Posts Tagged Australia Athletics

Version 3: Most popular Australian athlete and team related Twitter accounts by total followers.

Posted by Laura on Monday, 31 May, 2010

This post is basically an update of Version 2: Most popular Australian athlete and team related Twitter accounts by total followers. I haven’t actively sought to improve or update the accounts included on this list though there are a few new accounts.  A few accounts have been deleted and one has been suspended, LanceFranklin. Deleted and suspended accounts have been marked with a 0 for total number of followers.

This data was gathered on May 30, 2010.  It includes non-Australian teams that compete in Australian based leagues.  It also contains Australian some athlete accounts where the athlete competes for a club in an Australian based league.

League Team Account Total followers
First class cricket New South Wales Blues PH408 (unofficial) 11902
Super 14 Pretoria Bulls (Northern Bulls) VictorMatfield (unofficial) 7452
Super 14 Natal Sharks JohnSmit123 (unofficial) 7221
NRL Wests Tigers LoteTuqiri (unofficial) 6688
NRL NRL NRL 5469
AFL Essendon Bombers Essendon_FC 5242
AFL Collingwood Magpies Collingwood_FC 5183
AFL Adelaide Crows Adelaide_FC 5008
AFL Melbourne Demons jimstynes (unofficial) 4476
AFL Sydney Swans sydneyswans 4340
AFL Essendon Bombers JobeWatson (unofficial) 4284
AFL Collingwood Magpies harry_o (unofficial) 4174
AFL Essendon Bombers AngusMonfries (unofficial) 3801
Super 14 Wellington Hurricanes Hurricanesrugby 3696
NRL St. George Illawarra Dragons RealBigDell (unofficial) 3688
AFL St. Kilda Saints stkildafc 3351
Super 14 Wellington Hurricanes neyza3 (unofficial) 3330
AFL Carlton Blues Carlton_FC 3223
NRL Gold Coast Titans mat_rogers6 (unofficial) 3056
Super 14 Canterbury Crusaders mornesteyn (unofficial) 2790
AFL Geelong Cats Geelong_FC (unofficial) 2667
Super 14 Queensland Reds QuadeCooper (unofficial) 2363
NRL Brisbane Broncos BrisBroncosClub 2322
AFL Richmond Tigers Richmond_FC 2085
NRL Gold Coast Titans GCTitans 2052
AFL Hawthorn Hawks HawthornFC 2031
AFL Melbourne Demons nathan2jones (unofficial) 2019
World Cup Socceroos Socceroos 1998
NRL New Zealand Warriors (Auckland Warriors) nzwarriors (unofficial) 1959
A-League Melbourne Victory gomvfc 1959
AFL North Melbourne Kangaroos northkangaroos 1891
World Cup Socceroos socceroos_news (unofficial) 1668
Super 14 Cape Town Stormers (Western Stormers) THESTORMERS 1652
NRL Parramatta Eels jarryd_hayne (unofficial) 1643
Super 14 Wellington Hurricanes Powza13 (unofficial) 1619
First class cricket New South Wales Blues NBRACKEN142 (unofficial) 1559
NRL North Queensland Cowboys northqldcowboys 1544
AFL Melbourne Demons CamSchwab (unofficial) 1542
AFL Port Adelaide Power PAFC 1539
AFL Melbourne Demons DemonsHQ (official) 1522
Super 14 Durban Sharks (Coastal Sharks)(Natal Sharks) sharksrugby 1521
AFL West Coast Eagles WCEofficial 1475
NRL Wests Tigers Wests_Tigers (unofficial) 1440
AFL Hawthorn Hawks Hawks_AFL (unofficial) 1396
NBL Melbourne Tigers Follow24Hodge (unofficial) 1338
First class cricket New South Wales Blues ClarkeVC (unofficial) 1268
NRL South Sydney Rabbitohs SSFCRABBITOHS 1263
ANZ Championship Melbourne Vixens MelbourneVixens 1232
AFL Fremantle Dockers Fremantle_FC 1232
First class cricket Victorian Bushrangers Bushrangers 1189
NRL Manly Sea Eagles manlyseaeagles 1129
NRL Melbourne Storm MelbStormRLC (official) 1124
NBL Adelaide 36ers Adelaide36ers 1030
AFL Gold Coast Football Club GoldCoastFC 1001
NRL Sydney Roosters sydroosters (unofficial) 995
Super 14 Canterbury Crusaders crusadersrugby 962
AFL Brisbane Lions ALFbrisbane (unofficial) 908
AFL Collingwood Magpies PeterDaicos (unofficial) 903
A-League Melbourne Victory mitchlangerak (unofficial) 881
NRL Penrith Panthers penrithpanthers (unofficial) 840
NRL Parramatta Eels parramatta_eels 838
