Sports are a great way for people to maintain their physical fitness. Not only do sports help with physical well being, they also help build positive personality traits such as teamwork, sacrifice and perseverance. Everybody doesn’t need to play a sport at the professional level to reap its benefits (at least the non-financial ones). However, most sports do require a little bit of financial investment from people’s end. For example, to play basketball, you will need to buy a basketball and a decent pair of basketball shoes. Some sports however, are not so cheap and simple to participate in. In this post, we will discuss 10 most expensive sports in the world. These sports cost a lot of money to participate in. They might be fun and exciting, but your bank balance might not think so. Without further ado,

Here are the 10 most expensive sports in the world in 2021

10. Pentathlon

Kicking off the list of the most expensive sports in the world, is the sport of pentathlon. By using simple logic, one can deduce that if a single sport actually involves five completely different sports, it’s going to be extremely expensive. And that’s one of the chief reasons why the pentathlon is on the most expensive sports in the world list. The pentathlon consists of five events: running, shooting, fencing, swimming and show jumping. Since these sports are completely unrelated, a participant will need to hire five separate trainers and buy completely different gear for each of the five disciplines. After all, you can’t really use a fencing sword while shooting. Oh, and let’s not even get started on the horse you will need to buy and maintain for show jumping, we all know how expensive horses are.

9. Wingsuiting

Ok, this sport seems more at home on the big screen in movies such as Point Break and Fast and the Furious, but as far as an adrenaline rush is concerned, few sports can match up to wingsuiting. After all, how many sports require you to glide like a flying squirrel thousands of feet above the earth’s surface? However, for human beings, defying gravity isn’t easy or cheap, in fact it costs a lot of money. Kicking off the reasons for wingsuiting being on the most expensive sports in the world list, is the $2,500 wingsuit itself. Putting it on and jumping off a plane increases lift, but decreases your bank balance. You will also need to pay for skydiving lessons, plane rentals and astronomical inaurance premiums, ensuring that both you and your expenses are sky-high.

8. Bobsledding

This Winter Olympics staple is also very cold towards your wallet. The bobsled itself costs around $25,000. Making your own bobsled track might cost millions of dollars. The number of trainers for this sport is very limited, making each one of them very expensive. Oh and let’s not forget, it’s a team sport, so the cost of everything will be multiplied by four in the end. It can bring your bank balance down faster than a bobsled descends down a track. And that features it on the most expensive sports in the world list.

7. Hot Air Balloon Racing

This sport is kind of oxymoronic. After all, the last thing one can associate with hot air balloons, is speed. However, it is an actual sport with a decent fan following in the world. If you are wondering why it’s on the most expensive sports in the world list, here’s why: a hot air balloon costs around $20,000. Inflating the balloon can reach up to $9,000. Once you add the pilot’s licence cost of $3,000, this sport becomes really expensive.

6. Ski Jumping

Ok, let’s make something very clear, jumping down a 5 foot ledge while on skis, is technically ski jumping, but that’s not the kind of ski jumping we are talking about here. Professional level ski jumping is a very expensive sport and a permanent fixture on every most expensive sports in the world list. The yearly expenses, including skiing equipment, coach, ski jumping slope etc., will add up to around $100,000. The only realistic way for non trust fund humans to do it, is to get the help of sponsors.

5. Equestrian

This sport needs you to buy, train and maintain a thoroughbred horse (costing as much as $200,000 a year). Of course it’s going to be on the most expensive sports in the world list. This sport is mainly for the rich and snooty, the kind that doesn’t even breathe air that doesn’t smell like money.

4. Polo

Equestrian was on the most expensive sports in the world list even when you need just one horse for it. Polo requires at least four. You do the maths. Oh and if the massive blow to your bank account wasn’t enough (costs can go up to as high as $1 million for patrons), Polo can also result in serious injuries.

3. Sailing

There was a time when humans just tied bamboo stems with ropes and sailed all over the seas. However, that time is long gone and modern day sailing is one of the most expensive sports in the world. To sail, you will need a sailboat, and most of them cost more than the most expensive supercars. Maintaining the sailboats is also very expensive, so is paying the crew to run it. Oh and in case you forgot, the sailboat needs to be stored on dry land when competition season is off. Good luck building a hangar for it.

2. Formula 1

Yes, cars can be cheap if you search patiently and diligently for the right deal. That rule doesn’t apply to Formula 1 cars. Each Formula 1 car may cost over $1 million. Even if you want to drive someone else’s car, you will still need to bring your own sponsors with deep pockets. Sometimes, the minimum sponsorship requirement can be as high as $190,000. Oh, and these Formula 1 cars are extremely fragile as well. So the insurance premiums on the cars are going to be astronomical. There’s no wonder that this sport zooms right up to the top of the most expensive sports in the world list.

Professional photographers documenting Formula 1 races also have to invest in top-tier equipment, because only the best camera for action shots allow capturing the motion.

1. The Whitianga Festival of Speed

If there was ever a sport/sporting festival designed to burn holes in everyone’s pockets, it’s the Whitianga Festival of Sports. Held annually in New Zealand, this event involves helicopter racing, car racing, power boat racing, jet ski racing and parachute swooping. All of them reek of one thing (besides fuel), money. We don’t need to get into the logistics to figure out that this sport is mainly aimed at the one percenters, making it the most expensive sport in the world.

So, which of these super expensive sports are you going to try your hand at? As per me, I am just going to call my friends and book our usual $25 an hour basketball court.