Just curious

Haha, u Created the same topic at the brazilian forum... I'm curious about that too, u should create after a main topic telling all top 5 sport of the countries u asked.

It's been very interesting so far, never expected so many surprises!

Can u create a topic at the brazilian forum with the answers after all ?

Well, it changes a lot from one country to another(expected) but, in pretty much every country sometimes it depends on regions, sometimes on public perception, some say the sports that most people watch doesn't mean it's the one most people practice. It's been very interesting thou...

I'll see what I can do :)

Depends on the region really. Gorenjska is predominantly alpine sports, moving towards the centre of the country the focus shifts towards basketball and football(though Ice Hockey tends to be more popular than football in Ljubljana). I'd say nation-wide, football would take the top spot. But you could argue that other sports are just as important. It would be really hard to come up with a list of top 5 sports but here's my general idea of how it looks. Ice hockey has a bigger crowd pull, but a lot less active players compared to basketball so those two can be swapped around.
1. Football
2. Alpine Skiing
3. Ice Hockey
4. Basketball
5. Handball

I would disagree about Alpine Skiing beeing Nr. 2. Maybe 20 years ago, but not today... Based on a number of fans traveling abroad to championships, I would definitely put Basketball on Nr. 2, with Ice Hockey beeing close behind on 3rd place. Of course popularity of sports varies based on how sucessful the sportsmen are...

Hm... I think Alpine Skiing still is number one. Our ski resorts are always full on all of the nice winter weekends. Followed by football, Basketball, Ice Hockey and offcourse Handball.

Is runinng a sport in terms of this thread? If it is then it's up there with the most popular. Oh and offcourse, mountaineering.

To support my opinion let me tell you that there are 8500 active(!) ski teachers in Slovenia...

I would disagree about Alpine Skiing beeing Nr. 2. Maybe 20 years ago, but not today... Based on a number of fans traveling abroad to championships, I would definitely put Basketball on Nr. 2, with Ice Hockey beeing close behind on 3rd place. Of course popularity of sports varies based on how sucessful the sportsmen are...

I think the popularity of skiing is enduring regardless of how our professional skiers are doing, in terms of people actually taking part in sports, I'd say skiing is right there in the top 5.

1. Equestrian – Eventing
2. Fencing
3. Gymnastics – Rhythmic
4. Synchronised Swimming
5. Badminton

1. Equestrian – Eventing
2. Fencing
3. Gymnastics – Rhythmic
4. Synchronised Swimming
5. Badminton

You missed the point. BTW, where can I see you practising 3. and 4. ?

You guys all forgot to mentioned a Volleyball, which is also very popular sport in Slovenia, and what about Ski jumping, also very popular sport, but ok in a rang from 1 to 5 i would say that in Slovenia is like this:
1. Football
2. Basketball
3. Alpine skiing
4. Handball
5. Ice Hockey
(6). Volleyball
(7). Swimming
(8). Athletics
(9). Cycling
(10). Ski jumping
(11). Gymnastic
(12.)Martial arts-judo, Box...

Well... we have to ask ourselves... what is the criteria? If the criteria is that the most popular sport is the one with the most fans than also Ski jumping has to be considered. But if the most popular sport is the most practiced one than Ski jumping is nowhere near the top of the list.


@tom666: rythmic gymnastics is practised in Dvorana Krim in Rudnik, Ljubljana ;)

Define your question popular in terms of people actually participating (recreation) or popular in terms of people attending games/events?

Popular by sports fans:

1 - Football
2 - Basketball
3 - Alpine skiing / Ski jumping
4 - Hockey
5 - Handball
6 - Volleyball
7 - Other

Popular by actual players of the sport:

1 - Running / cycling
2 - Swimming
3 - Skiing / snowboarding
4 - Football / basketball
5 - Martial arts
6 - Mounteneering
6 - Handball / volleyball
7 - Other

I have to say in general we're a very sporty nation, with great international successes (such as third in world per capita Olympic medals in 2008, and having our national teams in the top 10/15 in the world in almost every team sport) despite our small number. Most people play or do some sort of sport in Slovenia and I think it's getting better every year.

Well i didnt realy separate favourite sports in Slovenia in terms mentioned above but if we classify sports in that way (participating/atending) i must say that i very much agree with Venet

Popular by sport fans? What do you mean by that? 1.snl, national team, european or other championships? Is that how many people watch sport on tv or in live?

