Basketball in the United States

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Basketball in the United States
Los Angeles Lakers versus Boston Celtics, 1987 NBA Finals
CountryUnited States
Governing bodyUSA Basketball
National teamUnited States
Registered players24.3 million[1]
Club competitions
List
International competitions

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) are professional basketball leagues that govern most levels of professional basketball in the United States. Basketball is the second most popular sport in the United States (counting amateur levels), after American football.[2][3][4] In terms of revenue, the NBA is the third most profitable sports league in the United States and the world, after the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB).[5] Basketball was invented in 1891 by Canadian physical education teacher James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts.[6]

NBA

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the world's premier men's professional basketball league and one of the major professional sports leagues of North America. It contains 30 teams (29 teams in the U.S. and 1 in Canada) that play an 82-game season from October to June. After the regular season, eight teams from each conference compete in the playoffs for the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy[7]. The NBA gets high ratings on television.[8][9]

The Chicago Bulls drew the highest average home attendance in the 2025-26 regular season of the NBA.

#NBA teamHome gamesAverage attendance[10]
1Chicago Bulls4120,243
2Denver Nuggets4119,826
3Miami Heat4119,708
4Detroit Pistons4119,668
5Cleveland Cavaliers4119,432
6New York Knicks4119,318
7Dallas Mavericks4119,288
8Boston Celtics4119,156
9Philadelphia 76ers4118,996
10Los Angeles Lakers4118,854
11Toronto Raptors¹4118,832
12Orlando Magic4118,753
13Charlotte Hornets4118,715
14Oklahoma City Thunder4118,654
15San Antonio Spurs4118,125
16Golden State Warriors4118,064
17Houston Rockets4118,058
18Utah Jazz4117,742
19Los Angeles Clippers4117,647
20Brooklyn Nets4117,412
21Minnesota Timberwolves4117,402
22Portland Trail Blazers4117,097
23Phoenix Suns4116,654
24Milwaukee Bucks4116,649
25Indiana Pacers4116,641
26New Orleans Pelicans4116,475
27Atlanta Hawks4116,355
28Sacramento Kings4116,139
29Washington Wizards4116,106
30Memphis Grizzlies4115,414

¹ From Canada

WNBA

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is the world's premier women's professional basketball league and one of the major women's professional sports leagues of North America.[11][12] It contains 15 teams (14 teams in the U.S. and 1 in Canada), scheduled to expand to 18 by 2030[13], that play an 44-game season from May to September. After the regular season, eight teams from each conference compete in the playoffs, culminating in the WNBA Finals. Most WNBA teams play at the same venue as their NBA counterparts.[14]

The WNBA was formed in 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association, and league play began in 1997.[15] Historically, the WNBA struggled to approach the same national relevance as the NBA.[16] However, since 2016 its ratings have increased[17][18] and for the 2025 regular season WNBA games averaged 72% of NBA game viewership and 61% of NBA in-person attendance.[19][20]

The Golden State Valkyries drew the highest average home attendance in the 2024-2025 regular season of the WNBA, which was their first season playing in the WNBA. Note that the table below does not include figures for the Portland Fire or the Toronto Tempo, which started play in the 2025-2026 regular season.

#WNBA teamHome gamesAverage attendance[21]
1Golden State Valkyries¹2218,064
2Indiana Fever2216,560
3New York Liberty2216,323
4Los Angeles Sparks2212,441
5Seattle Storm2211,835
6Las Vegas Aces2211,552
7Phoenix Mercury2211,305
8Minnesota Lynx229,957
9Chicago Sky229,072
10Connecticut Sun228,653
11Dallas Wings227,272
12Washington Mystics225,303
13Atlanta Dream224,480

¹ The Golden State Valkyries sold out every home game in the 2024-25 regular season.

National teams

U.S. men's national basketball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Since the 1992 Summer Olympics, NBA and WNBA players have represented the United States in international competition and won numerous important tournaments. The Dream Team was the unofficial nickname of the United States men's basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics.[22] The women's national team is one of the most dominant teams in all of Olympic sports, has won eight consecutive gold medals at the Olympics[23][24], an Olympic record team record in any Olympic sport. The women's national team has also won eleven FIBA World Cups and the men's team has won 5 FIBA World Cups.

College basketball

College basketball is quite popular and draws TV high ratings.[25] Every March, a 68-team, six-round, single-elimination tournament (commonly called March Madness) determines the national champions of NCAA Division I women's and men's basketball tournament college basketball.[26][27][28][29][30][31][32]

The North Carolina Tar Heels drew the highest average home game attendance in the 2024-2025 season of men's college basketball, while the South Carolina Gamecocks drew the highest average home game attendance for women's college basketball. These top 30 figures reflect the popularity of college basketball as a spectator sport in the United States:

#College basketball teamHome gamesAverage attendance[33][34]
1North Carolina Tar Heels1520,521
2Kentucky Wildcats1820,334
3Tennessee Volunteers1720,026
4Arkansas Razorbacks1818,996
5Syracuse Orange1718,888
6Creighton Bluejays1717,366
7BYU Cougars1717,054
8Indiana Hoosiers1816,447
9South Carolina Gamecocks1716,437
10Marquette Golden Eagles1715,571
11Kansas Jayhawks1715,300
12Illinois Fighting Illini1715,091
13Wisconsin Badgers1715,006
14Iowa Hawkeyes1414,998
15Nebraska Cornhuskers1614,964
16Purdue Boilermakers1614,876
17Louisville Cardinals1714,864
18Michigan State Spartans1614,797
19Iowa State Cyclons1714,062
20Arizona Wildcats1614,058
21Virginia Cavaliers1713,478
22Dayton Flyers1813,407
23Alabama Crimson Tide1513,389
24Maryland Terrapins1913,367
25NC State Wolfpack1813,063
26New Mexico Lobos1713,051
27Texas Tech Red Raiders1813,042
28UConn Huskies1612,992
29UConn Huskies1612,375
30Michigan Wolverines1612,007

High school basketball

High school basketball is a popular activity.[35][36] The National Federation of State High School Associations featured 540,704 boys and 356,240 girls in basketball teams as of the 2024–25 season.[37]

Many high school basketball teams have intense local followings, especially in the Midwest.[38][39] Indiana has 10 of the 12 largest high school gyms in the United States, and is famous for its basketball passion, known as Hoosier Hysteria.

Race and ethnicity in the NBA

The composition of race and ethnicity in the National Basketball Association (NBA) has changed throughout the league's history.[40][41][42][43]

In the 2019-2020 season, 81.1% of players in the NBA were Black (if mixed-race players are also counted as black), 17.9% were white, and 1% were of other races.[44]. The league has the highest percentage of Black players of any major professional sports league in the United States and Canada.[45]

References

  1. Number of participants in basketball in the United States from 2006 to 2018 Statista
  2. "Major League Baseball still leads the NBA when it comes to popularity – Business Insider". Uk.businessinsider.com. February 24, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  3. "Sports – Pro Football is Still America's Favorite Sport". Theharrispoll.com. January 26, 2016. Archived from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  4. "Harris Poll – NFL still most popular; MLB 2nd". Espn.com. January 26, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  5. "The Harris Poll". Harrisinteractive.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
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  12. Fagan, Kate (March 31, 2016). "Fagan on why lower rims in women's basketball is flawed". Espn.com. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
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  32. Jones, Gordie (March 13, 2015). "The state of college basketball? Dismal". Myajc.com. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
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  45. Landrum Jr., Jonathan (February 11, 2012). "First Black NBA Player Gets Honor at Hawks Game". Archived from the original on January 15, 2014.