Return to Sports
Are you a sports fan? You are in good company. There are literally Billions of you around the planet. The sports people love depend upon where you come from, but there are plenty to choose from. The number one sport by fan base is soccer, but cricket, basketball, tennis, and golf all fall in the top 10. It’s no wonder that people have been missing their sports.
Sports Fans Around the World
| rank | Sport | Estimated Fans | Regional Popularity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Soccer / Association Football | 3.5 Billion | Europe, Africa, Asia, America |
| 2. | Cricket | 2.5 Billion | Asia, Australia, UK |
| 3. | Basketball | 2.2 Billion | US, Canada, China, and the Philippines |
| 4. | Field Hockey | 2 Billion | Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia |
| 5. | Tennis | 1 Billion | Europe, Americas, and Asia |
| 6. | Volleyball | 900 Million | Asia, Europe, Americas, and Australia |
| 7. | Table Tennis | 850 Million | Asia, Europe, Africa and Americas |
| 8. | Baseball | 500 Million | US, Japan, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic |
| 9 | Americal Football Rugby | 410 Million 410 Million | USA mainly France, England, New Zealand, South Africa |
| 10 | Golf | 390 Million | Europe, Asia, America, Canada |
Canadian sports fans made the list with basketball and golf. Good thing both of those sports will be resuming shortly. In fact, as the world slowly restarts many sports plan to either resume or reschedule start dates shortly.
Time to Restart Sports!
500 million of you can look forward to opening day this week for the MLB with opening day games slated for July 23rd, 2020. As the season started late, it will be a short season—only 60 games scheduled. Plucky sports fans will also have to wait to see games in person, as no attendance is allowed, at least initially.
Batter up!
Likewise, the US Open and French Open are also scheduled to play later this summer. While balls might be flying on the tennis courts, no fans will be in those stadiums either. Too bad…
Tennis and golf are best played, not watched.
Roger Kahn
The same story goes for the golf greens too. The PGA Tour has resumed, but 390 million fans miss out on the in-person experience once more. Stick by your televisions, radios, and smart devices to follow the action though. And maybe brush up on your own strokes at local greens instead.
But what about North Americans beloved hockey? It doesn’t even make the top 10 list? How can that be?! Wrong! If you look up there to that list at the top it lists field hockey. That should actually say hockey, as it incorporates both field and ice. 2 billion people is a lot of fans, but it doesn’t beat out the 2.5 billion cricket fans worldwide. Wow.
Incidentally, while the regular NHL season was cancelled, sports fans overwhelming wanted to see the Stanley Cup tournament played out. So, starting August 1st that dream will happen. It will look a little different, with 7 less teams competing in round robin tournaments, but you get your hockey back Canada (and on Canadian soil too!). And boy oh boy, will there be a lot of it! Prepare to be glued to your tubes, as all games will be played in Toronto (Eastern Conference) and Edmonton (Western Conference), starting at 12 pm, 4 pm, and 8 pm local time. With Edmonton being two hours behind Toronto, that means every two hours a new game starts! Hockey overload!!! We love it!
Team Load of Rubbish
Load of Rubbish is as big a sports fan as any of you. In fact, we often can’t resist saving the occasional sports memorabilia item or two from our junk removal days. Can you blame us though? We consider it saving it from the landfill, which is part of our mandate from the get go.
Go Team LoR!!!
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