Emeka Nweze
No matter your taste, there always seems to be a sports event that grabs your attention, whether it is the actual sports itself, or the fun fare around it, you’re somehow just attracted.
While there are several sporting events all over the world, some are just simply greater than the others. These events attract the most viewers, gain the most revenue, and are just more loved and followed than the others.
Here is a list of the top ten biggest sports events on the planet.
1. FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world, it is an international football competition contested by the senior men’s national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The World Cup is the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world. The cumulative viewership of all matches of the 2006 World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion and in 2018 1.12 billion viewers watched the final. The only down side of the FIFA world Cup is that it is only held once in every four years.
2. The Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is an international sporting event which features thousands of athletes from around the world participating in a variety of events. The Olympic Games attracts competitors from over 200 countries, making it the world’s foremost sporting event. The games are held every four years and is one of the most viewed sport events in the world, with over 900 million viewers.
3. The UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League is the holy grail of European club football. It is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), and contested by top-division European clubs. The Champions League is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football
4. ICC Cricket World Cup
The ICC Cricket World Cup is one of the most viewed sporting events, and is considered as the flagship event of the international cricket calendar. The ICC Cricket World Cup is the international championship of One Day International cricket. The event is organised by the sport’s governing body, the International Cricket Council, every four years, with preliminary qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament.
5. Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League where the champion of the National Football Conference competes against the champion of the American Football Conference. Asides the game, the super bowl culminates a grand event that spans a whole weekend and features lots of fan fare as well as performances by popular artists. The Super Bowl has regularly been the most watched American broadcast of the year. The day of the Super Bowl has now been considered by some as an unofficial national holiday.
6. Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon,is the oldest and most prestigious tennis event in the world. The competition is played on grass at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, and has a strict dress code for competitors. Wimbledon is the only tennis events that is notable for the absence of sponsor advertising around the courts, except that of Rolex. The winners take home a whooping 34 million GPB.
7. Tour de France
The Tour de France is the biggest cycling events in the world, and one of most recognised sporting events. The event is an annual men’s multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, and occasionally passing through nearby countries. There are usually between 20 and 22 teams, with eight riders in each competing in different stages and in the end, the rider with the lowest cumulative finishing times is the leader of the race and wears the yellow jersey.
8. Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup is the premier Rugby competition in the world. It is a men’s rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. Sixteen teams were invited to participate in the inaugural tournament in 1987, however since 1999 twenty teams have taken part.
9. NBA Finals
The NBA finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA) between the champions of the Eastern and Western conferences. The champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The Boston Celtics hold the record for the most victories, having won the competition 17 times .
10. Formula 1
The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the premier forms of racing around the world since its inaugural season in 1950. Every Formula 1 event is a spectacle, whether through the streets of Circuit de Monaco, or around the Yas Marina Circuit, there is guaranteed excitement as well as glitz and glamour. Insanely fast cars, larger than life drivers, celebrities, kings, and presidents, are all the spectacle that make up a Formula 1 race day.