If its going in live its defenetly skijumping-Planica.
If you look at the football 1.snl, the visit is very low. If you look at national team,the stadiums are sold out almost all the time.
If you look baskatball Telemach league, visit is not so bad as football 1.snl. If you look Adriatic league, or Euroleage , the visit is superb. If we look at the football, only NK Maribor can sold out stadium so, i would say that basketball is mor popular than football.

Ice hockey is also very popular, if we see the visit. BUT, there are only 2 "pro" clubs. Olimpija and Jesenice and they play in Austrian league.

Football stadiums are bigger than indor arenas....

If you look at rowing,or canoe slalom the visit is very high, stands are sold out. But its not like football that have games 2-3 time on week.

If we look at equestrian, visit is very high also.

So it is very important how often this event are. How big are stadiums/arenas, what league is playing, if its home cup or it is world championship. If it is home club, or if it is national team.

I would say if i mix all that:

1. Basketball
2. Ski-jumping
3. Football
4. Hockey
5. Handball

I don't mean any specific event, just the sport in general.

1.Football
2.Basketball
3.Winter sports
4.Car scratching
5.Gossiping

^^ And lying, apparently. I've never seen a scratched car in my life. But then again that could be a Štajerska thing.

^^ Don't flatter yourself.

I mean popular sports as in the most followed by people.

So the first two would be football and basketball?

We have three kinds of sports or groups of sports massively supported by majority. Football, basketball and winter sports in that order. The rest are just not popular enough to put them on the list.

Well, hockey has quite a large following in Slovenia, right behind (individual) winter sports. I think it would deserve to be on the list.

I can't tell apart the number of hockey, handball or volleyball followers. They all look equally weak to me. We only have one hockey team in Slovenia and even they play in Austrian league, so much about hockey popularity... I wouldn't put those sports on the list, might as well put swimming and dancing too but just because some people play/follow them doesn't mean they're popular throughout the country.

Hockey is well above swimming, dancing, volleyball etc. Maxybe not in Maribor, but in Ljubljana and gorenjska it's quite big. And we have two teams, not one.

And we have two teams, not one.

This is the same as saying there are only two teams in Primera Division. For example, Jan Muršak, NHL player, played in HDK Maribor before he went to Czech Republic. Yes, there are two big teams, both playing in EBEL League, but that doesn't mean there are no other teams...

Given the number of fans abroad I'd say hockey is definitely No. 3 (or 4).

1 - Football (Amsterdam, EC 2000) - 10.000 fans
2 - Basketball (Belgrade, EC 2005) - 8.000 fans
3 - Handball (Reka, EC 2000) - 4.000 fans
4 - Hockey (Bratislava, WC 2011) - 3.000 fans

Due to the proximity of Reka I'd say that 3.000 fans in Bratislava have biger meaning than 4.000 in Reka, so I'd put hockey on No.3.

Hm... I think Alpine Skiing still is number one. Our ski resorts are always full on all of the nice winter weekends. Followed by football, Basketball, Ice Hockey and offcourse Handball.

Alpine skiing is not number one. Its football and perhaps it has allways been football. The problem is that in ex-Yugoslavia it was the Serbs, Croats etc. that were allways "teaching" Slovenians that they are only for skiiing and not for football (despite the fact that football clubs such as Olimpija, Maribor, Rudar Velenje or Koper.. allways had thousands of supporters on their matches even in lower tiers of Yugoslav football; it was not uncommon for Koper or Rudar to have 8.000 spectators on their stadiums and we all know that they never made it passed the second Yugoslav league). And it sure doesnt matter that the ski resorts are full (of foreign tourists) because there are a lot more people playing football or basketball during the summer months. Though, skiing is definetly top 5.

My opinion:
Football
Basketball
Skiing
Handball
Ice hockey

Hockey is well above swimming, dancing, volleyball etc. Maxybe not in Maribor, but in Ljubljana and gorenjska it's quite big. And we have two teams, not one.

I would say ice hockey isnt unpopular in Maribor, quite the opposite. The problem offcourse it that the eastern part of the country doesnt have a team that would play on a higher level (such as the EBEL league).

@lafreak84: I would say handball is definetly above volleyball and for sure in top 5. Slovenian handball league is quite solid and very close of being top 5 in Europe. EHF even considered it as a top 3 couple of seasons ago. Volleyball is just a current fling because of one top club who is doing well at the moment.