How popular is the NBA or basketball in general?
Posted by BornCheesecake9421@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 118 comments
Obviously, the answer is not really.
But does that mean there are virtually no basketball hoops or courts anywhere to be found? You can find a public hoop in the United States in nearly every single town.
Would it be that rare to find someone who watched the NBA? Is it more popular than say ice hockey or something similar?
Bubbly_Gap6636@reddit
Nope nobody likes American sport really, it's played a bit in schools but considered very niche
BarryTownCouncil@reddit
Well that's daft, NFL is (I assume from what you said) way way more popular than you assume.
Peppl@reddit
way less popular than you assume
BarryTownCouncil@reddit
Why do you feel like you need to insult something like this? Is it because of America? Just because it's foreign at all? Why are so many people unwilling to let people like what they like?
Peppl@reddit
no-one is saying you cant like it, we dont like it, thats all there is to it
BarryTownCouncil@reddit
Yet downvotes because I'm "wrong" to like it. All pretty pathetic.
Peppl@reddit
grow up mate
BarryTownCouncil@reddit
I only said NFL is more popular than people who don't come across it in their lives assume and got loads of downvotes etc. But I'm the immature one. Sure.
Peppl@reddit
its just not that popular, my dad and uncle are into it a bit, but the vast majority are not. thats the end-of
BarryTownCouncil@reddit
It's all pretty chuffing vague eh? It's less popular than more popular than someone's random opinion.
Multiple stadium sellouts every year, very popular shows on Sky AND channel 5 now. Lots of fans. Not no one.
Peppl@reddit
you're using "chuffing" wrong...
Jemima_puddledook678@reddit
The NFL is considered very niche. At most, a small percentage of the population watches the Super Bowl, but very very few people will watch any other game of the year.
BarryTownCouncil@reddit
They sell out while, huge, stadiums every year in that there London. It's small in many scales but it's more popular than dozens of other sports. Less popular than tennis, more popular than badminton.
EtwasSonderbar@reddit
I'd love to see how many of the visitors to those games are Americans in Europe.
BarryTownCouncil@reddit
I met one woman at a game from New York once. She laughed at me when I said I proposed on the Staten Island ferry.
It's nearly exclusively British people at the games, why clutch at straws to disagree? It seems pretty sad to me.
EtwasSonderbar@reddit
I didn't disagree, I said I'd be interested to know the proportion.
Jemima_puddledook678@reddit
You’re missing that badminton is very popular casually, and everyone played it in schools. Even if you assume that everyone at these events are British, which seems unlikely, it’s still way less popular than badminton.
BarryTownCouncil@reddit
This is all as a spectator sport.
Low_Understanding_85@reddit
The Olympic curling got 2million more viewers in the UK than the Superbowl.
The world snooker final had 8 millions more viewers.
illarionds@reddit
I mean, it's common for schools and colleges to have basketball hoops, it's not like you'd never see them.
But neither is it common. I don't think I've ever known anyone who plays basketball in person since leaving full time education.
(by comparison, I do know people who play cricket, (field) hockey, rugby, and obviously football. Hell, I even know one person who plays American football, which is vanishingly rare here).
As a spectator sport - well, i don't personally know anyone who watches either basketball or ice hockey - but I would guess watching basketball is merely rare, as opposed to virtually unheard of.
Basically "very very niche", is the answer. But less niche than the other big American sports.
Odd_Gap_9491@reddit
We've popular sports that aren't on in the middle of the night for us and we've local teams we can go see. American sport is pretty insular. Singing the American national anthem before every game isn't very inclusive and the Superbowl champions call themselves the world champions when they've won the equivalent of the fa cup. It's a bit weird for me. But mostly it's that it's on in the middle of the night so it's hard to watch unless you're a student, unemployed or coming in from a night out.
BornCheesecake9421@reddit (OP)
To be fair, the majority of games don’t even broadcast the national anthem unless it’s like the Championships
Also the overwhelmingly majority of people who make up the NBA are Americans, besides Toronto; all the games are played on US soil, and the overwhelming majority of the attendees are Americans. Why wouldn’t we play the national anthem?
MirrorTotal893@reddit
I subscribe to the NBA Network in the UK. I'm only a casual basketball fan, but it's cheap and really good coverage
MidasToad@reddit
NBA - people rarely follow this: it's a league from another country so pretty niche interest.
