1949 in sports

Auto racing

The first 24 hours of Le Mans is held since the beginning of World War II. Luigi Chinetti and Lord Seldson win the race in a Ferrari 166M.

January 28: The New York Giants sign their first black players: Negro Leaguers outfielder Monte Irvin and pitcher Ford Smith. Both men are assigned to Jersey City. Irvin will star for the Giants, but Smith is not destined to reach the major leagues.
May 5: Hall of Fame election: After a runoff election was necessary, Charlie Gehringer is selected for induction; on May 9, the Old-Timers Committee elects Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown and Kid Nichols as its first selections in 3 years.
June 5: MLB Commissioner Happy Chandler lifts the ban on all players who jumped to the Mexican League, starting in 1946.
June 15: Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Eddie Waitkus is shot in Chicago by deranged fan Ruth Ann Steinhagen.

Cleveland Browns 21–7 San Francisco 49ers for the All-America Football Conference championship. After the 1949 season, the Browns, 49ers and original Baltimore Colts would joined the NFL for the 1950 season.

Victorian Football League
- Essendon wins the 53rd VFL Premiership (Essendon 18.17 (125) d Carlton 6.16 (52))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Ron Clegg (South Melbourne) and Col Austen (Hawthorn)

England – FA Cup: Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Leicester City 3–1
Italy – a plane carrying the Torino team crashes into a mountain on May 4, killing everyone on board. Of the entire squad, only one player (who didn't fly, due to injury) survived, as well as potential signing Ladislao Kubala, who was due to fly but did not, due to his son's ill health.

New Zealand – September 3, blackest day in All Blacks history when they lost two test matches, 6–11 to the Wallabies in Wellington, and 3–9 to the Springboks in South Africa.