Sports started in the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University with the arrival of the pioneer students in 1981 A Sports Unit with Professional staff coordinates all the University’s sporting activities. Apart from the world-class sports facilities in Bauchi State, which are also open to the University, we have an in-door Multi-purpose Sports Hall and other facilities.

The University is a member of the Nigerian Universities Games Association (NUGA) and    students participate in NUGA games every two years. Students also participate in the activities of the following international sporting organizations:

• West African Universities Games (WAUG)
• Federation of African Universities Sports (FASU).
• The University had the rare privilege and honour to reactivate the games which had been moribund since 1978. It hosted FASU in 2004 at Bauchi, Nigeria.
• Federation of International Universities Sports (FISU).  As a University, our students were on the Nigerian team at the China games.