Football — they call it the ‘Beautiful Game’ and it’s the most popular sport in the world. Anyone can enjoy it. As well as unite people and exist as an accessible sport to all ages, football can equalize nations. The most outstanding players can come from the poorest of nations or from the richest, it matters not. Most of all, football is about passion and that is all that matters. The fans are passionate about the sport and so are the players.
One continent that loves its football is Europe. Not only do enthusiasts enjoy the game, though, but they also like to check out today’s prediction for this game or that game so they can lay a bet on the outcome or participate in one of the other betting markets. There are plenty, too, so fans don’t have to bet on a straight outcome but can mix things up with bets on the number of goals scored, next goal scored and more.
In this post, we’ll look at sports that are also popular as football in Europe, discussing why this is the case and how they compare with popularity in the United States.
Tennis
Despite having had some seriously big names step out onto the court, such as Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, the United States doesn’t have quite the same love affair Europe has with tennis.
One of the reasons Europeans have such a fondness for the game is the general access to facilities. Lots of children are playing tennis there, which is why the continent is able to put out wave after wave of talented tennis players.
Then there’s also the fact that Europe has contributed some of the best players ever to pick up a racket: Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Between them, they’ve dominated the sport and not only won fans in their own countries, but also across the world.
Rugby
The Six Nations Championship attracts teams and fans from all over Europe. Remember at one time it used to be the Five Nations Championship before Italy became a regular participant. Until then England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the team people consider the strongest in Europe, France, had battled it out for the championship.
Although some US players like to play rugby union, rugby takes a back seat to American football and basketball out in the States. College sport, however, does give school graduates who fancy playing rugby the opportunity to join the college team if they show enough promise. Rugby involves a spirit of toughness, as it’s played in all weathers, and flows much more freely than the grid game. It’s all-out action for 80 minutes. That’s why Europeans enjoy it.
Boxing
Boxing and the warriors who step through the ropes to do battle find much more favor with Europeans, partly because, in the eyes of some people, Americans have too many options when it comes to the sport. Unless the fighter is Floyd Mayweather or some other major name, they just don’t draw enough attention.
Whereas Europe has produced a significant enough number of fighters to command the continent’s attention. The Klitschko brothers are one example of two formidable fighters. Fans appreciate their boxers and follow the sport with a passion. Some fans have predicted that the American apathy towards boxing — one some have noted Spain seems to share, partly because the country has produced so many winners in other sports — will cause the centre of boxing to shift towards Europe.
It seems that both the US has a greater love of golf than the Europeans, partly due to the wide access to the sport.
Reports show that Europe is starting to develop a bigger passion than before for the sport, however. In 2016, research found that 7.9 million in Europe were found to play golf. Fast forward to 2021 and the figure has increased to 10.6 million golfers. The number of women and juniors playing the sport has remained largely stable for the last couple of years, suggesting there’s much room for growth in these markets.
Golf has, however, experienced a period of turbulence in the US, but the sport’s popularity surged in 2020. Time and the cost of playing have been common factors cited, but some believe that work/life balance has been a struggle that has had an impact on the popularity of the sport out in the US.
Europe loves sports such as tennis and rugby, whereas American prefers the excitement of the NFL and the NBA, though it has rekindled its fondness for golf. But no matter where you are in the world, soccer, the most beloved game in the world, may always be a good topic of conversation.
