In the past, I’ve written a diverse share of articles. If I had to assign this one a superlative, it would certainly be the “most random” piece. I always enjoy talking about all five major sports, but this is no prolific commentary. First, to get a few notes out of the way, for every sport except soccer, the criteria is that the month cannot coincide with the regular season or playoffs. Overall, a “process of elimination” style method is what was employed to determine the least fortunate month. Oh, and lastly, it is either a coincidence or my subconscious took over, but there were no repeat months across the sports.
Football (NFL): June
It is quite ironic that the first inclusion on this list currently is in their “worst month.” With its most notable event being voluntary team workouts; June is certainly the slowest part of the offseason. The competition came down to May, June, and July, with all other months having some form of game action or structured offseason roster changes. May was ruled out due to the lingering hype after the draft and signing of undrafted free agents, and July is when training camp finally starts and season hype rises, leaving June as the odd month out.
Basketball (NBA): September
My task got slightly easier with our second inclusion, as the basketball season runs for a lengthy 8 months, including preseason, and during a normal COVID-less year. Simply put, for basketball, the choice boiled down to either August or September. I went with September, due to the drought of notable events and that basketball also reaches a low peak of interest, with the NFL season kicking off and the MLB season winding down.
Baseball (MLB): January
January marks one of the driest months for baseball fans. The dull free agency period progresses like a turtle stuck in molasses, and spring training seems a long wait away. If baseball wasn’t already boring enough (sorry, it just has some serious issues right now), fans have to sit through one of the least eventful offseasons, which “peaks” in January. Part of the blame falls on the timing of the MLB draft, which transpires in June, but even then there is little hype around that.
Soccer: November
Soccer, or football has grown to become one of my favorite sports as of late, and I have grown to appreciate all months of the soccer season. This is in part due to seemingly nonstop club action for nearly 12 straight months, after Europe’s top leagues ended their COVID hiatus in June. However, I am judging the beautiful game on a typical season. In such a standard season, November is bisected by an international break, often with few noteworthy competitive features. December is nearly as bad, but the impending transfer window is enough to keep fans on their toes.
Hockey (NHL): July
My answer for America’s least popular sport is the arid month of July. Yes, free agency does begin in late July in a typical year, but the fun in that often comes in assessing the aftermath and roster comparisons. What really tips the scale “in favor” of July is the temperature; no month is hotter than July, on average. Ice rinks get soaked up by the sun’s fierce rays and overall hockey activity across all levels and ages meets its deadpoint.