Sports Emojis: Every Sport and Athletic Activity EmojiEmoji
A Japanese word (絵文字) meaning 'picture character' — small graphical symbols used in digital communication to express ideas, emotions, and objects.
Sports emojis are everywhere — in game-day tweets, fitness posts, athletic achievements, and fan reactions. Whether you are a fan cheering your team or an athlete logging a workout, there is an emoji for virtually every sport and physical activity in the world.
This complete list covers every sport-related emoji in UnicodeUnicode
Universal character encoding standard that assigns a unique number to every character across all writing systems and symbol sets, including emoji., from the most popular ball sports to niche Olympic disciplines, organized by category.
Ball Sports
Soccer / Football
⚽ Soccer Ball — The most popular sport in the world deserves its own emoji, and it gets prominent usage during World Cup and club football seasons. One of the most used sports emojis globally.
🥅 Goal Net — A soccer or hockey goal net. Used for scoring moments: "GOAL! 🥅⚽"
🏟️ Stadium — A sports arena. Used for game days, concerts, and large events.
American Football
🏈 American Football — The NFL's signature ball. Game day posts, touchdown reactions, and Super Bowl content all use this emoji heavily.
🏉 Rugby Football — An oval ball for rugby. Used for rugby union, rugby league, and Australian rules football.
Basketball
🏀 Basketball — The NBA and basketball culture writ large. Game highlights, sneaker culture, and "ball is life" content.
🏆 Trophy — Championships and winners. Used across all sports.
Baseball
⚾ Baseball — America's pastime. Used for MLB games, spring training, and baseball metaphors ("stepped up to the plate ⚾").
🥎 Softball — Distinguishing softball from hardball, used for recreational leagues and the sport's own community.
Tennis
🎾 Tennis — Used for tennis matches, Wimbledon, and any sport involving a racquet. Also represents badminton and squash in casual contexts.
🏸 Badminton — Shuttlecock and racquet. Used specifically for badminton.
Volleyball
🏐 Volleyball — Beach volleyball and indoor volleyball. Popular during Olympic coverage.
Golf
⛳ Flag in Hole — Golf! The classic golf hole flag. Used for golf courses, business golf metaphors, and "par for the course" expressions.
🏌️ Person Golfing — A golfer mid-swing. More explicit than ⛳ for showing the activity of golf itself.
Cricket
🏏 Cricket Game — A cricket bat and ball. Essential for cricket-watching nations: India, England, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa.
Hockey
🏒 Ice Hockey Stick and Puck — Ice hockey.
🥍 Lacrosse — A lacrosse stick and ball.
🏑 Field Hockey Stick and Ball — Field hockey.
Racquet and Net Sports
🏓 Ping Pong — Table tennis / ping pong. Used for the sport itself and the classic "ping pong" back-and-forth metaphor.
🎱 Pool 8 Ball — Billiards / pool. Game nights and "behind the eight ball" idioms.
Combat Sports
🥊 Boxing Glove — Boxing. Fight night, boxing matches, and "putting up a fight" metaphors. "Ready for the challenge 🥊"
🥋 Martial Arts Uniform — Karate, judo, jiu-jitsu, and martial arts broadly. Used for training and belt achievement posts.
🤺 Person Fencing — Fencing with a sword. An Olympic sport with an elegant, aristocratic image.
🤼 People Wrestling — Wrestling, grappling sports, and MMA in casual contexts.
Running and Track
🏃 Person Running — Running, sprinting, or leaving quickly. The versatile "running" emoji used for exercise content and the phrase "running late 🏃"
🚶 Person Walking — A slower pace — a leisurely walk or casual movement.
🧎 Person Kneeling — Kneeling, prayer, or taking a knee (used in social justice contexts).
🏋️ Person Lifting Weights — Weightlifting and strength training. Gym culture and fitness posts.
🤸 Person Cartwheeling — Gymnastics and flexibility. Cheerleading and athletic agility.
