What Are The Most Popular Sports In The World?
Everyone has their favorite sport and there is always a lot of debate among sports fans about the most popular sports. Those who have a favourite sport are most likely to claim it to be the most popular sport in the world but everyone is biased in some way. There are over 800 different sports on the planet, including indigenous sports, which is remarkable. When considering the most popular sports in the world, several factors come into play.
The most prominent is the fact there is a difference between those who actively play the sport and those who just like to watch the sport. There are plenty of people who both play and watch sports, so it is not easy to produce a solution. However, below you will find what we believe to be the most popular sports in the world, and the first sport will come as no surprise.
Soccer
No one can argue with the fact soccer is the most popular sport in the world. There are believed to be over 3.5 billion soccer fans worldwide and no other sport can come close that number of people. Soccer is any easy game to play and all that’s required is a ball.
Soccer has become a massive spectator sport and fans pack stadiums around the world, with some of the major clubs attracting over 70,000 fans to every match. From England to Jamaica, Brazil to Mongolia, and Tibet to the Faroe Islands, there are 211 countries officially recognized by FIFA at the time of writing and they each compete to play in the World Cup every four years. Not only is soccer one of the most popular sports in the world for watching and playing, it is also one of the most popular sports for fans to bet on according to GambleUSA.
Cricket
Cricket is an interesting sport because, unlike soccer, there are a small number of countries that participate in the sport at the international level. In terms of Test Match cricket, which is the ultimate level of the professional game, there are only 12 nations ranked by the International Cricket Council.
Australia, India, England, South Africa, Pakistan, and West Indies are six of the nations ranked for Test cricket by the ICC. During the 2019 Men’s Cricket World Cup, the semi-final game between India and New Zealand had a concurrent viewership of 25.3 million people and there is believed to be more than 2.5 billion cricket fans around the world.
Hockey
Hockey is strongly associated with North America and is the best competition; the National Hockey League is contested on ice by teams from the United States and Canada. There are other forms of hockey played across the world aside from ice hockey, with field hockey being the most popular alternative.
However, ice hockey is the most prominent form of the sport and there are many leagues across the world, including the Kontinental Hockey League and the Swedish Hockey League. Over 2 billion people consider themselves to be hockey fans, with the majority watching or playing ice hockey.
Tennis
People of all ages and abilities can enjoy a game of tennis and that is why it has grown into one of the most popular sports on the planet. There are many public tennis courts available in cities, towns, and villages across the world and tennis can even be played by one person hitting the ball against a wall.
The top professional players tour the world and there are several big tournaments every year, including the four Grand Slam events. There are over 1 billion tennis fans and that makes it one of the most popular sports today. Who can blame them with such epic finals that have fans around the world at the edge of their seats?
American Football
Despite the fact that American football is only played at the highest level in the United States, there are so many National Football League fans around the world, it makes the list as one of the most popular sports in the world.
In addition to the hundreds of thousands of fans who attend NFL games each week during the season, millions of people are tuning into live coverage in the United States and around the world. NFL games are often played in the United Kingdom during the regular season, such is the number of people who want to see their favourite team and players in the flesh.