have shorter attention spans than fans of the past. Superstars have been around for decades, thus why we have the latest ‘versus’ debate for who many consider to be the greatest of all-time, but now they’ve mastered fan connection.

Players are encouraged to use social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, giving instant, personal updates to fans that enhance their connections and increase their marketability. The increased engagement brings the fans even closer to the sport and its stars, enhancing the longevity of fan dedication and encouraging more to tune in. Perhaps the biggest indicator that the sport is trending upwards is the fact that LeBron James only trails Cristiano Ronaldo in their social media followings. As for the sport, 11 of the 100 most-followed athletes in 2019 hailed from basketball, which ties for second with cricket.

The NBA is growing because it’s progressive, modern, and the sport has global appeal, whereas the NFL may be increasingly seen as outdated and unable to adapt to modern thinking. Nothing will change too soon, though, but the NBA is certainly moving in the right direction to move to the top should the leaders slip.