Some of the biggest competitions of all time
Humans just love competitions. It is in our very nature to compete against each other, and this is one of the main things that has helped us evolve to where we are now. At Winzum we’re big fans of competitions as you may have guessed, so we’re always looking back into the history of competitions [history of competitions] for a spot of learning.
One thing that is fascinating to research is how big some competitions have been throughout history, across various disciplines too. Of course the Olympics are some of the largest competitions to have been held across the world, but there are also examples such as the “El Gordo” lottery competition, or the crazy new world of online ITV competitions too.
The Olympics
The Olympics have got to be the most famous sporting competition in the entire world, especially considering their history can be traced all the way back to Ancient Greece in 776 BC. These days the modern Olympics include pretty much every country in the world, inviting tens of thousands of athletes to compete against each other every four years.
As a result there are very little other sporting competitions that can match the Olympics in size, with only sport competitions such as the FIFA World Cup really coming close.
“El Gordo” Lottery
There have been some seriously large lotteries over the last several thousand years, however none of them are quite as big as the legendary “El Gordo” lottery competition held in Spain. It is held on the 22nd of December each year, and traces its history all the way back to 1812, even enduring both the Spanish Civil War and World War II.
The cool thing about “El Gordo” is the fact that it is open to be entered by all nationalities, therefore making it the largest lottery competition of its kind. The prizes are split between a lot of people, so the largest jackpot isn’t as big as you could find elsewhere, however the overall prize pot exceeds a billion euros these days.
Super Bingo Las Vegas
The origins of bingo come from lottery style competitions in the 16th and 17th centuries, however nowadays the game has really come into its own, with millions of bingo players all around the world. There are plenty of large bingo competitions about, however Super Bingo in Las Vegas has got to be the biggest.
The event spans two whole days in the Plaza Hotel Las Vegas, and attracts contestants from across the USA, even as far as Hawaii!