Sport in Ukraine is quite developed, and our athletes representing their country in the world arenas are direct evidence of this. Ukraine stands for sports and a healthy lifestyle, and this is not a tribute to fashion, but rather an individual choice for everyone.
Many are interested in the question, what kinds of sports are popular in Ukraine? Professionals of masters-bet company tried to figure it out and, based on the clicks to our site, they made a rating of the most popular sports in 2018 in Ukraine according to masters-bet.
1 FOOTBALL
If you plunge into the history of the game loved all over the world, then it is worth mentioning that England is considered the ancestor of football. However, it is widely believed that best football players collected in Brazil because they don't just play football, they live it. It is not for nothing that the Brazilian national team became the World Champion 5 times, proving their superiority in the game.
Like all over the world, football is the most popular sport in Ukraine. It is a favorite game of children, teenagers and adults. Football is actively developing in the country and such giants of the Ukrainian Premier League as Shakhtar and Dynamo, playing in prestigious tournaments (Champions League, Europa League), are a direct confirmation of this. And in the ranking of the national teams of FIFA (FIFA), the Ukrainian team occupies the 35th place.
Football is among the top 10 most popular sports, and the top five European leagues in France, Germany, Spain, England and Italy are watched with bated breath all over the world. This is proven by the fact that over 4 billion fans follow the game.
The most important competition in this sport is the World Championship, which is held every 4 years. But the largest prize fund is played annually among football clubs playing in the Champions League. European teams are fighting for $1.5 billion.
In addition, in each country there are professional football leagues, divided into divisions.
2 BOXING
Boxing is one of the most popular sports not only in the world, but also in Ukraine. In addition to Ukrainians, boxing is closely watched in America, Mexico, Great Britain, Japan, Poland, Romania, and also in the Philippines.
In the mid-60s of the twentieth century, boxing began to actively attract the attention of the public. After this boom, the leading fights began to gather full halls, the rest of the fans closely followed the fights from their television screens.
The most interesting thing is that boxing is not only a male sport. Boxing among women is also interesting to many, and women's fights are the most popular competition in the world.
Huge amounts of money are spinning in boxing, and the prize funds of some competitions simply do not fit into the head. In addition, athletes fight not only for money, but also for 4 WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF championship titles. Every novice boxer dreams of raising the coveted award in the boxing world over his head.
3 TENNIS
Previously, when asked what is the most popular sport in Ukraine, one could hear anything but tennis. In just a few years, this sport began to gain momentum, and quite deservedly now occupies an honorable third place in our ranking.
Wimbledon is considered the most popular and prestigious competition in tennis. In 2016 alone, the event was viewed by over 1 billion TV viewers, while the 2017 tournament final was watched closely by 17 million people, and that's just in the UK. Doesn't the number of audience indicate the popularity of a particular sport.
Other tennis events are held around the world every year almost without interruption, but the audience only increases noticeably in the summer.
Prize money in tennis is as generous as in boxing. Take, for example, all four Grand Slam tournaments - the Australian Open, French Open, USA Open and Wimbledon. The prize money of these tournaments exceeds the mark of tens of millions of dollars.
4 BASKETBALL
Basketball added to the list of "The most popular sports in Ukraine and the world." This sport is considered one of the most rated, and the number of its fans exceeds 1 billion.
Team sports have always been in the spotlight, and basketball is no exception. Ukrainian basketball players are constantly training and working on themselves in order to represent their country at a decent level at important basketball tournaments.
In addition to Ukraine, basketball is loved in America, Greece, Spain, Italy, France, China and Argentina. This sport is developing very quickly, so it can easily compete with football in a few years.
By the way, in terms of the number of professional leagues, basketball is second only to football. In European countries, leagues also consist of several divisions. As for the salary of basketball players from the NBA, the TOP 40 players of the American association earn more than $ 15 million a year.
5 BIATHLON
Biathlon is a seasonal sport discipline, but, nevertheless, it is a popular sport in Ukraine. Winter competitions gather the main audience during the Olympic Games.
