As long as humans have existed we have loved games, sports, and competitions. As sporting events grow bigger and technology allows more people to watch them, the crowds also grow. Today, billions of people tune into the same sporting events, cheering for their team or country with others on the other side of the planet. It is truly mind-boggling.
But, which sporting events are the biggest? What are the most watched sporting events in the world?
For this list, the ranking of the top sporting events was created by combining three different metrics: total TV viewership, the duration of that viewership, the peak viewership, and the popularity of the most recent event.
Here are the most-watched sporting events in the world.
Why Are We Talking About This?
We might forget how much money passes hands as a result of advertising and branding in the sporting world, but when we see how many people watch these events every year, we can begin to understand the power large groups of people have over the wallets of corporations. Understanding the trends of sports and fans is the occupation of experts who decide how marketing money is spent. To begin to comprehend this industry, you must begin at the top.
#15 NCAA Final Four
- Viewers: 14.7 million
The Final Four is the second-to-last stage of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament in the United States which is commonly called and branded as March Madness. It is preceded by the Elite Eight stage. During the tournament, 68 college teams compete in single-elimination games and it is estimated that more than 100 million brackets are filled out professionally and casually every year for the tournament.
The first tournament was held in 1939 and UCLA has the most tournament wins with 11 championships.
The Final Four of the 2024 tournament was between UConn Alabama, NC State, and Purdue. UConn and Purdue won their matches to advance to the final.
#14 World Series
- Viewers: 14.73 million
The World Series began in 1903 and is a series of seven games between the champions of the American League and the National League.
Despite its name, the World Series is only held in the United States and Canada, yet the North American media constantly refer to the winners of the World Series as the world champions of baseball, even though there is a World Baseball Classic and the Olympic baseball event which the United States does not always win.
The Arizona Diamondbacks won the 2023 World Series, beating the Texas Rangers in five games and earning their first World Series win.
#13 The Masters Tournament
- Viewers: 15 million
The Masters is one of the four major golf championships in the world and always occurs in the first full week of April and is always held at the Augusta National Golf Club. The tournament was founded in 1934 and is a private, invitational event.
The famous green jacket that is awarded to Masters winners is a tradition stretching back to 1949 and it must be returned to the clubhouse one year after the winner is given it. Jack Nicklaus has won the most Masters tournaments with six wins, followed by Tiger Woods with five.
Scottie Scheffler won the 2024 Masters Tournament, making it his second Masters tournament win, and is the second person to win the Masters and The Players Championship in the same year.
#12 Kentucky Derby
- Viewers: 16.6 million
The Kentucky Derby is held every year on the first Saturday in May and is the first event of the Triple Crown series of horse racing. While most people associate the Derby with the most famous of its races, the Kentucky Derby is actually a day-long event of races preceded by the Kentucky Derby Festival.
The Kentucky Derby race itself lasts only two minutes and is often called the most exciting two minutes in sports.
The first Kentucky Derby was held in 1875 and has been held every year since. The 2024 Kentucky Derby was the 150th in its history and Mystik Dan won the race in a three-way photo finish. He had entered the race at 18:1 odds. More than $320 million in bets were made on all the races during the Kentucky Derby.
#11 Men’s Rugby World Cup
- Viewers: 17 million
The first World Cup was held in 1987 in Australia and New Zealand with only four countries winning the tournament since: South Africa with four wins, New Zealand with three wins, Australia with two wins, and England with one win. The women’s equivalent tournament didn’t begin until 2021.
Interestingly, the cup is named the Web Ellis Cup after the man who invented rugby in 1823 by picking up the ball during a normal football match and running with it.
The 2023 Rugby World Cup was held in France and South Africa defended their previous win in 2019 by defeating New Zealand in the final, which was the first time New Zealand had ever lost a final matchup. More than 2,437,208 people actually attended the games.
#10 NBA Finals
- Viewers: 17.8 million
Like the World Series, the NBA Finals is unique in that the top teams from the two conferences in the NBA play a series of seven games to determine a champion.
The first NBA Finals tournament was in 1947 and the Boston Celtics hold the most winning titles with 18 wins and also has the most consecutive NBA Finals titles when it won eight in a row beginning in 1959 to 1966. The Los Angeles Lakers have appeared in the NBA finals the most of any team, competing 32 times.
The Boston Celtics won the 2024 NBA Finals, beating the Dallas Mavericks four games to one. Over 12.22 million Americans watched game five of the tournament.
#9 Wimbledon Championships
- Viewers: 25.6 million
Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament on the planet and is consequently regarded as the most prestigious tennis event. It is the only tennis major to still use grass courts. If the Prince of Wales or the King of England are present at the competition, the athletes are required to bow before beginning their match.
The first Wimbledon tournament was held in 1877 and continues to be held in the same location of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon in London.
There are 20 events at Wimbledon from gentlemen’s singles and ladies’ singles all the way to mixed invitation doubles. In the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz won the gentlemens’ singles to win his fourth Wimbledon title, and Barbora Krejčíková won the ladies’ singles competition.
#8 Super Bowl
- Viewers: 115.1 million
The first Super Bowl was held in 1966 but it wasn’t until Super Bowl III that the name was actually coined. The Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots are tied for the most wins with six titles each, with the Patriots having appeared the most at the Super Bowl at 11 times. It is the largest sporting event in the United States and is second to only the EUFA Champions League for the most-watched club sporting event. Seven of the ten biggest broadcasts in United States television history are Super Bowl events and is the second-biggest event for food consumption in the United States.
