Sport harbours a myriad of things: it’s a cause that both unites and divides folk; it’s the maker of dreams to many; it’s a business; it’s an aim towards better discipline and health. In the following paragraphs, we’ll take a look at the sports enjoying the widest audiences and how they got so popular!
Football Also known as "The King of All Sports", football is the most followed sport in existence. With a huge roster of world-renowned championships, such as: La Liga, the Premier League, Ligue 1, COPA America, and, of course, the World Cup, it’s no surprise that this discipline reigns over millions of hearts. In fact, ‘millions’ may not be the correct measurement, as the last FIFA World Cup held in Qatar attracted more than 1 billion viewers to their screens to watch as Argentina took home the cup.
CricketA shocker, we know. Cricket may not be the best example when thinking of the most popular sports, but you have to remember which country goes most crazy for it - India. This game has a fanbase of about 2.5 billion people worldwide, as it’s also popular in places like the UK and Ireland. And while most of you will scoff at this stat, the game is actually very entertaining to watch and should be given the benefit of the doubt!
Baseball With around 500 million viewers comes baseball, a game more American than American football (in our humble opinion). Akin to cricket, baseball is a game that for a long time has been too entrenched in American culture to the point that most viewers would stray from it for fear of not being American enough to qualify to watch it. But the stigma is dissolving as we speak, and more and more viewers have started enjoying the game, though they are not actively playing it.
Basketball Basketball dovetails baseball and it’s kind of surprising. Everyone has heard of Kobe, Lebron, and Jordan, so there’s no excuse for this sport to have an estimated 400 million active fans! Well, that’s the rough estimate we have, even though you see a basketball court everywhere you go around the world.
The statsNow let’s focus on the figures and their origins. It’s good to remember that these numbers derive from TV viewership analyses and do not take into account computer or mobile-phone viewers. Also, they can’t factor in all the illegal streaming that’s going on around the world. Or what about people like the writer of this article who prefer to play the game instead of watching it? So before you jump into the next argument with this piece in hand, just remember that there are many other unknowns that need further inspection.
Reliable gaming platforms see here:
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