In addition to Ukraine, biathlon is of interest in Russia, France, Germany, Italy and Norway. Despite the fact that many countries are interested in this sport, it is difficult to say that biathlon is the most popular sport in the world, and it will be difficult for him to overtake football.
6 HOCKEY
A review about the most popular sport in the world and Ukraine, like hockey, will be of interest to a large audience.
Such a priority sport as hockey is popular among young people and not only. Yes, the Ukrainian Hockey League cannot be compared with the NHL and KHL, but this does not mean that Ukrainian fans do not follow it. Many Ukrainian hockey players play in famous hockey teams of the world, which proves the professionalism of the players.
The National Hockey League is rightfully one of the five largest professional leagues on the planet, and the NHL has an annual income of $4.5 billion. Many novice hockey players dream of lifting the Stanley Cup over their heads.
7 ATHLETICS
Athletics is a global sport, as it includes many disciplines. In this sport, all disciplines are represented by male and female sports.
In Ukraine, the most popular sport is not athletics, but this does not mean that it does not have its own amateur audience.
The popularity of sports is mostly spread in Europe: France, Germany, England. Also athletics is the most popular event at the Olympics. And in 2012, the final 100m sprint became the most anticipated sporting event in history. That's why Athletics rightfully included in the list of the most popular sports around the planet.
8 HANDBALL
It would seem that handball is a sport that few people know about in Ukraine. But no, the Ukrainian men's handball team demonstrates a good game. Yes, the Ukrainian team did not qualify for the World Handball Championship 2019, but this does not prevent it from continuing to train and achieve new victories.
In addition to Ukraine, handball is developed in Russia, Norway, Germany, Spain. Popularization various kinds sport, including handball, is gaining momentum every year, and federations specially created for this contribute to development.
9 VOLLEYBALL
Not surprisingly, volleyball is a popular sport, both children and adults love to play it in open areas and in gyms.
In terms of the number of Olympic awards, this sport is still ahead of other game sports disciplines. However, most of the awards were won back in Soviet times. Now there are no significant achievements, but this does not mean that volleyball has lost its position in the ranking of the most popular sports in Ukraine.
Thanks to the simplicity of volleyball, it is loved in many countries of the world - Brazil (according to local media, volleyball in the country bypasses even football), Turkey, Poland, China and Thailand.
And in terms of the number of national federations, volleyball has bypassed other sports, as more than 200 national federations are registered with the FIBV.
10 CYBERSPORT
Cybersport is gaining more and more every day more revs, it is possible that very soon it will be considered one of the most rated sports not only in the world, but also in Ukraine.
After esports was called a sport, a lot of misunderstandings arose, some agreed with it, and someone loudly stated that esports had nothing to do with sports. But be that as it may, when asked what kind of sport is the most popular, many answer e-sports.
Also, this species is popular in Russia, China, South Korea and America. Cybersport prize funds are also hard to ignore, as gamers are fighting for tens of millions of dollars.
11
Golf originated in Scotland, and it is rumored that ordinary shepherds invented the game for the rich. Then the game was talked about in the Netherlands, and in this way it began to develop and gain attention all over the world.
Golf is the kind of sport that has gathered millions of fans around it, and some of them are in Ukraine. Golf is also included in the ranking of the most popular sports in countries such as the USA, Japan, Great Britain and South Korea.
12
Over 550 million people follow Formula 1 every year. For the first time, they started talking about the “Royal Races” in the 1950s, since then interest in them has not faded, but only increased.
The racing season consists of 20 stages, which take place in 20 different countries, hence the wide audience of this sport. At the same time, racing is considered the most profitable motorsport, each year its income is from 1.5 to 2 billion dollars. And this is not surprising, since expensive cars require expensive maintenance.
13
After the advent of the UFC, mixed martial arts are gaining more and more popularity. Ukraine is also interested in this sport. And it all started with Brazil and the USA, and gradually migrated to Europe.
