Best Sporting Month of the Year

What is the best sporting month of the year? Some say April, with the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League finishing their seasons and beginning their respective playoffs. The NCAA basketball tournament and start of the Major League Baseball season are other reasons used to suggest April as the best sporting month of the year. Let's look at other months and compare what they have to offer.

We can look to the summer months of June and July with Major League Baseball in full swing and a couple of majors in tennis and golf. None of these events can command enough attention by themselves or even collectively. Any month that has the slowest day in sports in it has to be eliminated from consideration. This is why they call it the dog days of summer.

In this day and age, the biggest draw in sports is football. The national football league just extended its contract with DirecTV for a BILLION dollars a year, to be the exclusive provider of their games. College football distributes millions of dollars to its conferences and teams each year. With that kind of cash being generated, any month without meaningful football games can be eliminated from this discussion.

In February, we have the Super Bowl in football and the Daytona 500 in racing. These each have a huge draw, but are essentially a one-day event. In August, we get to football training camp and pre-season games, but no games with anything riding on them. 

The months from September to January all have games played in football leagues that matter. Let's look at each month and see how they stack up. In September, we have the beginning games in the NFL as well as the NCAA. The baseball season is winding down and playoff seeding is determined. In October, at the start of the month it is still early enough  that most teams can feel they still have a shot. By month's end, we have a better idea of who is for real and who is pretending, as Super Bowl candidates and also for the BCS title. The Major League Baseball playoffs and World Series are played mostly during this month. Let's face it: most fans don't watch much baseball until October. In golf, we have the Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup, which brings in a lot of interest that wouldn't normally be there. There is also the sprint cup in NASCAR, which runs a majority of its races in October, as well as the beginning of NHL and NBA seasons. In November, we have more football including most rivalry games in college. The NBA and NHL have full schedules. In December and January, we have the bowl games and the NFL playoffs.

The best sports month of the year? With the fan bases of most football teams still believing they are the best and have a shot at the title, the world series in baseball (which isn't spaced out over too many days, like some of the other sports playoffs), the chase for the cup in NASCAR, national pride on the line in golf, and the beginning of basketball and hockey, October is the best sporting month of the year. And the weather is still warm enough in most of the country that sports can still be enjoyed outdoors with friends, either playing or spectating.