Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this forum article are those of the author, and are not endorsed by the Franklin Post or Franklin High School.
Introduction
Fiery debates and heated discussions over sports controversies, from the most obsolete statistics to the greatest players of all time, are found in sports bars, on park benches, and even over Thanksgiving dinner. Today, that heated debate spirit is taken into the Franklin Post. Two Editors and sports fanatics take on the age-old question: what is the best sport to watch? Is it football, as Oliver McMaster claims? Or does Jake Lubin have the edge in arguing for basketball? Keep reading to find out!
Football
Football dominates the U.S. when it comes to viewership. According to Streaming Media Blog, in the 2022-23 season, the National Football League’s (NFL) worst program was Thursday Night Football, with an average viewership of 11.8 million viewers. Yet, The National Basketball Association (NBA) finals — their most viewed game — that year peaked at 13.9 million viewers. This means the most viewed NBA game has barely more views than the least viewed NFL game — when it comes to the statistics, the NFL dominates the NBA and is proof that people prefer to watch football rather than basketball.
During the 2024-2025 season, NBA views went down 5%; a lot of that is based on how the game has changed in recent years. A common attribute is “foul-baiting,” the term referring to when a star player focuses mostly on drawing fouls on opponents rather than trying to score. Some players being accused of this include Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Jalen Brunson, who plays for the New York Knicks.
Franklin senior and football player, Ian Lite, is also a football fan. Part of why he prefers it over basketball is the physicality, saying “ The [trash] talking seems hollow [in basketball] because you can’t back it up. In football if someone talks [trash] you can [run them over] the next play.”
Aside from viewership and physicality, what does football have that basketball doesn’t? Austin Karp, a writer for the sports Business Journal, explained that it’s simple, saying, “One word; scarcity. Your team has one game per week, in an 18-week schedule… every game is almost like a playoff game.” In every other sport, if you miss a match or a game, it’s not a huge deal, but because of the limited NFL schedule, every game matters. It’s not just the NFL that dominates viewership; college football also racks up viewers at a very high rate. “People ask me what the most popular sport is after the NFL, first it’s college football,” states Karp. Whether it’s professional or collegiate, Americans prefer football over any other sport.
Basketball
When it comes to dynamicity, few sports can rival the fast-paced excitement and high-scoring engagement that basketball is known for. The back and forth of basketball makes it engaging and unique. Devontae Stoner, a senior at Franklin, explains that the “constant action and every player on the court [having] to play offense and defense … sets [basketball] apart from many sports.” However, on TV and in the arena, basketball is a uniquely engaging sport for fans all over the world. The closeness and personal aspect of a basketball game is one of the many reasons it is widely adored. Floyd Matson, another senior at Franklin, and a New York Knicks fan, speaks to this. He says his favorite memory of watching basketball was courtside with his father at the Blazers vs. Knicks game on March 12, when he saw “the Knicks winning on a fade-away three from Mikal Bridges right in front of our seats.” The fade-away ended the game 114-113 in overtime, the kind of exciting ending that is frequent in basketball, all of which happened just mere feet away from Matson. The courtside intimacy of basketball is unique to the sport and is part of the reason why basketball is the best sport to watch.
Despite the clear excitement of the sport, many are citing NBA ratings drops as proof that the beloved sport of basketball is boring to watch. The truth of the matter is that ratings drops aren’t only affecting the NBA. According to Nielsen Live-Same-Day-Data, which tracks TV viewership, the NFL averaged around 17.7 million viewers per week between 2010 and 2015, dropping to an average of 16.1 million viewers between 2016 and 2020, a 9% decline. Cable TV as a whole is facing drops in viewership, which is affecting every channel, from news to sports, including the NBA and NFL.
Basketball as a whole, and especially basketball in Portland, is growing as a sport. Forbes reported in February that the WNBA passed Major League Soccer and the Professional Golf Association tour in viewership, being the fastest-growing professional sports brand in 2024. Portland will officially welcome the WNBA back in 2026 when the Portland Fire will play their first season in more than 20 years. Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark was also crowned as fans’ favorite player across all sports, beating out some of the most well-known athletes like LeBron James, Travis Kelce, and Patrick Mahomes.
Conclusion
Whether you prefer watching basketball, or football, we must appreciate both of them for what they are. They both provide entertainment for millions of people across the world and are a major part of society. Both basketball and football — no matter which you prefer—are doing their best to expand globally, so hopefully, more people worldwide can be involved, and help settle this debate once and for all!