A little more and financially MMA is able to overtake boxing. As in any other sport, mixed martial arts has its own prestigious tournaments that attract an audience. Prize funds are practically no different from boxing ones, since large sums are spinning in MMA.
14
Races such as the Tour de France are known all over the world. In Ukraine, the number of cycling enthusiasts is increasing every year, in addition, cycling races are constantly held, in which not only professional athletes, but also amateurs participate.
Most of all, cycling is developed in Europe, where millions of fans follow the competitions. The prize funds of the competitions are also not deprived of a good monetary reward.
15
Basically, many people remember about swimming during the Summer Olympic Games, but at the same time, this sport is practiced all over the world. Exist different types swimming, which each athlete chooses for himself.
16
Table tennis originated at the end of the 19th century, and today it is included in the list of the most popular sports. By the way, most people still think that ping-pong is table tennis. But this is not so, although they are quite similar in terms of the rules and organization of the competition.
To date, the International Table Tennis Association includes 226 countries. In addition to Ukraine, this sport is actively interested in Asia, according to some sources, up to 5 million people are professionally involved in table tennis there.
17 RUGBY
Rugby originated in foggy Albion in the 19th century and became popular in many countries of the world.
There is a legend that rugby appeared after while playing football, one of the players took the ball in his hands, and after running across the entire field, brought it into the opponents' goal. It is also believed that thanks to rugby, American football appeared.
Today there are about 5 million rugby players.
18
Cricket is a sport that uses a bat and a ball. Cricket is often played on the tarwa.
Cricket is most popular in Australia, India, Wales, England, South Africa and other countries.
19
A team sport like baseball is somewhat reminiscent of Russian bast shoes and cricket. Baseball is very popular in America, Canada and Cuba.
20
American football is another most popular sport in America, which has its fans in Ukraine as well.
America is home to the most profitable sports league in the world, the NFL, which makes over $10 billion a year. And Superball is considered the highest rated sporting event in the United States, which is attended by 200 million people.
21
Even 20 years ago, field hockey was especially popular in India. It later spread to Pakistan and Australia, and then came to taste in other countries.
It is difficult to say that field hockey is developing, as it is not entirely true. But at the same time, the number of fans of this sport is constantly increasing.
22
Badminton originated in China. Then he smoothly moved to Korea and India, and after that he found his audience in other countries of the world.
As for the professional plan, there are not many competitions in this sport, mostly badminton is developed at the amateur level, including in Ukraine.
23
Rhythmic gymnastics has always attracted the attention of the public. This sport is included in the program of the Olympic Games.
Gymnastics is popular not only in Ukraine, but also in America, Russia, Japan, the USA and Germany.
24
Ski - favorite hobby many, all over the world. Consequently, such a discipline as skiing is very popular. Most winter sports are common in the Scandinavian countries.
Alpine skiing is included in the program of the Winter Olympic Games, and with the onset of the Olympics, it gathers thousands of fans on TV screens.
25
Snooker is a rather specific game that also has its fans. Snooker is most popular in England and China.
As for Ukraine and other European countries, this sport is more developed there at the amateur level.
26
The road racing championship is an interesting and exciting competition that thousands of MotoGP fans love to watch.
These races belong to the premium class, which has its own audience. MotoGP is especially popular in Spain, the Netherlands, America. However, it has recently begun to develop in England, Germany and the countries of the Middle East.
27
Another winter, but, nevertheless, a popular sport - snowboarding began to develop relatively recently. However, it has already been included in the program of the Winter Olympic Games.
Previously, snowboarding was seen more as a hobby, but over time it has evolved and won the love of the public.
28
Incredibly beautiful and at the same time difficult sport - figure skating also in popularity is not inferior to other sports. There are athletes in Ukraine who represent their country at the Olympic Games, as well as at the World Championships.
Figure skating is well developed in Russia, America, Germany, Japan and other countries.
On the Internet, there have long been many similar ratings that are very different from each other. The question is, what do you mean by popular sports? Judging by the number of viewers, the absolute record holder was the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, which was watched by more than 1 billion people. If we take into account the number of people involved in this sport, then athletics will take the confident first place, with a base of 300 million amateurs in the world.