The Kansas City Chiefs won the 2024 Super Bowl (Super Bowl LVIII) for the second time in a row, with an overtime touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers. This was their fourth appearance in the last five years, making them one of the most successful American football teams in history.
In typical American fashion, the NFL owns the rights to the name Super Bowl, so other companies and organizations usually have to resort to using “big game”, “football championship”, or “Superb Owl” to talk about the game.
#7 UEFA Champions League Final
- Viewers: 450 million
The Union of European Football Associations Champions League is an annual football competition between the best European football clubs and is the most-watched club event in the world. It is the most prestigious club football competition in the world.
The first Champions League was held in 1955, and the winner of the Champions League automatically earns a qualifying spot in the next year’s competition, the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. Spanish clubs have won the most with 20, with England in second with 15, then Italy with 12.
Real Madrid won the 2024 Champions League by beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0, winning for the sixth time in the last 11 years and for the 15th time overall.
#6 Winter Games
- Viewers: 2 billion
The first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France in 1924 after the Summer Olympic Games saw great success before it. It only featured curling, ice hockey, bobsleigh, Nordic Skiing, and skating. The United States is the only country to have won a gold medal at every Winter Olympic Games but Norway holds the record for the most medals won.
The 2022 Winter Olympics were held in Beijing, China, and featured 109 winter events and 2,871 athletes representing 91 countries. It was the first time Haiti and Saudi Arabia competed in the Winter Olympics and the debut of big air freestyle skiing and women’s monobob. Norway won the most medals again with 37 medals won, with 16 golds.
There were significant protests about China being allowed to host the games because of its human rights record and labor abuses. Athletes, coaches, and officials complained about the safety, quality, and impartiality of the venues and events.
#5 Summer Olympic Games
- Viewers: 2 billion
The first Olympic Games were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece, and have been regarded as the biggest and most prestigious multi-sport event in the world. The United States has the all-time medal count record and has been the top medal-winning country at 18 different Summer Olympics, only the Soviet Union comes close with six top placements.
The last Summer Games were held in 2021 in Tokyo and had 339 sporting events, and 11,420 competing athletes representing 206 nations. It was originally supposed to be held in 2020 but was postponed due to COVID-19. This was the first Summer Olympics to include 3×3 basketball, freestyle BMX, karate, softball, sport climbing, surfing, skateboarding, and baseball.
As with any Olympic event, there were significant controversies and problems that plagued the event before, during, and after it was held.
#4 FIFA Women’s World Cup
- Viewers: 2 billion
The first Women’s World Cup was held in China in 1991. The United States has won the most titles with four wins followed by Germany with two wins, and Japan, Spain, and Norway with one title each.
Up until the 1970s, many countries still had bans on women playing football, so it took several years for teams to begin to appear and play well enough to compete internationally.
The last Women’s World Cup was hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2023, and Spain won the tournament making them the second country to win both the men’s and women’s World Cup. The tournament broke viewership records multiple times during the contest leading to the government to increase funding to improve women’s sporting facilities in the country.
The 2027 Women’s World Cup will be hosted by Brazil.
#3 Cricket World Cup
- Viewers: 2.6 billion
The Cricket World Cup is officially the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and was first organized in England in 1975. Twenty countries have competed in the World Cup throughout its history and Australia has won the most with six total victories. India and the West Indies both have two wins, and Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and England have each won it once.
More than 1,250,307 people actually attended the 2023 World Cup in India and set viewership records in India. Australia won the tournament.
The next World Cup in 2027 will be held in Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa.
#2 Tour de France
- Viewers: 3.5 billion
The Tour de France is the oldest and most prestigious of the three bicycle Grand Tours and first occurred in 1903 and has only skipped years for the World Wars. The race route changes every year but always consists of 21-day-long race stages over a 24-day period, during which bikers cover around 2,200 miles.
The 2023 Tour de France began in Bilbao, Spain, and ended in the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Jonas Vingegaard won the race for the second year in a row with a margin of seven minutes and 29 seconds which is the biggest winning margin since 2014.
The 2024 Tour de France is currently underway.
#1 FIFA World Cup
- Viewers: 5 billion
There have been 22 World Cup tournaments since 1930 and 80 national football teams have competed for the cup, but only eight nations have ever won: Germany and Italy with four wins each, Argentina with three wins, France and Uruguay with two each, England and Spain with one win, and the reigning champion, Brazil, with five wins total and the only country to have played in every single World Cup.
With more than 5 billion people watching, it means that more than half the world’s population watches the FIFA World Cup when it occurs. Qatar was the most recent host of the 2022 World Cup in which Argentina won, with the United States, Canada, and Mexico jointly hosting the 2026 tournament.
The last World Cup in Qatar was full of controversy from bribery, corruption, slave labor, and more. Allegedly, Qatar bribed FIFA officials to let them host the World Cup despite its terrible human rights record, treatment of LGBT members and women, and much more. Also, Amnesty International said that Qatar was using forced labor to construct the venues for the World Cup, forcing imprisoned migrants to live in poor conditions and work with no safety oversight all while forcing them to pay for recruitment fees to work at all. Many organizations boycotted the World Cup as a result.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
