Most Popular Sports in the World

A sport can be defined as an organized, competitive and skillful physical activity, which requires commitment and not to forget fair play. Each of the sporting activity is governed by a set of rules. There are a few factors, which have a role to play, that includes physical capabilities, as well as skills of the competitor, to determine the outcome of the sporting activity. In the physical activity, there is movement of people and objects, like balls, etc. Each of the games, played all over the world has its own history of origin and these games have also come a long way from the time they started in different parts of the world. With a number of sports played all around the world today and with the arrival of satellite television, these sports are also watched all around the world. Hence, arises the question which are the popular sports in the world. It is very much possible, that each individual will come up with his topmost popular sports in the world, depending on their favorites.

List of Most Popular Sports in the World

When we talk about popular sports the world over, it is imperative to understand, that some sports are played regionally and are not well-known in all parts of the world. However, there are other sports, that have become popular, as they are played in more parts of the world. The popularity is decided depending on a number of factors, which include number of fans, number of people playing the said game, worldwide facilities for the game, tournaments or matches held all over the world, merchandise used, etc.

Football
Football or soccer is indeed one of the top 10 sports in the world. According to the estimates, there are more than 3.5 billion people, who either watch or play the game, making it the most popular sport in the world. The football World Cup, more popularly known as FIFA World Cup is a global championship, which is played once in four years. Football has 208 member nations, hence it is one of the world's richest sport. The different leagues played around the world, like the English Premier League, Champions League, are very popular. The richest club in the world is Manchester United.

Cricket
With the different versions of the game, cricket is one of the most popular sports. It is the most popular sport in the Indian subcontinent. The different versions of the game are test matches, One Day International, Twenty20 matches. There are cricket crazy fans all over the world, but the number is far more astonishing in the countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the governing council and it has 104 member nations.

Field Hockey
It is the national sport of India and Pakistan. It is one of the most popular sports in countries like India, Pakistan, Germany, Holland, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Argentina, etc. The Olympics and the World Cup are the most prominent events in hockey, which in the bygone years, was dominated by India with eight Olympic Golds and Pakistan by winning four World Cups. The governing body is the International Hockey Federation and has 100 member countries.

Tennis
There are more than 1 billion players playing and watching this game. If statistics are to be believed, tennis is very popular in the richer countries of the world including United States, Australia, Europe, etc. It is also popular in some of the Asian countries as well. Every year, there are four main tennis tournaments, which are held, known as 'Grand Slams'.

Baseball
Baseball is one of the most popular sports in the world. It followed and played largely in countries like the USA, China, Russia, Philippines, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc. The FIBA World Championship and the Olympics are the major international events.

Volleyball
It is the national sport of Sri Lanka and is very popular in countries like United States, Brazil, Russia, Italy, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, where it is also very popular school sports. The most important tournament of volleyball are the Olympics and World Cup. FIVB is the international governing body of volleyball and it has 150 member nations.

Table Tennis
It is also known as Ping Pong. It originated in England, where it was an after dinner activity. Table tennis is a competitive sport. It is one of the most popular sports in China, India, Korea, Singapore, etc.

After reading this article, it is but obvious,that die-hard fans of different games will argue about, how their favorite sport is more popular than the other. However, it is with statistics, that the popularity is decided.

Disclaimer: The sports mentioned in this article are not according to the choice of the writer.