Criteria used:
- Infrastructure
- Number of viewers
- Number of professional leagues worldwide
- Television contracts
- Sponsorship contracts
- The average salary of an athlete in the major leagues
- Number of countries represented
- Social media activity
- Sports media coverage
- Relevance throughout the year
- Gender equality
- Accessibility to the masses
1 Football
With over 4 billion fans, it is by far the most popular sport in the world. The dominance of football on the planet is so obvious that the first place is no surprise to anyone. Football has received the main distribution in Europe, where for many it has become not just a game, but a way of life. The FIFA World Cup is the most iconic event in this sport.
Football is also one of the most accessible sports in the world, and there is hardly a person who has never hit the ball in his life. Football news constantly flashes in the headlines of the largest newspapers, especially in the UK, Germany, France, Spain.
The most popular competition in the world: The FIFA World Cup is the most anticipated sporting event. The final match between Germany and Argentina attracted 700 million viewers.
The largest prize fund: 1.5 billion dollars is played annually in the Champions League - the elite of European club football.
Largest television contract: matches of the English Premier League are broadcast in 212 countries of the world, and gather at the screens of almost 6 billion viewers during the season. Sky Sports and BT Sports had to shell out a hefty £5.3bn for broadcast rights in the UK. Another £3bn came from the sale of international rights.
Most professional leagues: professional football leagues exist in almost every country in the world, and almost always consist of several divisions.
Major sponsorship contract: Adidas is paying Manchester United £75m a year just to be the official kit supplier. Most famous teams have such lucrative contracts with leading sports brands.
top players such as Neymar, Messi, Ronaldo earn more than 40 million euros a year and are among the top ten most famous athletes in the world.
Wealthiest Sports Teams: the list of the 50 richest sports teams includes 30 football clubs.
largest federation: FIFA is the largest and most influential sports organization. More than 200 national federations and 6,500 professional football clubs are registered with FIFA.
The most popular sports teams on social networks: Real Madrid and Barcelona currently have over 100 million subscribers.
Most Popular Athlete: Cristiano Ronaldo has 150 million followers on Facebook and Twitter.
2 Basketball
Basketball has over 1 billion fans. It is one of the highest rated sports in the US and the NBA generates over $5 billion in revenue annually. Wildly watched professional leagues in Spain, Greece, Italy, France, Argentina and China make basketball the fastest growing sport in the world.
It is safe to say that in the next 10 years no one will be able to match football in popularity, but basketball has every chance to firmly occupy the second line. Here are some Interesting Facts, which prove it:
Second most professional league in the world: Basketball is second only to football in the number of professional leagues. In most European countries, leagues consist of several divisions.
Third largest sports league in the world: The NBA (National Basketball Association) ranks third in terms of revenue, behind the NFL and the English Premier League.
Highest average salary: The median annual salary of NBA players is $4.4 million. The top 40 NBA players make over $15 million a year, while the top 10 make over $30 million a year.
Major sponsorship contracts: players such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, in addition to a solid salary, earn an additional over 50 million a year through solid sponsorship contracts.
Fastest growing sport: Basketball is also the fastest growing sport in the world, from revenue to spectator interest. More and more strong teams appear in countries such as Serbia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, where full stands gather at matches.
3 Cricket
Many do not even suspect that cricket has more than 2 billion fans around the world. The main geography of this sport is in England, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean and South Africa.
Such popularity of cricket is mainly due to the Indian subcontinent. Originating in England, the game quickly spread to all parts of the world that were colonized by the British. In India and Pakistan, cricket is a religion. It is a source of patriotism, a way to relieve tension and a synonym for competition.
The third most popular international competition on the planet: occupies a confident third place, following the FIFA World Cup and the Rugby World Cup. And the new format of Twenty20 allowed to receive much more profit from the sale of television rights.
