Sports are popular, to an extent where they become a central part of not only an athlete’s life, but also that of the fans. The other part is much more important, as the fans are the ones which give the athletes their status, as well as a certain sports.
Sports events attract a lot of attention, the amount of attention depends on the sport and the part of the world the event takes place. For some sports, the location on this planet does not matter, as it is already so popular that many will be watching.
Here are some of the world’s biggest sports events.
FIFA World Cup
Every four years, teams from a select number of countries battle for the title of world champion. The countries do have to qualify, first, and then go through a round robin and a knockout stage before a new winner is crowned.
This event attracts over 3 billion people, worldwide. Whether fans, organizers, sponsors and bookmakers and punters, the World Cup always takes the top spot.
Bookmakers love it, especially today when online sports betting is available worldwide. Often, online bookmakers entice people with promotional codes and welcome bonuses like this Unibet welcome bonus. One thing is for sure, the World Cup has a lot of viewers and earns a lot of people a lot of money.
Tour de France
A cycling event attracts people? You bet, well, many people do, actually, as it has over 2 billion viewers, annually. This is the most-viewed annual event, without a doubt. With iconic names like Lance Armstrong, now more notorious than iconic, it attracts even more viewers.
Three weeks and 2 billion people watching, not bad for a cycling race.
The Summer Olympic Games
Like the FIFA World Cup, the Summer Olympic Games is a quadrennial event which regularly attracts around 2 billion people. Athletes dream of this event and spend more than just 4 years preparing for it. From track and field athletes to gymnasts and even football players, all the athletes look forward to the Olympics, but so do the press and the fans.
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League crowns a new champion every year. Teams from Europe battle for the title of Europe’s champion. This is an annual event, and as such, manages to attract upwards of 1,5 billion people. The bookmakers love it, some even live for this event, during which money flies every day.
The teams also prepare rigorously for the UEFA cup, often engaging with fans to bring in even more people.
FIFA Confederations Cup
Every year prior to the World Cup, the Confederation Cup takes place in the following year’s host country. In 2017, the cup took place in Russia. The winners of each continental league play against one another, for the title of champion. 7 teams from each continental championship and the host country make a total of 8 teams. This cup often attracts around 1 billion people.
Asian Games
The Asian Games tend to attract a lot of people, also nearing the 1 billion mark. Given that Asia has over half the world’s population, there are no questions as to why such a prestigious, multi-sport event attracts so many people.
As with any large sports event, it brings all sorts of people, from sponsors to punters.
These are the world’s most viewed sports events. There are more of them, like the Giro d’Italia, the Rugby World Cup, Winter Olympics, NBA Finals, Cricket World Cup, and many more. Most of them attract over 500 million people, some a lot more than that, making them the world’s top sports events.
