Did you know five of the most popular sports in the world were invented in Canada? Basketball, baseball, hockey, American football, and Lacrosse all call Canada home.
Canada’s First Nation people invented Lacrosse, while individuals discovered the rest. Today, millions of people in Canada play or follow a major sport.
Here, we’ll rank 10 of the most popular sports in Canada. Let’s get started.
1. Ice Hockey
When most people think about Canadian sports, they think of ice hockey. Sure enough, hockey is Canada’s official sport of the winter. Lacrosse is the official sport of the summer.
The first hockey game in Canada was played in 1876, when Lacrosse was the country’s most popular sport.
Over time, hockey grew in popularity. Today, there are hundreds of professional hockey teams in the country, including seven National Hockey League franchises:
- Calgary Flames
- Edmonton Oilers
- Montreal Canadiens
- Ottawa Senators
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Winnipeg Jets
- Vancouver Canucks
2. Canadian Football
The Super Bowl might be the biggest sports game in North America, but the CFL’s Grey Cup has been around much longer. To provide some context, the Grey Cup has been around since 1909 and has been awarded 108 times.
By comparison, the Super Bowl has taken place 56 times.
With that in mind, Canadian Football is pretty similar to American football. It features 12 players, though. CFL stadiums are significantly larger, and teams have three downs and two timeouts.
The Canadian Football League is also smaller (nine teams) and takes place from Summer to November. That said, millions of people watch the league, including American football fans who have no sports to watch before the NFL starts.
Can you bet on Canadian football? Yes, you can. Canada legalized single-event betting last year. Still, many bettors prefer to use offshore sportsbooks like BetVictor.
Speaking of which, check out this BetVictor review here to learn more about the bookmaker.
3. Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a unique sport. It involves 20 players on an outdoor field, 10 on each side. Each player has a long stick with a basket attached to it. They use this stick and net to pass, dribble, and score goals.
Lacrosse is such a popular sport in Canada that it’s the country’s official sport of the summer. The Canadian Lacrosse League is one of the biggest lacrosse leagues in the world.
4. Soccer
Soccer needs no introduction. It is the biggest sport in the world, and it’s a game played in every corner of the world, from Europe’s richest countries to Africa’s poorest nations.
The World Cup—the biggest soccer tournament in the world—attracts up to 400 million fans and over two billion TV viewers. The Champions League, by comparison, attracts nearly half a billion TV viewers.
In other words, soccer is big worldwide. But how popular is it in Canada? Soccer is one of the top 10 sports in the country, and the country has two franchises in the MLS.
Canada’s national soccer team will participate in this year’s World Cup, adding icing on the cake.
5. Basketball
A decade ago, basketball was barely popular in Canada. In 2022, it will be one of the fastest sports in the country. Sadly, Canada has just one team in the NBA—the Toronto Raptors.
That’s alright. The Raptors are a marvelous team with an NBA title and some of the best players in the league. The best part is that the NBA generally has more than a dozen Canadians.
That means that even though basketball has great potential in Canada, soon, the country could produce a league that competes in the NBA, akin to the CFL versus the NFL.
6. Baseball
There’s only one Major League Baseball team in Canada—the Toronto Blue Jays. But that doesn’t tell the full story of baseball’s popularity in the country. As we mentioned earlier, baseball started in Canada.
In fact, the oldest baseball park in the world is located in Ontario—Labatt Park. Canada has a national baseball team that regularly participates in the Olympic Games. The team ranks in the top 15 globally.
7. Golf
Golf is a popular summer sport in Canada. Although anyone can visit one of the country’s top golf courses to play the sport, the ultimate way to enjoy golf is to qualify for the Canadian PGA Championship.
Corey Corners is the best-ranked golf player in Canada. Mackenzie Hughes is second, while Brooke Henderson leads in the ladies category.
8. MMA
Canada is a cold country, so winter sports are incredibly popular. A good example is Curling. In this sport, two teams of four players compete to slide rocks into a circular board.
Each team has eight rocks to slide, and every player slides two of them. Although the sport’s origins are in Scotland, it’s primarily played in Canada.
In fact, Canada won the first Curling championship event in 1959. What’s more, Canada won gold in the Olympics Men’s Curling events of 2006, 2010, and 2014 while clinching silver in 1998 and 2002.
The women’s team is also successful, having won gold in 1998 and 2014.
9. Tennis
Tennis is both an individual and team sport, making it popular with both kids and adults. Canada sends one or more players to the annual Tennis Open Events every year.
Daniel Nestor is arguably the most famous tennis player in Canada. During his career, he won eight grand slams and 1062 competitions.
Milos Raonic, who finished second at the 2016 Wimbledon event, Eugenie Bouchard, and Felix Auger are other outstanding players in the sport.
10. MMA & Boxing
Mixed martial arts is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. Boxing, by comparison, has been around for decades. Nevertheless, these two sports are pretty popular in Canada.
In the MMA space, Canada is home to one of the best UFC athletes of all time: George St-Pierre. Brock Lesner, Lennox Lewis, and Arturo Gatti also call Canada home.
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