In this article, we are going to discuss the 20 most popular sports in the world. If you’re a fan of adventure sports, be sure to also check out our list of the 20 Most Popular Extreme Sports in the US.
While the majority of sports played today were created or have finalized their development in the 19th and 20th centuries, our ancestors were already competing against each other in primitive games as a means of pastime and entertainment. In the beginning, sports often involved preparing for war or training as a hunter, which explains why so many early games involved the throwing of spears, stakes, and rocks, and sparring one-on-one with opponents. As time went on, sporting competitions became more organized and the best example of this revolution in organized sports occurred in ancient Greece, where the first Olympic games took place in 776 BC.
Global Sports Market:
As the world sporting industry is going through a period of massive transformation right now, its overall economics present a positive outlook. According to Research and Markets, the global sports market is expected to grow from $480.12 billion in 2023 to $506.93 billion in 2024, at a CAGR of 5.6%.
The expansion can be attributed to a number of factors, including the robust economic growth of emerging markets, a greater variety of broadcasting media, the increasing popularity of women’s sports, new real estate ventures, greater social media engagement and attention to fan data, an upsurge in sports tourism, the growing presence of sovereign wealth funds and private equity, and the development of mobile fitness applications, etc.
The evidence of this growth is also supported by the fact that team valuations have continued to climb, for both women’s and men’s sports. The NHL, the NBA, and the NFL, all managed to break sales records last year. Meanwhile, the Deloitte Money League 2024 report has revealed that the revenue for the 20 highest-earning European soccer clubs reached a record €10.5 billion (approx. $11.5 billion) in 2022/23, a 14% increase over the previous year and significantly above even its pre-pandemic levels. Remarkably, the revenues of the 15 top-earning women’s clubs in European football also surged by a staggering 61% in the 2022/23 season.
Broadcasting Rights:
Live sporting events have been historically known to attract a lot of viewers and subscribers and their broadcasting rights play a significant role in shaping the overall sports economy. With sports media rights approaching $30 billion in the U.S. this year, media companies face mounting pressure to secure them to captivate audiences and sustain advertising revenue.
In this regard, it was announced last month that the NBA has scored a lucrative new rights deal with Disney, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video, which will pay a collective $76 billion over a period of 11 years. Shortly after this announcement, the WNBA announced its own 11-year media rights partnerships also with the aforementioned companies, under which the league will pocket about $200 million per year.
This new agreement by the NBA is worth more than three times the current deal and reveals how the increasing popularity of the sport has become a powerful draw for media companies trying to expand premium viewership. However, the magnitude of a sport’s popularity is not the only deciding factor for how much revenue it generates.
To illustrate, cricket is a highly popular sport with a much larger fanbase compared to American football, however, the Indian Premier League (the biggest cricket league in the world) bags significantly less broadcasting revenue than the NFL. In 2022, the IPL signed its latest TV and media rights deal for its 2023-27 cycle for around $6.2 billion. Although this is a massive figure that equates to a per-game revenue of $15.1 million, it still trails far behind the NFL, which is believed to average a staggering $36 million per game with its 11-year deal (2022-2033) worth an estimated $113 billion, as reported by Forbes. Hundreds of millions of Indians might be checking their phones to see who will win today’s cricket match, yet the revenue per viewer is lower. The major reason behind this, in a nutshell, is that the NFL has the lion’s share of its target audience in the United States of America, the largest economy in the world, while the IPL is mostly enjoyed by the audiences in India, which is still considered a developing economy. As countries like India develop, the sports that are highly acclaimed there are also expected to earn more from advertising, broadcasting, merchandise, sports betting, etc.
New Heights in Sports Betting:
The United States is at the top of the Biggest Gambling Countries in the World and sports betting is a favorite activity among Americans, especially after a landmark 2018 ruling by the Supreme Court that cleared the way for states to legalize it.
According to the American Gaming Association, Americans wagered a record $119.84 billion on sports betting in 2023, up 27.5% from the previous year. As a result, the revenue for the sports betting industry also expanded to $10.92 billion, representing a 44.5% YoY increase from 2022. The growth was largely fueled by continued maturation across most existing markets as well as several new ones, particularly Massachusetts and Ohio. The trend is set to continue as the commercial sports betting revenue already touched $5.72 billion through May 2024, exceeding the same period in the previous year by 24.5%. This uptick in income has also been reflected in the industry’s stocks.
DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) is a daily fantasy sports contest and sports betting company. The Boston-based company allows users to enter daily and weekly fantasy sports-related contests and win money based on individual player performances in American sports. DKNG reported a revenue of $1.1 billion in its Q2 of 2024, representing 26% YoY growth and $128 million of adjusted EBITDA. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by a continued healthy customer engagement, efficient acquisition of new customers, the expansion of the Sportsbook product offering into new markets, higher structural sportsbook hold percentage, and the impact of the acquisition of Jackpocket. As a result, DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) has revised its fiscal year 2024 revenue guidance to the range of $5.05 billion to $5.25 billion from a range of $4.8 billion to $5 billion, equating to a YoY growth of 38% to 43%.
