Sitting down to watch a major sporting event from the comfort of your own sofa is simply one of life's greatest pleasures, and no sports TV programme is complete without a catchy and memorable theme tune or title music. 

Taking the prize of first place is "Beautiful Day" by U2, with a superb total score of 48.6 out of 50. Despite not appearing on our TV screens since 2004, the soundtrack to ITV's Premier League highlights show remains incredibly popular with fans of music and sports in the UK. The Irish rock band's track was UK number one, has an average monthly search volume of 7,800 searches, and has amassed 184 million views on YouTube, according to information supplied by Super Sport Soundtracks here

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In second place is "Makeba" by Jain, which is used to soundtrack Amazon Prime's football coverage. The infectious pop track has earned over 207 million streams on Spotify, plus a remarkable 1.6 million uses on TikTok, all contributing to a total score of 43.7 out of 50.

Next up is "Written in the Stars" by Tinie Tempah ft. Eric Turner. The British rapper's song was used as the title music for Sky Sports' football coverage in the early 2010's, and certainly whips up a feeling of nostalgia for more than a few more sports fans, with the song receiving a total score of 42.2.

Another Sky Sports football coverage title song ranks fourth in the shape of "The Time Is Now" by Moloko. The dancefloor filler peaked at number two in the charts back in 2000, and has received a 38.4 total score in our study.

In at fifth is Celeste's "Stop This Flame", which received a total score of 38.2. The catchy tune has served as the title music for Sky Sports' Premier League coverage since the start of the 2020/21 season. 

Other Sports TV Soundtracks to feature in our findings include Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" (37.6) in sixth place, which was used to soundtrack the BBC's coverage of Formula One racing. There's also Public Enemy's "Harder Than You Think" (34.7) in ninth place, which appeared in Channel 4's iconic coverage of the London 2012 Paralympics. 

Not every sports TV programme opts to use a pop song. The highest-scoring sports TV theme tune was, of course, the Match of the Day theme tune. Originally created by Barry Stoller, the trumpet-led tune received a total score of 21.7 to rank as the 12th most popular Sports TV Soundtrack overall. 

Ranking just behind the Match of the Day theme is Handel's "Zadok the Priest", more commonly known as the UEFA Champions League Anthem. This piece of classical music ranked as the 14th most popular Sports TV Soundtrack with an 18.3 total score.