Today, we’ll examine the top 10 most popular sports in the world in terms of popularity. But before we do that, it’s critical to understand the value of sports and the standards by which they should be ranked.
Our lives would not be the same without sports. From our earliest years as children, when we take sports extremely seriously, to our later years as adults, when we view them as a hobby, a fitness habit, and occasionally even a career. Some sport is now avidly watched everywhere in the world.
People typically develop an emotional connection to their favourite sports stars and teams and view their sporting heroes as role models.
People around the world have a variety of preferred sports. As a result, ranking sports is a demanding and challenging task.
This is precisely why it is challenging to determine the validity and authenticity of the various sports lists available.
Understanding exactly what we mean by the “most popular sports” in this context is crucial. The term “popular” can refer to the “most played,” “most viewed,” or “most profitable” sports.
Here is the list of top 10 most popular sports in the world.
10. Golf – 390 Million Global Fan Base
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in the world in which players try to use as few strokes as possible to smash balls into a sequence of holes on a course.
Golf, unlike most ball sports, cannot and does not employ a standardised playing area, and one of the important aspects of the game is navigating the various terrains seen on different courses.
Although they could have a different number of holes, courses normally contain 18 or 9 holes. The starting point for each hole on the course must be a teeing area, and each hole’s actual hole or cup must be located on a putting green.
Other common terrain types, such the fairway, rough (long grass), and different hazards (water, rocks, bunkers), can be found in between, although each hole on a course is distinct in terms of its own arrangement and design.
Why is Golf one of the most popular sports in the world?
According to a 2005 Golf Digest study, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Wales, United States, Sweden, and England had the most golf courses per capita (countries with fewer than 500,000 people were excluded).
There are now more golf courses in other countries, as seen by the growth of the sport in China. China’s first golf course opened in 1984, but by 2009’s conclusion, there were almost 600 throughout the nation.
Although the construction of new golf courses has been officially prohibited in China for the majority of the twenty-first century (with the exception of the island province of Hainan), the number of courses tripled from 2004 to 2009.
The “ban” has been circumvented with the government’s tacit approval simply by omitting golf from any development plans.
Women made up 25% of golfers in the United States in 2021, up from 19% in 2011; junior female golfers make up 35% of golfers, or 1.1 million people.
According to the National Golf Foundation, the number of Americans who play golf twenty-five times or more annually dropped from 6.9 million in 2000 to 4.6 million in 2005.
Golf is one of the most watched sport around and being such popular sport around, it surely is one of the most popular sports in the world.
9. American Football / Rugby – 410 Million Fan Base
A rectangular field with goalposts at either end is used for the team sport of American football, which is played by two teams of eleven players.
The defence, the team without the ball, seeks to halt the offense’s movement and seize control of the ball for themselves.
The offence, the team in possession of the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with the ball or throwing it.
The offence is awarded a new set of four downs to resume the drive if they successfully gain at least 10 yards in four downs or plays.
If they fail, they forfeit the ball to the defence.
In order to score a touchdown or a field goal, the ball must be advanced into the end zone of the opposing team or kicked past their goal posts. At the conclusion of a game, the team with the most points wins.
How can American football be considered as most popular sports in the world?
American football is a contact sport with a number of professional league. It is a professional sports and comes under famous sport as well as the most played sports in the United States of America and is managed by the American football conference or the National football Conference.
According to a Harris Interactive survey from 2014, professional football was the most popular sport, with college football coming in third place behind baseball and professional football.
46% of respondents chose some variation of the game as their favourite sport. Since 1985, when it initially exceeded baseball in popularity, professional football has held the top spot among all sports in the survey.
Is college Football also a famous sport?
While college football is most popular in the southern United States as team sport and among those with graduate and post-graduate degrees, professional football is most popular among people who reside in rural and eastern United States.
Football is the sport that American high school and college athletes play the most. According to a 2012 NCAA study, there were over 1.1 million high school football players and close to 70,000 college rugby players in the country; by contrast, basketball, the second-most popular sport, had roughly 1 million high school players and 34,000 college players.
The Super Bowl is one of the most watched club sporting events in the world and the most watched single-day sporting event in the United States. Each year, the National Football League earns about $10 billion.
American football is the 9th ranked most popular sports in the world.
