This sport is popular in every corner of the world, but deciding the most popular sport in the world is not a huge challenge. Sports are popular for a number of reasons. Staying healthy, for example, is often cited as a reason to exercise. Others will tell you that they play sports for recreational purposes.
Sports are more popular with people who do not necessarily participate in it but like to be a spectator, and who are directly or indirectly affected by the sport. Sport is an important part of our culture, and in Brazil there is one part that stands out from the rest: football.
From time immemorial, people have been impressed and inspired by extraordinary human beings capable of performing tremendous mathematical feats, which we can witness, historically, since the ancient Greek Olympic Games. In this article, we discuss the most popular sports in the contemporary world.
1. Football
- 4 billion fans
Football is the most popular sport in the world, with an estimated 4 billion fans. Like some of the other sports on this list, football as we know it has its origins in England in the 19th century, although history points to people who were playing similar games two thousand years ago in China. One of the reasons for soccer’s popularity is that, unlike other sports that require expensive equipment, all you need to play soccer is the ball and your foot. So anyone, rich or poor, can enjoy this sport. It is played all over the world, but is especially popular in Europe, Central and South America, and Africa.
2. Cricket
- 2.5 billion fans
Cricket has a fan base of 2.5 billion. The game is very popular in the United Kingdom and some former British colonies, notably India, Pakistan and Australia. Like baseball, it has two teams, a bat, a large field, and scoring rounds. However, there are significant differences, including a long rectangular field in the middle of a cricket field, where the ball is thrown into the batter, as opposed to a hill in the center of a baseball diamond that faces being hit at home plate.
3. Hockey
- 2 billion likes
Hockey, both on the ice and in the field, has two billion followers. Field hockey is primarily played in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, while ice hockey is particularly popular in Canada, the United States, and northern Europe. The game involves two teams trying to get a ball into the opposing team’s net with a hockey stick. Unlike ice hockey, field hockey generally does not involve physical contact in the form of a check.
4. Tennis
An estimated one billion people around the world follow tennis, and tune in all over the world. In tennis, players on either side of the long net attempt to hit the ball with a racket to pass it to their opponents or bounce twice to the opponent’s side to score points. Professional tennis players like Roger Federer and Serena Williams are now household names all over the world.
5. Volleyball
- 900 million fans
Volleyball involves two teams, each on either side of a raised net, attempting to “shot” a ball to the ground on the opposing team’s side to gain points. The game has 900 million followers, mostly in North America and Western Europe, but also in Asia, Australia and South America. One common form of the game, known as beach volleyball, is played on sand with two people on each team, unlike regular volleyball where there are usually six players on each team.
6. Table tennis
- 875 million fans
Think of it like tennis, except it amounts to a table with a net in the middle and players on either side trying to pass the ball over their opponents. Also known as Ping Pong, table tennis originated in England in the early 1900s. The game is now popular all over the world with an estimated 875 million followers. It is especially popular in Asia, but is also followed in Europe, Africa and the Americas.
7. Basketball
- 825 million fans
James Naismith, a Canadian who attended school in the United States in the late 19th century, invented basketball and is now played all over the world and has an estimated 825 million followers. In basketball, two teams attempt to bounce the ball across the court and throw it into a hoop-shaped raised net to score points. If you like running, jumping and throwing, you will love basketball. Like soccer, it is especially popular because not much equipment is required other than two baskets and a ball, and thus is a sport that can be accessed regardless of the class.
8. Baseball
- 500 million fans
America’s national pastime is believed to be descended from English sports, volleyball, and cricket. Baseball involves two teams trying to hit the ball with a bat between two white lines, as the hitters run around a series of bases to score points (points). Today, baseball is popular not only in the United States, but also in East Asia and Latin America. The number of viewers of this sport is estimated at 500 million fans.
9. Rugby
- 475 million fans
Rugby has a viewership of 475 million people. The sport originated in England and is now more popular in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries such as Australia and New Zealand. In rugby, two teams attempt to kick, carry or pass the ball over the goal line to score points. Rugby is a contact sport that involves a lot of interference, similar to American football. But while soccer players use a lot of hard liners and helmets to protect themselves, rugby players use very little protection.
10. Golf
- 450 million fans
An estimated 450 million people are fans of the game, which involves trying to get a small ball into a hole in the fewest number of strokes possible. Golf originated in Scotland in the fifteenth century. It is interesting, however, that the word golf originated in Holland, from the word “kolf” or “kolve,” which translates to “club.” Golf is especially popular in Western Europe, East Asia and North America.
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