What is the most popular sport in Australia?
Read on to find out.
As with every country globally, sports is an activity received with great acclaim and excitement in Australia.
The country is rich in cultural values celebrates the successes its contingents have recorded in various sports.
The versatility of sports in Australia also makes it a teeming ecosystem of young talents who are passionate and determined to get to the pinnacle of their chosen careers.
Aside from engaging in sports professionally, many in Australia enjoy sports for recreational as well as health purposes.
But among the large array of sports available to many Australians, few have seen an increase in participants in recent years.
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Table of Contents
The Most Popular Sports in Australia
10. Rugby League
One of Australia’s fastest-growing sports, Rugby League is the most searched sports on the internet in Australia.
Aside from the amount of attention it enjoys in the digital world, rugby is played by about 466,182 players in Australia.
The sports started in Australia in the earlier 20th century precisely 1908.
Rugby League features weekly games in domestic leagues in Australia.
In 2018 the Australian Super Rugby League recorded an average of 71,000 viewers, which was a nine percent jump from the previous year.
9. Basketball
Being a fairly popular sport in Australia, basketball is rated as the second most popular team participation sport in the region.
The sport also attracts about 1 million players in Australia.
The NBA largely influences the rise in basketball participation in far-away America, including the domestic basketball league and the National Basketball League in Australia.
The national basketball team also enjoys a good media following as well as support from Australians.
Basketball, which was first played in Australia in February 1897, is popular in parts of Australia like Victoria.
8. Tennis
Tennis is among the most favorite sports in the Australian digital space.
But aside from that, tennis’ dominance has been on the rise in recent years due to grand slam tournaments such as the Australian Open, which brings the best tennis players to Australian soil.
The 2019 Australian Open final was attended by more than 796,435 Australians, which was a significant increase from the previous year.
The Australian Open men’s finals were viewed by 1.58 million people, while more than one million individuals viewed the women’s final.
This increase has made tennis one of the most popular sports in Australia.
7. Soccer
More than a century ago, soccer was introduced in Australia.
Ever since then, the sport has seen an increase in viewers and participants.
Soccer is the most watched outdoor sport in Australia.
Australians’ true passion for soccer is often seen when the big names in the sport go head to head on Australian soil.
The 2015 game between Real Madrid and Manchester United drew about 99,000 attendees.
About 3 million Australians watch the FIFA World Cup while about 3.8 million watches the World Cup, English Premier League, or the Australian domestic soccer league.
6. Rugby Union
Not to be confused for the rugby league, rugby union is much different from Australia’s rugby league.
The Rugby Union is played by 15 players and differs from the rugby league in the model of tackle.
Rugby Union allows 7 seven substitutions in a game which differs from the rugby league.
The game, which originates from the 19th century, boasts of about 86,952 players in Australia.
The Australian National Rugby Union team dubbed the Wallabies has been quite successful, winning the Rugby World Cup on two occasions.
5. Golf
Steadily seeing an increase in recent years, golf has been one of Australia’s most popular sports in recent years.
Golf, which was first played in 1839, has since progressed to become one of Australia’s most favorite sports.
The PGA Tour of Australasia, which happens to be one of Australia’s major golf events, attracts some of the world’s best golf players.
The PGA Tour of Australasia also features a good number of Australians who have been successful at the tournament.
4. National Rugby League
The National Rugby league (NRL) is no different from the rugby played in the rugby league.
The NRL is played by male teams from Australia and New Zealand.
About 116 million aggregate audiences viewed the National Rugby League (NRL) from both Australia and New Zealand.
In 2017, the NRL was watched by about 6.5 million Australians.
These numbers evidently on the rise prove the National Rugby League is one of the most-watched sports in Australia.
3. American Football
American football or gridiron is another sport that has been on the rise since its inception in Australia during world war II.
American football is played by 2,500 players in 73 teams in Australia.
Australians also follow the action in the National Football League (NFL) in faraway America.
The Super Bowl is one event that especially attracts thousands of Australians.
2. Cricket
Australia has made the headlines worldwide in the game of cricket.
The favorite sport, which dates back to 1803, has seen immense success in recent years.
Cricket, played by more than a million Australians, was viewed by about 4 million people in 2015 when Australia defeated New Zealand to win the Cricket World Cup.
The sports further enjoy incredible domestic participation, which further boosts the popularity of cricket in Australia.
1. Australian Rules Football
Aussie Rules, officially known as Australian Rules Football (AFL) or Australian football, is the most popular sport in Australia.
It is a contact sport played by eighteen players per team.
The sport dates back to the 19th century, and it is deeply rooted in Australian traditions.
AFL is played by 1,404,176 registered players in 25,770 registered clubs as of 2016.
In 2017, the Grand finale of Australian Football was watched by over 8.4 million Australians making the AFL the most-watched sport in Australia.
The popularity of the sport has been extended beyond Australia’s boundaries into other countries such as China.
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Final Words
There you have it—the top-10 most popular sports in Australia as of 2021.
The funfair and emotions that are mostly associated with sports events are not absent in Australia.
Which fan-favorite Australian sports did you expect should have made this list?
Please share it with us in the comments section below.
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AFL is the most femous sports in australia.
1. Australian Rules Football with the national league, the AFL, dominates Australian sport like the NFL dominates the U.S.A. with American football.
2. Cricket’s traditional form is almost dead and only the introduction of much shorter versions has stopped its catastrophic demise.
3. American Football in Australia is about as popular as Australian football in America.
4. Rugby league with it’s “national” league, the NRL is contracting slightly a.t.m.
5. Golf is stable at best a.t.m.
6. Rugby union is experiencing a severe decline in Australia a.t.m.losing elite teams and players.
7. Soccer in Australia is played before very small crowds and is contracting as immigrants convert to contact sports.
8. Tennis is another sport in Australia that is well past its peak with diminishing interest.
9. Basketball pulls smaller crowds than soccer in Australia and it’s participation figures seem to be highly inflated like those of soccer.
10. Gaelic Football has larger participation figures than American Football in Australia. In summary, only Australian Football is experiencing SIGNIFICANT gains in Australia with most incumbent sports stalled or declining.
cricket is national sport and aussies with 5 wcs and such good average attendance more than IPL are watching BBL so check facts before posting mate / buddy watever u are.
Australian football is only really popular in Victoria so it is not a nationwide sport like cricket
How would Cricket rate as a teamsport with other team sports?
Australian football is the dominant sport in not just Victoria Andrew, but South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory, Tasmania and southern N.S.W. It is also gaining a lot of popularity in regional Queensland.
So other than Sydney through to Brisbane, it dominates the Australian landscape. And yes, even more so than Cricket.
Test cricket is not dying buddy, look at the ratings for this summer… yeah 🤫
I have seen so many differnt ratings for cricket in Australia, that non can be taken as reliable. Rephrasing. Does anyone have the popularity of team sports of 5 or more per team, in Australia? Consideration should include Association Footbal, Australian rules Football, American Football, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Baseball,Rounders, Cricket, Netball, Basketball, Volleyball, Waterpolo, field Hockey and Ice Hockey. How do these compare with each other?