Basketball - a common casual sport. There are hoops in the bigger parks in every town. Shops sell basketballs. People put up hoops in their garden. You play it at school. But it's more a 'fun' sport, not a serious competitive venture.
Norman_debris@reddit
Tbf plenty of foreigners follow the EPL, so it wouldn't be that inconceivable to imagine people following NBA.
EtwasSonderbar@reddit
What is EPL?
Norman_debris@reddit
English Premier League.
The downvotes are bizarre. Premier League football is huge worldwide.
Tim1980UK@reddit
American sports are considered shit in the UK.
SWMovr60Repub@reddit
In America we don’t even think about your sports.
Jemima_puddledook678@reddit
Yeah, we don’t think about yours, that’s how other countries think about intra-country sports of other countries. It’s not a flex that you don’t care about the rest of the world’s things but assume everybody else cares about yours.
SWMovr60Repub@reddit
Are you following this thread? Poster makes a statement that sports in America are considered shit and when I throw it back on them I'm the one who doesn't care about the rest of the world?
Jemima_puddledook678@reddit
The difference is that this whole thing started with an American asking us what we thought, and we gave our response. So yes, you throwing it back with an implied assumption that we should all care about yours is telling.
Ctrl_daltdelete@reddit
You don't seem to think about anything.
GUBEvision@reddit
I once went to a bar in LA at 6am to watch the Community Shield, a pre-season friendly. It was full of Americans in Man United shirts.
This wouldn't happen for game 7 in an NBA finals or the World Series, and hardly anyone knows NHL exists.
Fair enough the Superbowl has its fans.
Swayfromleftoright@reddit
Football is great fun to watch and so is basketball. Why not just appreciate both with some dumb competition about which gets more viewers
greedygannet@reddit
This is a question about how popular an American sport (actually Canadian originally) is in the UK, a comparison of viewership feels relevant.
Swayfromleftoright@reddit
Yeah, could be an interesting discussion. But the discourse I was responded to sounded like it was being carried out by 12 year olds.
“We think your sports are SHIT”
“Well WE don’t even think about yours”
Jemima_puddledook678@reddit
I think it’s important to note that whilst there are some people in the UK who watch basketball, the NBA isn’t even our continent, it’s not synonymous with basketball for us.
Low_Understanding_85@reddit
European basketball is more fun to watch than NBA imo, the ultras go crazy!
GUBEvision@reddit
I'm not in competition, people may enjoy what they like.
However, in a thread about relative popularity, I thought it relevant to share some observations that I think are broadly true.
Personally I don't think basketball is a particularly interesting sport.
Swayfromleftoright@reddit
That’s fair. Your comment isn’t particularly bad - just the whole thread above it is turning into some pathetic competition
gildedbluetrout@reddit
Or you’re just yet another annoying American cunt, in country filled with annoying cunts. God America can fuck off and die really.
Low_Understanding_85@reddit
You guys struggle with team sports, more of an individual culture.
NBA has "franchise players" making basketball more individual and the QB in the NFL.
Europe is more team focused, soccer teams rarely, if ever get carried to success by one player, too much ground to cover.
I think the biggest example of this is the Ryder cup, USA always has more players in the top 10/20 rankings but more often than not they struggle with the team aspect.
Not saying it's a bad thing, just something I noticed.
seven-cents@reddit
In America people like you don't really think much at all
Jiminyfingers@reddit
Except that wasn't the question old chap
ddbbaarrtt@reddit
Yet the average MLS attendance is over 20k, and the biggest basketball team in the UK averages under 5k
Tim1980UK@reddit
No one really cares what America thinks about anything though. So your comment is about as hurtful as being slapped with a feather.
Squeak_Stormborn@reddit
Plenty of people play basketball. I live by the coast and there are lots of basketball courts along the seafront, and always in use.
We don't watch American sports much, though. The NBA has nothing to do with us.
Azuras-Becky@reddit
American sports aren't widely watched outside of America. There are some fans, but they have to jump through hoops (lol) to watch them.
In Britain at least, the Big Three are football (not armoured rugby), rugby (the proper, unarmoured kind), and cricket, with an honourable mention for F1.
BarryTownCouncil@reddit
Loads of NLT fans filling Wembley, Twickenham and whatever the spurs ground is called every year. For a forrin sport NFL is VERY popular.
Drewski811@reddit
For one game a year, they can find ~70,000 people out of a population of 70 million.
Yes, it has a following, but to say it's very popular is disingenuous at best.
