Philadelphia Phillies, Antonio Brown highlight Google's top trending sports terms of 2022
- Athletes who didn't or barely played in 2022 were some of the most popular people on Google.
- Teams who made deep postseason runs were the top trending teams.
- To no surprise, the U.S. was most interested in some of the biggest NFL games.
From the Beijing Winter Olympics to the World Cup in Qatar, 2022 has once again been another memorable year in sports.
Some of the biggest stories in the world involved athletes and teams – for on- and off-thefield reasons.
As part of its "Year of Search," Google released Wednesday its top trending search categories of 2022, including the top trending athletes, teams, matches and more searched this year. The lists are made up of some people who grabbed the biggest headlines and some of the biggest matchups of the year.
Google's data was taken from Jan. 1 through Nov. 27. The company defines trending items as "searches that had a high spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2022 as compared to 2021."
Here are some of the top trending sports searches of the year:
What did we search for in 2022?: Wordle, Johnny Depp highlight Google's top US trends of year
More: 'Encanto,' Johnny Depp, Will Smith top Google's top trending entertainment searches
Google's top trending athlete searches of 2022
The top trending athlete of the year only played one game in all of 2022.
Antonio Brown topped the list, as the former Tampa Bay wide receiver stripped his jersey and pads, threw his gear aside, did jumping jacks and waved to fans as he exited his team's Jan. 2 game against the New York Jets. He has been involved in other off the field instances since then.
Other notable people on the list include Manti Te'o, who had a Netflix documentary about his catfishing scandal debut in August; Brittney Griner, who was arrested and prisoned in Russia after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage; and Kamila Valieva, the Russian figure skater who was at the center of a doping scandal during the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Here's the top 10:
- Antonio Brown
- Serena Williams
- Joe Burrow
- Aaron Judge
- Manti Te'o
- Brittney Griner
- Shaun White
- Eileen Gu
- Baker Mayfield
- Kamila Valieva
Google's top trending sports team searches of 2022
The Philadelphia Phillies fell just short of winning the 2022 World Series, but it can claim the title of the top trending sports team of the year.
Of the top 10 teams on the list, only two – the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Rams – won titles this year. Despite the list being from U.S. searches only, NHL's Calgary Flames made the list.
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Boston Celtics
- Golden State Warriors
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Los Angeles Rams
- New York Rangers
- San Diego Padres
- San Francisco 49ers
- Cleveland Guardians
- Calgary Flames
Google's top trending games and matches of 2022
The 2022 NBA Finals was the top trending searched matchup of the year, as the two teams played six games in June.
The Rams were the most involved team in games searched, including their Super Bowl LVI victory against the Cincinnati Bengals. Five of the top 10 matches on the list were NFL games.
One matchup not involving teams that made the list was Jake Paul's boxing defeat of UFC fighter Anderson Silva.
- Warriors vs Celtics
- Rams vs 49ers
- Celtics vs Heat
- Jake Paul vs Anderson Silva
- Rams vs Bengals
- Bengals vs Chiefs
- Bucks vs Celtics
- Rams vs Bucs
- Suns vs Mavericks
- 49ers vs Packers
Google's top trending 'rules of...' searches of 2022
Google also had the rules of certain sports as a category, and the top two spots were taken by sports in the 2022 Winter Olympics – curling and hockey.
A major American sport, baseball, also made the list, which will already be undergoing another set of rule changes in the 2023 season.
- Rules of curling
- Rules of hockey
- Rules of cornhole
- Rules of pool
- Rules of badminton
- Rules of cricket
- Rules of baseball
- Rules of horseshoes
- Rules of kickball
- Rules of lacrosse
Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.