1982 in sports

Alpine skiing

Alpine Skiing World Cup:
- Men's overall season champion: Phil Mahre, United States
- Women's overall season champion: Erika Hess, Switzerland

Super Bowl XVI – the San Francisco 49ers (NFC) won 26–21 over the Cincinnati Bengals (AFC)
- Location: Pontiac Silverdome
- Attendance: 81,270
- MVP: Joe Montana, QB (San Francisco)
Orange Bowl (1981 season):
- The Clemson Tigers won 22-15 over the Nebraska Cornhuskers to win the college football national championship
Strike – First regular season strike by NFL players ends on November 16 after 57 days.

World Cup in Spain – Italy beats West Germany 3-1 for their third title.
Champions' Cup – Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern München
UEFA Cup – Two legs; 1st leg IFK Göteborg 1-0 Hamburger SV; 2nd leg Hamburger SV 0-3 IFK Göteborg. IFK Göteborg won 4-0 on aggregate. 66 fans died in the Luzhniki disaster during the UEFA Cup second round match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem in Moscow on 20 October.
Cup Winners' Cup – Barcelona 2-1 Standard Liège
Super Cup – Two legs; 1st leg Barcelona 1-0 Aston Villa; 2nd leg Aston Villa 3-0 Barcelona. Aston Villa won 3-1 on aggregate
Copa Libertadores de América – Two legs; 1st leg Peñarol 0-0 Cobreloa; 2nd leg Cobreloa 0-1 Peñarol. Peñarol win 1-0 on aggregate
England – FA Cup – Tottenham Hotspur won 1-0 over Queens Park Rangers

Victorian Football League
- Carlton wins the 86th VFL Premiership (Carlton 14.19 (103) d Richmond 12.13 (83))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Brian Wilson (Melbourne)
- The inaugural VFL Players Association Most Valuable Player Award goes to Leigh Matthews (Hawthorn). The award would be renamed the Leigh Matthews Trophy in his honour in 2002.

March 27 – KBO League, a professional baseball league in South Korea, a first officially game held.Template:Citation needed
May 30 – Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles plays the first of what will become a record-breaking 2,632 consecutive games
July 13 – Montreal hosts the first MLB All-Star Game outside the United States. Reds SS Dave Concepción hits a 2-run home run in the 2nd inning to spark the National League to its 11th consecutive win over the American League 4-1. The NL has now won 19 of the last 20 contests. Concepción was named the MVP.
August 18 – Pete Rose sets record with his 13,941st plate appearance.
World Series – St. Louis Cardinals won 4 games to 3 over the Milwaukee Brewers to claim their first World Championship since 1967. The Series MVP was Cardinals catcher Darrell Porter.
The Salem Angels won the Northwest League championship.

May 4 to May 15 – 1982 World Amateur Boxing Championships held in Munich
June 11 – Larry Holmes defeats Gerry Cooney for the WBC Heavyweight title. Cooney, a white challenger, was dubbed "The White Hope" in what built up to be a very racially toned fight: see Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney.
November 12 – Aaron Pryor defeats Alexis Argüello in what would later be called the fight of the decade. Pryor retained the WBA's world Jr. Welterweight title with a 14th round knockout
November 13 – Ray Mancini defeats Duk Koo Kim by knockout in 14 rounds in a tragic fight. Kim died four days later and the fight's outcome brought many new resolutions to boxing.
December 3 – The Carnival of Champions; Wilfredo Gomez defeats Lupe Pintor by a 14th round knockout and Thomas Hearns defeats Wilfred Benitez by a 15 rounds majority decision; all four boxers are later enshrined as members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.