BarryTownCouncil@reddit
What other sport not played to any notable level in this country is more popular to watch?
UberMcWolf@reddit
Cricket basically doesn't exist in Scotland either.
Azuras-Becky@reddit
That's only because the wickets freeze together!
lucylucylane@reddit
And it rains too much
BornCheesecake9421@reddit (OP)
I’m an American and follow Rugby. It’s so rare anyone else does I hardly mention it to my colleagues or buddies.
BUT every decent sized city here over 100k will have a local rugby team and even hurling too. So you’ll always meet fans and lot of the time Brits living in the states.
Norman_debris@reddit
Do you people don't watch American leagues?
Because otherwise you're wrong. Baseball for example is huge in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Korea, and Japan. And American basketball might not be watched, but it's played all over the world. Even a shithole town in England will have basketball hoops.
redandbluebadness@reddit
Plenty of people play it and you can find hoops in most cities. Not so much watching.
cat-faced@reddit
My husband (French) is really into the NBA, and follows it religiously, but we don’t know anyone else (British) who’s bothered. I’m interested in association, and also work in a field where I have exposure to it, so I follow it a bit too.
Basketball isn’t really a sport played here in schools or clubs - not in the same way things like football, rugby, cricket, tennis, even netball etc, is - so it doesn’t create the same pipeline of players / spectators as other countries (like the US, of course) and some European countries.
asymmetricears@reddit
Basketball is the second most popular team sport in terms of participation. source
In terms of the NBA, it's a bit tricky to follow, as all of the games are late our time, and as teams play multiple games a week it needs dedication to keep up. TNT have some coverage, but it's not a priority for them.
Ice hockey has a small but committed following in certain areas that are close to professional teams.
smoulderstoat@reddit
That source is a claim in a newspaper. I'd be interested to see what that claim is based on.
asymmetricears@reddit
Either a list of registered players from the governing board, or from a survey.
BeardedBaldMan@reddit
Comparing the popularity of NBA to Ice Hockey is like comparing the popularity of slamming your balls in a drawer vs slamming you balls in a door.
Low_Understanding_85@reddit
UK viewers for NBA final less than 50,000
UK viewers for world snooker final over 3million.
BornCheesecake9421@reddit (OP)
Really puts it is in perspective. Couldn’t even tell you what snooker is…
Low_Understanding_85@reddit
It's like basketball, but better.
Kiss_It_Goodbyeee@reddit
For a start it's got six "nets".
thesaharadesert@reddit
By my calculations, that makes it five better
Captaingregor@reddit
Like pool, but bigger and better.
We also have pool but ours is nicer.
BornCheesecake9421@reddit (OP)
Lmao lovely response and insightful as well. Cheers for that.
smoulderstoat@reddit
Chap hanged himself from ours.
BeardedBaldMan@reddit
Most use it got that year
largepoggage@reddit
We played a little basketball at school, but that’s about it. I know people who are NFL and NHL fans in the UK but not NBA or MLB. I’ve never heard a single person even mention watching a basketball game.
Nervous_Tourist_8699@reddit
I have seen public pitches that have both basketball hoops and five a side football goals - the dimensions are about the same.
People will always play football but may mess around throwing balls into hoops but not actually playing. Don’t know anyone that follows NBA
ProfessionalEven296@reddit
We were forced to play basketball at school (and cricket… and rugby. Never football, even though the school was in the center of Liverpool)
I played basketball for the college. We were rubbish. I could wangle free tickets to see Utah jazz if I wanted, and I couldn’t even tell you what league they play in. So no; despite full indoctrination, I’m not a basketball fan…
pluk78@reddit
It wiukd be considered a pretty niche thing to be interested in here. Most people could barely name a player.
Jemima_puddledook678@reddit
I wouldn’t say we could barely name a player, but the players we can name (Michael Jordan and LeBron James?) we know for their appearances in other media like films rather than basketball.
Ok_Neat2979@reddit
Michael Jordan is 63, and retired. So I guess that answers ops about question how closely we follow it.
Z1L0G@reddit
I mean American sports are shit but even the crap small town I grew up in in the 90s had a public basketball court, we used to play a bit and did it at school sometimes. But only the weird/nerdy kids were really into NBA. But still more popular than ice hockey; I only ever knew one person who was into (and actually played) that and she was a psycho 😂
Bam-Skater@reddit
There's quite a bit of basketball played in Eastern Europe(Euroleague). It was the only American sport allowed on TV in the USSR and used as propaganda, Since most of the players were black the commies used to say that even though the blacks were no longer slaves in the fields they were now slaves for white mans entertainment and that wouldn't work with NFL/MBL. Obviously in the bosom of Mother Russia's communism all men are equal...even the black ones.
