Has UFC Surpassed NHL As The 4th Most Popular Sport In US?

MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL are commonly referred to as the "Big Four" major sports leagues in the United States. Yet Endeavor president Mark Shapiro says the UFC now holds one of those four positions in the hierarchy. 

"I’ve spent a lot of time in sports in my career. I’m getting old now. You used to hear it more often than you do now, but it used to be the four majors. The four majors. And frankly, what are you talking about," Shapiro said during an appearance at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on Wednesday. 

"The UFC is now not only mainstream, it’s one of the four majors."

Per Shapiro, the UFC eclipsed the NHL – bumping professional hockey out of the "Big Four."

"The ratings on ESPN and ESPN 2, apples to apples against the NHL, even including the playoffs, we dwarf them," Shapiro said. "You put a Fight Night — not a pay-per-view, not a preliminary bout in front of the pay-per-view — a regular weekly Fight Night on ESPN does double-digit ratings… and the demos are anywhere between 20-40 percent up."

Shapiro is compromised on said topic. Obviously. Endeavor is the parent company of TKO, which owns the UFC and WWE. However, the former president of ESPN's argument is intriguing. We don't scoff at it.

Let's review the "Big Four" U.S. sports:

The NFL is No. 1. It's not close. The NFL is already the largest sports league in the country and is growing, setting several postseason and Super Bowl viewership records last season.

The NFL is on a tier of its own.

College football is second in popularity. Television networks value SEC and Big 10 football second only to a package of NFL football. That said, Shapiro's wording – "four majors" – suggests he's not factoring college sports into his equation. 

Fair.

The