See also: 1975 in sports, other events of 1976, 1977 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • David Pearson won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Cale Yarborough
• Indianapolis 500 - Johnny Rutherford
• USAC Racing - Gordon Johncock won the season championship
• Formula One Championship:
  • James Hunt of Britain
  • Niki Lauda's famous accident occurred during the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring.
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Jacky Ickx / Gijs van Lennep won, driving a Porsche 936
• Rally racing - the team of Sandro Munari / Mario Manucci won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Stratos HF
• Drag racing: Shirley Muldowney won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA World Finals

Baseball

• April 25 - Chicago Cubs outfielder Rick Monday rescues an American flag just as two protestors are about to burn it in the outfield during a game at Dodger Stadium.
• Sparky Lyle breaks Hoyt Wilhelm's American League record of 154 career saves.
• World Series: The Cincinnati Reds (aka the "Big Red Machine") sweep the New York Yankees, 4 games to 0, to win their second straight championship.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
  • Indiana wins 86-68 over Michigan

• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics win 4 games to 2 over the Phoenix Suns

Boxing

• October 8 in São Paulo, Brazil, former world featherweight champion Eder Jofre fought his last fight, outpointing Mexico's Octavio (Famoso) Gomez in ten rounds.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Felice Gimondi of Italy
• Tour de France - Lucien Van Impe of Belgium
• World Cycling Championship: Freddy Maertens of Belgium

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: John Curry, Britain
  • Women's champion: Dorothy Hamill, United States
  • Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexander Saizew , Soviet Union

Field Hockey

• March 13 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England. England beat Scotland 3-0.
• Women's Field Hockey World Cup - Germany are the World Champions.

Football (American)

• Super Bowl X: Pittsburgh Steelers won 21-17 over the Dallas Cowboys

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Hawthorn wins the 80th VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 13.22 (100) d North Melbourne 10.10 (70))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Graham Moss (Essendon)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Ottawa Rough Riders won 23-20 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders
• Vanier Cup: Western Ontario Mustangs won 29-13 over the Acadia Axmen

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Southampton won 1-0 over Manchester United

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Ray Floyd
  2. June - US Open - Jerry Pate
  3. July - British Open - Johnny Miller
  4. August - PGA Championship - Dave Stockton

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Jack Nicklaus - $266,439

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - JoAnne Carner
• LPGA Championship - Betty Burfeindt
• Judy Rankin is the leading money winner on the LPGA tour. With total earnings of $150,734, she is the first to ever earn more than $100,000 in a season.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Van der Hum
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Norcliffe
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Ivanjica
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Malacate

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Wollow
  2. Epsom Derby - Empery
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Crow

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Bold Forbes
  2. Preakness Stakes - Elocutionist
  3. Belmont Stakes - Bold Forbes

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Keystone Ore
  2. Little Brown Jug - Keystone Ore
  3. Messenger Stakes - Windshield Wiper

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Steve Lobell
  2. Yonkers Trot - Steve Lobell
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Quick Pay

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Carclew
  • Trotters: Bay Johnny

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Clarke - Philadelphia Flyers

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 0 over the Philadelphia Flyers

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Czechoslovakia defeated the Soviet Union

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden
  • The women's overall season champion: Rosi Mittermaier, W. Germany

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Ray Reardon beats Alex Higgins 27-16
• World rankings are introduced. Ray Reardon becomes the first world number one, for 1976/77.

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Mark Edmondson
  2. French Open - Adriano Panatta
  3. Wimbledon championships - Björn Borg
  4. US Open - Jimmy Connors

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Evonne Goolagong Cawley
  2. French Open - Sue Barker
  3. Wimbledon championships - Chris Evert
  4. US Open - Chris Evert

• Davis Cup: Italy wins 4-1 over Chile in world tennis.

General sporting events

• 1976 Summer Olympics takes place in Montreal, Canada
  • USSR wins the most medals (125), and the most gold medals (49).

• 1976 Winter Olympics takes place in Innsbruck, Austria
  • USSR wins the most medals (27), and the most gold medals (13).

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Gerald Riley won with lead dogs: Puppy & Sugar

Births

• January 7 - Éric Gagné, Los Angeles Dodgers closer, 2003 National League Cy Young Award
• March 5 - Sarunas Jasikevicius, Lithuanian basketball player
• March 24 - Peyton Manning, NFL star, league co-MVP in 2003
• April 20 - Big Ben, world champion show-jumping horse
• April 25 - Tim Duncan, basketball player, two-time NBA MVP
• April 25 - Rainer Schuettler, German tennis player
• June 8 - Lindsay Davenport,US tennis star
• July 1 - Patrick Kluivert, Dutch football player
• July 1 - Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dutch football player
• September 10 - Gustavo Kuerten, Brazilian tennis star
• September 20 - Michael Ballack, German football player
• September 22 - Ronaldo, Brazilian football player
• September 29 - Andriy Shevchenko, Ukrainian football player
• October 10 - Bob Burnquist, Brazilian skateboarder

Deaths

• January 18 - Ad Verhoeven , Dutch soccer player
• February 2 - Harry Elliott , English cricket wicketkeeper
• March 6 - Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom, boxer, actor
• March 11 - Larry Gardner , Major League Baseball player (1908-1924)
• May 30 - Max Carey, Major League Baseball player (1910-1929)
• June 15 - Jimmy Dykes, Major League Baseball player (1918-1939)
• September 25 - Red Faber, Major League Baseball, pitcher (1914-1933)
• May 22 - Oscar Bonavena, Argentinian heavyweight boxer