The debate of Australia’s true national sport feels like a five-day cricket Test match: it goes on forever, with no clear winner in sight. Cricket is our international hero, while Aussie Rules is the homegrown champ. But who’s number one overall?
To settle the age-old argument of Australia’s true national sport, Net World Sports posed the question to more than 1,000 people nationwide. A clear winner emerged from the results, with almost half of Aussies (45.5 per cent) voting for the Australian Football League (AFL) – or simply 'Aussie Rules' or 'footy' to locals.
For many Australians, nothing beats a Saturday arvo at the pub, footy on the screen, a meat pie in one hand and a schooner in the other. And unlike other sports, AFL is a homegrown invention, first played in Melbourne in 1858.
The stats back it up too: AFL pulls the biggest crowds of any sport in Australia, with more than 100,000 fans packing the MCG for the AFL Grand Final and millions more watching on TV. Melbourne even scores a public holiday for the final – lucky buggers!
Cricket came in as runner-up for Australia’s national sport, claiming 20.5 per cent of the votes. Though born in England, it’s been played in Australia since the early 1800s – long before AFL kicked off. On the world stage, cricket is the sport most closely tied to Australia – from Ashes battles to World Cup wins – and it’s truly nationwide, played in every state and territory. Whereas AFL’s strength is more regional, with almost 70 per cent of fans in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia calling it the national sport. Meanwhile, rugby league – which took the bronze with 14.6 per cent of votes – thrives in NSW and QLD thanks to the State of Origin.
The main takeaway? Australia’s idea of our ‘national sport’ isn’t just shaped by tradition and geography, but by gender and age too. For instance, rugby draws more recognition from women (17.1 per cent) than men (12 per cent), while cricket is backed by more men (25.7 per cent) than women (15.6 per cent). On the age front, younger Aussies (18-24) were the only group to put rugby league ahead of cricket, while the 65-plus category had the closest margin between AFL and cricket. Scroll down to see the full ranking.
The top 10 sports Australians consider our national sport
- Australian Rules Football (AFL) – 45.5 per cent
- Cricket – 20.5 per cent
- Rugby League (NRL) – 14.6 per cent
- Soccer – 5.6 per cent
- Tennis – 3.6 per cent
- Swimming – 2.9 per cent
- Rugby Union – 2.2 per cent
- Surfing – 0.8 per cent
- Basketball – 0.7 per cent
- Netball – 0.6 per cent