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Baseball and football declining is hard to believe though. Those two sports have been around a long time in America. 50 years there might be the possibility, but definitely not anytime in the near future.(Like 30 years in the future.)

It is not that hard to believe. Baseball has been steadily declining since the 50s and 60s. It used to be the most popular sport in America, but has been trumped in the past 30 years by basketball and football. Football has nowhere to go but down at this point. I can't see it being replaced as the number 1 sport, but people probably used to say that about baseball.

Similarly, I can see soccer's popularity globally being effected by basketball, as basketball becomes more and more popular worldwide.

Going up/staying up:
Football- You'll never see this sport go away (at least in any of our lifetimes) both at the college and pro level
Hockey - After the lockout the league did whatever they could to get a fan base back, for the most part they've done an adequate job, but until they get on a big national network, not many people will know about the teams in the league past their own and this could hurt. if they get on ESPN, ABC, NBC, or some other network hockey could boom
Basketball - They've been decent and continue to do well on big networks. It helps to have superstars like the big 3 in boston, kobe in LA, James in Cleveland, and CP3 in New Orleans
Soccer - not so much MLS, but English Premiere League is getting bigger as well as the Champions League and World Cup stuff, but not enough networks cover this sport for it to grow very rapidly, but it's steadily climbing

Going down:
Baseball - I think everyone is getting sick of the steroids stuff in baseball and until they put a salary cap on it, it will continue to decline

This may sound weird, but i would LOVE a channel like they have on dodgeball "ESPN 8 'the ocho'"
Just have different sports from around the world, it'd be great to watch some aussie rules football, rugby, cricket, handball, curling, and some other sports that some Americans may not be familiar with

Count, there used to be a show very much like you described...it was called "The Wide World of Sports". It was hosted by Jim McKay and always started with "Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport". I seem to remember it running through the mid 90's, but it's heyday was 60's and 70's.

Unfortunately the constant variety of sport has evolved to primarily football, basketball and baseball with sports like golf and nascar making inroads.

*Football will continue to grow and will be "America's Game" for some time to come. It has been managed very well and I don't see anyone messing that up any time soon.
*College football is very popular and could make itself much better if they ever start playoffs.
*The NBA seems to swing back and forth in popularity. They were obviously in a decline since Jordan, but they seem to making a comeback. They could make themselves better by raising the age of when players can join the league. There are exceptions to the rule like Kobe and LeBron, but I think it would help the league if the fans got to know the players in college first.
*College basketball will thrive as long as March Madness remains popular. They would also benefit from raising the minimum age in the NBA. Many college players aren't around long enough to help a school build a team, but the tournament is a huge event every year.
*Baseball is dying a slow death despite attendance. My perception is that many people no longer go to the games to watch the game, but to experience the atmosphere. The newer ballparks are great and it's possible to have a good time even if your team is awful. They desperately need a salary cap and to televise games when kids can see them. They need to refocus on competition and the game itself.
*Hockey - I think hockey's best days are behind them. They shot themselves in the foot too many times and even though they have some young stars, I don't think it will be enough. They have enough of a following to remain a 2nd tier sport.
*Soccer - I think they will always have an enthusiastic following among a small group of people. Soccer is no longer a new sport. It's been pushed in the country since the 70's. Americans will get behind the sport every time the World Cup or Olympics roles around, but I don't see leagues ever gaining mass popularity.
*Golf - it will obviously remain popular as long as Tiger Woods is around. After that, I can very easily see it declining. It will be next to impossible to bring someone else into the sport who can take the excitement to a higher level. Their best hope is to have a rivalry between 2 golfers, but with so many good golfers any more, it's going to be tough for anyone to distance themselves from the pack.
*NASCAR has certainly grown in popularity over the last 20 years, and although I have no data to support my opinion, I think it will level off soon if it hasn't already. As long as the drivers can relate to the fans, the fans will remain very loyal. However, if the drivers should ever distance themselves from the fan, they could be in trouble. Other sports could learn a valuable lesson from them.

Through the 70's sports such as track, boxing, wrestling, swimming, horse racing and even bowling were given coverage by both the networks and the print media. Track and swimming are now only relevant during the Olympics. Horse racing is only relevant when a horse has a shot at the triple crown and boxing, wrestling and bowling have almost disappeared from the public eye.

