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Sports activities are a deeply ingrained part of American life.Many Americans are very health⁃conscious and regard outdoor activities as a way to keep healthy and fit.Watching sports events in person or on television also serves as a way for people to engage in mass culture and occupy their leisure time.Most grade schools offer physical education（PE）classes.Universities and many colleges have multi⁃million dollar sports programs and offer generous scholarships to student⁃athletes.The quality of a university or college’s sports facilities and the competitiveness of its sports teams are very important factors in some students’choice of schools.Every year，billions of dollars are spent on or made from sports and related industries.All sports have fans in the United States，but American football，baseball，and basketball are the most popular.

American football is one of the most popular sports in the United States.Every year it attracts thousands of participants and millions of spectators，and many football fans follow their team to games far away from their homes.Football is played at both professionals and amateur levels.The National Football League includes 32 professional football teams from across the country，which is divided into two conferences，the National Football Conference（NFC）and the American Football Conference（AFC）.Football season starts in August each year and lasts until early February.After the regular season，the top teams in each conference compete in the play⁃offs for that conference’s championship.The champions of the NFC and AFC then meet to determine the NFL championship in a game called the Super Bowl.The Super Bowl is the most popular sports event in the United States，and is usually watched on television by more people than any other event（whether sports or otherwise）in a given year.TV viewer ship for the 2015 Super Bowl was 114 million，or more than one⁃third of the population.

In addition to professional football，the game also attracts around 20 million amateur players each year.Most colleges and universities have varsity football teams，and the more successful teams draw television viewer ship that rivals the NFL，resulting in large amounts of revenues for the schools they represent.In addition，a university with a well known football team can often attract more students to apply for admission.

Baseball is one of the oldest and most popular sports in the United States，and is known as“the national pastime”.It began as a game played by children and amateur players.Professional baseball teams developed beginning in the 1840s in the eastern cities，but soon it spread to the west.By the end of the 19th century，baseball had become a very common sport in the United States.

Today，professional Major League Baseball teams are divided into two major leagues，the National League（NL）and the American League（AL）.The baseball season lasts from April to October，when the NL and AL champions compete for the overall championship in a set of games known as the World Series.Many universities and colleges have baseball teams as well.The best players on university teams are often recruited to become professional players.

Basketball is another popular sport in the United States.It was invented by a physical education teacher in Massachusetts in 1891.Today，the top men’s professional basketball league is the National Basketball Association（NBA），and the top women’s league is the Women’s National Basketball Association（WNBA）.Players from other countries are also eligible to play in the NBA，and account for over 20％ of league rosters.The 29 NBA teams are divided into two major conferences，the Eastern and the Western.The NBA season begins in the first week of November and ends with the NBA Finals championship in June.