The line graph compares the favourite sports of US citizens from 1985 to 2015.
Overall, three sports became more popular (American Football, Basketball and Others Sports), and two sports became less popular (Baseball and Hockey). While American football consistently remained the most popular sport, Baseball was overtaken by Basketball, which became the second most popular.
The sports that increased in popularity are American Football, Basketball, and ‘Other Sports’. American Football was the favourite throughout the period. From 1985 to 2000, its popularity hovered between 36% and 38%, before increasing to over 40% in
2005 (where it remained until 2015). Basketball, which started as the third most popular sport at 15%, dipped slightly before rising steeply to over 20% in 2000. There was a second dip in 2005, after which there was a decade of consistent increase, meaning that Basketball overtook Baseball as the second most popular. Finally, Other Sports rose rather consistently throughout the period despite a slight drop in 2000.
Baseball and Hockey became less popular. Baseball was the second most popular sport at the beginning (just under 35% in 1985). However, its popularity declined, resulting in Baseball becoming the third most popular sport by 2015. A less dramatic decrease can be seen with Hockey: between 1985 and 2015 it fell around 6%. To be more specific, it stayed at approximately 10% until about 1995, after which it began to drop consistently until finally reaching 5% by 2015.