Fans from across the world are very passionate about the particular sport they love and tend to follow it wholeheartedly. Although, every sports event, participating athletes give their best while giving the fans some moments to cherish for their lives and making history on the way. However, the presence of fans is still what makes an event a great success.
Be it a Cricket Match in India or a Football Match between European as well as South American greats, people invest their valuable time and money just to see their favorite team/player perform Live.
And this madness for Sports has totally changed the face of all Sports League in the World and the fact that domestic leagues have started getting the popularity that International events can never even think of, is enough of a proof define the evolution of world sports.
It can either be two big clubs facing each other or the league itself could touch new highs of popularity due to the big names taking part in the fixture but what exactly defines the Most Popular Sports Leagues In The World is the number of viewers that are attracted towards a particular league.
However, there are also some who have never followed a sports league and are looking for the best one to start with. For them, as well as for the fans who want to know about their favorite league’s standing on the most watched list.
Here we present you with the top 10 leagues in the world.
10. Nippon Professional Baseball: Most Popular Sports Leagues
While many might think that Baseball is most popular in the United States, it’s also true that Japan also has one of the biggest baseball leagues that takes place every year. The Nippon Professional Baseball is the top tier baseball league in Japan and since its inception in the year 1950, it has been featuring 12 teams. However, there have been rumors that the organizers are now thinking to expand the tournament to 16 teams.
The teams are divided into two circuits consisting of six teams each, The Central League and The Pacific League, and to conclude each season, the winning teams from both the circuits compete in the Japan Series, which is also the Championship series of the Nippon Professional Baseball.
It is attended by approximately 28248 fans in every match and in the 2013 season of the Nippon Professional Baseball league, the total attendance was recorded at a mind-boggling number of 22,047,491 viewers.
9. KFC Big Bash League (BBL)
Although Big Bash League was introduced three years after the inception of Indian Premier League, which is the most followed cricket league in the worlds, it still has risen through the ranks of Most Popular Sports Leagues In The World, thanks to the quality of cricket and top-notch competition.
Established in 2011, this Australian cricket league has 8 teams competing at present and the Blockbuster Big Bash 2016 clash between the Melbourne Stars and Renegades remains the highlight of the league with over 80,000 spectators for the live Match.
KFC Big Bash League boasts an average of 28,279 spectators per match.
8. La Liga: Most Popular Sports Leagues
When Real Madrid lifted the La Liga trophy this year, leaving behind Barcelona, it was the most talked about moment of the year. Football (Soccer) fans are considered some of the most loyal ones and as a result, La Liga is just the first of three soccer leagues in this list of 10 Most Popular Sports Leagues In The World.
While Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been the biggest attractions of La Liga, teams like Sevilla (having won the Hat Trick of Europa League) and Atletico Madrid are also the dominant sides apart from Real Madrid and Barcelona.
La Liga boasts an average of 28,498 spectators per match.
7. Major League Baseball (MLB)
There is no match to MLB when it comes to a baseball match and its fan following in America. In The United States, Baseball is the sport which families play in their backyard and we have also seen several movies showing a father playing catch with his children which is an almost stereotypical picture of any American household.
Major League Baseball was started in 1903 and it currently features 30 teams, 29 of which are based in the USA and the remaining one team is in Canada.
Major League Baseball boasts an average of 30,517 spectators per match.
6. Indian Premier League (IPL)
Cricket is the most popular sport in India and some even say that it is followed like a religion in the country, which is enough to prove that why BCCI is the richest Cricket board in the world. Since its inception in 2008, Indian Premier League has skyrocketed in the ranks of the most popular leagues in the World and currently featured eight teams competing for the trophy.
Mumbai Indians won the five finals of the league and became the most successful franchises in the history of IPL. The League boasts an average of 31,750 spectators per match.
5. Australian Football League (AFL): Most Popular Sports Leagues
AFL, called Victorian Football League, is the most popular professional league in the country that includes Australian football rules. Since its inception in 1897, the name might have changed but its viewership always remained on a rise.
The sport is played on an oval pitch having four huge posts sticking out from each end and it may look similar to Rugby but Australian Football is another ball game altogether. Eighteen players each from 18 teams compete in this game of passing, kicking and top-notch tackling, with each team playing a 23-game regular season, followed by a single-elimination playoff series.
Australian Football League boasts an average of 33,428 spectators per match.
4. English Premier League (EPL)
English Premier League was formed in the year 1992 and in a short span of time it gained a lot of popularity across the world, and on our list, it sits at the fourth spot. Offering the most exciting, fast-paced football games, featuring some of the best players on the planet, the English Premier League is the gold standard, when it comes to football, with Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal having the most interesting rivalries to watch out for.
EPL enjoys a cult following across the globe and is the most-watched football league in the world, which is being broadcasted in over 212 territories to over 643 million homes as well as a potential TV audience of over 4.7 billion viewers.
English Premier League boasts an average of 36,464 spectators per match.
3. US College Football Division I FBS: Most Popular Sports Leagues
College level is where Champions and True talents are discovered and when it comes to The United States, college sports enjoys a huge fan base as every citizen has his own favorite team. People in masses attend this league to support as well as encourage their local lads and although this might be true that American Soccer is the most watched professional sport in the country and the fans go crazy looking at the Fixtures, but the level of competition in US College Football Division remains high as players think of this as an audition for their NFL career.
There are 125 teams that compete in US College Football Division and it boasts an average of 43,288 spectators per match.
2. German Bundesliga
The German Bundesliga, another soccer league, finds itself in second place in terms of average attendance and on our list of Most Popular Sports Leagues In The World. Featuring 18 teams in total, the season starts from August and concludes in May. German Bundesliga was started in 1962 and since then 53 clubs have participated in the event.
The one trait that Bundesliga shares with NFL is one team, one town model and the maximum attendance of the Signal Iduna Park was recorded 95,211 in a league match between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, which is the highest attendance in any Football League in the world.
German Bundesliga enjoys an average of 43,400 spectators per match.
1. National Football League (NFL) – ( Biggest Sports Leagues In The World )
This American Football league has dominated the list of most popular sports leagues in the world for a long time now and has 32 teams participating in the tournament for a 17-week season. Super Bowl is the most watched annual event and Super Bowl XLIX holds the record of being the single most watched event in US television history.
National Football League was founded in the year 1920 with teams from three different leagues and gradually, it absorbed all of them leagues and merged with American Football League in 1970.
With an average of 69,564 spectators per match, National Football League tops the list of 10 Most Popular Sports Leagues In The World.
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11th August 2016
Rohan Jaitly