Australian Sports Fandom on Blogger
I’ve finished tallying the number of fans by team for blogger. The following chart is sorted by most popular teams first, least popular teams last.
Australian Sports Fandom on Blogger
| State | League | Interest | Blogger | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | AFL | Sydney Swans | 34 | |
| Victoria | AFL | Collingwood Magpies | 22 | |
| Western Australia | AFL | West Coast Eagles | 22 | |
| New South Wales | A-League | Sydney FC | 18 | |
| South Australia | AFL | Adelaide Crows | 14 | |
| Queensland | NRL | Brisbane Broncos | 12 | |
| Queensland | AFL | Brisbane Lions | 12 | |
| Victoria | AFL | Geelong Cats | 12 | |
| Victoria | AFL | Western Bulldogs | 12 | |
| Victoria | A-League | Melbourne Victory | 11 | |
| Victoria | AFL | Essendon Bombers | 10 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Wests Tigers | 10 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 8 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Parramatta Eels | 8 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Sydney Roosters | 8 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 6 | |
| South Australia | A-League | Adelaide United | 5 | |
| Western Australia | AFL | Fremantle Dockers | 5 | |
| Victoria | AFL | Melbourne Demons | 5 | |
| Western Australia | A-League | Perth Glory | 5 | |
| Victoria | AFL | Richmond Tigers | 5 | |
| Australian Capital Territory | NRL | Canberra Raiders | 4 | |
| Victoria | AFL | Carlton Blues | 4 | |
| Victoria | NRL | Melbourne Storm | 4 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Newcastle Knights | 4 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 4 | |
| Victoria | AFL | St. Kilda Saints | 4 | |
| Victoria | AFL | Hawthorn Hawks | 3 | |
| Victoria | AFL | North Melbourne Kangaroos | 3 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Penrith Panthers | 3 | |
| New Zealand | A-League | Wellington Phoenix | 3 | |
| Queensland | NBL | Brisbane Bullets | 2 | |
| New Zealand | NRL | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 2 | |
| Queensland | NRL | Gold Coast Titans | 2 | |
| Victoria | Commonwealth Bank Trophy | Melbourne Phoenix | 1 | |
| New Zealand | NRL | New Zealand Warriors | 1 | |
| New South Wales | A-League | Newcastle Jets | 1 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Newtown Jets (defunct) | 1 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | North Sydney Bears (defunct) | 1 | |
| South Australia | AFL | Port Adelaide Power | 1 | |
| Queensland | Brisbane Netball Association | ACE Netball Club | 0 | |
| South Australia | NRL | Adelaide Rams (defunct) | 0 | |
| South Australia | ANZ Championship | Adelaide Thunderbirds | 0 | |
| Australian Capital Territory | Commonwealth Bank Trophy | AIS Canberra Darters | 0 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Annandale Dales (defunct) | 0 | |
| Australia | Netball Australia | Australian Diamonds (national team) | 0 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Balmain Tigers (defunct) | 0 | |
| Western Australia | Claxton Shield | Barbagallo Perth Heat | 0 | |
| Queensland | A-League | Brisbane Roar | 0 | |
| New Zealand | Super 14 | Canterbury Crusaders | 0 | |
| New Zealand | ANZ Championship | Canterbury Tactix | 0 | |
| New South Wales | A-League | Central Coast Mariners Football Club | 0 | |
| New Zealand | ANZ Championship | Central Pulse | 0 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Cumberland (defunct) | 0 | |
| Victoria | Victorian Amateur Football Association | Fitzroy Lions | 0 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Glebe Dirty Reds (defunct) | 0 | |
| Queensland | NRL | Gold Coast Chargers (defunct) | 0 | |
| Queensland | AFL | Gold Coast Football Club | 0 | |
| Queensland | NRL | Gold Coast Giants (defunct) | 0 | |
| Queensland | NRL | Gold Coast Seagulls (defunct) | 0 | |
| Queensland | A-League | Gold Coast United | 0 | |
| New South Wales | Commonwealth Bank Trophy | Hunter Jaegers | 0 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Hunter Mariners (defunct) | 0 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Illawarra Steelers (defunct) | 0 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 0 | |
| Victoria | Commonwealth Bank Trophy | Melbourne Kestrels | 0 | |
| Victoria | ANZ Championship | Melbourne Vixens | 0 | |
| New South Wales | ANZ Championship | New South Wales Swifts (Sydney Swifts) | 0 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Newcastle Rebels (defunct) | 0 | |
| Queensland | NRL | North Queensland Cowboys | 0 | |
| Queensland | A-League | North Queensland Fury FC | 0 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Northern Eagles (defunct) | 0 | |
| New Zealand | ANZ Championship | Northern Mystics | 0 | |
| Victoria | Plenty Valley Netball Association | Orcas Netball | 0 | |
| Western Australia | Commonwealth Bank Trophy | Perth Orioles | 0 | |
| Western Australia | NRL | Perth Reds (defunct) | 0 | |
| New South Wales | Netball New South Wales | Petersham RUFC Netball Club | 0 | |
| Queensland | AHL | Queensland Blades | 0 | |
