The spectacle of sports

By D.D.M., J.M.F, P.K. and K.N.C.

The league table of attendance at sporting events

THE football World Cup that begins next week is the biggest single sporting event measured by television audience (the Olympics, with multiple sports, is bigger). But how do the actual attendance figures compare? It turns out that a sport which Americans call "football" is considerably larger on a per game and per season basis. The victor in terms of overall popularity is North American baseball, wooing 74m Cracker Jack eaters to the stands each year, four times more than American football. Meanwhile, Indian cricket attracts fewer than 2m spectators annually. As football increases its popularity around the world, its two growth markets are China and America (where it is called soccer). But attendance figures in both countries remains paltry, at 4.5m and 6m respectively. That is between a half and a third of the amount that go to professional football games in European countries each year.