Supporters are mostly the football crowd - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUCvHeGfX3c
PetersMapProject@reddit
I thought the NBA was baseball?
You can often find hoops, but netball is much more commonly played than basketball, particularly in schools. I suspect they're most commonly used as target practice than for anything resembling a game of basketball.
My partner is sports mad, and even he has no interest in basketball.
Z1L0G@reddit
you thought wrong then
Norman_debris@reddit
Worth adding that male participation in netball is very low.
crucible@reddit
Netball has a different hoop though
wonky-hex@reddit
Netball is also harder to score a goal as there's no back board!
Low_Understanding_85@reddit
What you're saying is true, but I was surprised to see a stat that only something like 12% of NBA baskets hit the backboard.
When we used to play in PE we were told to aim for the backboard.
luffy8519@reddit
MLB (Major League Baseball) is the top baseball tier in the US.
NBA is the National Basketball Association.
Highlandertr3@reddit
We do multi use indoor courts alot. They can have hoops but also be setup for tennis badminton and... Actually I'll be honest. Alot have so many markings I don't know what half the sports even are. For all I know it could be leftover choreography steps from Tuesdays dance group.
Norman_debris@reddit
British Reddit skews towards people who hate sport and hate Americans, so your answers here won't be very helpful I'm afraid.
MiserubleCant@reddit
public hoops / courts are really common; I was going to qualify that with 'at least in bigger cities', but then I remembered even the rural village where my parents live has basketball courts in the recreation ground, and it's common to see kids using them. also most schools will have them in my experience. but it's generally casual play, not organised competition with proper teams and tactics. that's pretty rare. NBA is little watched, it's not on free tv.
Peskycat42@reddit
Most sports centres i have been to have a basketball court marked out and those pull out / push back hoops and backboards mounted.
However, I have never seen a court in use for basketball, its much more common for badminton nets to be up and in use.
Active_Definition_57@reddit
More people have heard of NBA teams like the LA Lakers, Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls than any National Hockey League team but there is less interest in it here than there is in the NFL. This is despite the percentage of people who have played basketball here being vastly higher than American Football.
KatVanWall@reddit
I don’t think many people watch it, but basketball is one of the sports we (barely) cover in school PE lessons, and a small minority of people sort of get the bug from that and continue to play it, or come to it later in life as just a fun hobby. It does seem a bit niche though; most people won’t be able to name famous basketball players like they would footballers.
Active_Definition_57@reddit
I live about 100m away from what used to be 3 tennis courts. Part of this area is now a basketball court that doubles up as a five a side football area.
Derfel60@reddit
Not at all. Ive known 2 people in my life who watched basketball, one was a mate at uni and one was a kid a few years below me at school.
Its probably about as popular as Osama bin Laden was in America on 12th September 2001. There will be one or two people in every town that say things like ‘its not that bad’ but most people either dont know what it is or outright hate it.
-You_Cant_Stop_Me-@reddit
Not at all.
MerlinMusic@reddit
Basketball is played plenty in schools, colleges and universities. Almost all parks will have hoops for basketball/netball and some will have full courts. AFAIK, very few people watch the NBA. After all, most of their games are played in the middle of the night for us.
Puzzled-Horse279@reddit
Basketball is popular to play in Playgrounds at school and in Public parks that typically have a Basketball board and Hoop above your typical Football goal. Most people habe probbaly played and enjoy street basketball/playground basketball during their school and teen years. But I doubt most of us know Basketball rules and strategies as indepth as we do for Football.
But generally most people in the UK do not watch or follow high level professional Basketball and only know of some players thru American Culture Osmosis at best.
But then if you ask about Basketball teams in the UK (town/city based, or repping England, Scotland, Wales). The vast majority of Brits probably dont know their own homegrown players. In fact British Basketballers are more likey to get famous for doing part time film work as a giant/body double kind of role like Ian Whyte for Madame Olympe in Harry Potter rather than their Basketball career.
I do think Basketball is an American sport that should be more popular here or at least Id love it to catch on with our population more.
Professional-Test239@reddit
I used to live in Manchester and there was a basketball school that did ok. It was bankrolled by local lad John Amaechi who had gone to the NBA and done well.
