What is the Most Viewed Sporting Event?

By Lisa Spencer Senior Editor Updated: 25 January 2023

Lisa Spencer Senior Editor

As a Senior Editor at Betting.US, Lisa Spencer is a valuable member of our expert team. With a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics, Lisa is adept in gambling theory and analyzing odds. She contributes by writing online sportsbook reviews and finding competitive markets to help our readers make an informed choice.

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What Is The Most Viewed Sporting Event?

From the Cricket World Cup to the Summer Olympics, these events have attracted huge viewership and have become cultural phenomena in their own right. So, let’s dive in and see which events made the cut as the most viewed of all time.

The most watched sporting event in the world is the Summer Olympics – pulling in more than 4 billion viewers each year, on average. However, there are other sporting events that attract huge viewership, as you’ll see from this page!

How Do They Know The Most Watched Sporting Event?

A sporting event’s viewership can be measured in a variety of ways. One common method is to analyze television ratings, which monitor the number of homes who watch a specific program. Ratings are usually shown as a percentage of total household population in a certain market. For example, a sporting event with a rating of 10 signifies that 10% of all households in the market watched it.

Television ratings are frequently used to assess the desirability of a sporting event, but they are not the only method to gauge viewers. Another choice is to use streaming services, which have risen in popularity in recent years. Many sporting events are now live streamed on sites like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch, and the number of views can be counted and used to assess viewership.

Ticket sales and attendees may be looked at to analyze sporting events in conjunction with network ratings and online streaming. The quantity of tickets sold for an event can signify its popularity, and attendee numbers can also be used to calculate the viewing figures.

It’s important to remember that these methods of gauging viewership have drawbacks. Television ratings, for example, only reflect the number of homes who watch an event on a given channel and do not include individuals who are watching through other methods (such as streaming). Similarly, data from internet streaming may not include viewers who are viewing the event on television or in person.

Despite these limitations, these methodologies are nevertheless commonly used to evaluate the popularity of sports events and identify which events receive the most attention.

The Summer Olympics

The Summer Olympics is one of the world’s most watched sporting events. On average, since 2000, around 4 billion people have watched the world’s greatest sporting tournament each time it has been held. It takes place every four years and features a wide range of sports.

The breadth of sports included in the tournament is one aspect that adds to the Olympics’ high audience level. The Olympics provide something for everyone and attracts a diversified audience, with events ranging from track and field and swimming to basketball and boxing.

Another element contributing to the Summer Olympics’ strong popularity is the event’s historical and cultural significance. The Olympic Games have been a part of worldwide culture for millennia, dating back to ancient Greece. Summer Olympic Games have a unique meaning and are seen as a moment of unity among the world’s countries.

Because the tournament is hosted in a different country every four years it attracts a worldwide audience. What’s more, the Olympic Games is aired in over 100 languages. It’s also broadcast on major TV channels, without a paywall – so anyone can tune in.

The most viewed sports during The Olympics are based around track and field; however, smaller, less well-known events are slowly growing in popularity, and new events are added to the event every four years.

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup is widely regarded as one of the world’s most watched sporting events. The World Cup, held every four years, draws a vast worldwide audience, with over 3.5 billion people tuning in each year since 2002.

The popularity of soccer across the world is one reason contributing to the high level of viewership for the FIFA World Cup. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world with millions of fans. The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious football competition in the world, and even those that don’t support a team often tune in.

Another aspect contributing to the FIFA World Cup’s high viewership is the event’s internationalization. The FIFA World Cup is hosted in a different country every four years, attracting a significant international audience. Furthermore, the FIFA World Cup is aired in several languages and is available on numerous television networks and online streaming platforms worldwide, making it accessible to pretty much everyone.

The FIFA World Cup Final, in particular, is a heavily watched event, with audiences in certain years topping 1 billion people. The final’s excitement and competition always draws a huge audience, and tickets sell out in seconds after they’re released.

Tour de France

The Tour de France may not spring to mind when you think about the most viewed television events in history – but this highly prestigious cycling race draws an impressive audience every year. According to the organizers of the race, around 3.5 billion people – in a huge 190 countries – tune into the event every year, and some 12 million spectators turn out to watch the race in person.

One of the reasons behind the staggering viewership numbers is the length of the event; the Tour de France takes place over three weeks and is held in some of the most beautiful parts of France – showcasing the best that the country has to offer.

There have been several notable occurrences in the Tour de France – but one of the most iconic was when Greg LeMond won the event in 1986, only to be accidentally shot by his brother-in-law during a hunting accident. However, he bounced back, and ended up winning the Tour de France for the second time just three years later in 1989.

The Cricket World Cup

The Cricket World Cup rivals the Tour de France in terms of viewership numbers – and in 2019, the event was the most-watched cricket event in history, drawing in a staggering 3.5 billion viewers.

The event was televised in more than 220 territories around the world and was broadcast on 46 different TV channels. Thanks to digital streaming services such as YouTube and Facebook, where the event was live-streamed, some estimates put total viewership numbers as high as 4.6 billion – although these haven’t been independently verified.

The final of the 2019 Cricket World Cup also broke numerous records; New Zealand took on England at Lord’s stadium in London, and a record 1.6 billion people tuned in. The event was highly controversial – as, tied 241-241, both teams had to battle it out to a tie through the Super Over – and eventually, England was declared the winner through a boundary count-back.

The Winter Olympics

We’ve already covered the Summer Olympics on this list – but did you know that the Winter Olympics also makes the top-viewed sporting TV events in history, too? For example, in the 2006 event, some 2.1 billion viewers tuned in – and this was before the age of digital streaming services, so this number is likely to increase in future events.

There have been a number of controversial and unexpected twists and turns during the Winter Olympics – although one of the most notable was during the US vs USSR hockey match, when the US managed to defeat the Soviet Union – much to the world’s surprise. The US came from behind, scoring two goals in the third period, and ended up winning 4-3. Two days later, they defeated Finland to claim the gold medal.