College and Professional sports are two of the most popular competitive events in the world today. They give fans some of their favorite sports on the biggest stages in the world. However in all sports, there are major differences between professional sports and college sports. Today we will look at what people believe is better, college sports or professional sports.
College sports have changed dramatically over the past few years with the introduction of N.I.L(Name.Image.Likeness).This has allowed college athletes to get paid money for playing sports. Athletes have been fighting for years to earn this right and in 2021 it was approved. However with this has also come a lot of backlash, as many fans believe that the sport no longer has the loyalty from the players it once had. This stems from players transferring colleges every year to pursue schools that will offer them the most money.
Whereas professional sports loyalty of the players has not come into question by fans. Professional sports also offer more polished skill compared to the college level. This is an important factor to why so many athletes have success in college, but go professional and fail to live up to expectations.
However it is still widely known that the college atmosphere and fans generate an unimaginable experience at games. College sports are also believed to have better bonds between the athletes. This is one of the biggest reasons why there are people who believe that college sports are better than professional sports.
Junior Ripon High student, Ace Dougherty, stated in an interview,”I just think the culture[in college sports] is a lot better. Everyone’s a lot closer and tighter and the chemistry[is better]. It builds off of that. Just makes it overall more fun.”
Still though, the level of skill in professional sports has led many to believe that it is more entertaining, leading to more viewership in most sports compared to college. For example, football is the most popular sport in America. So while college football is extremely popular, it does not compare to the NFL which averaged 17.5 million viewers per game in 2024, while college football averaged 5.8 million viewers per game on top programs like ESPN and ABC in 2024.
RHS Senior, Wyatt Swift, stated on why he preferred professional sports,”It’s more intense and college sports is just not as fun.”
We can see the opinions of Ripon residents sways in a similar way as the viewership numbers after a recent survey on the smoke signal instagram, over 60% of people who surveyed believed that professional sports are better than college sports. 
Both sports have their pros and cons and while some sports are more popular than others, it is proven that professional sports are widely considered to be better than college sports. With a huge gap in viewership numbers, more polished skill sets, and loyalty never coming into question, it can be concluded that professional sports are better than college sports.