Dominant sport: in the countries of the Indian subcontinent, cricket is nearly unrivaled in popularity. And in New Zealand, Australia and England, it is the second in terms of audience interest.
Women's cricket: The number of women on the planet involved in cricket is growing rapidly. Thanks to the efforts of the ICC (International Cricket Council), women's competitions now have a lot more prize money than a few years ago.
4 Tennis
Global reach and an audience of 1 billion people make tennis the most popular individual view sports in the world.
Highest prize money in an individual sport: all four Grand Slam tournaments - Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and USA Open have huge prize pools in the tens of millions of dollars.
Relevance throughout the year: tennis events take place all over the world throughout the calendar year without interruption, but the main audience is collected in the summer.
Most prestigious sporting event: Wimbledon is not only the main tennis tournament, but also the most prestigious sporting event. It was watched by over 1 billion viewers in 2016 and 2017, while the 2017 final was watched by 17 million people in the UK alone.
Highest Paid Athletes: Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic make over $60 million a season, but only a fifth of that money is in prize money.
Gender equality: Surprisingly, the prize money in the men's and women's tournaments is the same. In addition, women's competitions are no less popular than men's. Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams were at some point in their careers among the twenty highest paid athletes on the planet.
Champions from 30 different countries: the ranking of the top 100 players includes representatives of 45 states. Tennis players from 30 different countries have won at least one Grand Slam tournament, which is a unique sports record.
5 Athletics
Athletics is by far the most global sport with many disciplines. Athletics is also the most popular event in the Olympics. The names of such titled athletes as Usain Bolt regularly make headlines in the media.
Gender equality: in athletics, all disciplines are represented by male and female events. Elena Isinbayeva achieved worldwide fame thanks to this particular sport.
The widest representation: Athletes from almost all countries of the world compete at the Olympics.
Most anticipated event: the final 100m sprint in 2012 was the most anticipated sporting event in history.
6 Rugby
Rugby is one of the main sports in some developed countries (England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand).
Professional leagues: the strongest rugby league is in France, and that's where most of the highest paid athletes play. IN last years new leagues appeared in Italy, Japan, Argentina, and even in the USA rugby found its fans.
Second highest-grossing international competition: The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the biggest event in the history of the sport, generating £250 million in revenue for the organizers.
Second most attended international competition: Nearly 3 million tickets were sold for the 2015 Rugby World Cup matches.
7 Formula 1
550 million people watch these races every year. The season consists of 20 stages taking place in 20 different countries, making Formula 1 one of the most global sports.
Most Profitable Motorsport: Formula 1 generates between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in revenue each year. This money is distributed among 10 teams that spend from 100 to 500 million per season on cars, development, personnel and pilot salaries.
Big contracts for F-1 pilots: most pilots earn between $1 million and $5 million a year, but leaders Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have contracts worth $50 million a year.
Organizer fees: in order to host a Formula 1 round in their own country, it is necessary to transfer $40 million to the royal racing fund.
8 Boxing
Like tennis and athletics, boxing is also played by many people. This is an extremely common sport in countries such as the USA, Mexico, Great Britain, the Philippines, Japan, Poland, Romania. Amateur boxing competitions are included in the program of the Summer Olympic Games.
Audience interest: high-profile fights for the title gather an audience of several million people.
Women's boxing: this sport is quite popular among the female part of the population, and the undefeated Layla Ali is also world famous, like her father.
Highest grossing fight of all time: Floyd Mayweather's fight against Manny Pacquiao brought the organizers more than $400 million. Of that money, 250 was paid to the winner Mayweather and 120 to Pacquiao.
9 Hockey
The most popular winter sport in the world, distributed in a small number of countries - Russia, Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland. Once it was dominant in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but now it gathers viewers in these countries only during major international competitions.
Major League: The NHL is one of the top five professional leagues on the planet and generates $4.5 billion in annual revenue.
10 Volleyball
This sport is considered the simplest, which is what makes it so common. Volleyball players can be found all over the world.
The largest number of national federations: More than 200 national federations are registered with the FIVB, more than any other sport.
