National Sports of Countries

[ofan 238]

It's my understanding that baseball is the "de facto" national sport of the US. In fact, very few countries actually have a legislated national sport. 

[Olympian1010 7,971]

11 hours ago, heywoodu said:

Ah, you're a Frenchman, considering you say you're from where triathlon originated?  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triathlon#History

 

The Netherlands doesn't really have a national sport. Some candidates and why they may or may not be a national sport:

 

 

- Football; like almost anywhere in the world it's by far the most popular sport in terms of viewing numbers, fans, and so on - however, one can hardly call the world's most global sport any country's 'national sport'

 

- Korfball; obviously the Netherlands has always dominated this to kabaddi-like levels for India, but in reality not many people actually care; the national competition's final is usually live on TV (paid channel nowadays), but that's about it, you won't really see the world championships on TV for example, perhaps a very short bit of highlights of the final.

 

- Speed skating; by far our most succesful Olympic sport and generally pretty popular (though nowhere near as close as football); usually divided between two sides, one with people who like it and one with people who say it's just for old men; it's on TV pretty often in the winter, but nowhere near as close as the amount of time it had 15 years ago, World Cups are generally not shown live (they are on the public broadcaster's website, not on TV); quite a lot of people own a pair of skates and you'll see a lot of people on the lakes in the rare case they're all frozen, so it might have a chance for being the national sport

 

- Kaatsen/'Frisian handball'; weird sport practiced in a weird province of the country of which I have no idea how it works and how popular it is over there in reality, rest of the country doesn't give two craps; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisian_handball

Kaatsen was an Olympic demonstration sport in 1928, so I’ve actually heard of that one. I was more familiar with that, before I had even heard of Korfball.

[heywoodu 15,135]

1 minute ago, Olympian1010 said:

Kaatsen was an Olympic demonstration sport in 1928, so I’ve actually heard of that one. I was more familiar with that, before I had even heard of Korfball.

Yeah, still everything 95% of people outside that weird province know about it is 'there's a big event and it's called The PC but that's it'  

[Shravan Kumar 109]

3 hours ago, Griff88 said:

Does it also include ball badminton?

No. Ball badminton is played in University level competition. Most people don't even know about the game. So no it is not a sport you would call a regional sport or not least a popular sport.

[Jinzha 702]

Definitely agree with Heywoodu that football is the clear most popular sport in the Netherlands. Field hockey, cycling and speed skating being the next in line.

 

It's interesting that note that even in a small country there is clear regional differences. I'd say in the south and west field hockey is the 2nd most popular, in the east volleyball is very popular and speed skating is most commonly done in the north. Korfball and handball are also pretty specific to I-don't-know-where

 

I also wonder if the current generation of cyclists are going to make it a more popular sport to participate in. There are so many great cyclist both male and female and in all disciplines from bmx to track to road and mountainbike.

Edited August 7, 2019 by Jinzha

[Olympian1010 7,971]

31 minutes ago, hckosice said:

So for Ice Hockey

 

trying to make a brief list of countries with Ice Hockey being  #1 in popularity

 

Countries without hesitating

 

 

Countries where it should be #2 or 3

 

 

Countries experiencing huge boost of this sport in the country lately

 

 

countries with hockey being in top 6

 

 

then there a huge gap ahead of and followed by another enormous abyss ahead of not sure about the situation in the sport was aiming some important popularity in the last decade, but it looks like it started to experience some declain back after failing to qualify for the Olympics and losing the top division spot this year will certainly not helped a lot as well

 

28 minutes ago, Topicmaster1010 said:

Summary of ice hockey in countries

 

Ice Hockey is the national sport in:

  

Ice Hockey is arguably the most popular sport in:

 

Ice Hockey is also popular in:

       

 

Edit: whoops completely missed your prior comment @hckosice

For Finland, based on the stated criteria, I’d argue for Pesapallo over Ice Hockey. I’d also argue for Bobsleigh over Ice Hockey for Latvia.

[Olympian1010 7,971]

20 minutes ago, ofan said:

It's my understanding that baseball is the "de facto" national sport of the US. In fact, very few countries actually have a legislated national sport. 

16–17 based off what I could find. That’s why we’re making our own list for shits and giggles.

[Olympian1010 7,971]

2 minutes ago, Jinzha said:

Definitely agree with Heywoodu that football is the clear most popular sport. Field hockey, cycling and speed skating being the next in line.

 

It's interesting that note that even in a small country there is clear regional differences. I'd say in the south and west field hockey is the 2nd most popular, in the east volleyball is very popular and speed skating is most commonly done in the north. Korfball and handball are also pretty specific to I-don't-know-where

 

I also wonder if the current generation of cyclists are going to make it a more popular sport to participate in. There are so many great cyclist both male and female and in all disciplines from bmx to track to road and mountainbike.

What would you make the national sport though. What sport is worth that honor on that list?

[heywoodu 15,135]

9 minutes ago, Jinzha said:

It's interesting that note that even in a small country there is clear regional differences. I'd say in the south and west field hockey is the 2nd most popular, in the east volleyball is very popular and speed skating is most commonly done in the north. Korfball and handball are also pretty specific to I-don't-know-where

I took a look and four teams in last season's top-5 play in places I've either vaguely or never heard of and I've have no idea where to place on the map  (Papendrecht, Sassenheim, Koog aan de Zaan and Gorredijk whatever the fuck that is)

[GoHungary! 21]

In case of I would say...

 

1. Football obviously

 

2. Waterpolo

3. Kayaking/Canoeing

4. Handball

5. everything else