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Americans' Favorite Winter Sport

DOUG JOHNSON:

Our listener question this week comes from Kerala state, India. Muhammad wants to know Americans' favorite winter sport.

We are not sure if Muhammad means the favorite sport to watch or to play so we will include both.

Several popular professional sports, including football, are played in winter. The National Football League will hold its championship game on February seventh. The Indianapolis Colts will play the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida.

Members of the New Orleans Saints doing exercises Thursday in LouisianaMost sports experts believe football is the favorite sport to watch in the United States. Since nineteen ninety-four, the sports broadcasting network ESPN has been studying the subject. Their experts ask tens of thousands of Americans what sporting events they like to watch best. This includes attending the event and watching it on television at home. National Football League competition has finished in first place for many years.

However, both professional and college basketball always rates in the top five. Basketball competition starts in autumn and continues throughout the winter into spring.

One of America's favorite spectator sports takes place almost all year long. NASCAR, the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, has huge live and television audiences. The races take place mainly in the warm southern states. Probably the most famous NASCAR race is the Daytona Five Hundred. It takes place every February in Daytona Beach, Florida. About two hundred thousand people attend the race. Millions more watch it on television.