When determining the most popular sports, it is challenging to calculate a precise number of global participation in different sports. However, even with these ballpark estimates, you can get a rough idea of your favorite sport’s popularity.
Some of the most popular sports in the world by participation are as follows:
Football/Soccer
Soccer is the most popular sport globally, whether at the grassroots, 5-a-side, or professional levels. Like numerous other sports on this list, football dates back to England’s nineteenth century. However, history shows comparable games have been played for two thousand years, beginning in China.
Soccer is a low barrier to entry sport to participate in. As a result, everyone, rich or poor, may play together. According to a worldwide census conducted by FIFA, there are 265 million individuals who play the sport and more than 5 million referees, accounting for 4% of the world’s population.
Football is played worldwide and is especially popular in Europe, Central and South America, and Africa.
Badminton
Some may be surprised to learn that badminton is one of the world’s top ten most popular sports. Badminton is a hugely popular indoor sport enjoyed by an estimated 220 million people worldwide. It is prevalent in Asia, where many of the top players in the game’s history have come from.
Badminton is a dynamic sport that everyone can play, and it has increased in popularity over the years as more people understand its potential. You can play badminton in your backyard with two racquets and a net.
Field Hockey
Men and women compete in this fast-paced sport in over 100 nations across five continents. Field hockey is a highly technical sport played by ten outfield players and a goalkeeper, and its regulations differ from ice hockey. Unlike ice hockey, field hockey rarely involves body contact in the form of checking.
Field hockey may be played in any type of weather, hot or cold. However, the temperature required to play the game is the primary reason that field hockey is more popular worldwide than ice hockey.
Playing field hockey in warmer weather makes the game more accessible to most of the world’s population.
Volleyball
Volleyball originated in America and has about 998 million players. Indoor and outdoor volleyball is played worldwide, with over 220 associated national federations registered with volleyball’s global regulating organization, the ‘FIVB.’
Beach volleyball, a popular form of the game, is played on sand with two players on each team, as opposed to standard volleyball, which has six players on each team.
Basketball
The Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA) believes that at least 450 million individuals worldwide participate in basketball, whether recreationally or competitively. In addition, basketball legends such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry have contributed to the sport’s global rise from its American beginnings.
It is especially popular since, like soccer, it requires very little equipment, in basketball’s case only two baskets and a ball, making it a sport accessible to individuals of all economic backgrounds.
Tennis
Tennis is widely regarded as one of the most popular individual sports in the world, with an estimated 60 million men and women participating, according to Topend Sports.
The sport’s doubles form is also immensely popular worldwide, as many find it a way to connect with spouses, clients, and friends.
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