U.S. sports leagues were long seen as something only Americans could be into, but this has been changing. The Statista Global Consumer Survey content special on sports and fitness now reveals what U.S. sports leagues people from other countries follow most often.
While American football and baseball remain more U.S.-centric obsessions, sports fans in the UK, Germany and China were more likely to follow the National Basketball Association league. Especially in China, urban Chinese said they were following the NBA at a higher rate than internet users in the U.S. itself.
Interestingly, fans from soccer nations UK and Germany were the most likely to follow U.S. Major League Soccer despite its mediocre reputation, showing that despite recent changes, old habits die hard. In China, which has also become a big market for soccer, MLS was the second most popular league behind the NBA.
In the U.S., the NFL still reigns supreme, followed by the NBA and MLB. MLS remained unpopular among Americans with just 13 percent saying the followed the league.
