As a society, Britain loves watching sports. Every week, millions of us tune in to watch matches, games, or racing or spend our hard-earned money on tickets to live events. From stadiums to the screen, we love nothing more than cheering on our favorite teams and willing them to win, and nothing hurts like the despair we feel when they lose.
Here in the UK, we love four big sports the most: football, rugby, horse racing, and cricket. This article delves into each of these sports and examines the viewing figures to reveal which is the most popular.
Football
While team rivalry is fierce, there’s one thing all football fans can agree on: their love of the game. Whether you watch the match on TV or are a season ticket holder, more Britons watch football than any other sport. Therefore, football is the most popular spectator sport in the UK.
According to data from Statistica, 47.6 million Brits attended football matches in 2017. This figure is higher than the other nine sports that made the top 10, with a combined total of 26.9 million.
Rugby
Second on the list is rugby, which amassed a total of 7.8 million attendees in 2017. Rugby union games, attended by 5.5 million people, were the top event, followed by rugby league matches, attended by 2.3 million.
Whether you’re league or union, we think rugby is among the most thrilling games. It’s a fantastic sport, from the rugby tackles to the camaraderie among fans.
Horse Racing
As one of the oldest sports in the UK, horse racing is no surprise in third place. In Britain, horse racing is believed to date back as far as 200AD, although the first recorded races took place during the 1100s.
Horse racing remains as popular as ever, with 7.8 million Britons attending live events in 2017. For many, high-profile races stay the highlight of the social calendar, with millions attending events like Royal Ascot and the Grand National.
Cricket
A sport that originated in Britain, cricket remains one of the country’s favorites. Although it has lower attendance figures than the other three sports on this list—with 2.3 million attendees in 2017—it has remained popular since its inception over 400 years ago.
However, with the Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2022 and the Men’s in 2023, we expect attendance figures to increase over the next two years.
