Australia Sports – The 14 Most Popular Sports in Australia

The Most Popular Australian Sports

Find below Australia national sports, ranked by popularity:

So there you have them, the main sports in Australia. Keep reading below for more information about each of them.

What is the National Sport of Australia?

The national sport of Australia is Cricket.

Cricket is one of the first sports that was brought to the country, alongside athletics and horse racing. Australia is very famous for its cricket team, and the sport is overall loved by everyone in the country.

Learn More About Australia Popular Sports

Australia is the largest island on the planet. It is also the sixth-largest country in the world, and it counts several smaller islands. It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and lies next to New Zealand. While its largest city is Sydney, its capital city is Canberra, which counts more than 431,000 inhabitants.

An interesting part of the country that I wanted to tackle is its most popular sports. In light of that, I have listed all the major sports in Australia below.

Australian Rules Football

Tom Reynolds / CC BY

The most popular sport in Australia is, by far and away, Australian Rules Football. Australian Rules football is a sport that is overall quite similar to American football. It is played with teams of 18 players, on an oval field that resembles a cricket field.

This sport dates back to the 19th century and is a major part of Australian sports traditions. It is a widely followed sport, and it was exported to other countries like Vietnam or China.

Famous Australian Australian Rules Football players: Ron Barassi, Norm Smith, Bob Skilton, Dustin Martin, Simon Black, Roy Cazaly, Adam Goodes, Wayne Carey, Chris Judd, James Hird, Matthew Scarlett, John Coleman, Stephen Silvagni, Nic Naitanui, Royce Hart, Tony Lockett

Cricket

The second most popular sport in Australia is cricket. You already know about cricket being Australia’s national sport, but despite this, it is not the number 1 sport in Australia. While very popular, nothing comes close to Australian Rules football on the island.

Australia is famous on the whole planet for its cricket team, as it has seen immense success. Cricket is played both on a local scale (in all provinces, Western Australia, South Australia, and Queensland for instance) and on an international scale.

Famous Australian Cricket players: Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Donald Bradman, Steve Smith, Matthew Hayden, Glenn McGrath, Allan Border, Dennis Lillee

American Football

The third in the list of the most popular sports of Australia is American football. American Football is seriously on the rise in Australia. This has been the case since its introduction after World War II, and it seems that Australian people won’t let go of it.

On top of playing the game and watching the national league, many Australians actively follow the National Football League of the United States. Most of all, they really love the Super Bowl.

Famous Australian American Football players: Arryn Siposs, Valentine Holmes, Mitch Wishnowsky, Jordan Mailata, Michael Dickson, Cameron Johnston, Adam Gotsis

Rugby League

The fourth most popular sport in Australia is the Rugby League. Rugby League dates back to 1908 in Australia. It was introduced by Englishmen and has never stopped growing since then. It is the most popular winter sport in the country, and it regularly attracts more than 100 million spectators!

Australia has one of the best Rugby League teams in the world, alongside their neighbors from New Zealand, with which they enjoy a very strong and emblematic rivalry. This sport is often seen as a working man’s sport since it comes from the working-class communities of Northern England.

Number of Rugby League licensed players in Australia: 466,182

Famous Australian Rugby League players: Andrew Johns, Arthur Beetson, Wally Lewis, Bob Fulton, Brad Fittler, Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston, Clive Churchill, Laurie Daley

Golf

The fifth most popular sport in Australia is golf. Golf has a long and rich history in Australia. It was first introduced to the country in 1839, and now has a Professional Golfers Association Tour of Australia, which is the main men’s tour in the country. The ladies’ tour, the ALPG Tour, has been around since 1972.

The governing body of golf in Australia is Golf Australia, and it was formed in 2006 after the merger of previous organizations Australian Golf Union and Women’s Golf Australia.

Famous Australian Golf players: Adam Scott, Jason Day, Greg Norman, Ian Baker-Finch, Steve Elkington, David Graham, Geoff Ogilvy, Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle, Wayne Grady, Karrie Webb

Rugby Union

The sixth most popular sport in Australia is Rugby Union. You must have heard of Australia’s Rugby Union team. While they are not the #1 team in the world, and they are not as renowned as New Zealand’s All-Blacks or South Africa’s Springboks, they are still ranked #3, quite close to them actually.

Rugby Union in Australia dates back to 1864, and its governing body is Rugby Australia. There is also a women’s league, known as Super W. It was introduced in 2018.

Number of Rugby Union licensed players in Australia: 86,952

Famous Australian Rugby Union players: David Campese, John Eales, George Gregan, Tim Horan, Michael Lynagh, Mark Ella, Stephen Larkham, Ken Catchpole, George Smith

Football

The seventh most popular sport in Australia is football. Football, and by that I mean soccer, is taking a huge, huge hit in Australia. While it is by far the most popular sport in the world, it is only seventh on this list. Don’t get fooled however, as it is on the rise, and it remains very popular overall.

Football is mostly a spectator sport, and Australians love watching European Leagues like La Liga or Premier League. They have a national team that reached the round of 16 at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Famous Australian Football players: Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill, Mark Viduka, Mark Schwarzer, Johnny Warren, Mark Bosnich, Lucas Neill, John Aloisi, Mark Bresciano, Brett Emerton

Tennis

The eighth most popular sport in Australia is tennis. Tennis Australia has been ruling over tennis in Australia since 1904. It was formerly known as the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia.