A-League Central Coast Mariners Football Club LawrieMcKinna 815
A-League Central Coast Mariners Football Club LawrieMcKinna (unofficial) 815
AFL North Melbourne Kangaroos andrewswallow (unofficial) 810
Super 14 New South Wales Waratahs HSBCWaratahs 772
NBL Wollongong Hawks wollongonghawks 757
NRL Melbourne Storm MelbourneStorm_ (unofficial) 750
A-League Melbourne Victory adrianleijer (unofficial) 745
A-League North Queensland Fury FC nqfuryfc 744
Super 14 Queensland Reds RedsRugby (unofficial) 732
ANZ Championship Melbourne Vixens SharelleVixens 724
Super 14 Queensland Reds Reds_Rugby 705
NRL South Sydney Rabbitohs rabbitohs (unofficial) 699
Super 14 ACT Brumbies BrumbiesRugby 683
NRL Parramatta Eels PirtekParraEels (unofficial) 670
AFL Collingwood Magpies collingwoodnews (unofficial) 649
Super 14 Natal Sharks KeeganDaniel (unofficial) 632
First class cricket Queensland Bulls andrew_symonds (unofficial) 608
NRL South Sydney Rabbitohs therabbitohs (unofficial) 605
NBL Perth Wildcats perthwildcats 591
AFL Collingwood Magpies bigdyman (unofficial) 568
A-League Melbourne Victory victoryinmelb 552
NBL New Zealand Breakers johnrillie (unofficial) 537
AFL West Coast Eagles wingsofperth (unofficial) 536
NRL New Zealand Warriors (Auckland Warriors) thenzwarriors 521
AFL Fremantle Dockers Freo_Dockers (unofficial) 519
NBL South Dragons Joeingles7 (unofficial) 516
NRL Gold Coast Titans AshHarrison1 (unofficial) 498
NRL South Sydney Rabbitohs benross23 (unofficial) 487
AFL St. Kilda Saints njbrown17 (unofficial) 481
A-League Brisbane Roar BNERoar (unofficial) 471
NSW Premier League Sydney Olympic MarkBosnich (unofficial) 470
Super 14 Melbourne Rebels melbournerebels 469
NRL Gold Coast Titans lukeodwyer (unofficial) 467
Basketball Australia Australian Boomers aussieboomers 465
AFL Fremantle Dockers FremantleFC (unofficial) 453
A-League Newcastle Jets newcastle_jets 441
A-League Adelaide United adelaideunited 423
NRL Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks SharksOnline (unofficial) 422
A-League Sydney FC SFCNews (unofficial) 421
A-League Perth Glory PerthGlory_FC 414
Netball Australia Netball Australia NetballAust 377
NRL Canberra Raiders RaidersCanberra 375
NRL Parramatta Eels PlanetEels (unofficial) 374
A-League Adelaide United adelaidereds 350
ANZ Championship Queensland Firebirds laurafirebirds (unofficial) 338
NRL Brisbane Broncos broncosbigfan (unofficial) 336
First class cricket Tassie Tigers crickettas 328
NBL Wollongong Hawks milisimic (unofficial) 327
NBL Perth Wildcats nickmarvin (unofficial) 322
NRL St. George Illawarra Dragons mighty_dragons (unofficial) 321
NBL Townsville Crocodiles TsvCrocs 313
NBL Melbourne Tigers Wortho33 (unofficial) 313
A-League Wellington Phoenix wgtnphoenixfc 307
Netball Victoria Netball Victoria netballvic 306
A-League Brisbane Roar brisbaneroar 305
ANZ Championship Adelaide Thunderbirds NatTbirds 304
AFL West Coast Eagles WestCoastEagles (unofficial) 294
NBL Townsville Crocodiles chomicide (unofficial) 287
NBL Cairns Taipans Dusty_Rychart (unofficial) 283
AFL Brisbane Lions AFLBrisbaneFC 283
NRL Parramatta Eels blueandgoldarmy (unofficial) 280
NRL Brisbane Broncos BrisbaneBronco (unofficial) 274
ANZ Championship New South Wales Swifts SusanSwifts 263
AFL Melbourne Demons MelbourneFC (unofficial) 263
NRL Manly Sea Eagles gorgeousgrose (unofficial) 248
AFL West Coast Eagles MitchJbrown17 (unofficial) 242
Netball Australia Australian Diamonds (national team) AussieDiamonds 242
NRL Wests Tigers fakebrycegibbs (unofficial) 222
NRL Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Fergo1990 (unofficial) 220
First class cricket New South Wales Blues eddiecowan (unofficial) 213
AFL Essendon Bombers essendonfc (unofficial) 212
NBL New Zealand Breakers oscarforman (unofficial) 203
A-League Gold Coast United GCUSC 202
Super 14 ACT Brumbies Hoilesy (unofficial) 201
NRL Brisbane Broncos broncobasher (unofficial) 200
