Sports in the United States are an important part of the national culture. However, the sporting culture of the U.S. is different from that of many other countries. Compared to any other nation, Americans prefer a unique set of sports. For example, association football (soccer) and cricket the most popular sports in most countries, are minor sports in the U.S. compared to the four most popular team sports, namely, baseball, American football, basketball and ice hockey. The major leagues of each of these sports enjoy massive media exposure and are considered the preeminent competitions in their respective sports in the world. The preeminence of the major leagues is partially attributed to their strong financial power and huge domestic market, as well as the fact that relatively few other countries play some of their dominant sports, like American football, to any significant extent.

In addition to the difference of popular sports, sports are also organized differently in the United States. There is no system of promotion and relegation like sports in Europe and major sports leagues operate as associations of franchises. Moreover, all major sports leagues use the same type of schedule with a playoff tournament after the regular season. Also, unlike many other countries, schools and colleges and universities sports competitions play an important role in the American sporting culture.

American sports are quite distinct from those played elsewhere in the world. The top three spectator team sports are baseball, American football and basketball, which are all popular on both the college and professional levels. Baseball is the oldest of these. The professional game dates from 1869 and had no close rivals in popularity until the 1960s; though baseball is no longer the most popular sport it is still referred to as the "national pastime." Also unlike the professional levels of the other popular spectator sports in the U.S., Major League Baseball teams play almost every day from April to October. American football (known simply as "football" in the U.S.) now attracts more television viewers than baseball; however, National Football League teams play only 16 regular-season games each year, so baseball is the runaway leader in ticket sales. Basketball, invented in Massachusetts by the Canadian-born James Naismith, is another popular sport, represented professionally by the National Basketball Association.

Most residents along the northern tier of states recognize a fourth major sport - ice hockey. Always a mainstay of Great Lakes and New England-area culture, the sport gained tenuous footholds in regions like the Carolinas and Tampa Bay, Florida in recent years, as the National Hockey League pursued a policy of expansion. Although hockey does not have the popularity of baseball, football, and basketball, the sports achievement arguably held in highest regard by Americans is the Miracle on Ice, where the American Olympic hockey team composed of collegians defeated the powerful Soviet Union hockey team at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

The top tier of stock car auto racing, NASCAR, has grown from a mainly Southern sport to the second-most-watched sport in the U.S. behind football. It has largely outgrown a previously provincial image; it is now avidly followed by fans in all socioeconomic groups and NASCAR sponsorships in the premier Sprint Cup division are highly sought after by hundreds of the U.S.'s largest corporations.

Unlike in Europe, Africa, and Latin America, soccer, despite being the most popular sport in the world, has a relatively small following, and is mostly popular in the more international cities with large immigrant populations, like New York and Los Angeles. Generally few non-Hispanic American adults appear to be attracted to soccer as spectators, but the sport is widely played by children of affluent backgrounds (giving rise to the "soccer mom" stereotype). Dramatic growth in youth participation has fueled the national team's steady rise in caliber of play over the last two decades of the 20th century and the 2000s. Almost as many girls as boys play youth soccer in the U.S., contributing to the women's national team becoming one of the world's premier women's sides.

The extent in America to which sports are associated with secondary and tertiary education is unique among nations. In basketball and football, high school and particularly college sports are followed with a fervor equaling or exceeding that felt for professional sports; college football games can draw six-digit crowds, many prominent high school football teams have stadiums that seat tens of thousands of spectators, and the college basketball championship tournament played in March, known as March Madness, draws enormous attention. For upper-tier schools, sports are a significant source of revenue. Though student athletes may be held to significantly lower academic requirements than non-athletes at many large universities, minimum standards do exist.

The U.S. is also known for endorsing many newer or less popular sports, such as golf, lacrosse, volleyball, etc.