The World Games are a multi-sport, international event meant for sports and sub-categories of sports that aren't part of Olympic competition.

Birmingham will host the World Games in 2021, the first time since the Games' first year in 1981 they'll be played in the United States. Santa Clara, California, hosted that year. Just more than 16,000 people bought tickets to watch events at the games in Santa Clara, according to the World Games - by far the lowest number in their 30-year history. In 2013, more than 400,000 people bought tickets to see events in Cali, Colombia. Wroclaw, Poland, hosted in 2017, the last time the games were held. Ticketed attendance for those games was listed at around 163,000.

So what can Birmingham expect?

Ramsey Archibald | rarchibald@al.com

Where have the Games been played?

Ten cities have hosted the World Games since the Games' inception in 1981. Europe has dominated with six host cities, while Asia has had two and North and South America have had one each. Birmingham will be North America's second host city. Africa and Australia have never hosted the World Games.

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Ramsey Archibald | rarchibald@al.com

Ticketed attendance by year

If you take out the two extremes, the average ticketed attendance each year is around 146,000. Can Birmingham reach that mark?

Attendance has mostly trended upward for the World Games since 1981, though the numbers vary widely. Birmingham will be the second smallest city to host the World Games. The smallest was Lahti, Finland, which had around 96,000 residents in 1997, when it hosted the games. There were 93,000 tickets sold that year.

Host cities have averaged roughly 32,000 ticketed spectators per 100,000 population. If that number held true for Birmingham the city could expect a ticketed attendance number of around 60,000.

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Ramsey Archibald | rarchibald@al.com

The nations that won in Wroclaw

Russia dominated the competition in Wroclaw in 2017, winning 28 gold medals - 11 more than the next closest nation - and 63 medals overall. This is the first time since the beginning of the World Games that the United States did not finish in the top six in medal count.

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The most popular sports at the last World Games

There were 27 sports played at the Wroclaw World Games in 2017, but which ones were the most popular? Let's count it down from 10 to one.

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Wojciech Grzedzinski | wojciech.grzedzinski@gmail.com (courtesy of The World Games)

No. 10: Korfball

The 10th most popular sport in terms of ticket sales at the 2017 World Games was korfball, which accounted for 3.1 percent of total ticket sales for the whole event.

According to the World Games, korfball is the world's only dedicated mixed-gender sport. Each team consists of eight players - four men and four women. The object of the game is to get a ball into a basket, similar (but different) to basketball. (Learn more)

The Netherlands has dominated at korfball since it became a World Games event in 1985. They've won nine times in a row since then.

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Watch some korfball

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Bartek Sadowski | sadowski.bartek@gmail.com (Courtesy of the World Games)

No. 9: Muaythai

Muaythai, a Thai combat sport similar to kickboxing, was the ninth most popular sport in Wroclaw with 3.2 percent of ticket sales. 2017 was the first year it was included in the Games.

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(Courtesy of the World Games)

No. 8: Sport climbing

Sport climbing came in at number eight with 3.4 percent of ticket sales. There are three different categories of sport climbing in the World Games, including the exciting speed climb, where climbers race to the top of a vertical wall in just a few seconds.

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Helmut Roland (Courtesy of the World Games)

No. 7: Dancesport

Dancesport events earned 3.9 percent of ticket sales in Wroclaw, making it the seventh most popular sport in 2017. There are multiple categories of dance, including breaking, salsa, latin and rock 'n' roll.

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(Courtesy of the World Games)

No. 5 (tie): Beach handball

You might recognize handball as an Olympic sport, but beach handball is specific to the World Games. In Wroclaw, beach handball accounted for 4.8 percent of ticket sales.

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(Courtesy of the World Games)

No. 5 (tie): Flying disc

Flying disc, or as it's often referred to in the U.S., ultimate frisbee (or just 'ultimate'), is a team sport that is self-refereed. In Wroclaw it made up 4.8 percent of ticket sales.

Since its inclusion in the World Games, the United States has won gold every year but one. In 2001, Canada claimed gold.

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Watch some flying disc

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(Courtesy of the World Games)

No. 4: Roller sports

Roller sports accounted for 6.9 percent of ticket sales. There are four main categories of roller sports: Artistic (pictured), inline hockey, speedskating (road) and speedskating (track).

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(Courtesy of the World Games)

No. 3: Speedway

Speedway, a type of motorcycle racing, accounted for 7.1 percent of sales in Wroclaw. This exciting sport typically has four riders race around an oval track, usually for four laps. The bikes have no brakes, and riders drift around turns.

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Marcin Oliva Soto (Courtesy of the World Games)

No. 2: Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a popular Olympic sport, and the same is true for the World Games. In 2017, it made up 7.9 percent of ticket sales.

There are some key distinctions between Olympic gymnastics and World Games gymnastics. Parkour is one of the gymnastic events held at the World Games, as well as trampoline, acrobatic gymnastic and others.

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(Courtesy of the World Games)

No. 1: American football

Despite being an invitational sport rather than an official one, American Football was the most popular sport during the Wroclaw World Games. It made up 12.4 percent of ticket sales, well ahead of the next closest event.

Only four nations participated in 2017, including the United States, which managed a bronze medal.

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Bartek Sadowski | sadowski.bartek@gmail.com (Courtesy of the World Games)

Other sports

There are many other sports featured in the World Games that are worth checking out, including canoe polo (pictured), a violent, exciting game that heavily features people getting run over by small watercraft. There's also tug of war, lifesaving, orienteering and many other events.