[Gorditadogg]

If you want your son to have the best chance at a professional sports career, hockey is definitely the way to go. Here are the data.

According to the NCAA, here's how many high school age boys played on their high school or club teams (or both) in 2022-23.

Football 1,050,000
Basketball 548,000
Baseball 488,000
Hockey 45,000

And here are how many U.S. players played in the major pro leagues in 2023-24 (from various reliable sports sites).

NFL 2,200
NBA 402
MLB 488
NHL 288

Adjusting for average career lengths of 4.5 years in professional basketball and hockey, 5.6 years for baseball and 3.3 years for football, the relative odds of a high school age boy athlete making it to the pros are as follows.

NFL 1 in 394
NBA 1 in 1,533
MLB 1 in 632
NHL 1 in 174

Long odds in all sports for sure, but a much easier path to the pros as a hockey player.