Some sporting events in history have gone down as showstoppers, events that have either progressed their sport or brought huge attendances, know the biggest ones till date
Research from Betway Insider shows how phenomenal the viewing figures for these events have been, some even measured in billions.
Top 3 Show Stopping And Biggest Sporting Events In The World Of All Time
Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony
The Beijing Olympic opening ceremony on the 8th of August 2008 is often thought of as the greatest in the Olympics’ long history. The date was significant to the Chinese host nation and the Olympic opening ceremony commenced at 8 pm, 08/08/08 to honour this.
The considerable opening event was a first of its kind and was witnessed globally by a television viewing audience amassing 1.4 billion people. This figure is best visualised as 21% of the world’s global population.
The meticulous planning prior to the ceremony made sure that it took into account all eventualities, even to the extent of using rain dispersal rockets. Over 1000 of them were fired to blow away any clouds that would threaten to rain on the ceremony.
The Birds Nest Stadium proved a perfect venue for such a spectacular opening ceremony befitting of the Olympic sporting events to come. The 4-hour show involved 15 thousand performers and cost 100 million Dollars to produce. With many notable attendees including 105 heads of state, the event would be the largest attendance to a single sporting event for 4 years until the 2012 Olympics was held in London.
The Rumble In The Jungle
The Boxing match known as The Rumble In The Jungle would go down in history as the greatest sporting event of the century. This would be not only because the underdog, Muhammad Ali would emerge victorious, but because he brought with him a new style of boxing that required tactics and timing to a new level within the sport.
The match was unprecedented in being watched by a quarter of the population of the world. This made a significant milestone for boxing with 1 billion live watchers and catapulted the image of the sport into the forefront of great sporting echelons. Muhammad Ali’s performance introduced rope-a-dope as a formidable weapon in the arsenal of a top-flight boxer.
1966 Football World Cup Final
On 30 July 1966 England’s football world cup team were famously victorious against Germany and won the cup. England sat and stood motionless, over 32 million of them as famous to this day names like Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Bobby Charlton expertly handled the ball. More people viewed that game than had viewed any other event broadcast on the BBC.
Within the UK marginally fewer people watched the Apollo 11 moon landings, although internationally the Apollo mission had 650 million viewers. Hurst’s famous hat trick in the epic 4/2 victory ensured England would lift the Jules Rimet Trophy in a moment that is viewed with pride by all England football supporters to this day.
The victory inspired many young footballers now and continues to drive British football forward internationally. Much as the recent win at the Euro Championships for England’s women’s team will do now!