Australian Sporting Priority

[O'Rothlain]

Greetings (or should I say G'Day)!
Anyway, Just curious to see where sports fall into place with the australian public. What is most watched and most supported by fans: Aussie Rules, Rugby, League, Cricket?
Help me out with the order.
Cheers, and go have a Fosters! :bleh!:

 

[Ripper]

Cricket reigns supreme during the Summer with Rugby League/AFL battling it out during the winter. Both Oval Ball codes can argue to kingdom come and each bring out an encyclopedia full of stats to back up their claims, but at the end of the day nationwide its preety damn even.

 

[shtove]

How does it pan out east to west?

And I guess AFL is more rural, RL more urban.

 

[Wally]

I'll leave cricket out as its too hard to compare with the other codes, as well as any female sports as nobody cares. This is at a domestic level by the way. Also just assume that basketball comes last everywhere.

.. as far as major cities go: Brisbane (League > Rugby/AFL > Soccer) - Sydney (League > Rugby> AFL > Soccer) - Melbourne (AFL >>>> Soccer > League/Rugby) - Adelaide (AFL >>> Soccer >> Rugby) - Canberra (Rugby > League >> AFL) - Perth (AFL >>> Rugby > Soccer)

 

[DC]

i read where soccer is on the way up in australia the other day in a magazine, and that it was challenging AFL as the most popular youth sport.

that'll be a sad day when soccer becomes more popular than AFL or rugby league/union..

 

[melon]

AFL dominates NRL and Super14 in terms of TV viewing audience on TV, crowd attendances, and playing numbers. AFL is unmatched unfortunately and is the only true Australian wide sport. Unfortunately NRL is exclusive to the eastern-seaboard and the Super14 is just simply not big enough.

Soccer is on the rise and is expected to be bigger than NRL soon.

Cricket is cricket...not one of the football codes. Low attendances at Pura Cup and the other cup level. However international matches gain huge attendances.

 

[eoino]

What is it like by country?

Australia - Rugby/AFL
New Zealand - Rugby
Ireland - GAA
USA - NFL
Italy - Soccer
South Africa - Cricket/Rugby
France - Soccer/Wine making
Scotland - Soccer
England - Soccer
Wales - Soccer?..

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

Wales - Soccer?..
[/b]

As much as I hate seeing that, Soccer is a HUGE contender with rugby in this country.
But it's not Welsh football people watch. It's the premiership and England.
When you compare Welsh Rugby internationals to football at the Millenium Stadium there's no compairson. Rugby wins hands down.
But who gets the most viewers in Wales: Scrum V or Match Of The Day?

 

[The TRUTH]

What is it like by country?

Australia - Rugby/AFL

[/b]

Unfortunatley rugby is nowhere near the top sport over here.

It's AFL/Cricket, followed by League, then Rugby/Soccer fighting it out for 4th & 5th.

 

[O'Rothlain]

F'n Soccer.

It's on the rise in the US, believe it or not.
I'd have to Say in America it's like this:

1. baseball
2. football
3. basketball
4. hockey
5. soccer

and then there's all the unknown faces of the underground uprising that is Rugby.
Funny thing is, though, most guys who play Rugby in the US are completely unaware of this thing called League. I was trying to have a conversation with a guy the other day about how I thought league would actually appeal more to an american audience, and he said, "I don't have a clue what you're talking about." I was like "Rugby League." He said "I think I've heard someone use that term before, but what is that?" Then I had to explain all of the history ect...

 

[shtove]

It's kind of the same in Ireland with rugby league. Munster have just signed Brian Carney - a good catholic Irishman - to play wing. He's caused a sensation in his first two appearances, and a lot of our supporters are only just copping on to the fact that he was considered one of the best RL players in the world three years ago, when he played for Great Britain: "You mean he played for the Brits at that coalfield sport where they dry hump the ground? f***in' traitor. But we'll have him."

I don't know where all those Australian cities are. But even if rugby union is well down the pecking order, Australia have contributed more to international rugby over the last 25 years than any other nation. Thanks, and g'day.

 

[O'Rothlain]

I forgot to add NASCAR to the list it's somewhere between 2 and 4 and climbing...filthy rednecks.

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

Same in Canada. Most people in Canada know rugby as it has a cult following and most cities have a local club and all the high schools and Universities now have teams. Rugby League though is unheard of.

Canada it goes like this

1) Hockey
2) Football
3) Soccer (This sport is on a huge rise in Canada and more youth now play soccer then ice hockey)
4) Basketball
5) Baseball (This sport is losing a lot of ground if not dying outright)
6) Curling (Very popular at the spectator level/participation is diff however as it requires quite a lot of skill kind of like golf)
7) Volleyball/rugby/Formula One/Golf/Whatever other freaking sports are out there

I even shy away from including Baseball because it really is dying in Canada

 

[shtove]

Thing about soccer is that kids can play it all they like (and they love it) because it's so simple and inexpensive (and mammy's happy that there'll be no broken noses, forgetting about little Jonny's poor ankles). But I think the sport that catches you around age 11/12 is the one that stays with you - so it's down to the type of school you go to.

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

The Indians love football.
You'd think with such a huge population (close to a billion people???) that they'd be not far away from making their mark on the world.
There are so many HUGE countries with hundreds of millions of people in (canada, usa, india, china etc.) that were they to get popular they would surely become world dominators, leaving behind the likes of England, France and Germany.

I'm speaking as a totally unqualified football-know-it-all. I only know about rugby, really.
I'm just using a little bit of logic and talking it out of my arse.
But i've got a point.

 

[O'Rothlain]

The Indians love football.
You'd think with such a huge population (close to a billion people???) that they'd be not far away from making their mark on the world.
There are so many HUGE countries with hundreds of millions of people in (canada, usa, india, china etc.) that were they to get popular they would surely become world dominators, leaving behind the likes of England, France and Germany.

I'm speaking as a totally unqualified football-know-it-all. I only know about rugby, really.
I'm just using a little bit of logic and talking it out of my arse.
But i've got a point.
[/b]

No, I think you're right...any sport that America takes to heart, they can dominate. We have not only loads of people, but are obsessed with sport technology and training.

 

[DC]

<div class='quotemain'>
The Indians love football.
You'd think with such a huge population (close to a billion people???) that they'd be not far away from making their mark on the world.
There are so many HUGE countries with hundreds of millions of people in (canada, usa, india, china etc.) that were they to get popular they would surely become world dominators, leaving behind the likes of England, France and Germany.

I'm speaking as a totally unqualified football-know-it-all. I only know about rugby, really.
I'm just using a little bit of logic and talking it out of my arse.
But i've got a point.
[/b]

No, I think you're right...any sport that America takes to heart, they can dominate. We have not only loads of people, but are obsessed with sport technology and training.
[/b][/quote]

Exactly. The problem is, however, that soccer is found rather boring here without a top league with good talent, the MLS is reallly boring.

 

[O'Rothlain]

I thought the MLS was a top league with "International" talent?!?
Aren't they continualy luring in South American and Mexican players?

Soccer is, on the whole, dull. It's fun to play...and I can see the interest, but pro soccer is like pro basketball..full of pussys.

 

[DC]

haha very true, well i love watching FA Premier League Soccer because of how fast and talented the players are but on the whole the MLS just sucks compared to it its like going from regular coke to diet coke.

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

So isn't David Beckham gonna be spicing things up for America?
It seems like he's going out on a personal mission to get soccer recognised there.