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This statistic represents the share of French people following competitions, leagues, and teams in a selection of sports in 2023. Unsurprisingly, the most followed sport in France was football, far ahead of tennis and rugby. Basketball was the most followed American sport in France, with nearly ** percent of French people following this sport in 2023, far ahead of ice hockey and American football, which were followed only by a small niche of spectators in France.  

The important place of football in France 

This chart reflects the importance of football in France. Indeed, nearly **** of respondents follow events related to this sport such as the European Championship, the Champions League, the Europa League, etc. These sporting events are governed by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which generated revenue of more than *** billion euros in 2022/2023.  

Regarding the French national football team, it continues to achieve good results and ranks second in the FIFA world ranking in 2023. Moreover, France is the country of birth of the largest number of football players who have been selected for the World Cup since 2002.

At the amateur level, the French Football Federation (FFF) has nearly *** million licensed players, more than half of whom are under 20 years old. In comparison, the French Tennis Federation, the second most followed sport by the French, issued about ** fewer licenses than the FFF in 2022, and the French Rugby Federation about **** times fewer.  

The rise of e-sports  

E-sports refers to video game events and tournaments leading to championships where players compete, sometimes internationally. In 2023, more than ** million French people consumed e-sports and nearly ** million declared themselves fans.  

Accompanied by the considerable growth of video games, the e-sports market looks promising. Indeed, the sector attracts more and more investors. Its revenues in France amounted to approximately *** million U.S. dollars in 2023 and are expected to exceed *** million U.S. dollars by 2027. The e-sports market enjoys such popularity that some tournaments have totaled more than * million spectators worldwide. In France, about 1,000 professionals compete in games like League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Valorant, and Rocket League, which accumulate annual prize pools of several million U.S. dollars thanks to betting and ticket sales for events for which fans are sometimes willing to pay more than ** U.S. dollars to attend.