| rank | Sport | Estimated Fans | Regional Popularity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Soccer / Association Football | 3.5 Billion | Europe, Africa, Asia, America |
| 2. | Cricket | 2.5 Billion | Asia, Australia, UK |
| 3. | Basketball | 2.2 Billion | US, Canada, China, and the Philippines |
| 4. | Field Hockey | 2 Billion | Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia |
| 5. | Tennis | 1 Billion | Europe, Americas, and Asia |
| 6. | Volleyball | 900 Million | Asia, Europe, Americas, and Australia |
| 7. | Table Tennis | 850 Million | Asia, Europe, Africa and Americas |
| 8. | Baseball | 500 Million | US, Japan, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic |
| 9 | Americal Football Rugby | 410 Million 410 Million | USA mainly France, England, New Zealand, South Africa |
| 10 | Golf | 390 Million | Europe, Asia, America, Canada |
I like golf, I guess I like to stay away from the herd.
Cricket!?! You have to eat crumpets to like cricket.
And what is field hockey? is that lacrosse?
First, no way in the world do I think there are nearly that many Basketball fans. There aren’t that many people in the nations listed. And if there were that many Chinese playing basketball, you’d have to expect them to dominate. Because, yes, young Chinese are as tall as anyone else. Instead, China went 0-5
“4. Field Hockey 2 Billion Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia”
Field hockey is not the fourth most popular sport in the world. The summary table says “Field hockey”, the article bizarrely combines field hockey and ice hockey.
I knew a guy, big black guy, built more like a football player than a basketball player, but he was a basketball player.
He went to Ireland to play professionally. When I heard that I thought, Ireland?!?!... But apparently it's pretty big over there.
Right next to Hurling...
Curling ... I want to see curling on this list.
I don’t see cornhole on that list anywhere.
All I know is that THIS sport is the best ...
Drum Corps is a sport. So said the great Freddy Martin.
No surfing? Beach Boys were wrong? Baseball and football rocks my American born and bred world, hell with the globalist views on sports.
Haha.... um, no.
Brought to you by the pollsters that had Hillary winning in a landslide. There is no way that 2 through 7 are more popular than baseball. Cricket... meh, who knows. But basketball more popular than baseball? Field Hockey? Tennis? Volleyball? (okay, I would understand maybe with women’s beach volleyball) but Ping Pong? Seriously... just... no.
As expected underwater basket weaving competition isn’t on the list.
Hard to believe that cricket is number two. They must be counting all of India and Pakistan, among others.
Not surprised to see basketball at number three. It’s pretty cheap to get kids started playing, and multi-purpose indoor facilities probably exist in many parts of the world for use by schools and organized leagues at various levels.
Auto racing should be on the list. I read that more people watch auto racing than football or baseball. Aerobatics also draws huge crowds.
That's the only time I have ever touched a soccer ball.
I stopped reading at criteria #12 - gender equality.
In less than 10 years, online/computer gaming (e-sports) will be number one.
The World’s 3 Most Popular Sports:
1) Soccer
2) Cricket
3) Kicking out the British