50 free Sports Rules trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This sports rules trivia quiz is for the person at the bar who actually knows why the flag went up. It covers the laws and regulations that decide games across soccer, basketball, American football, baseball, ice hockey, cricket, tennis, rugby, boxing, golf, curling, snooker and more: what offside really means, why the NBA plays with a 24-second clock, when an infield fly is called, what makes a balk, how icing works, why a batter can be out leg before wicket, and what happens after a safety. It also digs into where the rules came from and when they changed: the yellow card invented after a World Cup shouting match, the penalty shoot-out the game managed without until 1970, the golden goal that lived and died in a decade, the ABA gimmick that became the three-point line, the tuck rule the NFL voted out 29 to 1, and the tennis scoring word that means nothing. About a third of the questions are easy for any regular fan, a third need a rulebook reader, and the rest reward the officials and obsessives. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the individual rules and sports before publishing, and each question carries the sentence that establishes it. If you think one is wrong, use the report button and we will look again.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In soccer, a player is offside if they are nearer the opponents' goal line than the ball and whom?
The second-last opponent
The last opponent is usually, but not always, the goalkeeper; the position must also be in the opponents' half.
Q 02Which number Law of the Game covers offside in soccer?
Law 11
Law 12 covers fouls and misconduct, which is where handball lives.
Q 03Yellow and red cards were used for the first time at which World Cup?
1970 in Mexico
English referee Ken Aston came up with the neutral colours after language confusion at the 1966 tournament.
Q 04Until which year did the laws of soccer provide no method at all for breaking ties?
1970
The IFAB accepted FIFA's penalty shoot-out proposal that February while admitting it was "not entirely satisfied".
Q 05The golden goal was formally introduced in 1993 and stopped applying to most FIFA matches in which year?
2004
The silver goal briefly supplemented it from 2002; David Trezeguet's golden goal decided the Euro 2000 final.
Q 06The IFAB wrote VAR into the Laws of the Game in March of which year, ahead of a World Cup debut?
2018
It debuted globally at that summer's World Cup in Russia after trials in several major competitions.
Q 07Hawk-Eye ball tracking was first used on television in 2001 to analyse what kind of decision?
Leg before wicket in cricket
Paul Hawkins developed the system in the UK; it is now used in more than 20 sports.
Q 08The NBA has used a 24-second shot clock since which year?
1954
Syracuse Nationals owner Danny Biasone and GM Leo Ferris tested it in a scrimmage; FIBA did not go to 24 seconds until 2000.
Q 09Which league popularised the three-point line, introducing it in its first season in 1967-68?
The ABA
The NBA only adopted it in June 1979, initially as a one-year trial that many dismissed as a gimmick.
Q 10Traveling is called when a player takes more than how many steps without dribbling?
Two
The NCAA and high school rules do not allow the two-step gather that professional leagues permit.
Q 11How far is the basketball free-throw line from the plane of the backboard?
15 feet
The line sits inside the three-point arc at the end of the restricted area, informally called the charity stripe.
Q 12Goaltending in basketball is a violation involving interference with the ball when it is where?
On its way to the basket
In the NBA and NCAA it also covers a ball that has touched the backboard while above rim height.
Q 13How many points is a safety worth in American football?
Two
Afterwards the scored-upon team kicks off to the scoring team from its own 20-yard line.
Q 21A ground rule double awards how many bases to every runner?
Two
It applies when a fairly hit ball leaves the field under the park's ground rules, such as bouncing over the fence.
Q 22Unless the ground rules say otherwise, the foul poles in a baseball park lie in which territory?
Fair
A ball hitting the pole above the fence is therefore a home run.
Q 23In ice hockey, icing occurs when the puck is shot from the team's own half past which marker without scoring?
The opposing goal line
Professional leagues mostly use hybrid icing, while many amateur leagues use no-touch or automatic icing.
Q 14In which year did the NFL adopt the two-point conversion?
1994
That was 25 years after the AFL-NFL merger; the AFL had used the rule before merging.
Q 15The NFL abolished the tuck rule in 2013 by what vote of its teams?
29-1
The rule had famously overturned Charles Woodson's strip of Tom Brady in the January 2002 playoff game against Oakland.
Q 16How does a football returner signal a fair catch?
Waving one arm extended above his head
Under NFL and high school rules the team can then attempt a rarely seen fair catch kick from the spot.
Q 17The infield fly rule requires fewer than two outs and a force play at which base?
Third
That means runners on first and second or the bases loaded; the batter is out whether or not the ball is caught.
Q 18In baseball, what is the name for a pitcher's illegal motion, usually pretending to pitch?
A balk
Under Official Baseball Rules it results in a dead ball or delayed dead ball, and runners advance.
Q 19The AL adopted the designated hitter in 1973. The National League followed in which year?
2022
From 1973 to 1975 all World Series games were played without a DH, with pitchers batting.
Q 20The baseball strike zone extends from the batter's knees up to what point?
The midpoint of the torso
The umpire behind the catcher decides whether the pitch passed through the space above home plate.
Q 24Leg before wicket first appeared in cricket's laws in which year?
1774
Batsmen had begun using their pads to stop the ball hitting the stumps, and writers of the day cried foul.
Q 25In a five-day cricket match, a side batting first can enforce the follow-on if it leads by at least how much?
200
The rule exists to reduce the chance of a draw by getting the weaker side's second innings started sooner.
Q 26The Duckworth-Lewis method was first used internationally in 1997 in a series between which two teams?
Zimbabwe and England
Australian statistician Steven Stern later became its custodian and the method was renamed DLS in 2014.
Q 27How many legal deliveries make up an over in cricket?
Six
All are bowled from one end by a single bowler; wides and no-balls do not count toward the total.
Q 28In tennis, what is the score called when both players have won three points in a game?
Deuce
From there a player must win two points in a row; the French call it égalité.
Q 29In boxing, a downed fighter who cannot continue within a count of what number is knocked out?
Ten
The referee's count is what separates a knockdown from a knockout victory for the opponent.
Q 30A game of table tennis is won by the first player to reach how many points, with a two-point lead?
11
At 10-10 play continues until one player leads by two.