8. Baseball – 500 Million Fan Base
In the bat-and-ball game of baseball, two teams of nine players each alternate between batting and fielding.
When the umpire indicates to the pitcher that the ball is now in play, either verbally or physically, the game is in progress.
A member of the batting team attempts to hit a ball with a bat after it is thrown by the pitcher, a member of the fielding team.
In order for its players to advance clockwise around four bases and score what are referred to as “runs,” the offensive team’s (batting team) goal is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the players on the opposing team.
The defensive team’s (also known as the fielding team’s) goal is to stop runners from advancing around the bases and to stop batters from becoming runners. A runner legally completing the bases in order and touching home plate constitutes a run.
Is Baseball one of the most popular sport in US?
Morris Raphael Cohen, a philosopher, referred to baseball as the US’s national religion in a 1919 essay. This statement clearly defines why it is one of the most watched sports as well as most popular sport in the United States.
Baseball has traditionally been “a singular paragon of American culture,” according to sports commentator Jayson Stark, a reputation he sees as being destroyed by the steroid misuse controversy. Baseball has a significant role in the cultures of other countries as well: According to academic Peter Bjarkman, “the sport is profoundly interwoven in the history and culture of a country like Cuba, how deeply it was radically transformed and nativized in Japan.”
Is it also one of the most popular sports in the world?
The Carribean :
The Dominican Republic, in especially the city of San Pedro de Macors, has been a major supplier of international talent for the major leagues since the early 1980s.
Of the 868 players on Major League Baseball Opening Day rosters in 2017, 83 were nationals. 97 MLB players were born in Venezuela, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, among other Caribbean nations and territories. Roberto Clemente, a Hall of Famer, is still regarded as one of Puerto Rico’s greatest national heroes.
Asian countries
Baseball is one of the most popular sport in Asia, particularly in Japan and South Korea. The combined revenue for the twelve teams in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the organisation that manages both the Central and Pacific Leagues, in Japan, where baseball is unquestionably the most popular spectator team sport, was projected at $1 billion in 2007.
For the entire year, there were roughly 20 million NPB viewers. While MLB attendance increased by 50% and income nearly tripled in the prior two decades, the similar NPB stats remained unchanged.
7. Table Tennis – 850 Million Fan Base
Table tennis, commonly referred to as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a game in which two or four players use little sturdy rackets to strike a lightweight ball across a table back and forth. It is an indoor sport.
A net divides the hard table on which the game is played. Players must allow the ping pong ball hit toward them to bounce once on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces at least once on the other side, with the exception of the first serve.
When a player fails to return the ball in accordance with the rules, they are given a point. Play is brisk and necessitates quick responses. The ball’s altered trajectory and decreased alternatives due to spinning provide the hitter a significant edge.
What is the governing body of Table tennis?
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), a global organisation established in 1926, is in charge of overseeing table tennis.
There are presently 226 member associations in the ITTF. The ITTF manual contains the official table tennis rules. Since 1988, there have been various event categories for the Olympic sport of table tennis.
These included men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, and women’s doubles from 1988 to 2004. The doubles has been replaced with a team event since 2008.
Why is Table tennis among the most popular sports in the world?
Whenever talking about other popular sport, Table tennis is surely one of the most popular sports in the world and surely one of the most watched sport around.
Seeing at the rise of different Table tennis stars around, the craze of this sport is on its way to reach new heights. As it is one of the most watched olympic sports in the world.
In addition to being well-liked in East Asia and Europe, competitive table tennis is also becoming more popular in the United States.
The Olympic Games, the Table Tennis World Cup, the World Table Tennis Championship, and the ITTF World Tour are the most significant international competitions.
Chinese athletes have triumphed in 60% of the men’s World Championships since 1959, and in all but three of the women’s Corbillin Cup contests since 1971, Chinese athletes have triumphed.
Numerous other East Asian and European nations, including Austria, Belarus, Germany, Hong Kong, Portugal, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Sweden, and Taiwan, have strong teams.
6. Volleyball – 900 Million Fan Base
Volleyball is the sixth most famous sport in the world around. A net separates the two teams of six players in the team sport of volleyball.
Under set rules, each side attempts to score points by putting the ball on the court of the other team. Since Tokyo 1964, it has been a part of the official Olympic Summer Games schedule.
