The World’s Most Watched Sports

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09

NFL

Fans: 400 million

Outside of the U.S., this sport has limited following.

Google

With over 400 million fans around the world, basketball is part of the fabric of the American population, having been established in America in the late 19th century.

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Basketball

Fans: 400 million

Golf can be both a surprising entry and an obvious one, depending on your outlook. First off, this is one of the oldest sports in this list having been established in the 13th Century in Scotland

Golf

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07

Google

Fans: 450 million

As mainstream sport goes, table tennis is relatively new. It started with a dominance in China about a century ago, eventually spreading to the rest of mainland Asia as well.

Table Tennis

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06

Google

Fans: 850 million

Volleyball is an extremely simple game with little equipment and few rules. All you need is a ball and a net.

Volleyball

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05

Google

Fans: 900 million

This is one of the longest standing and most reputable sports out there with a fan base of over 1 billion people! It has been around since the early 14th century

Tennis

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04

Google

Fans: 1billion

This game has been around since the 3rd Century BC, having been established in Europe and Asia as well

Field Hockey

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03

Google

Fans: 2.2 billion

Cricket’s popularity is in large part because of the British Empire and the East India Company, and their fervent determination

Cricket

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02

Fans: 2.5 billion

Google

With 3.5 billion fans around the world, soccer is the one sport that pretty much the whole world can agree upon can be claimed the most viewed sports in the world.

Google

Fans: 3.5 billion

Soccer

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Running