Have you ever stopped and asked yourself: What sport is the juggernaut of the United States? Well, look no further than football, the sport that takes all the attention in today’s sports climate. It’s very evident that football and soccer at Hayfield Secondary rob the attention away from smaller extracurriculars such as lacrosse and swimming, but why is this the case? Well, among other reasons, high school football fascination is primarily due to the sport’s ever-growing pop-culture relevance, and its role as America’s staple sport.
While lacrosse, soccer, diving, etc. are well liked and still have their following at our very own school, football reigns undeniably supreme among the various sports. No hype is generated quite like it is for the one and only, and much of that is due to already established cultural relevance.
According to statistics recorded by Gallup, 41% of American adults state that football is their favorite sport, as it has been the most popular since 1972. Before football, baseball was the king of America’s sports, but its top percentage never topped footballs all time, with baseball having an all time 39% vote. Mind you, these percentages are from people who enjoy watching these games, not necessarily playing them.
Features article on “how football became America’s sport,” deep dives into how the game became so popular. Media and broadcasting did, no pun intended, change the game; yet in today’s sports atmosphere, we have culture to thank for football’s superiority.
People feel more motivated to go to football games simply because they are already the most popular, relevant, and hype-generating sport out there, regardless of what school you are at. There is no game in the US quite like football, as it’s shown that the joy people get from watching such a grand sport that’s perceived as the top of them all, is always assumed to be a good time. It’s easy to go out to a football game with friends to socialize and get excited over the intense interactions between players, and the crowd’s cheers of excitement.
Why football? Well, much of its entertainment value and reasons to watch such a sport could be applied to any other game. Above all else in the case of football, it’s because of its already reaffirmed relevance in all of the media, therefore,the sport creates naturally generated hype around itself. Cornell Blogs has an article on this very topic, citing football as an “American staple and tradition”. The blog also reiterates the intensity of the sport. Football’s intense nature generally makes it more exciting.
To conclude my various points before I begin to sound like a broken record, football is Hayfield Secondary Schools most popular sports game, all thanks to the sports pop culture relevancy thanks to media, and its long history of getting fans excited for every game.
