What is a Team Sport?
Team sport is any sport in which teams of players compete against each other. In contrast to individual sports, which can be played by individuals on their own, team sports are often organised by a governing body and have a spectator following.
Team sports are most popular among adult males and are also a preferred activity option for high school students. While they are not as popular as individual sports for adult females, these activities are still enjoyed at rates comparable to other lifetime activities such as dancing and outdoor pursuits (Zeng, Hipscher & Leung, 2011; Couturier, Chepko & Coughlin, 2005).
A number of different team sports compete at the highest levels of the Olympic Games and international competition. The most well known are basketball, hockey, and soccer.
In the United States, the top five most watched television sports are baseball, football, basketball, ice hockey, and soccer. In addition, tennis, golf, and collegiate basketball are very popular in the country.
Despite the popularity of these four sports, many other sports are also very popular. For example, high school cheerleading is popular in the U.S., but whether it constitutes an actual sport is a subject of debate.
There are other sports that are not viewed as major competitive sports, such as water polo and Judo, but still have a large spectator following. College wrestling is a popular sport, with both traditional folkstyle and Olympic styles of wrestling having a spectator following.