How can you determine the most famous sport in the world? To be honest, there is no correct answer to this question. At the same time, there is no way to define such popularity. However, taking into account the results of the survey and popularity during the events, you can, at least, get an idea of how popular a sport is.
We used this approach to determine the world’s most popular sports in 2024, as well as the top sports in the US. Let’s see the results!
What are the World’s Most Popular Sports in 2024?
- Soccer/Football
If you ask anyone, “what is the most famous sport in the world?”, he will most likely tell you about soccer. With around 4 billion fans worldwide, football is the most popular sport in the world.
In addition, it is not only played, watched, and accessible but also among the most profitable. For example, the 2018 FIFA World Cup attracted 3.6 billion viewers, making it the most watched sports event ever.
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is a big governing body of soccer with 211 affiliated associations. The sport itself originated in England and became one of the most popular in Europe, the continent which is home to some of the best players in the world.
- Basketball
Basketball is one of the most famous sports in the history of the US and one of the most popular games in the world. It has the second most professional leagues globally, including the NBA, College Basketball, Spain’s Liga ABC, Argentina’s Liga Nacional, and China’s Basketball Association.
In addition, basketball is not only very popular but also super expensive. For example, LeBron James earns $50 million a year from Nike, while Michael Jordan receives $100 million.
However, even though most of the best players are from the U.S., there have been many influential international basketball players, including Oscar Schmidt, Dimitris Diamantidis, Nikos Galis, and Nikola Mirotic, who made a big name without the NBA.
- Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
If you ask what is the most fun sport to watch, it would be MMA. Mixed martial arts, often referred to as MMA or simply fighting, is a combat sport that incorporates techniques from different martial arts, such as judo, boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, jujitsu, and karate. The sport was created in the early 21st century and became one of the fastest-growing spectator sports globally.
MMA fighters compete in a ring or fenced area and wear padded fingerless gloves for protection but no shoes. It’s a match that is 100% fighting, showcasing the diversity and talent of each athlete.
If you have any doubts about how fun MMA can be, just give it a shot. You can find free UFC streams on multiple platforms and judge everything by yourself. You are a man, and UFC streaming service will be your entertainment source for many years. Well, maybe there are some restrictions in your country, but that is not a problem if you have a free VPN trial from a good developer. Try VeePN for example.
- Tennis
Tennis is one of the most popular sports in Europe and worldwide with an approximate number of 1 billion fans and four grand slams each year. Tennis does not have leagues but different federations in many countries that arrange regional and international tournaments.
In addition, top tennis players, including female Naomi Osaka and male Roger Federer, are among the highest-paid athletes who earn $37.4 million and $106.3 million from 2019-2020, respectively.
While the tennis sport may not have the highest participation rate, it can be a very profitable business.
- Boxing
Boxing is a very popular sport among people in most countries worldwide. On average, 59.6% of people are interested in the boxing events. In the US, nearly 85% of young adult women are interested in learning how to box.
In 2018, 439 million people in the world watched a boxing match on average, which is a high number for any sport. Boxing is one of the most viewed sports that comprise two competitors who attack and defend themselves with their fists for a fixed amount of time in a boxing ring.
- Volleyball
Volleyball has approximately 900 million fans around the globe, including those who follow Brazilian, Russian, Japanese, and US volleyball. Some of the most popular volleyball events are the FIVB Volleyball World Championships and te Volleyball at the Summer Olympics.
In ome countries, to watch these events, you will probably need a free VPN, but they are the events so big that fans cannot miss them. Volleyball tournaments can be played indoors and on the beach.
- Golf
Golf is one of the 10 most popular sports in the world with an estimated 390 million fans. This is “the rich man’s game” and, therefore, very popular among wealthy fans and has big TV rights deals. Golf tournaments also enjoy high viewership, including the PGA, the LPGA, and the European Tour.
The US golf course and club market generated over $25 billion in revenue in 2019. Tiger Woods, who turned pro in 1996, is the most dominant golfer in history with 15 major championship titles and career earnings of $120,851,706.
- Cricket
Cricket is one of the most famous sports with 2–2.5 billion fans around the world. It is very popular in India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Australia. This is also a main sport in about 15 countries.
The biggest league system is the Indian Premier League, which is a league in cricket.
Even though the popularity of this sport is through the roof, sometimes, people earn little. The salaries of top contracted players from Sri Lanka are about $30,000. The best paid sportsperson in India is a cricketer who earns $23,380 per match.
- Field Hockey
Field hockey is one of the most popular sports in the world that has a huge fan base in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Field hockey is followed by about 2 billion fans globally. Some of the biggest fans of this sport are Indians, Pakistanis, Indonesians, and the Netherlands.
Its major tournaments are Hockey World Cup and Champions Trophy.
- American Football
Football is one of the most well-loved sports. Almost 37% of Americans voted American football as their favorite sport. The National Football League (NFL) has the largest worldwide average attendance for any sports league at 67,591 per game.
With 32 teams in two conferences, AFC and NFC, the National Football League is the most popular sport in the US. College football is also widely loved by many Americans.
The Super Bowl quickly became an unadvertised US holiday because so many Americans love to watch the game. The event had over 100 million viewers in 2020. Due to the incredible popularity, NFL teams are some of the most valuable sports teams in the world.
Conclusion
Do you have other versions of what is the top 10 sport in the world? Yes, we did not list all the sports, and, according to some statistics, some others should be here. Tell us your opinion so that we can see fans of each sport with our own eyes.