The recent AFC and NFC Championship Games saw an unequal pair of teams emerge victorious, as tens of millions of Americans watched the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs book their ticket for Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on February 2. While the 49ers are Super Bowl regulars with six appearances and five wins, the Chiefs have only made it to the Super Bowl two times, with their last appearance (and only win) dating back to 1970.

While baseball is often referred to as “America’s pastime,” the NFL has long surpassed the MLB as the nation’s favorite professional sports league. For several reasons, including first and foremost its better suitability for television, football flew by baseball as Americans’ favorite sport to watch in the 1960s and hasn’t looked back since. If anything, baseball is on the verge of being surpassed by basketball as well, as younger audiences prefer the action-packed, instagrammable NBA over what many young viewers consider the dragging affair of a three-hour baseball game.

The NFL is Still #1… for Now

Americas love the NFL but Change is LoomingYou will find more infographics at Statista

According to a poll conducted by Morning Consult in July 2019, the NFL is the #1 league to follow for 33% of U.S. adults, followed by the MLB (16%), and the NBA (10%).

The NFL shouldn’t be resting on its laurels, however, as its popularity fades with younger audiences. Among 18- to 22-year-olds (Gen Z), the youngest cohort in the survey, only 23% picked the NFL as their favorite league, with the NBA a not-too-distant second (19%).

Interestingly, Major League Soccer still plays a minor role in the U.S. sporting landscape despite the sport’s popularity among younger Americans. Despite efforts to make the league more attractive, it is still considered a second-tier league in the global sport of soccer, which is why many American soccer fans follow the English Premier League instead.

Sports Bars Need to Diversify Their TV Content

While the NFL may still reign supreme now, it’s obvious that the winds are changing. That means sports bars need to adapt to the times and changing interest of their guests. For traditional sports, that means almost twice as much interest in the NBA and MLS.

But, overall, traditional sports don’t ring as strongly with Gen Z and Millennials as with previous generations. Data shows that nontraditional sports — like eSports — are far more interesting and important to Gen Z with 56% favoring eSports, and only 44% saying the same for traditional sports.

In fact, Millennials and Gen Zers are far less committed to traditional sports fandom than their Generation X predecessors (38% are committed sports fans vs. 45% of Gen X’ers).

That means sports bar operators need to start looking ahead for alternative sports content to show their guests, especially as Gen Z comes of age and earn even more purchasing power.

And while eSports is the biggest draw for this gaming generation, it doesn’t need to stop there. Other events like drone racing have the “gaming” quality of eSports with the real-world competition of traditional sports. There’s also D&D livestreams and American Ninja Warrior, for examples.

The key is to know that interests are changing and to periodically see what your guests are interested in and what’s dominating the broadcasting landscape. It may not always be what’s on ESPN and the like.