I think this a sad commentary on sports today. I often wonder if they are not popular because they are not covered or if they are not covered because they are not popular. I tend to think it's the former. Many people used to like these sports and essentially people haven't really changed all that much in the last 50 years. I believe if they were exposed to these sports by knowledgeable journalists, they could do quite well again. In the pre-80's era of sports journalism there were people like Jim McKay, Dick Schaap, Jim Murray and even Howard Cosell who had knowledge of just about all sports and could talk or write about them at any time. I know it makes me feel old to say this, but I miss those days of sport.

Im living in no fantasy world... i never said that the MLS was watched more than any other sport because i don't even watch the MLS but its true that soccer has more players in america than any other sport all you have to do is get out of western PA and go to eastern PA and soccer is bigger than football over there. So get out of your fantasy world because in the world soccer is the largest sport and it will always be that way. What i don't understand though is that just because you play football you have to go around saying soccer is a joke or track is a joke? come on I play football, and soccer and i run track ..and you know what i watch the NFL every saturday Sunday monday and thursday its on and i watch the Pens every game... just becuse you don't like something! well your not america and western PA isn't either...

Apparently you also don't live in a world where sentence structure and spelling matter one bit.

You say Western PA isn't America. Well eastern PA isn't either. Football will always trump soccer in America. End of discussion. America is the gold standard in a bunch of things, and sports happens to be one of them. More people in America will watch the Super Bowl in 2 weeks than watch soccer at any point, ever, in the history of the sport.

once a runner,

NASCAR is struggling. The drivers are really no longer 'embodiments' of the fans that follow the sport any longer. That died with Dale Earnhardt. Sure JR. is following in the same footsteps, but he's the exception, not the rule. Any more most drivers are more concerned with locking down sponsorship dollars than they are worried with the fans. Tony Stewart has a large fan following based on his "don't give a $#!t" attitude when it comes to the NASCAR authorities and he's also connecting to them through dirt track racing, which i will talk a little bit about later on. Also, NASCAR can no longer have the "average Joe" race team come up and become successful. It's a multi-million dollar sport any more just to be competitive, let alone run for and attempt to win a title. If you watch a race on t.v. or go to one in person look at the all the empty seats there are becoming more and more prevalent at each track. That never happened 10 years ago. Ticket prices keep going up along with parking around the venue, the concessions, the merchandise, ect., ect., ect. There is more of a movement toward dirt track racing with people following the WoO(World of Outlaws) and Independent Racing Series, and Lucas Oil Series. Those shows are about 40 dollars for a 2 days show. Free RV parking and car parking at those tracks. Home-made style food at those track at relatively cheap prices. With great action at local tracks where pretty much anything goes. It's racing the way it was and true race fans pine for that. They're turning to alternatives and those series are reaping the benefits of it.

2009 could be the worst year for NASCAR in it's history. It's going to be a very trying time for that franchise.

First of all, I grew up in eastern PA and football is bigger than soccer there too. Soccer is bigger than it is in eastern PA, mostly because it has been around longer and PA West is a terrible organization.

I agree that football, college and pro, are always going to be big, but they have nowhere to go but down at this point. Many people do watch the Super Bowl, but this is because it has become a cultural event. My wife "watches the Super Bowl" every year, but she never actually watches the game. It is similar to the way people go to baseball games for the experience. Don't get me wrong. Football is huge, but a better gauge of its popularity would be to look at TV audiences for the BCS Championship game or the conference championship games this past weekend.

As for a channel that carries sports from around the world, Setanta sport is your best bet. It carries rugby, cricket, and aussie rules football, as well as soccer. It is pretty pricey though.

I do think that the networks determine what is popular, to an extent. But they would not enter into expensive contracts if they did not believe that the general population was interested in the sport. I think this can be best seen in the NBA and NHL. ESPN definitely promotes the NBA over the NHL because they have a contract. However, there is also a reason why ESPN ditched the NHL. People are more interested in the NBA right now.

Finally, the argument that soccer leagues are not gaining popularity is an uninformed one. As much as I don't like the league, the MLS has been growing and they are attracting good crowds and devoted fans. I don't believe this would have happened 20 years ago, as the last major outdoor soccer league failed miserably in the 80s. Also, the number of Americans who are interested in the Champions League and the English Premier League has gone way up since I was in high school 15 years ago. ESPN has covered the Champions League for over 10 years, but they have recently been expanding their coverage from one game per week to as many as four games and a highlights show. These are small steps, but as a soccer player and fan, I can definitively say that the kids playing today are more informed about professional overseas soccer than I was and have more opportunities to watch games.