# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2024, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636 "2024-02-16T02:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 381
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7602 "2025-07-17T16:14:46Z")
I couldn’t vote in the soccer poll, it already has more viewers (and more $ in TV contracts) than hockey. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7603 "2025-07-17T16:18:58Z")
I voted “no, it won’t,” in the soccer poll, but I was specifically thinking about the “Big 4” as not just being the sports themselves (American football, baseball, basketball, and hockey), but the top-tier North American professional leagues for those sports (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL). As @Maserschmidt notes, soccer’s fan base in the U.S. is probably bigger than hockey’s already, but MLS soccer (the top-tier North American men’s soccer league) is not nearly at the level of play of other leagues in other countries, and its TV contract is much smaller than the NHL’s. Fan interest in men’s soccer in the U.S. seems to be more in those top-tier foreign leagues than in MLS. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7604 "2025-07-17T16:35:27Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > and its TV contract is much smaller than the NHL’s. Fan interest in men’s soccer in the U.S. seems to be more in those top-tier foreign leagues than in MLS. Yeah, I agree that non-US leagues make up more of the interest. Global streaming of MLS is worth about $250 million a year, which is more than I expected, but still not in the same league as the other leagues. Well, one thing that muddies all of that is the presence of Canadian teams in the NHL, I’m not sure how to parse out the US part of that interest… ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7605 "2025-07-17T17:54:50Z")
For anybody genuinely in doubt: American Football, Ice Hockey, Basketball and Baseball. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7606 "2025-07-17T18:20:12Z")
I don’t even know for sure which three are considered the biggest. This doesn’t appear to be an option, so didn’t vote. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7607 "2025-07-17T19:28:25Z")
My brother picked up the habit of social kissing from his ex, and i hated it while it lasted. (It faded after he’d been divorced for a while.) But i like social hugging. I voted i do it more than most, because i do a lot of square dancing on the gay circuit, and hugging is so common there that people who don’t like it sometimes wear a badge to tell others they don’t want to be hugged. But otherwise, i pretty much only initiate hugs with my immediate family. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7608 "2025-07-17T19:42:49Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I don’t even know for sure which three are considered the biggest. Football, baseball, and basketball, with hockey a fairly distant fourth (at least in the US). Of the top three, football is almost undoubtedly the biggest (as far as fan base, revenue, etc.). Which of the other two is in second place probably depends on the metric used. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7609 "2025-07-17T19:46:35Z")
My family is a big soccer family, I played until my teams, my brother played on his college team, my half brother played through high school, my niece and nephew (brother’s kids) play at a very high level as well. My brother earns enough money to take the kids to a few World Cup games each year. Despite all that, I voted it wouldn’t break into the top 4 by 2040. As others have said, the current level of play combined with the lukewarm commercial interest is something of a chicken and the egg, but probably just as, if not more importantly, I figure that there’s going to be social/political pushback on the sport from various figures who consider it un-American in the most poisoned way. I hope I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7610 "2025-07-17T20:03:42Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I did the hugging poll because I was pondering how I morphed into an (almost) automatic hugger over the years, even with folks I am meeting for the first time. I wont answer public polls. Big Four sports? Umm, Sportsball? 😇 and Hockey? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7611 "2025-07-17T20:29:21Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Football, baseball, and basketball, with hockey a fairly distant fourth (at least in the US). Thanks for info. – which hockey? or did you mean both of them together? or are there not generally considered to be two of them? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7612 "2025-07-17T20:37:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I wont answer public polls. Of course. Heaven forfend we become aware of where you fall on the Hug-O-Meter. 🙂 mmm ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7613 "2025-07-17T22:15:22Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Thanks for info. > > – which hockey? or did you mean both of them together? or are there not generally considered to be two of them? I’m guessing you mean ice hockey and field hockey? If so, it’s ice hockey. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7614 "2025-07-17T22:19:30Z")
Not to mention air, tonsil, and all the other hockeys, including [Unicycle hockey - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicycle_hockey). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7615 "2025-07-18T00:24:37Z")
Surely it’s horse hockey… /Sherman T. Potter ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7616 "2025-07-18T00:30:59Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Surely it’s horse hockey Isn’t that just polo? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7617 "2025-07-18T01:17:15Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’m guessing you mean ice hockey and field hockey? If so, it’s ice hockey. Yup, that’s what I meant; only I couldn’t think of the term for field hockey. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7618 "2025-07-18T04:05:09Z")
I think MLS will have slightly overtaken NHL hockey by 2040. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7619 "2025-07-18T05:19:03Z")
Once again, auto racing is somehow left off the list of the top US sports. Only football is indisputably more popular. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7620 "2025-07-18T05:21:53Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Not to mention air, tonsil, and all the other hockeys… Now I’m trying to imagine what one would have to do to win the Stanley Cup of Tonsil Hockey. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7621 "2025-07-18T05:57:14Z")
On _favorite_ sport, I was torn. Generally I dislike sports, and almost clicked that, but decided I’d instead vote for what I disliked the _least_, in that I won’t actively leave the room to go do something else if it’s on at someone else’s place. Baseball is totally out for me, because I find the pacing incredibly tedious. Hockey (which is the big local sport locally in town) is better paced, but it’s never worked for me so it’s out. Football is more interesting, but especially the games most likely to be on suffer from terrible pacing including commercial breaks, so also out. Leaving basketball, which has better pacing, fewer long breaks, and tends to be NOT go on for what feels like _forever_ if I’m stuck watching out of politeness. So that was my vote. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=380) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=382)