The Best Sports to Start Watching This Season

By WherestheMatch Team

Ice Hockey 

One of the biggest draws to ice hockey is the sheer speed of the game. The game is played on a rink that can turn into a blur of motion, as players skate with incredible agility and precision. Pucks are shot at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour, and players often reach up to 20 miles per hour on their skates. In fact, the sport is so strenuous that players will rarely play longer than two or three minutes at a time before being substituted. Naturally, ice hockey games tend to be pretty high scoring with offensive overloads or even swapping of the goaltender for an outfield player being pretty common strategies.

Another element that makes ice hockey a great watch is the penalty system. Instead of yellow card or red cards like in football, if you trip or cross-check an opposition player in ice hockey you will be taken off the ice for 2 minutes (or 4 minutes for major fouls), forcing your team to defend with a player deficit. The systems in place go a long way in eradicating time wasting and tactical fouls which make for a much more enjoyable experience overall!

The most popular Ice Hockey division is the American National Hockey League (NHL) which is home to some of the top global hockey talent and runs from October until April. Alternately, there are plenty of exciting international fixtures to keep an eye on with the Winter Olympics and World Cup being played every four years.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

The most compelling aspects of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is its sheer unpredictability. Unlike many sports where seasoned teams or players often dominate, the UFC is a place where anything can happen. One punch, kick, or submission hold can change the course of a fight in an instant. This unpredictability makes every match an edge-of-your-seat experience, where the underdog has just as much chance of winning as the favourite.

The phrase ‘it’s more than just a sport’ is pretty overused to refer to sports that are often… well… just sports. The UFC is a bit different in this sense since every strike or grapple carries with it genuine consequences - every event brings with it an unscripted rawness which makes it a completely unique experience. This is certainly more than enough to put quite a few people off, but if you’re looking for a high-stakes sport that provides some absolutely jaw dropping moments, this is where you want to be. The UFC runs a fight card on most weekends through the year with quality varying depending on the fighters making an appearance.

Rugby League

The lesser-known younger sibling of Rugby Union, many casual sport viewers struggle to tell the difference between these two variants and while both make for a great watch, it’s Rugby League that is often more dynamic with rules having been amended to increase the speed of the game. Overall, Rugby Leage is a very fluid sport, there are very few stoppages in play with the mix between physicality and skill making for a unique viewing experience. The implementation of the six-tackle rule – where a team can only be tackled six times before having to hand over possession to the other team, as well as the 10-metre rule - where the defending side has to move at least 10 metres back from the tackled player when play is resuming, encourage teams to adapt more offensive playstyles leading to scorelines that that can even hit the combined triple digits (note – a try counts as 4 points, a conversion is 2, and a drop goal during play is 1).

There are plenty of top Rugby League competitions to watch such as the Australian NRL running between March and October, as well as the Super League between February and October. Internationals take place in the form of the Rugby League World Cup and Four Nations tournament.

American Football (The NFL)

The high stakes involved in American football games contribute significantly to the excitement. With only 16 games in a regular NFL season, each match carries weight. A single win or loss can make the difference between making the playoffs or going home early. This urgency keeps fans invested from start to finish. While American Football sometimes gets a bit of a bad reputation for overly pandering to celebrity culture, there is no messing around once the match starts. American Football is filled with epic moments as players make incredible runs, passes and interceptions, all having the potential to change the entire course of the game.

If you hear someone talking about American Football, they’re probably talking about the NFL (National Football League). The NFL is the top division of American Football in the US and where all of the sports’ top players compete. With a regular season running from September to early January, and a playoff post-season running until February, American Football is the perfect sport to get into when stuck inside during those cold winter months.

Snooker

While being a slightly different type of sport to others on this list, Snooker is still very much worthy of your time. Known to be a much more slow-paced sport in nature with showmanship and feats of athleticism being replaced by shows of fortitude and concentration, there are still plenty of exciting moments in the world of snooker. Beyond the basic mechanics, snooker is a game that requires deep strategic thinking. Players must always be several steps ahead, planning their break-building while also considering what opportunities they might leave for their opponent. This chess-like element adds layers of complexity, making every frame a battle of wits and nerves.

There are plenty of snooker competitions year-round that are worth checking out, from the historic World Snooker Championship held in Sheffield from mid-April to early-May, to the showcase of elite talent at The Masters in London through January, and even the global ranking events like the Chinese Open (late March, early April) and German Masters (late January, early February). There’s plenty going on in the yearly snooker calendar; keep up with all of the upcoming snooker events through our snooker on tv guide at WheresTheMatch.

The sporting calendar is looking exciting for the coming year and if you want to check out upcoming events & fixtures across all sports – keep an eye on our Live Sport on TV Guide at WheresTheMatch.