Team sport calories:
football, basketball and cricket estimates

Team games spend energy in bursts

Ninety minutes of casual football burns about 735 kcal for a 70 kg player. Ninety minutes of basketball burns about 683 kcal, and ninety minutes of cricket about 504 kcal. Those numbers are averages over the whole session, which includes jogging, sprinting, walking and standing.

Team sports are hard to estimate because no two players do the same thing. A midfielder may run 10 km in a match, while a goalkeeper walks 3 km. A bowler in cricket sprints in and bowls, while a slip fielder stands still. The MET approach gives a typical value for the sport, and your role moves you up or down from it.

Use the estimates as a ballpark for what a game is worth, and compare sessions across weeks rather than treating one number as exact.

Formula and typical MET values

Worked example: a Sunday football match

A 75 kg player takes part in a 90-minute five-a-side style match with friends, with a few minutes on the bench. Counting 90 minutes at the casual value is slightly generous, so both figures are shown.

A competitive league player at 10.0 MET in the same 90 minutes would burn 10 × 75 × 1.5 = 1,125 kcal. That is a lot, and it is why heavy match days need real fuelling and recovery.

Football and basketball in more detail

Football is closest to interval running. A midfielder in a full match can cover around 10 km, and the repeated accelerations add to the cost beyond steady jogging. Goalkeepers and defenders sit lower. A small-sided game on a small pitch is often more intense than a full-sized one, because the ball is always close.

Basketball is played in a small area with constant direction changes. Shooting practice at 4.5 MET is a light session; full games at 6.5 to 8.0 MET are close to jogging at 7 to 9 km/h. Rolling subs help the pace, which is why coaches tend to rotate players, but it also means a player on court 30 of 48 minutes should count 30.

• Position: midfielders and wing players move more than goalkeepers or centre-backs.
• Pitch size: five-a-side is faster per player than 11-a-side.
• Surface: grass and sand cost more effort than a hard court.
• Heat and humidity raise heart rate and sweat but not always the energy used.

Why cricket numbers are hard to pin down

Cricket is the hardest of the three to estimate. The Compendium lists 4.8 MET for batting, bowling and fielding combined, and a day-long match includes long stretches of standing. A fast bowler running in for six overs works far above that value; a first-slip fielder works well below it.

For a 70 kg player, three hours at 4.8 MET gives 4.8 × 70 × 3 = 1,008 kcal. A batter who scores a century in the heat will use much more in the middle than a long-off fielder has used all afternoon. Treat the figure as a day total with large error, and look at the sport as steady activity rather than a high-intensity one.

Planning a tournament or multi-match day

Local tournaments often pack several short matches into one day. Three 40-minute matches of casual football at 70 kg and 7.0 MET come to 2 hours of play and 7.0 × 70 × 2 = 980 kcal. If the games are competitive at 10.0 MET, the same two hours cost 1,400 kcal.

Those totals are gross, and they come on top of resting energy for the rest of the day. The practical consequence is that players need real meals between games, not only snacks. Carbohydrate-rich food in the gaps, with some protein and plenty of fluid, supports performance in the later matches.

Substitutions reduce the load. If you play two of the three matches, count two. If you are a goalkeeper, use a lower MET of about 4 to 5 for the time in goal and the higher value only for periods of active play.

Using estimates for match days

Knowing a match costs 700 kcal is useful for planning meals and hydration, not for punishing yourself afterwards. Eating a balanced meal with carbohydrate and protein within a couple of hours supports recovery, and the quantity depends on how often you play.

• Drink water before, during and after a game; thirst is a late signal in hot weather.
• If you play several days a week, your daily food intake needs to rise with the load.
• Warm up properly: hamstring and ankle injuries are common in stop-start sports.
• Take rest days; the benefit of training comes from recovery.

Anyone with heart conditions, asthma or recent injuries should check with a clinician before returning to a competitive sport.