While many massively multiplayer games (MMOs) are role-playing games (RPGs), there also are many sports MMOs available for people to play. Team-based sports MMOs usually have two teams of players competing against each other. Single-against-many sports games have many players working against one another to get points or obtain a goal. One-on-one sports MMO games feature two people competing against each other. Most sports MMO games feature just one sport, but there also are mixed-sports games in which players compete in many different sports, one after the other.
Perhaps the most common sports MMOs are team-based games. These games put a lot of players in one online room and split them into two or more teams. Players often have to cooperate with others on the team to achieve points or goals and to prevent the team from failing. To improve teamwork, most of these games include chat and audio features. Two popular sports found in this type of game are basketball and soccer.
![](http://images.wisegeek.com/slideshow-mobile-small/soccer-ball.jpg)
Another type of sports MMO features one player going against many other people at once. With these sports MMOs, each player is trying to get points before the other players, and teamwork typically is not required. Common sports featured in these MMOs including various forms of racing and skating. The games often are split into certain circuits or races, but there also may be randomly selected tracks.
![](http://images.wisegeek.com/slideshow-mobile-small/hand-on-video-game-controller-with-sports-game-in-background.jpg)
Most MMOs feature many players going against one another or playing with one another at the same time, but there also are one-on-one sports MMOs in which one player goes against another player. These are still considered MMOs, because there often are many one-on-one matches going on across the game’s servers. Some sports that are commonly seen in this category are boxing and fencing. The player may automatically go against another player after winning or losing, or the player may keep fighting the same player until one gets tired and quits; these games also may be split into tournaments.
![](http://images.wisegeek.com/slideshow-mobile-small/two-shirtless-boxers.jpg)
The majority of sports MMOs feature just one sport, but there are some that feature two or more sports at once. These games typically mix the above types, so the player may compete against another single player in one round and against a team of people in the next round. The winner typically is selected after all the sports have been finished, though each round often shows how each player is currently doing. Common sports seen in this category include decathlons and Olympics-style events.