At the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, beach volleyball was incorporated into the programme. Sitting volleyball is the modified variation of volleyball played at the summer paralympics.
Although the ball is often played using the hands or arms, any part of the body may be used to strike or push (brief contact) the ball.
Since these plays are made above the top of the net, the vertical jump is an athletic skill that is stressed in the sport of volleyball.
Other consistent methods include passing, setting, and specific player positions and offensive and defensive structures.
How did Volleyball become of the most popular sports in the world?
Until 2017, Volleyball was not as famous sport as compared to other sports in the world. Recently due to number of rising controversies at the game, the popularity has suddenly increased drastically as compared to other sports.
It is at present one of the most watched sports in the world as many countries are starting to look at this game as a new opportunity. Many countries in South america have shown interest in volleyball which is why today it is one of the most popular sports in the world.
5. Tennis – 1 Billion Fan Base
Tennis is a racquet sport that can be played either solo (against one opponent) or in teams of two (each team has two players) (doubles).
Each player hits a hollow rubber ball wrapped in felt over or over a net and into the other team’s court using a tennis racket that is cord-strung.
The goal of the game is to move the ball in a way that prevents the other team from playing a legal return. The player who is unable to successfully return the ball will not receive a point; instead, the opponent will.
Is Tennis among olympic games?
Tennis is an Olympic sport that is enjoyed by people of all social classes and ages. Anyone who can grip a racket can participate in the sport, including wheelchair users.
In Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century, lawn tennis was the precursor to the present game of tennis.
It shared strong ties with both the earlier racket sport known as real tennis and other field (lawn) activities like croquet and bowls.
What are the major competition for Tennis stars?
Tennis is one of the major sport around and being one of the most popular sports in the world, it has a number of tournaments which pay huge amounts to the players.
The singles competition earns the most prize money and media attention at professional tennis championships like Wimbledon, followed by the doubles competition and mixed doubles, which typically receive the lowest monetary prizes.
Men’s and women’s singles prize money, for instance, makes up 80.9% of the total player base salary at the US Open as of 2018, while men’s and women’s doubles prize money, men’s and women’s singles qualifying, and mixed doubles prize money, respectively, make up 12.1%, 5.9%, and 1% of the player base salary.
The winning singles player receives US $3,800,000, the winning doubles pair wins US $700,000, and the winning mixed doubles pair wins US $155,000.
4. Ice Hockey – 2 Billion Fan Base
Ice hockey is the 4th ranked popular sport and probably one of the most watched sport in the world.
A team sport on skates, hockey is often played on a rink with lines and markings designed specifically for the activity.
It is a member of the hockey family of sports. A closed, vulcanised rubber disc called a “puck” is controlled, advanced, and shot into the opposing team’s goal by two opposing teams using hockey stick.
One point is awarded for each goal. The winning team is the one with the most goals scored.
In a formal game, each side has six skaters on the ice at once, with the goaltender being one of them, barring any penalties. Full-contact ice hockey is a sport.
Which body governs this popular sport?
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which oversees both the men’s and women’s competitions at the sport’s main international amateur championship, the IIHF World Championships, is one of the Winter Olympics’ participating sports.
The sport is simply referred to as “hockey” in North America and many European nations. However, “hockey” typically refers to field hockey in other nations.
The designation of hockey as the national winter sport of Canada was made official in 1994.
It also has a professional sports league, the National hockey league.
What is the difference between ice hockey and field hockey?
While ice players bang the puck around, field hockey players use the stick to hit the ball.
The size of the goals varies greatly depending on the sport. Ice hockey goals are merely 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide, whereas field hockey goals are constructed of two 7 foot high posts spaced 12 feet apart.
Of the two sports, ice hocky is by far the more physically demanding.
In contrast to field hockey, where there are restrictions in place to prevent such activity, body checking is not against the rules.
The only other similarity between the two sports is that they both employ a curved stick with a similar design to hit the target projectile around.
3. Basketball – 2.2 Billion Fan Base
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, usually each with five players, compete against one another on a rectangular court with the main goal of stopping the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop while using a basketball with a diameter of about 9.4 inches (24 cm) to go through the defender’s hoop, which is a basket with a diameter of 18 inches (46 cm) mounted 10 feet (3.048 m) high to a backboard at each end of the court.