Most popular sport in developing countries: volleyball enjoys excessive popularity in a number of developing countries, such as Brazil (even football bypasses the ratings), Turkey, Thailand, China, Poland.
11 Golf
Golf has also gathered millions of fans around itself. This is a sport in which there is no physical competition, and people of different sexes and ages can compete on equal terms. In addition, professional golfers earn millions of dollars in prize money.
Sports for developed countries: golf is not cheap, so it is common only in rich countries such as the USA, Japan, South Korea, and the UK.
High potential for making money: the famous Tiger Woods has dominated the list of the richest athletes for 15 years in a row, mainly due to lucrative sponsorship deals with Nike, EA Sports and Gillette.
| The most popular sports in the world (ranked 12th to 25th) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Place | Sport | Details |
| 12 | Baseball | Popular only in the US and Japan. MLB and the Nippon League are among the top 10 professional leagues on the planet. |
| 13 | American
football |
The most popular sport in the US, and the most profitable sports league in the world, is the NFL, which makes over $10 billion a year. The Super Bowl is the highest-rated sporting event in the United States, drawing an audience of 200 million people. |
| 14 | MMA | Mixed martial arts is gaining more and more popularity with the advent of the UFC. This is a popular sport in Brazil and the USA, gradually gaining a spectator audience in Europe. In a few years, MMA is financially able to overtake boxing. |
| 15 | MotoGP | This is a road racing championship. MotoGP is a premium class racing with a huge spectator audience. Mainly popular in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, but in recent years have become widespread in England, the USA, Germany and the Middle East. |
| 16 | Field hockey | 20 years ago, field hockey was dominant in India, Pakistan and Australia, but every year it loses its popularity and audience. |
| 17 | Badminton | Badminton has received the main distribution in China, Korea and India, but, as a rule, they are practiced at an amateur level. |
| 18 | Cycling | It is very popular in Europe, and the Tour de France is the main competition in this sport with a million-strong spectator audience. |
| 19 | Swimming | This sport is practiced by many people all over the world, but the spectator interest arises only during the Summer Olympic Games. Michael Phelps is the most decorated athlete in history with a record 22 Olympic gold medals. |
| 20 | Snooker | A specific game, common only in England and China. In other countries, they are engaged only at an amateur level. |
| 21 | Table tennis | Table tennis is professionally practiced, as a rule, in Asian countries. But as a hobby, it is spread all over the planet. |
| 22 | Gymnastics | Gets its audience only during the Summer Olympics. Gymnastics is practiced mainly in China, the USA, Japan, Russia and Germany. |
| 23 | Handball | It is only played in European countries. But even the matches of the World Handball Championship rarely get on TV screens. |
| 24 | Biathlon | Seasonal sport, but gets the main audience during the Winter Olympics. Professionally, they are massively engaged in Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Norway. |
| 25 | Skiing | One of the most popular winter sports. Mostly distributed in Scandinavian countries. |
28.11.2019 at 15:04 · VeraSchegoleva · 8 160
Top 10 most popular sports in the world
9. Hockey, 500 million fans
Story hockey is not unambiguous. The homeland of this type of game is Canada, but historians have found in the Dutch pictures of the 16th century the image of a game very similar to hockey.
This sport is popular in Sweden, the USA, Canada, but very quickly gained popularity in Europe, especially in Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Finland.
Professional sports require complex and rather long preparation. The game is a team game, played on ice and its essence is to drive the puck into the opponent's goal.
8. Boxing, 550 million fans
Boxing – ancient view sports, it is mentioned in Egyptian and Sumerian relief drawings. Games like boxing were played in Ancient Greece. Fisticuffs were included in the ancient Olympic Games even before our era.
The modern sport with the name "" appeared at the beginning of the 18th century in England. This sport is pair contact. The essence is in striking the opponent with hands, dressed in special gloves. There is a list of illegal strikes for which athletes can be disqualified.