Now, the Australian Open is the biggest national tournament. It is the first of the four Grand Slam events of the year, making it a very important one. The golden age of Australian tennis was during the 1950s. They won the Davis Cup 15 times from 1950 to 1967 thanks to players like Frank Segdman or Roy Emerson.

Number of Tennis licensed players in Australia: 1,000,000

Famous Australian Tennis players: John Newcombe, Rod Laver, Pat Cash, Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Lleyton Hewitt, Ken Rosewall, Norman Brookes, Frank Sedgman

Basketball

The ninth most popular sport in Australia is basketball. While basketball is far from the top 5 in Australia, it is definitely on the rise.

Similar to tennis, Australia had its own golden age of basketball. It was during the 1990s when the National Basketball League had its best days. Unfortunately, the popularity of basketball started to decline at the beginning of the 2000s.

The governing body of basketball in Australia is Basketball Australia, and it was established in 1939.

Famous Australian Basketball players: Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Ben Simmons, Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Andrew Bogut, Luc Longley, Kyrie Irving, Aron Baynes

Water sports

The tenth most played sport in Australia is water sports. Considering Australia is an island and it boasts an incredible 59,736 km / 37,118 mi of coastline (longer than the circumference of the Earth!), with wonderful beaches and ideal weather, it does not really come as a surprise that water sports are popular on the island.

In fact, Australia is considered to be one of the best surfing destinations on the planet, and it is also home to great swimmers like Ian Thorpe.

Famous Australian Water sports players: Ian Thorpe, Dawn Fraser, Leisel Jones, Petria Thomas, Susie O’Neill, Grant Hackett, Murray Rose, Lisbeth Trickett, Michael Klim

Motorsports

The eleventh most popular sport in Australia is motorsports. Motorsports are growing all around the world, and the same happens in Australia. It is most of all a spectator sport, obviously, and the oldest motorsport competition in the country is the Alpine Rally, which dates back to 1921. The Australian Grand Prix was subsequently created in 1928.

Many other international series are hosted in Australia, like the MotoGP Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix or the Speedway Grand Prix.

Famous Australian Motorsports players: Jack Brabham, Adam Macrow, Alan Gurr, Alan Jones, Frank Gardner, Gary Brabham, Brendon Cook, Bob Jane, Larry Perkins, Kevin Bartlett, Peter Brock, Will Power

Squash

The twelfth most popular sport in Australia is squash. The governing body of squash in Australia is Squash Australia. The sport was introduced in 1913 at the Melbourne Club in Victoria.

Squash is definitely a popular sport in Australia now, and the country boasts 7 former world #1 players! Some of the most famous Australian squash legends are Geoff Hunt, Sarah Fitz-Gerald and Heather McKay. There are still many high-ranked squash players that come from Australia nowadays, in both men’s and women’s squash.

Number of Squash licensed players in Australia: 300,000

Famous Australian Squash players: Geoff Hunt, Heather McKay, Chris Dittmar, Sarah Fitz-Gerald, David Palmer, Michelle Martin, Rachael Grinham, Vicki Cardwell

Athletics

The thirteenth most famous sport in Australia is athletics. While athletics are definitely not part of the top sports in Australia, they still gather more than 34,000 athletes and coaches. There are obviously even more Australians that enjoy running as a pastime.

Many great athletics events were hosted in Australia, like the 1956 and 2000 Olympic Games, as well as the 1996 World Junior Championships. Nick Winter, an Australian triple jumper, was the first to set the world record at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games.

Number of Athletics licensed players in Australia: 34,000

Famous Australian Athletics players: Cathy Freeman, Betty Cuthbert, Sally Pearson, Raelene Boyle, Shirley Strickland, Jai Taurima, Benita Johnson, Debbie Flintoff-King, Marjorie Jackson

Badminton

The fourteenth and last biggest sport in Australia is badminton. Badminton is a very popular sport in Asia overall, and it is also played in Australia, though not as widely spread.

Its governing body is named Badminton Australia, and it was founded in 1932. There are both senior and junior tournaments (like the June Bevan Teams Event).

The sport appeared in Australia in the regions of Victoria, at the beginning of the 20th century.

Famous Australian Badminton players: David Phillip Bamford, Travis Denney, Ashley John Brehaut, Peter Grant Blackburn, Ross James Smith, Gronya Somerville, Renuga Veeran

So there you have them, these were all the most famous sports in Australia. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today. Keep reading to learn a few other facts. 

What is the fastest growing sport in Australia?

Rugby League is by far the fastest growing sport in Australia. Even though many people know the country for its Rugby Union team, it is the Rugby League variant that takes it all.

On top of being followed by more and more people, it is played by more than 466,000 players in the country!

What is the most watched sport in Australia?

With more than 7,517,000 spectators, the Australian Football League is the most watched sport in Australia. The second is the National Rugby League, with more than 3,176,000 spectators… which is less than half of the #1!

The Australian Football League was founded in 1896 and enjoys more and more spectators and players over the years.

More Sports Facts!

Loved these Australian sports facts? Want to see what sports are the most popular in other countries?

Then check out these posts:

• Famous Sports in Canada
• Famous Sports in the US
• Famous Sports in Japan

Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.

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