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The most popular sport in Australia, determined by participation, spectator and television viewer numbers, is "Cricket".
It is commonly referred to as Australia's unofficial "national sport". Unlike the winter football codes that are divided in popularity among different states of Australia, Cricket generates far greater public interest throughout all parts of Australia on an international, domestic and local level.
In 2010 Australia had 550 000 registered cricketers and the Australian men's team is ranked as Australia's favourite International sporting team. It is one of the most successful teams in international sport.
On a domestic level, each of the six Australian states has its own team that competes in three separate competitions over summer. Local club cricket is also popular, as well as social cricket that includes variations such as backyard and beach cricket. Indoor cricket also has a strong following in all states of Australia.
Also determined by participation, spectator and television viewer numbers - the most popular winter sport in Australia are the two Rugby football codes. Both games generate public interest on an international, domestic and local level.
There are just under 650 000 registered players of the Rugby codes Australia wide, 500 000 - Rugby League and 150 000 - Rugby (Union). As of 2011, the major Rugby (Union) competition - "Super 14" will increase to 3 international conferences made up of five local based teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and will be known as "Super 15".
Soccer (Association Football) enjoys an extremely high junior participation in numbers across the country, however as players have grown in age they have tended to move to either Rugby League or Australian Rules depending on their location throughout Australia.
Other popular team based sports in Australia include Netball and Hockey. After suffering a significant loss of popularity in the 90s Basketball has also shown a recent increase in participation at a junior level.
Popular non-team based sports in Australia include Swimming, Golf, Tennis, Surfing and Horse Racing. Recently Australia's fastest growing sport has been Motorsport, in particular - V8 Supercars.
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JordanThe most accurate way to measure the most popular sports in Australia is through attendance by non-participants. The latest figures available for this is through the 2005-06 Multi-Purpose Household Survey, the results of which have been published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
According to this site, the most popular sports in Australia by attendance are:
- Australian Rules football (AFL), with an attendance rate of 16%
- Horse-racing (13%)
- Rugby league (9%)
- Motor sports (9%)
- Cricket (5%)
- Rugby Union (4%)
- Soccer (4%)
- Harness racing
- Dog Racing
- Basketball (2%)
- Tennis (2%)
- Netball (1%)
According to another source, Repucom/ Daily Telegraph, which surveyed a smaller cross-section of the population, cricket was selected as the most popular sport in Australia by participation, spectator and television viewer numbers. Designated Australia's "national sport", the Australian men's cricket team is ranked as Australia's favourite and most successful international sporting teams.
Touch and volleyball are both sports which are becoming increasingly popular with younger Australians.
Australia's most popular recreational sports are swimming, cycling, walking and bushwalking, and watersports such as boating, surfing and body-boarding. Wind surfing, water-skiing, sailing and fishing are all very popular as well.
One major difference between Australia and places such as Europe and North America, there is little opportunity for winter sports such as ice-hockey and ice-skating. However, the snow season starts early in June in the Australian Alps (New South Wales and Victoria) and parts of Tasmania, and at these times, visitors flock to the snowfields for skiing and other snow sports. The snow season continues through to September.
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