Athletes perform in a certain weight category, today there are 17 of them. The winner is the boxer who was able to strike, knocking down the opponent, and he could not get up for 10 seconds.
7. Formula 1, 600 million fans
Formula 1 is a car race open type wheels. Cars participating in such races must comply with a set of specific conditions and rules. All racing cars are tested for impact resistance.
Fireballs (as the racing cars are called) are designed and assembled by the team itself, so there are always discoveries and technological advances in this sport. Further, to win, you need to put the fastest and most experienced racer into a racing car and assemble a well-coordinated team that will quickly service the car on the track.
World championships in this sport have been held since 1950. Since then, the Formula 1 championship has been held annually and consists of several stages. Races are held with a team of pilots or with a single pilot in a car. Moreover, each team, according to the rules, exposes two fireballs.
6. Figure skating, 700 million fans
Figure skating appeared as a separate kind of speed skating in the 60s of the 19th century. But its beginning was laid in ancient times long before our era, as evidenced by archaeological finds in Europe in the form of bone skates from the phalanxes of large animals.
Performance on ice consists in performing a number of elements: jumps, rotations, steps, changing the direction of sliding and their derivatives. This sport was the first to be included in the mandatory program of the Winter Olympic Games. There are two types of figure skating: singles and pairs.
Skating takes place with musical accompaniment, and the program of athletes should include mandatory figure elements. The performance is evaluated for the complexity of the combinations performed, plasticity, artistry and musicality. In pair skating, interaction with a partner during the dance is necessarily evaluated.
5. Skiing, 750 million fans
The history of the appearance of the skis themselves dates back to about 4000 years ago, then this device appeared among the northern inhabitants to facilitate movement on the snow during hunting and in everyday life.
Therefore, it is no coincidence that skiing was especially popular in the northern countries, where snow was a natural phenomenon. This sport began its history many years ago in the 18th century in Norway. Since 1924 skiing included in winter Olympic sports.
This type has about twenty disciplines, including racing, downhill, slalom, ski jumping, biathlon, etc. The main type is, of course, racing (pursuit, relay, team sprint), but the most spectacular was biathlon, which combined the speed of movement on skis and target shooting accuracy.
4. Athletics, 900 million fans
This sport began its history in ancient Greece at the first Olympic Games, then athletes competed in running.
Athletics included in the program and the modern Olympic Games, is a mass sport. This event includes walking, running (short and long distances), long and high jumps, all-around and throwing heavy objects. The competitions themselves can be held in open stadiums (as a rule, many of them are combined with football stadiums) or in closed halls (arenas).
The winner of any athletics competition is the athlete who showed the best results among all participants. The program for men includes 24 sports, the program for women - 23. Therefore, athletics is the sport that brings the largest set of Olympic medals.
3. Tennis, 1 billion fans
This sport has a large number of fans, millions of fees, and thanks to him, world stars appeared. Tennis is a game for enduring and physically prepared athletes, but in addition to physical data, reaction and the ability to analyze the situation in a short time are important here.
Tennis is played on the grounds (courts) with different coating, it can be soil, grass, carpet, etc. Two players participate in the game, or four in a pair game. Tennis tournaments are included in the Olympic Games, separate competitions are also held, the Wimbledon tournament has become the most popular in this sport.
In the 16th century, this sport was very popular with the French kings. But tennis was played indoors, and only at the end of the 19th century was it transferred to open air and got the name lawn tennis(translated from French it means tennis on the lawn). The indoor game now bears the name real tennis.
2. Basketball, 1.4 billion fans
Motherland basketball is the USA, where this game appeared in 1891. But later it very quickly became a popular sport all over the world. So in Lithuania it is recognized as a national sport. Since 1936, it has been included in the list of the Summer Olympic Games. In addition, games are constantly held within the framework of individual basketball leagues.
The first Olympic champion in basketball was a team from, in the future this country occupied a leading position until 1972, when it lost to the national team for the first time. Today, representatives of all continents participate in basketball competitions.
