Most popular team sports outside of U.S.?

[INTPness]

I'm well aware that football (soccer) is the most popular team sport in the world - and probably by a large margin. But, for those of you who live (or have lived) outside of the U.S., which *team sports* (not interested in Formula 1, Golf, Tennis, etc - I like some of those sports myself, but, for this thread I'm only talking team sports) have the biggest fan bases in your country (and general area of the world)?

If I had to guess it would be something like this:

Most of Europe:
1. Football (soccer)
2. Basketball or hockey
3. Basketball or hockey
4. Any other sports with *significant* fan bases? I'm sure baseball and American football would be similar to soccer in the U.S. (some very passionate fans, but nowhere near the other sports).

Mexico/Caribbean/Central America/South America:
1. Football (soccer)
2. Baseball

Africa:
1. Football (soccer)
2. Basketball

Asia:
1/2/3 (not sure what order): Soccer, baseball, basketball

Australia:
1. Many sports?? Rugby, basketball, some baseball, some soccer??

In the U.S., it's basically (based on TV ratings):
1. American football
<Fairly large gap>
2. Baseball
3. Basketball (sometimes basketball can do better than baseball, but usually baseball is #2)
<large gap>
Hockey, soccer

Also, out of curiosity, how big of an event are the NBA Finals in your country? Are a lot of people watching the games, or just a few hardcore fans here and there?

 

[onemoretime]

Cricket's huge in the former British Empire, as often is rugby. Australia's biggest sport is Aussie Rules Football.

 

[Kasper]

In winter Aussies get into AFL like onemoretime said, also Rugby League and Union depending on where you live, and to a lesser degree Soccer, in summer it's Cricket and Tennis plus our Olympic swimmers get great support and adulation when they win us gold stuff.

 

[wolfy]

In Japan baseball and soccer are the most popular. In New Zealand, rugby, cricket, rugby league.

 

[INTPness]

Cricket's huge in the former British Empire, as often is rugby. Australia's biggest sport is Aussie Rules Football.

Cricket! I knew it had some popularity, but didn't know it was really big. And "footy"!

In winter Aussies get into AFL like onemoretime said, also Rugby League and Union depending on where you live, and to a lesser degree Soccer, in summer it's Cricket and Tennis plus our Olympic swimmers get great support and adulation when they win us gold stuff.

Are Rugby League and Union two different rugby leagues in Australia? And yeah, I'm well aware of the Australian support for their swimmers. Quite the rivalry with our swimmers here in the U.S. Can't forget the "Thorpedo" and Grant Hackett.

In Japan baseball and soccer are the most popular. In New Zealand, rugby, cricket, rugby league.

I know basketball has gained a lot of popularity in China. Not the case in Japan?

 

[Kasper]

Are Rugby League and Union two different rugby leagues in Australia?

Union has more international recognition, League is more localised in Australia, NZ and England. But yes, they are two rather different games.

 

[lowtech redneck]

Cricket!

Cricket!? Nobody understands Cricket! You gotta know what a crumpet is to understand Cricket!

YouTube - Raphael vs Casey Jones

Ah, the memories.

 

[gromit]

By hockey do you mean field hockey, like on outdoor turf? I played for eight years or so and I somehow remember it being the second most played sport in the world (after football/soccer).

 

[INTPness]

By hockey do you mean field hockey, like on outdoor turf? I played for eight years or so and I somehow remember it being the second most played sport in the world (after football/soccer).

No, I meant ice hockey. If field hockey is the second most played sport in the world, why am I not aware of this?

I mean, at least soccer gets some air time on ESPN here in the States. And you can see the crazed, passionate fans. If field hockey is next on the list, then I've been living in a cave. Not saying it's not true, just saying I wasn't aware of it. I've never seen or even heard of people getting super passionate about field hockey. Is there anything like the World Cup for field hockey? I'm pretty sure I've seen it in the Olympics, but never with much hype behind it?! In which country(ies) is it a major sport?

 

[INTPness]

^^Must have been fun if you played it for 8 years. Did you play in the U.S.?

 

[gromit]

Well it could be second most popular in terms of sheer number of people who play, not the second most watched professional sport. It's huge in places like India and Pakistan, as well as in Europe. Maybe it's not second, but I'm pretty sure it's up there.

It's only in the US that it's a 'female' sport, actually...

 

[gromit]

^^Must have been fun if you played it for 8 years. Did you play in the U.S.?

OMG so fun. It's really painful to watch at the beginner levels, but as the game play gets more advanced it's a lot faster-paced and more exciting.


Here I found this link... who knows if it's accurate? It says #3.
The top 10 most popular team sports in the world - Sportingo


Edit: yes I played in the US, on my high school and university teams. I am somewhat jealous of how they have it in Europe where you can join a club and essentially play your whole life. It's pretty much over after college here.

 

[wolfy]

I know basketball has gained a lot of popularity in China. Not the case in Japan?

Basketball is really popular. Not to the same extent as Baseball, that is an institution. Soccer has become really popular in the last twenty years. Basketball is more popular as a school sport.

 

[Southern Kross]

Apparently someone has studied this. The international ranking of sports by popularity:

1. Association Football
2. Cricket
3. Basketball
4. Baseball
5. Rugby Union
6. Field Hockey
7. Volleyball
8. Ice Hockey
9. American Football
10. Rugby League

I've read this list at several sites before but these are the best links I could find at the moment. The first is easier to read and the second has more statistics and details:
The world's Top 10 most popular team sports - Sportingo
Most popular team sports: Soccer & Cricket, Baseball & Basketball, Rugby & Hockey ? - a knol by hunmoni

Oh and Wikipedia has some interesting (but possibly dubious) statistics:
List of sports attendance figures - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I love that rugby is more dominant than I thought in international tournament figures