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Most Attended Sports in Australia

Australians love their sport, whether it is playing or watching, and there are a wide range of sports that they follow. The Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released information in December 2010 about the attendance figures to sporting events which provide an interesting snapshot of what Australians like to watch.

Australian Rules football clearly wins in the battle of the football codes, with horse racing and harness racing surprises on the list. The highest ranked predominantly 'female' sport is netball at 12th, which seems low for this sport which would be highly ranked in terms of participation.

See more discussion on Australia's most popular sport.



Spectators at Australian Sporting Events (2009-2010)

The data provided is for males and females aged 15 years and over from a whole year prior to an interview in 2010, who attended a sporting events at least once as spectators (excluding junior and school sport).

Rank Sport Total Attendance %
1 Australian Rules Football (AFL) 2,831,800 16.2
2 Horse racing 1,940,300 11.1
3 Rugby League 1,563,800 8.9
4 Motor sports 1,423,000 8.1
5 Soccer (outdoor) 938,800 5.4
6 Cricket (outdoor) 678,700 3.9
7 Rugby Union 575,500 3.3
8 Harness racing 412,100 2.4
9 Tennis (indoor and outdoor) 293,700 1.7
10 Dog racing 281,400 1.6
11 Basketball (indoor and outdoor) 220,800 1.3
12 Netball (indoor and outdoor) 176,700 1.0
13 Hockey (indoor and outdoor) 87,100 0.5
14 Soccer (indoor) 72,400 0.4
15 Lawn bowls 42.400 0.2
16 Horse riding / equestrian activities / polo 41,700 0.2
17 Cycling/BMXing 41,100 0.2
18 Touch football 40,300 0.2
19 Boxing 38,500 0.2
20 Cricket (indoor) 36,000 0.2

Source



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Lists Extra

Football/Soccer is clearly the world's most popular sport, and has the most popular athletes, but which sport has the fittest players (but not necessarily the greatest athlete). These players do not always earn the most. The best of the best have made it to our 7 Sporting Wonders Lists.

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