Two teams play basketball. The goal is to get the ball into the opponent's basket. The winner is the team with the most points, that is, the one with the most hits in the basket.
1. Football, 4 billion fans
Football is a world famous sport. This is the most spectacular view, gathering thousands of stadiums and numbering about 4 billion fans around the world. This sport is included in the Olympic program, but in addition to this, many other tournaments are held at various levels.
Both men's and women's teams are organized. The goal of the game is to score the ball into the opponent's goal, and the winner is the one who does it more times.
England is considered the birthplace of football, where in the middle of the 19th century football teams began to gather and tournaments were organized. Football is most popular in Europe.
Today this sport is leading the world. Fan clubs of each football team gather for matches and not only, and famous people earn millions of dollars, which makes them the highest paid athletes.
When it comes to world-famous sports, it is quite difficult to say which one is the most popular, because there are 7 billion people in the world, and everyone has their own tastes and preferences. That is why there is such a variety of sports in the world. Whether it's football, tennis, hockey or anything else, every game has its fans.
But the most important parameter is their popularity and the number of viewers. The more fans a game has, the more popular it is. By the way, in countries such as Spain, Australia and India, sporting events are often held, which are followed with pleasure by fans from all over the world.
Golf is one of the most popular sports. With 600 million fans around the world, golf ranks high among the official sports. Golf is also known as the game of the rich, as it is one of the oldest and expensive species sports. You can imagine the cost given the size of the golf course! By the way, the highest paid player is Tiger Woods.
This game has become very popular over the past, with over 200 million viewers. Rugby is one of the most widely played games in South America, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina. There are two types of game:
- rugby league (or rugby 13),
- rugby union (or rugby 15).
By the way, Great Britain is considered the actual birthplace of rugby.
Table tennis is another equally interesting and popular game. In addition, it is considered the fastest game. Table tennis is the most popular among young people. There are more than 300 million fans of the game around the world, which allows it to stay in the ranks of the most widespread. Table tennis was invented in the USA, and in China it is the second most popular.
The national game of most Nordic countries, including Canada, the United States and Russia, is the second most famous in the subcontinent. Gradually, hockey won the attention of people all over the world, capturing the hearts of billions. The most common game formats are ice hockey, field hockey and air hockey.
Basketball is the fifth most popular sport in the world. This game is most loved by teenagers in America. Basketball has captured the attention of more than 500 million spectators all over the planet. By the way, I personally am also a fan of basketball and have been doing it since childhood. And the most important achievement of any basketball player is, of course, participation in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Another way of spending time for Americans. Apart from the United States, this sport is also common in Japan and Taiwan. This game has over 600 million fans in 11 countries. And baseball players are among the richest athletes.
The number of volleyball fans reaches 900 million people, which allowed this sport to take the fourth place in the ranking of the most popular. Volleyball is most common in Europe, Asia, Australia and America. Athletes from over 100 countries take part in the competition.
Tennis rightfully ranks third among the most popular sports, because the number of its fans exceeds 1 billion people! The most popular venues for tennis competitions are Australia and the USA, where the beloved tournaments are held annually. Rafael Nadal, Mahesh Bhupati and the Williams sisters are the most famous and talented tennis players.
Cricket is not widespread in many countries, but this does not prevent it from being one of the most popular games and having more than 3 billion fans around the planet. A crazy number of cricket fans live in Pakistan, England, India and Australia. The different forms of cricket play add to its popularity and appeal. Interest in this sport does not fade away, especially in the T-20 style game.
Topping the list of the most popular sports is, of course, football, which has over 4 billion fans around the world. Many football players are also the highest paid athletes in the world. Therefore, often, when buying players from various clubs, we are faced with. Undoubtedly, this is an exciting game and best view sports in all categories.
This is not only the most spectacular, but also the most popular sport, because everyone can play football. Therefore, it is not even necessary to explain why football attracts people so much. The most famous are the English and Spanish Premier Leagues. And every four years, the World Cups are held, which are a significant event not only for fans, but also for people who are not even particularly interested in football.
