Five Most Popular Sports In The World: Cricket Moved To Second: There are a few main sports games that attract billions of fans and viewers across the globe. According to a recent article by The Sun, it’s a no-brainer that soccer is the most popular sport internationally, with about 3.5 billion of the Earth’s inhabitants watching it. But more important is the fact that cricket is on the rise, a sport that has climbed the ranks and is now the second most popular and viewed sport after soccer with 2.5 billion followers.
1. Football: 3.5 Billion Viewers
For quite some time, football has taken the first place in the ranking of all sports in the world, and of course, such a sport has fans the whole world over—in Europe, South America, Asia, and even Africa. Premier tournaments, including the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA Champions League, reach hundreds of millions of people, thereby transforming football into the most popular type of sports entertainment. It has a huge fan base, a developed system, and easy access, along with these stakeholders’ popularity, which helped this sport remain the most loved sport in the country.
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2.Cricket: 2.5 Billion Viewers
Cricket has risen to the second position, and its audience count is a staggering 2.5 billion thanks to the regions that have a high following of the game, like South Asia. Nations like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh have a large base of audience, where the advent of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the ICC tournaments have been effective in increasing and globalizing the sport.
The emergence of short-duration matches such as T20 cricket has overthrown geographical boundaries, which previously limited the sport fully to only specific audiences; thus, cricket has become a global game.
3. Hockey: 2.1 Billion Viewers
Ranking third is hockey, especially field hockey, which boasts of having 2.1 billion viewers. This sport is very famous in countries like India, Pakistan, and some parts of Europe. North America and northern Europe tend to favor ice hockey; however, field hockey is the main contributor to the views around the world.
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4. Tennis: 1.2 Billion Viewers
Tennis is the fourth most-watched sport in the world, with a total of 1.2 billion viewers. The tennis sport holds four major Grand Slam tournaments known as Wimbledon, US Open, French Open, and Australian Open, all of which have a global appeal, and iconic figures such as Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic are known all over the world.
5. Volleyball: 1 Billion Viewers
Volleyball appears among the top five sports with about 1 billion fans around the globe. The game enjoys great popularity in places like Brazil the USA, Russia, and most countries in Asia. As the sport can be played for leisure enjoyment as well as for competitive purposes, it can retain a considerable fan base from different age groups and genders.
