10. Golf
With around 450 million people watching or playing, golf was the 10th most popular sport from 2019- 2023. It is estimated that about 441 million rounds of golf were played this year.
9. Rugby
Rugby, a sport like American football originated in Europe in the 1820s and had around 10 million players this year.
8. Baseball
In the past, baseball was a sport that was mostly played only in America. But in recent years, baseball has become popular in many other countries including Japan, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.
7. Basketball
Basketball was invented in 1891 by a Canadian professor, and now there are over 825 million fans and 450 million players
6. Table tennis
Table tennis became popular a few years ago because it’s easy to learn and does not require a lot of practice or skill.
5. Volleyball
About 900 million people worldwide are volleyball fans, most being from North America, Australia, Europe, and Asia. In 2023, there were 800 million people playing and watching volleyball. Volleyball has been able to gain a lot of popularity lately because men and women can play it and it is fairly easy to learn
4. Tennis
In 2023, tennis was the most popular individual sport. Doubles tennis gain 4.5% more popularity this year compared to last year
3. Hockey
Around 2 billion people played both ice and field hockey this past year. In Canada, about 50 percent of the people play hockey, mostly on ice.
2. Cricket
Cricket, a sport invented in the late 1600s, had over 1 million spectators in 2023. Cricket is similar to baseball and is most popular in India, Pakistan, South Africa, and Australia.
1. Football (soccer)
Soccer was invented in 1863 in China. This year, there were over 2.5 billion people playing soccer and over 3.5 million spectators.