1. Soccer / Association Football – 3.5 billion fans
At the top of the list of Most Popular Sports is soccer with 3.3-3.5 billion fans all over the world.Association football, commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries, making it the world’s most popular sport. The game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The objective of the game is to score by using any part of the body besides the arms and hands to get the football into the opposing goal. The goalkeepers are the only players allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play and then only in their penalty area. And now, it also holds its place among the richest sports in the world in 2018. Here is how Soccer ranks on different criteria that we have set to rank the sports.
2. Cricket – 2-3 billion fans
Cricket is 2nd Most Popular Sport in the World with 2-3 billion fans (Across India, UK, Pakistan, Asia, Australia).Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on a field at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. The two competing teams take turns to bat, attempting to score runs. While one team is batting, the other team fields. Each turn is known as an innings. Cricket has three different formats i.e. Test, ODIs, and T20. After the introduction of the T20 format, the popularity of cricket has been increasing drastically. Cricket is very popular in India, Pakistan, Australia, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe.Global Fan Base and Audience: The fan base of Cricket is limited to some countries. It is not a major sport in the US, most of Europe and Africa. However, some of the biggest countries in the world play this sport. Overall, with about 2 to 3 billion fans, cricket has the 2nd highest number of fans in the world.
3. Basketball – 2-3 billion fans
With approximately 2-3 billion fans in the US, Canada, China, and the Philippines, Basketball is the 3rd most popular sport in the world.One of Most Paying Sports: Basketball is a sport played by two teams of five players on a rectangular court. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter and 10 feet (3.0 m) high mounted to a backboard at each end. A team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket during regular play. A field goal scores two points for the shooting team if a player is touching or is closer to the basket than the three-point line, and three points if the player is behind the three-point line. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. Basketball is The 3rd Most Played and Watched Sport in the World.
4. Hockey – 2.2 billion fans
Hockey [field + Ice] is the 3rd Most Popular Sport on Earth with 2-2.2 billion fans in Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, etc.Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to manoeuvre a ball or a puck into the opponent’s goal using a hockey stick. In many areas, one sport typically field hockey or ice hockey is generally referred to as hockey. Both forms of hockey are popular in the world. Field Hockey is the National game of Pakistan as well as India. On the other hand, ICE HOCKEY is popular in Europe especially in Canada, the USA, Latvia, and Sweden. Above mentioned number of fans are for both forms of hockey.
5. Tennis – 1 billion fans
At No 5 in This List is Tennis. with around 1 billion fans in Europe, the Americas, and Asia.Tennis is a sport that people usually play individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent’s court. The object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a good return.
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