| Queensland | KFC Twenty20 Big Bash | Queensland Bulls | 0 | |
| Queensland | ANZ Championship | Queensland Firebirds | 0 | |
| Queensland | Rugby League/State of Origin | Queensland Maroons | 0 | |
| Queensland | Claxton Shield | Queensland Rams | 0 | |
| Queensland | Super 14 | Queensland Reds | 0 | |
| Queensland | Gridiron Australia Nationals | Queensland Sundevils | 0 | |
| Queensland | NRL | South Queensland Crushers (defunct) | 0 | |
| New Zealand | ANZ Championship | Southern Steel | 0 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | St. George Dragons (defunct) | 0 | |
| New Zealand | ANZ Championship | Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic | 0 | |
| Western Australia | ANZ Championship | West Coast Fever | 0 | |
| Western Australia | NRL | Western Reds (defunct) | 0 | |
| New South Wales | NRL | Western Suburbs Magpies (defunct) | 0 |
What I didn’t find all that surprising was the dominance of AFL teams at the top. They have eight of the twelve spots for teams with double digit fans on their service. Of the remaining four spots, two are for the A-League and two are for the NRL. The presence of the A-League feels a bit surprising as I didn’t think that soccer was that popular in Australia, at least compared to the NRL. I do recall a fair amount of advertising for the A-League and they are beginning to build more soccer purpose built stadiums in Australia.
For the 28 teams with 1 to 9 fans, all are from the NRL, AFL or A-League with the exception of the Melbourne Phoenix who played in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy. I am a bit surprised that some of the more popular netball teams on Facebook, Twitter and bebo didn’t make the list for blogger. I’m not surprised that other leagues didn’t make the list as most of these leagues are for secondary sports.
There are 227 total listings for people who list a team as an interest. (There may be duplicates, where a person lists more than one team as an interest.) Of the population, 144 or 63% identify themselves as male, 63 or 28% identify themselves as female and 20 or 9% do not identify a gender. This feels in line with how sports fandom tends to be depicted when looked at by gender: Male dominant but with a growing female demographic.
Of the 227, only 154 listed their birthdate and had their astrological sign displayed. The distribution amongst various astrological signs is pretty even with the smallest representation at 7 or 5% for Taurus and the largest at 17 or 11% for Pisces. The distribution for specific teams is much less even, but much of this can be attributed to the small sample size.
142 of he 227 list their age when problematic ages, like 253, are removed. The oldest fans are those for the Richmond Tigers, who average 41.6 years. This community is small though, with only three people listing their age. The Parramatta Eels have the oldest average age for a team with five or more people who list their age. Their average age is 35.8. The NRL and AFL are evenly distributed for teams with the oldest fans. Penrith Panthers has the youngest average fan age at 18, but the population size is only one. For a team with five or more people listing them as an interest, the Melbourne Victory win with an average age of 22.8.
167 fans list an Australian state of residence. (There may be more Australian in this sample but they don’t necessarily list their state.) The most popular state for sports fans on blogger listing an Australian team as an interest in New South Wales, with 62 people. Victoria is second with 43. Queensland is third with 28. Western Australia is fourth with 15. South Australia is fifth with 11. The ACT has 5, Tasmania has 2 and the Northern Territory has 1. In the ACT, the most popular team is the Brisbane Lions with 2 fans. In New South Wales, Syndey FC is the most popular team with 16 fans. The Roosters are the second most popular with 7 fans, which is a pretty big difference between the most popular and second most popular teams. The Collingwood Magpies are the most popular team in the Northern Territory with 1 fan. The Brisbane Lions are the most popular team in Queensland with 7 fans. The Broncos are the second most popular with 4 fans. The Adelaide Crows are the most popular team in South Australia with 8 fans. The only other team listed as an interest by people listing the state as their place of residence were Adelaide United of the A-League. No NRL team interested people from that state. From Tasmania, 1 person listed the Geelong Cats as an interest and 1 person listed the Richmond Tigers as an interest. In Victoria, the Collingwood Magpies were the most popular team with 12 people listing them as an interest. The second most popular team with 7 fans was Melbourne Victory. In Western Australia, there are two most popular teams: Fremantle Dockers and Perth Glory with 5 fans each. There is no second most popular team. The other five people from the state evenly distribute their interest with one fan for five teams. I don’t feel well enough informed at this point to know if this reflects on existing regional sports fandom patterns.