Except when made from behind the three-point line, a field goal is worth three points. Timed play is stopped following a foul, and the player who committed the foul or who was chosen to attempt a technical foul is awarded one, two, or three one-point free throws.
The team with the most points at the conclusion of regulation play wins, but if the score is tied when regulation play ends, extra time (overtime) must be played.
How did Basketball become one of the most popular sport in the world?
Basketball was created in 1891 by Canadian-American gym instructor James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, and has since grown to be one of the most popular sport and most watched sports in the world.
In terms of fandom, earnings, talent, and degree of competitiveness, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is the most major professional basketball league in the world.
The top teams from national leagues outside of North America are eligible to compete in continental competitions like the EuroLeague and the Basketball Champions League Americas.
The sport’s two biggest international competitions, the Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournament and the FIBA Basketball World Cup, draw the best national teams from all over the world.
Regional competitions for national teams, such as EuroBasket and the FIBA AmeriCup, are held on each continent.
It is one of the most played sport in the world, especially by tall people. Undoubtedly, Basketball fans have made basketball one of the most popular sport in the world.
2. Cricket – 2.5 Billion Fan Base
Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport that is played between two teams of eleven players on a field that has a wicket at each end made up of two bails balanced on three stumps.
The pitch measures 22 yards (20 metres) in length. The bowling and fielding side attempts to prevent this (by keeping the ball from leaving the field and getting it to either wicket) and dismisses each batter.
The batting side scores runs by striking the ball bowled at the wicket with the bat and then running between the wickets (so they are “out”).
Why is cricket the second most popular sport in the world?
Cricket has had a significant influence on pop culture both within and outside of the Commonwealth of Nations.
For instance, expressions like “that’s not cricket” (that’s unfair), “had a good innings” (had a long life), and “sticky wicket” have been affected by it in these countries, notably the English language.
On a sticky wicket” (also known as “sticky dog” or “glue pot”) is a metaphor for a challenging situation.
It was first used to describe challenging batting circumstances brought on by a wet, soft pitch in the game of cricket.
The craze of cricket world cup and the different Franchise based cricket leagues is totally unmatched.
This sport originated in the 17th century but has been the most popular sport in the world ever since.
1. Football , Soccer – 3.5 Billion Fan Base
Football is the game that has been at its peak nowadays for its immense popularity, Football Players are nowadays the most followed Stars in Social Media Platforms.
Without qualification, the term “football” generally refers to the variety of the game that is most common in the context in which it is used.
Association football, also known as soccer in North America and Oceania, gridiron football, sometimes known as American or Canadian football, Australian rules football, rugby union, rugby league, and Gaelic football are all sports that are frequently referred to as football.
These different football variations, referred to as football codes, have varying degrees of shared ancestry.
Why is Football soccer the most popular sport in the world?
The most well-known team sports worldwide include a few of the football codes.
Football has its own fanbase where all over the world its more than 250 million players across more than 200 countries plays football and all of those countries has their won football league and most and many famous leagues has its own fan base and many top players in many Popular European Leagues.
The most popular sport in the country is American football, which has 1.1 million high school players and approximately 70,000 college players.
Nine of the 10 most watched television broadcasts in American history have come from the annual Super Bowl game.
The NFL has the largest income of any single professional sports league and the highest average attendance (67,591) of all professional sports leagues worldwide.
American Football also has its own base right now, many big players come to America and participated in the MLS and at this stage, the world cup winner and the Birghtest Individual player Lionel Messi is playing for the American Giants Inrter Miami and showcasing his individual brilliance in the American Soil.
Most of the Professional Players in America also earn Huge amount of money as well.
In Australia, Australian rules football draws the most spectators of any sport. In a similar vein, the All-Ireland Football Final is the most watched sporting event in Ireland, where Gaelic football is the most popular sport in terms of spectator attendance.
The most popular sport in New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji is rugby union. College rugby is the fastest-growing college sport in the United States, making it the sport with the fastest global growth.
Football soccer is undoubtedly the most popular sport in the world. The fifa world cup gets the highest viewership as compared to any other sports in the world.
In terms of club competitions, the uefa champions league every time breaks the internet as the best football clubs clash against each other.
The craze of football and the amount earned by football players clearly shows why is football the most popular sports in the world.
Also check out the list of top 10 Hottest NFL players.
