We love our football in the United States. Do you need proof?

The first hard piece of evidence is the fact 53.3 million Americans watched the AFC championship game last Sunday between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos. That is the second-biggest viewership for a championship game behind the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011 at 54.8 million.

Think about this: the Carolina Panthers demolished the Arizona Cardinals, 49-15, and 45.7 million people tuned in. That is a ton of people watching a blowout.

Let’s compare those numbers to a couple of other sports events in 2015:

The Ohio State/Oregon title game played on ESPN in 2015 had 34.15 million viewers. The NCAA national championship in basketball between Duke and Wisconsin had 28.26 million viewers. Golden State defeated Cleveland in Game 6 of the NBA Finals and 23.25 million people watched it.

Remember when American Pharoah stole America’s hearts by winning the Triple Crown and it was supposedly the biggest deal on television? The Belmont Stakes, the last race of the three, had 18.60 million viewers, a difference of 34.7 million watchers from the AFC title game between the Pats and Broncos.

Golf without Tiger Woods struggles, and it is obvious because only 14.23 million viewers watched the final round of The Masters in 2015.

Folks, the NFL is so huge. Those numbers are ridiculous if you really stop and think about how many people really do care about watching pro football games.

The most-watched show in U.S. history is last year’s Super Bowl between the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. There were 114.4 million people watching the Patriots victory.

This year with Cam Newton on one side and Peyton Manning on the other, get ready because a new record might be set.

Another number that mind blowing is how much money Americans will wager on the Panthers and Broncos. Las Vegas has reported it expects people to bet about $4.2 billion — that’s with a B — on this year’s game. Last year, about $3.9 billion was wagered on the game.

The interesting part of all this is 97 percent of that money is expected to be gambled illegally. Betting is a part of sports, and attorney generals trying to outlaw sites like Fanduel.com and Draftkings.com will not end the wagers.

People love to put their money where their heart is, and the proof listed above shows Americans really love them some football.

Gabriel Pruett can be reached at 721-2436 or gabe.pruett@panews.com. On Twitter: @PaNewsGabe.