12 Sporting Events To Add to Your Bucket List (Because Watching on TV Isn’t Enough)

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Most travelers have a bucket list that features many of the world’s most iconic landmarks and attractions, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Canyon, and the Great Wall of China. However, many sport-loving travelers, including me, have a sporting bucket list. You’ve come to the right place if you’ve got a sporting bucket list, too.

The world has many exciting sporting events, from the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup to the Grand National and Wimbledon Championships. With so many iconic events to attend, deciding which ones to watch first is challenging. To help you choose, here are 12 sporting events you need to add to your bucket list.

UEFA Champions League

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After the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League is the most famous soccer tournament. This competition is an annual club association soccer tournament organized by the Union of European Football Association. As such, it features the best players and soccer teams in Europe.

The team that wins the UEFA Champions League is often considered the world’s best club soccer team. In the past, this tournament has been won by iconic soccer teams like Real Madrid, Liverpool, Barcelona, and Manchester United. The beauty of this sporting event is that you can generally pick who you want to watch. This allows you to plan an exciting European city break around the game. What’s not to like?

Wimbledon Championships

If you love tennis, there’s no sporting event bigger or better than the Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon. Organized by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon is widely considered the world’s premier tennis tournament. This sporting event first took place in 1877 and is still going today.

The premier Grand Slam tournament takes place over two weeks in early June, and tennis’ biggest stars, such as Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, and Jannik Sinner, take part. Aside from the exceptional tennis on show, Wimbledon tradition makes it a hugely entertaining event. Visitors and tourists come dressed to the nines, rub shoulders with celebrities and the British Royal Family, and tuck into strawberries and cream.

Tour de France

The Tour de France is an annual men’s and women’s multiple-stage cycling race held primarily in, yep, you guessed it, France. The Mecca of cycling, the Tour de France is the oldest and most famous of the sport’s three Grand Tours, which also includes the Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia.

Besides being a seriously entertaining event to watch, the Tour de France is free to attend. Covering approximately 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) and spanning 21 days, cycling fans take the streets, hills, and mountains to watch their favorite cyclists in action before the finale in central Paris at the Champs Elysees. Many cyclists also like to cycle the race route the day before each event to get a taste of the action.

The Olympic Games

Perhaps the most history-rich sporting event you can add to your bucket list is the Olympics, a quadrennial event that first occurred in Olympia, Southern Greece, in 776 B.C. This multi-sport event sees the world’s best athletes from various sports, including swimming, athletics, and gymnastics, come together to compete for the gold medal for their country.

The first modern Olympic Games took place in Athens in 1896. There are approximately 40 events in the Olympic Games, so you should get tickets for at least one. I’d love to watch the 100m and diving final live.

Monaco Grand Prix, Formula 1

The Monaco Grand Prix is Formula 1’s most glamorous spectacle. At the Monaco Grand Prix, you can watch the world’s best Formula 1 drivers race around the city’s winding cobbled streets and past the super yachts of the rich and famous. Better yet, you can enjoy the race with a glass of Champagne.

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The Monaco Grand Prix might not be the fastest event in the Formula 1 calendar, but the many elevation changes, tight corners, and narrow overtakes make it one of the most dangerous places to race. As a result, the Monaco Grand Prix is often one of the most nail-biting Formula 1 events. Other famous Formula 1 races include the Italian and British Grand Prix.

Nazaré Big Wave Challenge

Fun Facts About Portugal We Bet You Didn’t Know The Biggest Waves Were Surfed in Nazare Portugal — © stu.dio / Adobe Stock

One of the world’s most unique, exhilarating, and dangerous sporting events you can attend is the Nazaré Big Wave Challenge. For those who don’t know, Nazaré, a coastal town in Portugal, is famous for offering the world’s largest surfing waves. According to the Guinness World Records, Sebastian Steudntner broke the world record at Praia do Norte, Nazaré in October 2020.

The wave he rode at Nazaré measured an impressive 86 feet (26.2 meters). Unsurprisingly, many surfing events occur in Nazaré yearly, including the Nazaré Big Wave Challenge. This event sees nine teams of two competitors ride the monstrous Nazaré waves. As you can probably imagine, this event is a sight to behold.

The Masters

The Masters is the world’s most prestigious golf tournament. It is one of golf’s four major championships, and it usually occurs during the first week of April each year. Unlike other major sporting events, the Masters is always held at the same location: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia, United States.

The first Masters tournament occurred in 1934 but didn’t become an annual event until 1940. The winners are presented with the famous “Green Jackets.” Besides the world-class golf on display and the opportunity to watch the sport’s biggest stars in action, the prices are a significant draw to this event. Tickets to the 2023 Masters were $140, much cheaper than other sporting events.

Super Bowl

As far as sporting spectacles go, the Super Bowl, America’s most iconic sporting event, is hard to beat. The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL). It traditionally takes place yearly in early February and is watched by over 120 million people. However, the action on the pitch isn’t all sports fans watch the Super Bowl for.

Spectators are in for a feast of entertainment, including live music performances from the world’s biggest artists, such as Eminem, Shakira, and Rihanna. Unsurprisingly, many fans throw parties at home and outside the ground, which changes yearly. With so much action to enjoy, imagine how much fun it is to be inside the ground on game day.

The Grand National

FQ Magazine reports that the Grand National is one of the greatest horse races in the world. An estimated 600 million people worldwide watch the event, and approximately 150,000 people attend the three days. This race is also one of the most lucrative, with the winner taking home $666,367.

The Grand National is held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. The race track at Aintree features 30 fences, including the famous Becher’s Brook and the Chair. The Grand National presents horse racing enthusiasts with the opportunity to watch the world’s best racehorses and jockeys in action, so don’t miss out. Of course, it’s also an opportunity for punters to win money by betting on the winner.

Palio di Siena

The penultimate sporting event on our list is the Palio di Siena, one of horse racing’s more unique events. This fascinating biannual event has been taking place in Siena, a city in Tuscany, Italy, since 1644. Taking place on the 2nd of July and 16th of August, this horse race sees ten jockeys ride bareback around Piazza del Campo.

Each rider who participates in the race wears colors representing one of the city’s wards. Thousands of people travel to Piazza del Campo to witness the event. However, the fun doesn’t last long, as the event is usually over within 90 seconds. However, that doesn’t stop it from being a hugely entertaining sporting event to attend.

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup is one of history’s most significant sporting events. Often called the World Cup, it is an international association soccer competition in which the senior men’s national teams compete for the title of the world’s best international football nation.

The World Cup, which takes place every four years and usually features 32 teams, is so famous that more than 5 billion people worldwide watch it. While there’s nothing necessarily wrong with watching from home, you can’t beat the atmosphere on the ground on match day.

The Indian Premier League

The Indian Premier League is India’s most-watched sporting event. A well-established cricket league, the Indian Premier League, also known as the TATA IPL, is a men’s Twenty20 cricket league held annually across India. Established in 2007, the league has ten city or state-based franchised teams.

These teams contain a mix of India’s best young talent and world-famous international cricketers. The tournament usually features 74 games and takes place over two months between March and May. The league is renowned for its high-level cricket performances, nerve-wracking matches, and electric atmosphere.