See also: 1945 in sports, other events of 1946, 1947 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Baseball

• January 23: Hall of Fame election: The writers' vote again fails to select an inductee, despite a newly revamped voting process. Voting again favors earlier candidates from the 1900s and 1910s, but none is able to gain 75% of the vote.

• Jackie Robinson plays for the Montreal Royals, the AAA affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first African-American to play in organised baseball in the 20th century. Vincent "Manny" McIntyre from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada becomes the first Black Canadian to sign a professional baseball contract (with the Sherbrooke Canadians).

• April 23: The Hall of Fame Committee clears the deadlock at the top of the writers' ballot by selecting 11 new inductees, primarily from the popular candidates of the 1900s and 1910s: Jesse Burkett, Frank Chance, Jack Chesbro, Johnny Evers, Clark Griffith, Tommy McCarthy, Joe McGinnity, Eddie Plank, Joe Tinker, Rube Waddell and Ed Walsh. Selections of 19th century players are largely postponed. It is decided that the writers will henceforth select only players retired within the more recent past, rather than from the entire 20th century.

• June 15: When some ballplayers jumped to the Mexican League, MLB Commissioner Happy Chandler mentions a lifetime suspension for them, but his penalty is later reduced (1949).

• July 14: Player-manager Lou Boudreau of Cleveland Indians hits four doubles and one home run, but Ted Williams wallops three HRs and drives in eight runs, as the Boston Red Sox top the Indians 11-10. In the Sox second-game win, the famous "Boudreau Shift" is born. Boudreau shifts all his players, except the third baseman and left fielder, to the right side of the diamond in an effort to stop Williams. Ted grounds out and walks twice while ignoring the shift.

Basketball

• National Basketball Association formed as the Basketball Association of America

• The fourth European basketball championship, Eurobasket 1946, is won by Czechoslovakia.

Football American Football

• The All-America Football Conference begans play. The Cleveland Browns win the championship by beating New York Yankees 14-9.
• The Chicago Bears win the NFL crown by defeating the New York Giants 24-14 in New York.

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Essendon wins the 50th VFL Premiership (Essendon 13.8 (86) d Carlton 11.19(85))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Don Cordner (Melbourne)

Football (soccer)

England

• FA Cup - Derby County beat Charlton Athletic 4-1 after extra time.
• The Football League resumes playing for the 1946-47 season.

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Joe Davis beats Horace Lindrum 78-67, then announces his retirement from the event after this, his 15th consecutive victory.

Births

• January 1 — Manfred Stengl, Austrian luger
• January 10 — Robert Gadocha, Polish footballer
• January 11 — Ludmila Poradnik, Soviet handball player
• January 21 — Johnny Oates, baseball catcher and manager (d. 2004)
• March 1 — Jan Kodeš, Czech tennis player
• March 3 — Charles Asati, Kenyan athlete
• April 30 — Don Schollander, American swimmer
• May 1 — Valentin Muratov, Soviet floor exercise gymnast
• May 17 — Sinaida Turchina, Soviet handball player
• May 20 — Mario Guilloti, Argentine boxer
• May 24 — Selwyn Maister, New Zealand field hockey player
• May 31 — Steve Bucknor, Jamaican international cricket umpire
• June 2 — Warwick Wright, New Zealand field hockey player
• July 7 — Jim Day, Canadian equestrian show jumper
• July 10 — Juan Amat, Spanish field hockey player
• July 19 — Ilie Năstase, Romanian tennis player
• July 31 — Zbigniew Kaczmarek, Polish weightlifter
• August 6 — Dusty Rhodes, Australian baseball coach
• August 29 — Bob Beamon, American high jumper
• September 2 — Uli Vos, German field hockey player
• September 3 — René Pijnen, Dutch cyclist
• September 7 — Eduard Thelen, German field hockey player
• September 9 — Evert Kroon, Dutch water polo goalkeeper
• September 10 — James Hines, American track and field athlete
• September 30 — Barry Weitzenberg, American water polo player
• October 1 — Eva Klobukowska, Polish relay sprinter
• October 1 — Alfred Jones, American middleweight boxer
• October 1 — Winnie van Weerdenburg, Dutch swimmer (d. 1998)
• October 6 — Bart Bongers, Dutch water polo player
• October 8 — Lennox Miller, Jamaican champion runner (d. 2004)
• October 11 — Sawao Kato, Japanese gymnast
• October 23 — Miklós Németh, Hungarian javelin thrower
• November 8 — Guus Hiddink, Dutch football (soccer) player and coach
• November 28 — Wolfgang Rott, German field hockey player
• November 29 — Suzy Chaffee, American alpine skier
• December 3 — Joop Zoetemelk, Dutch cyclist
• December 29 — Laffit Pincay, Jr., Panama-born jockey

Deaths

• March 24 — Carl Schuhmann (76), German athlete (b. 1869)

1946 en sport | 1946年のスポーツ | Sportåret 1946