1947 in sports

1947 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football

 * Chicago Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles 28-21 to win the NFL championship.

Association football
England
 * First Division – Liverpool win the 1946-47 title.
 * FA Cup – Charlton Athletic beat Burnley 1-0 after extra time

Australian rules football

 * Victorian Football League
 * Carlton wins the 51st VFL Premiership (Carlton 13.8 (86) d Essendon 11.17 (83))
 * Brownlow Medal awarded to Bert Deacon (Carlton)

Baseball

 * January 20 – death of Josh Gibson (35), famed Negro League slugger
 * Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American baseball player in Major League Baseball.
 * April 27 – Babe Ruth Day was celebrated all across the Major Leagues, with Babe himself appearing at Yankee Stadium. Although stricken with throat cancer, Ruth said to the audience: "The only real game I think in the world is baseball."
 * World Series – New York Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers 4 games to 3.
 * June 27–28 – In the inaugural College World Series, California defeats Yale 2 games to 0 in the best-of-three series. The Yale team featured future U.S. President George Bush.

Basketball
BAA Finals


 * Philadelphia Warriors win four games to one over the Chicago Stags

NBL Championship


 * Chicago American Gears win three games to two over the Rochester Royals

Boxing

 * Rocky Graziano defeats Tony Zale to win boxing’s world middleweight championship.
 * December 5 – Joe Louis defeats Jersey Joe Walcott to retain his heavyweight championship

Figure skating

 * World Figure Skating Championships
 * Men's champion: Hans Gerschwiler, Switzerland
 * Ladies' champion: Barbara Ann Scott, Canada
 * Pair skating champions: Micheline Lannoy & Pierre Baugniet, Belgium

Golf
Men's professional Men's amateur Women's professional
 * Masters Tournament – Jimmy Demaret
 * U.S. Open – Lew Worsham
 * PGA Championship – Jim Ferrier
 * British Open – Fred Daly
 * British Amateur – Willie Turnesa
 * U.S. Amateur – Skee Riegel
 * Women's Western Open – Louise Suggs
 * U.S. Women's Open – Betty Jameson
 * Titleholders Championship – Babe Zaharias

Horse racing
Steeplechases Flat races
 * Cheltenham Gold Cup –
 * Grand National –
 * September 1, 1947: Calumet Farm of Lexington, Kentucky became the first stable in Thoroughbred racing history to surpass $1 million in annual earnings when Armed won the Washington Park Handicap.
 * Australia – Melbourne Cup won by
 * Canada – Queen's Plate won by
 * France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by
 * Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by
 * English Triple Crown Races:
 * 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Tudor Minstrel
 * Epsom Derby – Pearl Diver
 * St. Leger Stakes – Sayajirao
 * United States Triple Crown Races:
 * Kentucky Derby – Jet Pilot
 * Preakness Stakes – Faultless. This race is remembered for radio race caller Clem McCarthy declaring Jet Pilot the winner when in reality it was Faultless.
 * Belmont Stakes – Phalanx

Ice hockey

 * Toronto Maple Leafs defeats Montreal Canadiens 4 games to 2 to win the Stanley Cup. Ted "Teeder" Kennedy scores the match-winning goal late in game six to win the Maple Leafs their first of three straight Cups, the first time any NHL team has accomplished that feat.

Motor racing

 * FIA formalizes a new World Drivers' Championship for Formula A (Formula One) open-wheel racing. It replaces the European Championship.
 * Wally Parks founds the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) to better organize drag racing.
 * 30 May – Mauri Rose wins the 31st running of the Indianapolis 500 in the Blue Crown Spark Plug Special Deidt-Offenhauser
 * 16 September – J. R. Cobb in the Railton Special breaks his own prewar land speed record, raising the mark to 394.19 mph. In doing so, Cobb records the first one-way pass over 400 mph.
 * 14 December – at the Ebony Bar at the Streamline Hotel, Daytona Beach, Florida, "Big Bill" France begins talks with influential racers and promoters that will lead to the creation of NASCAR.

Rowing
The Boat Race
 * 29 March — Cambridge wins the 93rd Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Rugby league

 * 1946–47 European Rugby League Championship/1947–48 European Rugby League Championship
 * 1947 New Zealand rugby league season
 * 1947 NSWRFL season
 * 1946–47 Northern Rugby Football League season/1947–48 Northern Rugby Football League season

Rugby union
Five Nations Championship
 * 53rd Five Nations Championship series is shared by England and Wales

Snooker

 * World Snooker Championship – Walter Donaldson beats Fred Davis 82-63.

Speed skating
Speed Skating World Championships
 * Men's All-round Champion – Lassi Parkkinen (Finland)
 * Women's All-round Champion – Verné Lesche (Finland)

Tennis
Australia England France USA Davis Cup
 * Australian Men's Singles Championship – Dinny Pails (Australia) defeats John Bromwich (Australia) 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 7–5, 8–6
 * Australian Women's Singles Championship – Nancye Wynne Bolton (Australia) defeats Nell Hall Hopman (Australia) 6–3, 6–2
 * Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Jack Kramer (USA) defeats Tom Brown (USA) 6–1, 6–3, 6–2
 * Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Margaret Osborne duPont (USA) defeats Doris Hart (USA) 6–2, 6–4
 * French Men's Singles Championship –
 * French Women's Singles Championship –
 * American Men's Singles Championship –
 * American Women's Singles Championship –
 * 1947 Davis Cup – 4–1  at West Side Tennis Club (grass) New York City, United States

Awards

 * Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Johnny Lujack, College football
 * Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Babe Didrikson Zaharias, LPGA golf