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Is football the world's number 1 sport?


reddogkev

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Appreciate you can't speak on behalf of the whole world, but interested to hear the general answer to this question.

In short, in an effort to get my children to join a school football club, I've told them that football is the world's number 1 sport.

It's certainly up there in the top four, but is it truly the number 1?  Or have I told my kids a whopper of a lie?

It worked though, they joined the football club.

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1 minute ago, cidered abroad said:

I've always understood that Angling is the UK sport with highest number involved. Don't know how accurate that is.

That amazes me, surely it is the most boring past time on earth (at the risk of upsetting any keen anglers on here)!

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51 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

Appreciate you can't speak on behalf of the whole world, but interested to hear the general answer to this question.

In short, in an effort to get my children to join a school football club, I've told them that football is the world's number 1 sport.

It's certainly up there in the top four, but is it truly the number 1?  Or have I told my kids a whopper of a lie?

It worked though, they joined the football club.

Depends on what measure is used.

Certainly more countries play football than any other sport BUT, what about the number of active participants?

Speaking from experience both my lads benefited enormously, in many ways, from playing school / junior football. I would thoroughly recommend it.

I got involved in the coaching and that got me into coaching adult football.

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Anecdotally, and speaking from only my own experience, I would say football is the only sport that you can use as the basis of a conversation wherever you may find yourself around the globe. If your boys have any interest in travelling the globe then an ability to chat about football will serve them pretty well.

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1 hour ago, Lorenzos Only Goal said:

biggest urban myth since 1982, running is the biggest participation sport then football in the UK.

I guess it depends on what you class as participation. Is it actually doing the sport, or does watching or it being your favourite classed as participating.

I can’t imagine 80,000 people turning up at Wembley twice a fortnight to watch a running league.

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6 minutes ago, grifty said:

I guess it depends on what you class as participation. Is it actually doing the sport, or does watching or it being your favourite classed as participating.

I can’t imagine 80,000 people turning up at Wembley twice a fortnight to watch a running league.

I think participation generally implies participation, 80K watching is not participation. 

Where as spectator implies spectator ;)

 

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1 minute ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

Yep, I worked on the Cricket World Cup this year in the media broadcast team and the games were watched by nearly 2 billion people (cumulatively) ...

2.5 billion for cricket and 4 billion for football :) either way you cut that, that's a lot of bloody people more than half the planet watched the world cup final :o

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2 hours ago, reddogkev said:

Appreciate you can't speak on behalf of the whole world, but interested to hear the general answer to this question.

In short, in an effort to get my children to join a school football club, I've told them that football is the world's number 1 sport.

It's certainly up there in the top four, but is it truly the number 1?  Or have I told my kids a whopper of a lie?

It worked though, they joined the football club.

Here is a Table of Top 10 Popular Sports

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
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Cycling will be in the top four or five at least. Tour de France biggest annual sporting event. Add in the Giro, Vuelta, Spring Classics and other Monuments, plus others like Paris Nice, Dauphine, and other one week tours plus World Championships and the winter track events, nearly all on TV. Generates huge TV audiences, plus literally millions of roadside spectators.

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29 minutes ago, New2City said:

esport cycling is a growing force. Especially after Zwfit partnered with the UCI in Yorkshire this fall.

Jesus wept don't even get me started on zwift. My cyclist mates treating it like it's real, like a mile on zwift is equal to a mile on the road. Awful, awful thing.

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