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August 20 2016
Here is the list of world's most popular sports. We will rank the world most popular sports base on popularity, fans base, Tv deals, endorsement, players salaries, International recognization and more. This list is similar to other list found online and on different websites. The source of the fan numbers is unknown. Soccer is obviously the most popular sport in term of fans base, Tv audience.[ Soccer is the most watched, most followed] And unsurprising it the most popular sport in the world and it is in number one in our list. continue reading if you want to know which sport came 2nd, last and why they are ranks in that position.
This should not be a surprise to anyone because it's very obvious to all sports fans that Football is the world's most popular sport in the word. The beautiful game , as they call it, has fans all over the world but its most popular in Europe. For most people in Europe Football is not just a game rather it's a way of life.
With over 3.5 billion fans around the earth soccer easily topped our list. Football is very popular in the following regions, Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America, South America, Australia, and Antarctica,
Most watched sport: Football World Cup is by far the most watched sports competition in the world. 4.1 billion people tune in at some point during the 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP making it by far the biggest sports competition. While FIFA said 909.6 million tuned in to watch every one minute of that game. If one billion people tuned in to watch the 2014 WORLD CUP final, it will pass the 900million people who watched the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony
Most follow sports teams in the world: Real Madrid, Manchester United , and Barcelona are by far the most followed teams in any sport on social media with over 100 million followers each.
Highest paid players: Football's Cristiano Ronaldo topped the list with $88m, 2nd came yet another Footballer lionel Messi with $81m.
You can try to compare sports on every scale and Football will always come on top on almost everything. now let's take a look at number two??
Cricket is the 2nd most popular sport in the world with over 3 billion fans across the global. Cricket is very popular in India, UK, Pakistan, Asia, and Australia.
The third most watched sports in the world behind Association Football World Cup and Rugby Word Cup. While new format Twenty20 has allowed domestic leagues in some countries with expensive team franchises are being sold.
Cricket Has Three Different Formats. First class cricket, ODIs, and T20. After Introduction of T20 Format Popularity of Cricket Has Been Increased goodly which is a very good thing for the sport.
Women Cricket: Women cricket is growing fast in most cricket loving countries. ICC (International cricket council) has increased the Tv coverage, prize money, women competitions and women are now paid 50% more than they did 5 years ago. that just show how fast the sport is growing. Cricket has a very bright future.
Tennis has over one billion followers across the global and it is the most popular individual based sport. Tennis is an individual based game which is very popular around the world.
It is known for its four big events called "Grand Slams" that's where big matches are played and watched. Tennis is equally for both men and women across the world.
Highest prize money in individual sport: All four grand slams, Australia Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open offer huge prize money and the prize money given to winners men and women singles event is the highest in any of the individual sports.
Champions from 30 different countries: Over 45 countries are represented in top 100 tennis ranking in both men and women and over 30 different tennis players men and women have won at least one Grand Slam.
Athletics is the most global sports of them all which include some disciplines of course with running, long jump and track events. Athletics is most watched sports at the Olympic event.
Equally in both Gender: same to Tennis, athletics are represented by both men and women and both genders are equal in almost all aspect.
One good example of one of many great women athletes is Marion Jones. She was on top of the world after winning 3 gold medals and 2 bronze in 2000 Sydney Olympics. Her Medals were later taken away from her after she admitted to using steroids during the Olympics.
Most watched single Olympic event: finally, the 100m final gold medal sprint race in 2012 Olympics was the most watched event in Olympic history with over 1.5 billion TV viewers across the world which was won by Usain Bolt( The fastest man in the world) who is by far the most popular athletes in athletics based sports and one of the most popular athlete in the world.
At number five comes Rugby. Rugby is a major sport in some of the most developed nations like All four home nations of United Kindom (England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland) in southern hemisphere countries like Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa also boost huge popularity in Rugby. Rugby is also very popular in France.
Rugby union is both a professional and amateur game and is dominated by the first tier unions: Argentina, Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand Scotland , Scotland, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Wales.
Second most watched and attended competition: Rugby world cup 2015 was the most attended sports event behind the world most popular sports Football's FIFA World Cup 2014. Over 2.47 million tickets were sold with around half a million (480,000) fans traveling from overseas (30 countries plus).
Basketball is the second fastest growing sport in the world behind Cricket. Yes, Cricket is the second in our list for the most popular sports in the world but that does not mean it not growing.
Basketball is very popular in America, Asia, And Europe. It has over one billion followers across the world. It a major sport in the United States of America with the NBA ( National Basketball Association) generating over 4.50 billion a year in revenue. In the USA there is always a question of what is the most popular sport in the country and most people think its American Football which is not very true, for the last 10 years data about revenues from professional leagues, TV contract, and overall sports popularity concerned, Basketball has gained massive popularity inside and outside its home.
Basketball has the Fourth most powerful sports league in the world behind its home rival NFL ( American Football), MLB ( Major League Baseball and EPL (English Premier League) in terms of revenue in averages with $152 million.
Highest average salary: The NBA average yearly salary for an athlete is around $5.15 million, $1.85 million more than players in Major League Baseball who average close to $3.2 million a year, that's second highest average wage of any sports league in the world. Top 40 players in the NBA average a salary of $13 million a year. Lebron James just signed three years deal with the Cleveland cavaliers worth $100 million, that's $33.3 million a year.
Formula 1 has four of the top-100 highest paid athletes in the world According to Forbes.com. The reigning triple world champion Lewis Hamilton came in 11th with $46 million trough his contract with Mercedes the Germany 's Automobile company, bonuses, and endorsements. The list was unsurprising dominated by Football/soccer, Basketball, Tennis and Golf stars, with Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo on the top with his unbelievably yearly salary off $88million.
The most popular Motorsport in the world attracted more than 600 million people around the world who tune in at some stage the Formula 1 season which starts from May until November. Formula 1 has 20 grand Prix races every year in as many as 36 different countries. Formula one has 22 drivers and the current drive who is on top of the standings as of this year (2016) is Lewis Hamilton.
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The 8th most popular sport in the world is Golf with more than 450 million fans around the world, it is a major sport in America, Asia, Europe, South Africa and Canada. Golf do not involved with any physical competition. Golf is played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual , known as stroke play. Stroke play is the most commonly seen format at all levels. more about strokes play: ( https://goo.gl/t8ne3U)
This sport can be played by people of all ages and its a sport that can make you one of the highest paid athlete in the world but, only if you are as good as Tiger Woods because Woods has been one of the highest-paid athletes in the world for several years now trough his massive deal with the American sportswear company Nike, Inc, and EA Sports.
Ice hockey is winter sport and it's the biggest winter sport following by individual sports including cross-country skiing, Alpine skiing, Snowboarding, Ski Jumping, speed skating, figure skating etc. It is popular and is playable in specific countries like Canada, New Zealand, Russia, Poland, Norway, USA, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia.
Biggest Ice Hockey professional league is the NHL based in the USA and Canada, players from all around the world represent the NHL just like the NBA. NHL is one of the biggest professional league in terms of revenue sitting at number five behind NFL, MLB, EPL, and NBA.
At number ten is the most popular sports in the USA . The NFL is the highest profession league with big yearly revenue with $13 billion, that's 3.5 billion more than The MLB with $9.5. American Football is popular in North America, UK, and Australia, outside North America, it's not a major sport. American Football is believed to have over 400 million fans and half of them coming from USA and Canada. The biggest annual event is the Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the NFL ( National Football League), the highest level of professional American football in the world and its the biggest sports event in the USA. So there you have our top 10 most popular sports in the world, hope you enjoyed and learn something new!!
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