The 10 most watched sporting events in the world

Of course, nothing is more exciting than watching one’s favorite sports competition “in person”. But since it is impossible – for lack of time or money – to travel to attend all the events, cups and tournaments, most of us follow them online or on television . Watching sport alone, with family or friends is one of the favorite pastimes of citizens around the world, and audiences are breaking new records every year. But, by the way, what are the most watched sporting events ?

Top 10 competitions

10. Formula 1 Grand Prix: 100 million viewers

The average audience for a Formula 1 prize is 87.4 million spectators. The most watched race of 2021 was the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix, which attracted 103.7 million spectators. Formula 1 is watched more and more online and on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, Snapchat, Twitch and Chinese social platforms) with an average of 35 million views per race.

9. UEFA Champions League: 380 million viewers

The UEFA tournament is, after the World Cup and the Euro, the third major event in world football, even if it concerns only European clubs. 380 million people around the world attended the 2018 Champions League final in Kyiv. In the United States, the 2021 edition was the most watched Champions League final for six years.

8. Rugby World Cup: 480 million viewers

International body World Rugby estimates that more than 857 million people watched the last World Cup in Japan. This represents a 26% increase from the previous tournament held in England in 2015. In live audiences , 480 million people watched at least one match – a 5% increase from 2015.

7. Super Bowl: 500 million viewers

The final of the championship organized by the NFL is massively followed in the United States (with an average of 100 million viewers) but also in the rest of the world (400 million viewers). More than just a game, the Super Bowl is a gigantic show hosted by the biggest music superstars and punctuated by the latest advertisements from the biggest brands.

6. The Women’s World Cup: 1.1 billion viewers

Women’s football is increasingly popular and the last World Cup organized in France in 2019 generated a lot of interest, thanks in particular to the performance of the American team. A total of 1.12 billion viewers watched the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup across all platforms, including 480 million people on digital platforms.

5. UEFA Euro 2020: 1.9 billion viewers

Delayed by a year due to the pandemic, the latest edition of the UEFA European Championship broke all records with 1.9 billion unique viewers, including 330 million who watched the final between England and Italy. Viewership for the competition continues to grow, particularly in North America and Asia, with ever-increasing numbers of fans watching matches via streaming services.

4. The Winter Olympics : 1.9 billion viewers

Less followed than the Summer Games, the Winter Olympics remain a major event for ice sports fans around the world. With popular sports like figure skating, alpine skiing, ice hockey and snowboarding, the Games reach a wide audience. The Winter Games are held over a period of 17 days every four years. The next edition of the Winter Games will be held in 2022 in Beijing, China, which will become the first destination to host both Summer and Winter Games.

3. The Cricket World Cup: 2.6 billion viewers

We don’t necessarily know it, but cricket is popular in many countries, in India of course, but also in England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in particular. The 2019 World Cup played an immense role in the popularity of cricket. The matches that were played during the group stages were viewed by over 2.6 billion fans, making it the most watched cricket league in history.

2. The Men’s Football World Cup: 3.3 billion viewers

All recent World Cups (Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Germany, Japan, France) have exceeded 3 billion spectators, and it is estimated that more than 500 million spectators follow the competition in its entirety. It’s no surprise: football is the most popular sport in the world.

1. The Summer Olympics: 4 billion viewers

The Summer Olympics unsurprisingly occupy the top of the rankings. They make it possible to admire a very wide variety of different sports and most countries in the world take part in them, which makes it possible to attract a massive audience. Chinese media claim that the 2008 Beijing Olympics attracted over 4.8 billion viewers, making it the most-watched event of all time (but that figure would be a bit of an overstatement).

Finally, note that it is difficult to agree on this kind of classification, because most sports federations and organizers tend to count cumulative audiences, which necessarily favors competitions taking place over several days. We often find the Tour de France in second place on the podium, with more than 3 billion viewers. But in this case we count all the spectators who turned on the television during the 21 days of the event, if only for a few seconds. The Tour de France would actually be followed “live” by 50 million viewers worldwide, far from the 3 billion announced.

And in France ?

Apart from certain major presidential speeches during the Covid period, sports events occupy 17 of the top 20 places of the most watched broadcasts in the country. There is a bit of rugby, but it’s football that takes up most of the field. The most watched matches are, unsurprisingly, the big matches of the France team: quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals of the World Cup and the Euro, in particular.

In cumulative audiences, the Olympic Games and the Tour de France are the most watched events … after of course the Football World Cup!