There’s a lot of talk about there being a major sports lull right after the Super Bowl finishes. Sure, it’s the biggest sports event in the United States, and football is the most popular sport. So it’s natural to feel like there’s a major hole after the season wraps up. But I don’t think it’s the biggest lull in the sports world. To me the past two weeks has felt like more of a drop in the sports world than after the football season ends. It’s likely because my volume in betting drops significantly right around this time of year. But let’s take a look at the lulls in the sports world throughout the year.
January – College Football Lull
This is the first break in the sports season. The second biggest sport in the country is wrapped up. Even worse, the busiest time of the year marks the end of the season – bowl games happen on a daily basis for nearly two weeks then suddenly there’s no more games. It’s a sharp ending to the year. Leaving a void of emptiness in every college fan’s heart. But if you’re able to quickly pivot to the NFL you’ll be fine.
February – Pro Football Lull
Conversely to the way the College Football season ends, the NFL season wraps up with the biggest game of the year after having a two week hiatus. It gives fans a chance to breath and plan their big party for friends that might not even care about the sport. It also gives the media a fortnight to hype up the game and make it feel like a letdown in the end. So maybe that’s why this lull in the sports calendar feels like the hardest to get over. But for me you get to move right into College Basketball and start getting ready for March Madness.
March – College Basketball Lull
To me this break in the season seems the longest – my bracket is almost always busted by the end of the Elite 8 so my vested interest in the game wanes around that time. Sure there’s the Final Four a week later, but it really doesn’t do much for me most years. Sure there’s NBA games and NHL games and some soccer league games to pick back up on and move on from this break. However, this year it felt a bit strange – the world cup qualifiers were going on so there was an extended international break for the soccer leagues. The NBA and NHL are wrapping up their seasons and basically have their playoff teams all but set. But more than anything, MLB is starting late this year – normally the end of March Madness marks the beginning of the baseball season. Not so this year, I’ll still have a few more days to wait after the National Championship for the MLB season to get rolling.
May – European Soccer Lull
There’s really not much of a lull here, NBA and NHL playoffs are rolling, MLB season is in full swing. But, right when I start getting used to betting for 6 hours every weekend morning I lose most those European leagues to their offseason. So it does create a bit of a void. Not one that I get too distraught over, but it’s still there.
June – NBA/NHL Lull
The best trophy in all of sports is given away, the only time the NBA is really worth watching is wrapped up. Then you’re left with the Major League sports – MLS and MLB. There’s not much else going on for sports – but this is when you can start to tell if your baseball team is getting good so I don’t even find this as bad as some of the others. Plus it’s summer and you can relax and take a break form all the fandom and miss a few games here and there. So overall not a very major one either.
July/August – Dog Days Lull
This might be the worst of them all. It’s the time of the year where I’ll start talking about football in the offseason. You’ve got 2 months until the season kicks off, but nothing is really happening. It’s all just commentary and speculation. Sure that’s a sport in itself, but unless it can be determined on the field what’s the point? About half the baseball teams are out of playoff contention at this point, no major events are going on after the MLB All Star game is finished. You’re really limited in what is out there. This is the real lull in the sports world and the great abyss of the year. But there’s still one more to go.
September – Cupcake Lull
The Dog Days Lull might be the longest and worst to go through. But the Cupcake Lull for the College Football season is the most infuriating. You have all the excitement of the first game, maybe even the first two games. But then suddenly you’re hit with the boring blowouts, the FCS/FBS games, and even some way too early bye weeks. There’s maybe only one or two good games on in a weekend – and it’s likely not your team playing in them. Like all the football generated lulls it’s the rollercoaster of emotions that gets you and makes you think these are the worst ones to get through – they are in some aspect, but they’re very short lived.
Fall though is the best time of the year for a sports fan. Soccer leagues are starting up again, NBA and NHL season are underway, Baseball is entering the playoffs, and even college basketball is a month or so away. There’s no lull in this season. There’s no break, just constant action to enjoy for 4 months before starting the cycle all over again. We’re about to enter the midway point of this cycle – but we’ve still got a few more months to go before we hit the worst one.