Discover the most popular, culturally-relevant, and viewed sporting events around the world and find out what makes these legendary events so exciting to watch.
Sports have long been viewed as an important part of human culture. Various sports have been played for over 70,000 years, though most of the current team sports have shorter historical roots. Soccer, for example, can be traced back to medieval England, though it wasn’t under the mid 19th century that formalized rules for association football came into play. American football emerged in the later 19th century, with the first game played in 1869. Over time, these sports have gone from simply being games to being multi-billion dollar industries, with much of that due to the invention of radio and, later, television, which helped make sports more accessible. Now, almost every major sporting event is available to watch, whether on television or through streaming. Many of those games are available on the sports-focused streaming service Fubo, which carries most of the major sports channels in the United States.
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While the love of sports is universal, with participants and viewers in every country, different areas have different sports that matter to them. For example, American football is bigger in the United States than soccer is, but that’s not the case worldwide. Winter sports like ice hockey and curling aren’t usually going to be popular in countries in the tropics, where there’s less access to the cold weather that’s associated with those sports. Some sports can be extremely regionalized, like Australian rules football or Gaelic football.
How is The Most Viewed Event Selected?
When figuring out what the world’s most-watched sporting event is, one has to figure out how to gauge viewership. Television ratings are an obvious way, but the advent of streaming has complicated that, as many sporting events don’t air on television and thus won’t have the same kind of Nielsen numbers that an event broadcast on an OTA or cable network will.
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In-person attendance is also part of the equation. Some sports venues have featured large in-person crowds. For example, the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 drew an in-person crowd of 350,000, in addition to 6,000,000 television viewers.
The Ten Most Viewed Sporting Events
According to Roadtrips.com, the most viewed sporting events in the world are:
1. Tour de France – 3.5 billion
The Tour de France is the premier cycling race in the world. Held each summer in France, the Tour lasts approximately three weeks, and millions of people line the roads of France to watch, in addition to billions from around the world tuning in to watch the race. NBC holds the rights to the Tour de France in the United States, airing it on NBC and USA, both of which are available on Fubo.
2. World Cup – 3.3 billion
The FIFA World Cup brings the best soccer nations in the world together to see which can emerge victorious. Held every four years, the next World Cup will be held in 2026. FOX holds the television rights for the World Cup, with matches airing on FOX and FS1, both of which are available on Fubo.
3. Cricket World Cup – 2.6 billion
While not popular in the United States, cricket is highly-watched outside of the U.S., especially in India. The Cricket World Cup does not usually air on OTA or cable television in the United States.
4. Summer Olympics – 2 billion
Held every four years, the Olympics pit the world’s best athletes against each other. The 2024 Olympics will be held in Paris, with 32 sports featured, which will consist of 329 events. NBC holds the television rights to the Olympics and broadcasts them on a variety of channels.
5. Winter Olympics – 2 billion
Like the summer version, the Winter Olympics are held every four years and are broadcast by NBC. The difference is that…well, the Winter Olympics feature winter sports. The next Winter Olympics are in 2026 in Italy.
6. Women’s World Cup – 1.12 billion
The women’s version of the World Cup began in 1991 and has grown into one of the world’s largest sporting events. Like the men’s World Cup, FOX holds the English-language rights to the Women’s World Cup, which can be watched with a Fubo subscription.
7. UEFA Champions League – 380 million
The UEFA Champions League pits the top club-level teams in Europe against each other. It’s the most prestigious tournament at that level, with CBS holding the rights to the tournament.
8. Super Bowl – 112.3 million
The most-viewed event in the United States, the Super Bowl doesn’t quite have the same kind of worldwide appeal, but it’s strong numbers in the United States have it in the top 10 of worldwide viewership. Multiple networks share coverage of the Super Bowl in a rotation, with all of those channels available with a Fubo subscription.
9. World Series – 14.3 million
The World Series pits the winners of the American League and National League against each other to determine which MLB team will come out on top and win the championship. The World Series can be watched on FOX.
10. NCAA men’s Final Four – 18.1 million
The Final Four features the final four remaining teams in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, which begins with 68 teams. Also known by the popular term March Madness, the Final Four airs on CBS.
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What Makes the Tour de France The Most Viewed?
Part of why the Tour de France is the world’s most viewed sporting event is the length of the event, as it takes over France for three weeks in July. It’s also a multi-national event, with riders from across the world competing. That adds compelling reasons for people around the world to tune in and watch the yearly event.
Watch the world’s top sporting events on Fubo: Start with a free trial!
Fubo is the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform, offering 100+ live TV channels and regional sports networks. The service includes a DVR as well as on-demand content and focuses on sports programming. Fubo is the only live TV streaming platform with every Nielsen-rated sports channel. Leveraging Fubo’s proprietary data and technology platform optimized for live TV and sports viewership, subscribers can engage with the content they are watching through interactive product features like FanView, an in-video experience showcasing live game, team and player stats and scores in real-time. Fubo was also the first virtual MVPD to enable simultaneous viewing on up to four screens (Multiview on Apple TV) and the first to stream in 4K HDR. The service was ranked #1 in Customer Satisfaction among Live TV Streaming Providers by J.D. Power (2022).
Fubo offers multiple plans. The Pro plan features 162 channels, while the Elite plan features 226 channels. More channels can be added with add-ons like Fubo Extra or News Plus. Fubo also offers a Latino plan that feature the top Spanish-language networks.
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