On the 30th of July 2024, the company’s board of directors also authorized a share repurchase of up to $1 billion of its Class A common stock, ‘reflecting its conviction in the strong trajectory of its business and its expectation to generate significant free cash flow in the coming years’. Following the launch of its Sportsbook product in Washington DC last month, DKNG is now live with mobile sports betting in 25 states and the capital, which collectively represent approximately 49% of the country’s total population.
DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) was also recently included in our list of the Best Up and Coming Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds.
Genius Sports Limited (NYSE:GENI) is a sports data and technology company that provides data management, video streaming, and integrity services to sports leagues, bookmakers, and media companies. The London-based company employs around 1,800 people spanning five continents, with major offices in Sofia, Vilnius, Tallinn, New York City, Medellin, Los Angeles, and more. GENI recently reported strong Q2 earnings surpassing market expectations with a group revenue of $95 million and adjusted EBITDA of $21 million. Genius Sports Limited (NYSE:GENI)’s sports betting segment saw sales go up by 18% to $67.1 million in its largest operating division, while two other divisions, media and sports technology, witnessed a decline in sales. The company remains optimistic and predicts annual growth of 20% for the foreseeable future, thanks to its exclusive, multiyear data rights to the English Premier League and the NFL.
Genius Sports Limited (NYSE:GENI) is one of the Best Machine Learning Stocks According to Analysts.
Recent Performance of Sports Stocks:
The recent volatility in global markets also pulled in sports stocks, as the Sportico Sports Stock Index, a basket of 40 stocks that rely on sports for a significant part of their growth, also closed down 3% on the 5th of August to reach 1,113 – a three-month low. Every stock in the sports index closed lower on the day, including closely held sports team stocks like Manchester United plc (NYSE:MANU) and Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE:MSGS).
Manchester United is counted among the Most Valuable Football Clubs in the World, however, the Manchester United plc (NYSE:MANU) stock has witnessed a decline of 16.8% since the beginning of the year. The esteemed club was the subject of a great deal of takeover speculation earlier this year, with a Qatari consortium led by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani and Jim Ratcliffe as the leading candidates. The Sheikh’s offer was preferred by the investors as he intended to acquire 100% of the club, and so with a potential buyout of the listed shares on the cards, the stock pushed upwards, reaching highs around $27. However, this deal did not come to fruition, and eventually, 28% of the club’s ownership was sold to Jim Ratcliffe, which meant very little to retail investors. As a result, the Manchester United plc (NYSE:MANU) stock plunged to a 17-month low in March, as hedge funds unwound their activity related to taking advantage of JR paying the highest price ever for the beloved soccer club’s equity.
Also part of the Sportico Index, Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE:MSGS) features some of the Most Popular Sports Teams in the World, including the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers. The New York-based company had a strong Q3 of 2024, ending March 31st, with a revenue of $430 million, up by 12% YoY and beating estimates by $9.26 million. The higher-than-expected revenue can be attributed to increased ticket-related revenues, suite revenues, and sales from food, beverages, and merchandise, alongside increased local media rights fees. Also, the New York Knicks played five additional home games compared to the previous season, significantly contributing to the uptick in earnings. However, the net income fell to $37.9 million, below the estimated $62.04 million and down 27.7% from the same quarter last year. This was mostly due to the increased costs, driven by higher team personnel compensation and provisions for league revenue sharing and NBA luxury tax.
The increasing fanbase and rising popularity of the Knicks and Rangers will help Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE:MSGS) to continue its growth. The 2024-25 season ticket renewal initiative has already shown a huge demand, indicating robust fan engagement and thus future revenue stability.
With that said, here are the Most Popular Sports Across the World.
Methodology:
To collect data for this article, we have referred to websites such as WorldAtlas, Forbes, Sports Brief etc., looking for the Most Popular Sports in the World in 2024. The following sports have been ranked by the size of their fanbase around the world, as estimated by the aforementioned websites. When two or more sports had the same estimated number of fans, we ranked them by the total attendance at their events in 2023.
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20. Athletics
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 100 million
The immense popularity of athletics has been made evident by the Summer Olympic Games currently taking place in Paris. Ranked as a Top-Category Sport by the IOC, modern athletics is composed of various running, jumping, throwing, walking, and combined events.
19. Bowling
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 120 million
Although the heyday of bowling was in the mid-1960s, the sport has witnessed a notable resurgence in modern times, especially in the United States. With over a million members, the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) sets the standards for leagues, tournaments, and competitions in the country.
18. Cycling
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 150 million
Cycling is no longer merely a popular mode of transportation, but also a highly competitive sport in itself. The famed Tour de France is counted among the Most-Watched Sporting Events in the World, with the 2023 edition of the iconic race drawing in a total TV audience of 42.5 million viewers for the domestic public service broadcaster, France Télévisions.
17. Handball
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 270 million
Extremely fast-paced and physically demanding, handball has emerged as one of the Most Popular Team Sports in Europe. In Germany, the women’s version of the sport managed to garner some much-needed exposure recently, after it was announced that the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF have opted to buy the rights to the women’s Euros together with the men’s competition.
16. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 300 million
Despite easily being one of the Hardest Sports in the World, MMA has reached a whole new level in terms of fans and participating athletes. The UFC’s TV rights deal with ESPN, its official broadcasting partner in the USA, spans seven years and amounts to a staggering $300 million a year.
15. American Football
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 410 million
Football continues to be the top dog in American sports entertainment, as according to a Gallup survey, 41% of U.S. adults in late 2023 named football as their favorite sport. The latest data from the National Retail Federation revealed that the 2024 Super Bowl generated a record $17.3 billion in consumer spending nationwide.
14. Golf
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 440 million
Popular among people of all ages and ability levels, golf has witnessed tremendous growth over the last couple of decades, thanks to some big-money sponsorship deals and superstar players like Tiger Woods. It was recently reported that CBS’s coverage of the PGA Championship in May drew 4.958 million viewers, marking a 10% increase from last year.
13. Boxing
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 450 million
Boxing is now more popular than it has been in ages, with a new and younger generation of viewers taking a keen interest in the sport, thanks in part to the increasing participation of various social media influencers.
One of the Most Popular Sports According to Reddit, boxing witnessed the biggest payday for any sport ever in 2017 when Floyd Mayweather defeated Conor McGregor and banked $275 million in one night. The fight also vaulted Mayweather past $1 billion in total career earnings. McGregor, on the other hand, walked away with around $100 million despite his loss.
12. Basketball
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 450 million
Basketball continues to reach new heights in popularity around the globe, as according to FIBA, there are now an estimated 450 million players and fans worldwide who compete, watch, or follow the exhilarating sport.
11. Rugby
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 475 million
Often called ‘a thug’s game played by gentlemen’, rugby’s global participation is on the rise, with a significant 11% increase in 2023, reaching 8.46 million players. It was announced in March that Premiership Rugby has agreed on a new TV deal with TNT Sports for the 2024-2025 season, giving the broadcaster rights to show all 93 matches from English rugby union’s top flight.
10. Formula 1
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 500 million
The global Formula 1 footprint is on a steep rise, with the total attendance at F1 events reaching a record 6.15 million in 2023. A part of this explosion in popularity can be attributed to the Netflix show Drive to Survive, which has helped funnel a new generation of fans to the widely-acclaimed sport.
9. Baseball
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 500 million
Next up in our list of the Top 10 Sports in the World is baseball, which thanks to its timeless appeal and suspenseful strategy, is still able to attract and entertain millions of fans worldwide. From 1901 to 2023, the MLB has seen an impressive 3,836,958,360 in total attendance, according to Forbes.
8. Swimming
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 825 million
Swimming may be a pleasant afternoon activity for some people, while others see it as a competitive sport that requires immense strength and endurance. The sport continues to draw huge crowds at the Olympic Games, with Michael Phelps being a household name in America.
7. Table Tennis
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 850 million
In China, table tennis has been played with religious sincerity since at least the 1950s, when Chairman Mao declared it the national sport. It is a sport played by people of all ages, requires a small playing area and relatively affordable equipment, and can be enjoyed indoors in all weather conditions.
6. Volleyball
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 900 million
Originally from the United States, the sport of volleyball spread like wildfire after the American soldiers brought the game overseas during WW2. Today, the social game is played by around 46 million people in America, and in the 2022-23 season, USA Volleyball membership increased by 9.6% to 408,000.
5. Tennis
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 1 billion
Although it has long been touted as a niche sport mostly played by the rich, the popularity of tennis has reached new heights with the advent of live, in-game betting. The WTA enjoyed an extraordinary season in 2023 when it achieved a new global audience record of more than 1 billion.
4. Horse Racing
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 1.45 billion
Also included in the Top 5 Most Popular Sports in the World is horse racing, which has had an immense following around the world for over two centuries now, mostly due to the wide range of betting options it provides. The Saudi Cup 2024, one of the sport’s premium international events, was televised live by over 30 international broadcasters across 170 territories.
3. Hockey
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 2 billion
Whether it be in the field or on ice, hockey enjoys a huge fanbase thanks to its fast-paced physical play and non-stop action. The NHL saw a 21% YoY increase in sponsorship revenue to touch $1.4 billion for the 2023-24 season. Hockey team owners also scored big, with the average NHL team reaching $1.33 billion in value at the end of last year.
2. Cricket
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 2.5 billion
While cricket is not yet as globally widespread as soccer, it is no less than a religion in the Indian subcontinent – one of the most densely populated regions in the world. The sport is trying to build a new stronghold across the Atlantic, with 16 matches of the 2024 T20 World Cup being played in the U.S. The United States national cricket team also made headlines during the tournament when it defeated Pakistan, a juggernaut of the sport, in a nail-biting thriller of a match in Dallas.
1. Soccer
Estimated No. of Fans Worldwide: 3.5 billion
With a whopping fanbase of 3.5 billion in pretty much every country, soccer is the Most-Watched Sport in the World. The pulsating 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France achieved a staggering global reach of 1.5 billion viewers, while the opening match also managed to capture over 550 million.
The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is currently made up of 211 member associations, with over 300,000 clubs and 240 million registered players, making ‘The Beautiful Game’ also the Most Popular Sport by Participation.
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