The Most Popular Sports in New Zealand

There are plenty of people in New Zealand who love watching a match or two. They like solo players as well as a team performing as a unit. New Zealanders watch lots of sports events on their TVs or go online to watch them on a platform. They like a bunch of sports, but only some of them get a lot of attention.

Just like in any other country, there are some sports that New Zealand sports fans like to watch more than the rest. Below are a couple of the sports in NZ that gather big crowds.

Cricket

Cricket is one of the most popular sports in New Zealand. Their national team has a special place in each New Zealander’s heart. Cricket is a gentleman’s sport that features two opposing teams. Some of them are good with a ball, while others are better with a bat. Each game is played in wickets and the team with the most wickets wins. Naturally, players get special rewards if they have an outstanding performance.

There are tons of platforms covering cricket events across the globe. Some of them happen to be sports betting websites. There are several sports betting New Zealand platforms that cover various cricket championships and allow cricket bettors to try and predict the outcomes of each match. Aside from cricket, bettors can also enjoy matches and leagues from other sports such as rugby, MMA, boxing, basketball, and more. The platforms cover several betting options, promotions, and additional features to make the experience more interesting.

Rugby

For some, it’s a rough sport, for others a challenging endeavor. Rugby remains one of the top sports in New Zealand. The sport is played by two teams and their goal is to score more points than their rivals. They can tackle their opponents to prevent them from scoring. To score, players can drop goal the ball, perform a penalty kick, or ground it in the goal area.

Players can take down their opponents as they’re looking to score which is why rugby is a rough sport for some. Still, it’s one of the most popular sports in the country and has produced some legendary players over the years.

Netball

Unlike the other two entries before, netball is a sport made exclusively for women. Again, two teams take on each other in an attempt to outscore the other team. Each team has a goal ring to defend once the other team has possession of the ball and tries to shoot to score. The sport has several national teams throughout many countries in the world competing for the title of champion. It’s an energetic sport that gets a lot of attention in New Zealand.

Final Words

New Zealand sports fans enjoy watching all sorts of sports. They like watching netball because of the excitement it brings them, and don’t mind watching a bit of cricket although it’s a gentleman’s game. Finally, there’s nothing like watching rugby players go at each other as they try to stop their opponents from scoring.

Rowan Hewitt

“Beer enthusiast. Subtly charming alcohol junkie. Wannabe internet buff. Typical pop culture lover.”