UEFA: football represents 29 of the 50 sporting events in the world with the most spectators

With 29 events, football is the most represented sport among the 50 events which draw at least 1 million spectators in total, with a minimum average of 10,000 per game, ahead of rugby (7) and baseball (4), according to UEFA in its eighth club licensing benchmarking report on European football, published on 12/01/2017. In this ranking, which mixes both leagues and international competitions, the 2014 World Cup in Brazil (53,592) and Euro 2012 held in Poland and Ukraine (46,481) are the football events which drew the most spectators on average, ahead of the Bundesliga (43,300).

With 72,000 fans per game, the Six Nations Rugby tournament is the global sporting event which has the highest average attendance. The NFL (68,400 in 2015) and the 2014 World Cup (53,592) are second and third, respectively. Formula 1, NASCAR, Indy Car, the MotoGP (all racing events), and tennis are not counted. Major cycling tours are not taken into account either.

With a cumulative audience of more than 73 million for 2417 games played in 2015, MLB is the league which drew the the most spectators, ahead of…