Most popular sports in Germany 2020

Thus far in 2020, Germans were most interested in football, both as participants and viewers, which is not surprising, considering the long history of the sport in Germany on a national and regional level. A contributing factor is also undoubtedly the high number of successful German football athletes who have also gone on to pursue international careers. Additional sports making up the top 5 of this statistic are ski jumping, biathlon, track and field, and automobile racing.

Viewers and participants

When discussing interest in sports, the conversation can basically be split into observing viewership interest in spectator sports or sports events, and then there is immediate participation in sports activity or exercise among the general population. In terms of interest in sports broadcast on TV, for example, a consistent share was highly interested during recent years, and they were only slightly eclipsed by those not interested at all. Meanwhile, in terms of sports club or gym membership in Germany, the leading sports were fitness, football and gymnastics.

Football’s TV reign

While the German viewing audience spreads its interest across a variety of sporting events and competitions throughout the year, a ranking of sports broadcasts on TV by highest viewer numbers shows a clear trend. This trend can be summarized in one word: Football World Cup.

Most popular sports in Germany according to the interest of the population from 2018 to 2020

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Release date

July 2020

More information

Region

Germany

Survey time period

2018 to 2020

Age group

14 years and older

Special properties

German-speaking population

Method of interview

Face-to-face interview

Supplementary notes

* No longer included from 2019 onwards.

**First asked in 2020.

Information on the population:
The base is the German-speaking population aged 14 years and older in private households with main residence in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Information on the entire sample:
2018: 23,389 respondents, extrapolated to 70.45 million persons
2019: 23,318 respondents, extrapolated to 70.60 million persons
2020: 23,191 respondents, extrapolated to 70.63 million persons

For more information on the methodology, see here.

This statistic is an analytical finding which has been calculated from different elements of the survey. The question was not asked directly. Multiple answers were possible. Illustrated is the share of respondents who indicated that they have a particular interest in the respective sport.

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