🏅 Sports Medal — Competition medals and achievements. Slightly less formal than 🏆.
🥇 1st Place Medal — Gold medal. First place, being the best at something.
🥈 2nd Place Medal — Silver medal. Runner-up.
🥉 3rd Place Medal — Bronze medal. Third place.
Water Sports
🏊 Person Swimming — Swimming, lap pools, and aquatic sports.
🤽 Person Playing Water Polo — Water polo.
🏄 Person Surfing — Surfing, waves, and beach culture. "Catching waves 🏄"
🚣 Person Rowing Boat — Rowing and canoeing.
🛶 Canoe — Paddling a canoe. Outdoor adventure and river sports.
🤿 Diving Mask — Scuba diving and snorkeling.
🎣 Fishing Pole — Fishing — a sport and a hobby. "Gone fishing 🎣"
Cycling and Wheeled Sports
🚴 Person Biking — Cycling, road biking, and mountain biking. Tour de France, cycling commutes, and fitness.
🛹 Skateboard — Skateboarding and skate culture. Street, park, and vert skating.
🛼 Roller Skate — Roller skating and roller derby.
🛷 Sled — Sledding and winter sports like luge and bobsled.
Winter Sports
⛷️ Skier — Downhill skiing.
🏂 Snowboarder — Snowboarding. Winter X Games energy.
🤸 Person Cartwheeling / Gymnastics — Used for figure skating in context.
🥌 Curling Stone — Curling — that uniquely strategic winter Olympic sport.
⛸️ Ice Skate — Ice skating, figure skating, and hockey.
Equestrian Sports
🏇 Horse Racing — A jockey on horseback. Horse racing, the Kentucky Derby, and equestrian culture.
🐎 Horse — Used broadly for equestrian sports and horse riding.
Gymnastics and Acrobatics
🤸 Person Cartwheeling — Gymnastics, cheerleading, and acrobatic feats.
🤼 People Wrestling — Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.
🤾 Person Playing Handball — Handball, an Olympic team sport.
🏋️ Person Lifting Weights — Weightlifting, powerlifting, and CrossFit.
Archery and Target Sports
🎯 Bullseye — Archery, darts, and hitting the target. Widely used as a metaphor for precision and accuracy. "Nailed it 🎯"
🏹 Bow and Arrow — Archery specifically, or the Cupid's arrow of romance.
Sports Equipment and Venues
🥅 Goal Net — Soccer/hockey goal.
🏟️ Stadium — The venue for major sports events.
🎽 Running Shirt — Athletic wear and sportswear.
👟 Running Shoe — Sneakers, running shoes, and athletic footwear culture.
🎿 Skis — Skiing gear.
🛷 Sled — Winter sliding sports.
⛳ Golf Hole — Golf course.
🎳 Bowling — Bowling pins and ball. Strike! Recreational sports and bowling alleys.
🎰 Slot Machine — Not strictly a sport, but used in gaming contexts.
Sports Metaphors and Idioms
Sports emojis extend far beyond game day. They appear in countless metaphorical contexts:
- 🏆 — "We're champions in this project"
- 🥇 — "First place, no contest"
- 🎯 — "Right on target"
- 🏋️ — "Heavy lifting done"
- 🏃 — "Running behind schedule"
- ⚽ — "Ball's in your court" (mixed metaphor, but you get it)
- 🥊 — "Fighting for this one"
Olympic Sports Emojis
The Olympics bring out emoji use like few other events. Here are emojis most associated with the Summer and Winter Games:
Summer: ⚽🏀🏈⚾🎾🏐🏉🎱🥊🥋🤺🏹🏄🏊🚴🤸🏋️🤼🤾🚣 Winter: ⛷️🏂🥌⛸️🏒🛷🤸
Explore More on EmojiFYI
- Copy any sports emoji instantly with the Emoji Keyboard
- Convert sports-related text into emojis with Text to Emoji
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