[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

No it is far more nebulous than that. But you know that.

Here is a third party's take.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...ort-in-america

The vision was that the more popular the entire league became, the more financially beneficial it would be for everyone.
The wisdom and foresight of this vision has led the NFL to unprecedented popularity and success.
So, why is the NFL so popular and successful?

The reason is due to the complete parity in the league.

Unlike most professional sports today, no matter where you live in the country, your team has an equal chance of winning the Super Bowl—this has caused the game to grow in popularity throughout every corner of the country, not just in New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles

The parity seen in the NFL today can be attributed to two main principles: equal revenue sharing and a salary cap.

This is hilarious. I guess "the bleacher report" is another bastion of fine journalism. Thanks Mr. Google. You are talking about Riot so does that mean you are Nascar?

Anyway, from the museum of TV. Not nearly as respected as "the bleacher report" but I guess if its a museum it counts for something:

But what, specifically, makes an individual sporting event "good television?" As Channels writer Julie Talen wrote, "All sports are not created equal. The most popular sports on TV are those best served by the medium's limitations." What she means is that even if there are 20 cameras and 40 microphones at an event, the viewer still receives one picture and one set of sounds. Together these must convey a sense of what is happening in the actual contest. Monday Night Football's long-time director, Chet Forte, argued, "It's impossible to blow a football game. . .Football works as a flattened sport. Its rectangular field fits on the screen far more readily than, for example, golf's far-flung woods and sand traps. The football moves right or left on the screen and back again. Its limited repertoire--kick, pass, and run--sets it apart from, say, baseball, where the range of possibilities for the ball and the players at any given moment is enormous." And CBS's top football director, Sandy Grossman, says "The reason (the gridiron) is easier to cover is because every play is a separate story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end, and then there's 20 or 30 seconds to retell it or react to it."

There are, in other words, certain characteristics of the different sports that make them better dramatic and visual matches for television, and in doing so, render them more popular with audiences.