If you love to watch sports, you’re probably aware that many of them can be extremely dangerous, but did you know just how dangerous? A new study published in the British Medical Journal has quantified exactly how dangerous different sports are in terms of injuries and deaths. Some of the results may surprise you. For example, contrary to popular belief, rugby has slightly fewer injuries than soccer, and boxing is nowhere near as deadly as it seems on TV! Let’s take a look at the key findings from this unique study and find out what sport has the most deaths.
10 Most Dangerous Sports
In the last twenty years, a total of 82 sports have had at least one death as recorded by Sports Injury Analysis and Reporting System (Sports-I). A new study led by researchers from Brigham Young University wanted to take a look at some of these sports and investigate which ones are more dangerous than others. Published this week in American Journal of Sports Medicine, they found that in many cases competitive professionals were competing in less dangerous sports than those just taking part for leisure purposes. The researchers came up with their list based on four criteria: frequency of traumatic brain injury, fatalities relative to participations rates, rates of catastrophic injuries such as paralysis or amputation, and other non-fatal but disabling injuries such as spinal cord injury or internal organ damage.
Football
There is more to sports than players and their stats, after all. The study by researchers at the University of North Carolina and National Taiwan Sport University found that from 1979 to 2013, nearly 2,000 people died from either football or rugby injuries, as reported by Live Science. This figure may come as a surprise for those who associate soccer with death and injury risk: only one soccer player died during this time period in comparison to 211 for American football players (including high school), according to the report.
Motocross
According to a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics, auto racing had the second-highest death rate at 75 percetn of all fatalities, with 71 percent resulting from crashes. Motocross is considered to be one of the riskiest sports around because it takes place on extreme terrain and speeds can get up to 100 miles per hour.
Base Jumping
A new study by USA Sport reveals that base jumping has a high fatality rate when compared to other sports. The activity is found to have 22% fatality rate which is 5 times higher than what it is for BASE jumping in general which only clocks in at 3%.
Cliff Diving
Bravo’s popular TV show First Day of Summer features cliff diving from a platform 1,000 feet off the ground, and it’s no secret that cliff diving is one of the most dangerous sports in existence: fatalities have been reported over 100 times since 1905, or just once every 15 years.
Bull Riding
Despite having the highest death rate of any other major sport, bull riding is a family tradition for many people and an exciting event for spectators.
But it’s not all good times and glory; bull riders are risking life and limb to make a living by climbing onto an animal with horns to try to get off again in one piece. The statistics don’t paint a pretty picture: Bull riding is responsible for more rider deaths than any other professional sports organization in America—a total of 75 since its inception in 1973.
Ice Hockey
In a recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers found that a single professional ice hockey player will be expected to experience an average of 8.6 concussions and 18 upper extremity injuries during their career on ice hockey. With two players competing at any given time, this means that 19 injuries occur every game.
Skiing
According to a new study by the British Medical Journal, over 100,000 people die from injuries that result from participating in sport each year. Skiers appear to be at the greatest risk of death when compared to those who participate in other sports.
Rugby Union
A recent study found that rugby union players are 27 times more likely to die during a match than players of other team sports. Overall, football had the lowest death rate while soccer, rugby league and Gaelic games had higher rates of death among players in training or competition.
Climbing
A new study in BMJ Open reveals that climbing, with 9 fatal injuries per 100,000 people, has more fatalities than any other indoor or outdoor activity studied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Swimming was found to be riskiest of all sports at a mortality rate of 55.2 fatalities per 100,000 people.
Boxing
A new study published in BMJ suggests that boxing is much more deadly than previously thought. The study looked at death rates in 37 states and found that fatalities due to boxing occurred at a rate of 36 per 100,000 participants, while other sports ranged from 1 to 3 per 100,000 participants.
