For a long time, the sports landscape in the U.S. has been run by the NFL, NBA and MLB. Those three leagues, and their collegiate counterparts, have consistently dominated the television ratings.

However, America is currently going through a “sports renaissance” in a way, with different sports starting to gain more traction than ever. It may take a long time to rise to the popularity of sports like football and baseball, but there are some sports that are currently surging in America.

Women’s Basketball

The WNBA and women’s basketball have been around for quite awhile. America has seen historic runs from players like Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird. However, thanks to women’s college basketball, the sport is exploding right now.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is at the epicenter of this, with her ability to score from anywhere and at any time. She has captivated every sports lover in the country, so much so that Iowa’s National Championship matchup against South Carolina ended up being the most watched basketball game in the last five years, averaging 18.7 million viewers.

Clark isn’t the only woman responsible for this explosion of women’s basketball though. University of Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers, University of Southern California’s JuJu Watkins, Stanford’s Cameron Brink and Louisiana State University’s Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson have received plenty of attention themselves. 

Of course, these superstars will be in the WNBA in no time, and you can expect the fans to move to the WNBA to watch them play there, too.

Mixed Martial Arts

Conor McGregor was the one to put MMA and the UFC into the mainstream sports landscape, but even in his two year absence, the sport has continued to blow up. UFC 299 in March posted the fifth largest gate for a UFC event ever. UFC 300 in mid-April posted the third largest gate ever and was what many consider the best night of fights ever, including Max Holloway’s knockout over Justin Gaethje with only one second to go in the fight.

What makes the sport so appealing for Americans, is actually how international it is. Some of the most popular fighters with American fans are the international ones. Specifically, Brazil’s Alex Pereira and Charles Oliveira are beloved by fans due to their exciting and action-packed fight styles. 

Of course the UFC will forever be the “top dog” when it comes to professional MMA organizations, but with the Professional Fight League buying Bellator and the One Fighting Championship’s rising popularity, there is going to be plenty of MMA to go around for the foreseeable future.

Soccer

Soccer is the premier sport across the world, but likely due to football’s popularity in the U.S, it hasn’t quite gained traction like it has in Europe or South America. However, it is starting to gain steam and soccer is going to be mainstream in America in no-time.

This is mostly attributed to the rising talent on the United States men’s national soccer team. The entire country fell in love with Christian Pulisic and his game-winning goal against Iran during the 2022 World Cup. Alongside Pulisic, people are starting to notice the rising stardom in other players too, like Tim Weah, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie and Gio Reyna among others.

With the World Cup coming to the States in 2026, and what seems to be the best U.S. team America has had in a very long time, the soccer explosion is inevitable.

Lacrosse

Lacrosse is another sport starting to hit its stride in America, particularly at the high school level. Every year more and more high schools are turning their lacrosse clubs into official sports.

People are starting to realize that the sport is sort of a combination of basketball, soccer and football. It combines the movement of basketball, the pace of soccer and the physicality of football into a sport that is extremely fun to play and watch.

Flag Football

There seems to be a growing concern about the youth playing tackle football due to risk of injury and concussions. With this has come an increase in the popularity of flag football.

Flag football leagues are popping up anywhere and everywhere, allowing people of all ages to play the game of football without the big-time physicality. 

With the sport coming to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, we may see flag football take off in a way that we’ve never seen before.