NFL is the most popular American sport here. The rest aren’t really anywhere. Including basketball.
dancingcroc@reddit
Hoops and courts are very common. Most schools have a sports hall which is set up for a range of different sports, and in my experience they all have basketball hoops. Most towns have MUGAs which almost always have basketball hoops.
It's pretty popular for kids to casually play, it's usually in the PE curriculum and kids often have a ball at home so they can muck about on the MUGA. It's pretty niche in terms of organised games though, and it's very rare for adults to play unless they're in a team.
Watching - pubs will occasionally have it on the TV if there's nothing better on, but I don't know anyone who watches it. I know plenty of people who watch the Super Bowl even though they have no interest in NFL, but I don't think basketball has anything similar.
BarryTownCouncil@reddit
It's a school lesson sport, nothing more to 99.99% of the population
No_Avocado_2538@reddit
it's basically non existent
Unusual_residue@reddit
Basketball is a pastime that we have little or no interest in.
xcixjames@reddit
Neither sport is popular here at all really but basketball is commonly played.
Here its Football, Rugby & Cricket
seven-cents@reddit
Worth noting that what we call Football is called Soccer in the USA
bigdaftgeordie@reddit
I’m one of the rare NBA fans in the UK, but yeah it’s considered very niche here. I work in mental health and I always jokingly say it’s the perfect ADHD sport because of the shot clock! There’s always something happening.
GUBEvision@reddit
It's a niche sport with a well-organised and historically rich domestic league that often sees teams fold owing to limited commercial interest. Obviously the NBA is a little more popular as a major league with most of the best players, but I think outside of major cities you'd be hard pressed to find people able to name more than 3 active players.
wonky-hex@reddit
I don't even know what NBA is.
I did get to play basketball at school for a couple of terms (I'm 39). Wasn't for me, preferred netball.
Frodo34x@reddit
My experience - central Scotland - is that basketball exists as a casual sport. You'll find hoops as part of multi game areas at like any school or public park, though you don't necessarily see anyone playing them. I don't know anyone who watches or is interested in professional or college basketball
Ice hockey is surprisingly popular as far as niche sports go. I've never met anyone who plays or who's shown interest in learning to play, but there are a handful of professional teams (Glasgow Clan are cool guys, Fife Flyers are awful, Dundee I have no opinion on) and quite a few people like going to watch the games.
LagerBoi@reddit
There are free public basketball hoops everywhere in the UK.
I have some literally a 2 minute walk from my house and they're always busy with kids.
I think NBA is popular because even Primark (budget clothing brand) sells licensed NBA clothes, but whether people can afford to watch it with expensive subscriptions is another matter. Some games are free on Prime sometimes though.
I think basketball has possibly gotten more interest recently too with March Madness being on Disney+, although maybe not in the latter stages with every game being on at 11pm or later.
StillJustJones@reddit
I go and see the Essex Rebels (university basketball team) quite regularly.
My 11 year old would rather watch and play b’ball than footy.
The arena is of a good quality for a non professional sport… I reckon it must be a 1500+ capacity arena.
Not all games get totally packed… but a lot of them do.
No one in our sphere likes footy really… we’re a cricket, basketball and discgolf family. Not the standard for sure!
FakeyName88@reddit
Most of the parks around me have football goals and basketball hoops, clearly people chuck balls about when they’re bored of playing football. But I’ve never heard of anyone who follows a basketball team, whether GB or USA.
Realistic-River-1941@reddit
Like rounders, we call it by a different name, netball.
artfulmonica@reddit
There's at least one basketball court in my local park, next to the tennis courts the get used for approximately 2 weeks after Wimbledon. On the whole basketball is a fringe sport, football is a religion, rugby is pretty popular and oldies like cricket.
hallerz87@reddit
You’re less likely to find outdoor courts in urban areas but there’s plenty of sports centres with basketball courts and organised leagues.
https://basketballengland.co.uk/
justeUnMec@reddit
At school generally netball was more common, although most sport halls had basketball hoops too. Obviously Michael Jordan was a known celebrity. However, "NBA" has limited historic brand recognition - why would it, after all it is specific to America (hence the "National" part). We have our own sports, Football, Rugby (Union & League), Cricket etc, and our own sports leagues.
No-Willingness-4097@reddit
Used to play Basketball at school in pe class, after that it might as well not exist.
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