FAC33
Active Member
The NFL season is much much shorter than the NHL's, so it's much easier to sustain that sort of intensity. At most a Super Bowl winner plays 20 games. A Stanley Cup winner plays at least 98. If the Leafs played only 16 games a season I think this city would plotz.
edit: I assume NCAA teams play a similar amount of games?
NCAA Division I teams mostly play 11-13 regular season games. Some add a conference championship game, and there are of course bowl games (but no playoffs) at the end of the season.
Football in the States has very deep support. I used to be amused that Varsity Stadium (the old one) was smaller than the stadium at my high school in Ohio. It was a revelation for me coming to a large university where football wasn't a big deal at all after attending Ohio State. Ohio State games draw over 100,000 without fail, and would do so regardless of how good the team is. In that regard the larger Division I schools are considerably better supported than NFL teams, although the TV rights are what put the NFL over the top financially.