From The Latest Issue: Chasing The Game Calendar 2026

Football is serious business. So is cricket. And if there’s one thing that can get a 40-year-old father to warm up to his 18-year-old daughter’s boyfriend, it’s not shared playlists or career plans but a mutual love for a big sporting moment. Sport has a peculiar way of smoothing over generational awkwardness, turning polite small talk into fevered debates and strangers into allies, at least until the final whistle. For fans who take their passion seriously, watching sports live is the ultimate upgrade. The journey becomes a pilgrimage, the ticket a badge of honour, and the memory something you’ll casually bring up for years. And this isn’t just fandom, it’s a full-fledged travel trend. Sports tourism has quietly moved from niche to mainstream, reshaping how and why people plan holidays. The numbers tell the story. During the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, flight searches from India to Doha jumped from 200 to 250 per cent year on year, according to Hansa Research. “For the Indian traveller, sporting events are no longer just moments of fandom but powerful catalysts for travel decisions,” says Santosh Kumar, Regional Manager, South Asia at Booking.com. “As we look at the FIFA World Cup 2026, we are already observing a 30 to 50 per cent year-on-year uptick in searches for host cities across Canada, the USA, and Mexico.”