The answer to this question is a very easy one! MASSIVE, and in capital letters! For Americans, a sports scholarship is a huge honor and something that young athletes start working towards very early. Even just receiving a walk on spot on a team very often brings athletes and their parents to tears, as you can see from many videos gone viral when these athletes are told by their coaches that they will have a spot on the team.
Furthermore, the interest level to follow and watch college sports on TV is something that is unheard of in countries outside of North America. College football or basketball games regularly receive high TV ratings with an audience in the millions. And other sports have started catching up as well. Sports like volleyball, golf, tennis and soccer, can now be watched on TV on a regular basis.
Stadium attendance is also another factor that needs to be mentioned here. Your big time college football teams regularly play in front of 50,000 to 100,000 people and college basketball teams very often draw attendances upwards of 20,000 people per game. This is especially noticeable in certain areas that are well known for a particular sport. For example, college basketball is a huge sport in states such as Kansas or Indiana, while other areas and schools are very famous for their football programs. Lastly, Americans are always very proud of their alma mater and keep following their sports teams even years or decades after they graduate. This has lead in part to this college sports culture as it is very common for alumni of a certain school to come watch the schools football or basketball games on a regular basis or at least once a year. All we can tell you is that here at Sports & Study USA we absolutely love college sports and we get huge joy when we see our athletes experience this for themselves. So if this is something you want to be a part of, reach out to us and schedule your free evaluation to hear more about your options!