Rugby League/State of Origin New South Wales Blues NSWRL 198
First class cricket South Australian Redbacks (Southern Redbacks) RedbacksT20 196
A-League Central Coast Mariners Football Club CCMarinersFC (unofficial) 183
NBL Perth Wildcats TheRealSchensh (unofficial) 179
First class cricket Victorian Bushrangers petersiddle (unofficial) 171
ANZ Championship New South Wales Swifts nswswifts 171
NBL Townsville Crocodiles rustyhinder (unofficial) 168
Super 14 Western Australia Force (Western Force) s14_force 163
Basketball Australia Australian Opals AustralianOpals 160
NRL Parramatta Eels 1eyedeel (unofficial) 159
Super 14 Queensland Reds s14_queensland (unofficial) 153
WNBL WNBL WNBL 152
NBL New Zealand Breakers NZBreakers 152
AFL Sydney Swans BionicSwan (unofficial) 151
Rugby League/State of Origin Queensland Maroons QLD_Maroons 144
A-League Melbourne Victory victorytwit (unofficial) 144
VFL Casey Scorpions CaseyScorpions 144
Super 14 Central Cheetahs (Vodacom Cheetahs) VodacomCheetahs 141
ANZ Championship Adelaide Thunderbirds AdelaideTBirds 135
VFL North Ballarat Roosters NB_Roosters 134
NBL Adelaide 36ers DarrenNg8 (unofficial) 128
AFL Fremantle Dockers ryanmcrowley (unofficial) 124
AFL North Melbourne Kangaroos Marcus__White (unofficial) 121
A-League Melbourne Victory mvfcfanzone 114
AFL Hawthorn Hawks bmsew (unofficial) 113
NBL Adelaide 36ers jgovereasy (unofficial) 113
NRL St. George Illawarra Dragons jsaffy (unofficial) 111
NRL Newcastle Knights Corypato (unofficial) 110
Australia Athletics Australian Flames (national team) australianflame 108
NRL Balmain Tigers tigers1908 (unofficial) 106
ANZ Championship West Coast Fever SusanWCFever 93
AFL St. Kilda Saints RWBFooty (unofficial) 93
Gridiron Australia Nationals Perth Blitz fatloaf (unofficial) 91
AFL Melbourne Demons matesOmelbourne (unofficial) 90
AFL Western Bulldogs ccaallward (unofficial) 88
Netball New South Wales Sydney_Netball 88
First class cricket Queensland Bulls qldcricket 81
NBL Sydney Kings sydneykings 73
AFL Fremantle Dockers briansham (unofficial) 71
A-League Sydney FC SydneyFC 69
AFL Richmond Tigers yellow_n_black (unofficial) 67
SFL Caulfield Bears CaulfieldBears 66
NBL Townsville Crocodiles JoshJenkins24 (unofficial) 65
AFL Melbourne Demons demonwiki (unofficial) 65
NBL Adelaide 36ers BenFitz (unofficial) 64
Semi Professional Basketball League Semi Professional Basketball League SEABL 58
NRL Gold Coast Titans Aaron_Cannings (unofficial) 57
NBL Adelaide 36ers 36ers (unofficial) 55
NBL South (Melbourne) Dragons SAVEOURDRAGONS (unofficial) 49
AFL Collingwood Magpies VictoriaParkHC (unofficial) 49
Claxton Shield Barbagallo Perth Heat PerthHeat 48
NBL Wollongong Hawks danjackson9 (unofficial) 39
NBL Townsville Crocodiles Kegs42 (unofficial) 39
AFL Essendon Bombers bomberblitz (unofficial) 37
NSW Premier League Manly United ManlyUnited 35
WNBL Bendio Spirit bendigospirit 35
NBL Townsville Crocodiles willo43 (unofficial) 34
NRL Parramatta Eels parraeels (unofficial) 33
NBL Gold Coast Blaze Vandy21 (unofficial) 33
Netball New South Wales Petersham RUFC Netball Club PetershamNetbal 32
Brisbane Netball Association ACE Netball Club ACENetball 31
Plenty Valley Netball Association Orcas Netball Orcas_Netball 30
WNBL Dandenong Jayco Rangers JaycoRangers 30
AFL Fremantle Dockers bc8977 (unofficial) 20
VFL Port Melbourne Borough BoroughBoy (unofficial) 19
NBL Townsville Crocodiles ToffCedar (unofficial) 16
NBL Townsville Crocodiles cameronwhiting (unofficial) 12
WNBL Logan Thunder loganthunder 11
NBL Adelaide 36ers brad_393 (unofficial) 6
Gridiron Australia Nationals Perth Blitz perthblitz 1
NRL Wests Tigers beauryan_winger (unofficial) 0
NSW Premier League Sydney United addsie (unofficial) 0
A-League Sydney FC SydneyFC0910 0
Super 14 Queensland Reds ezytaylor (unofficial) 0
A-League Melbourne Victory MVFCVIDEOS (unofficial) 0
AFL Melbourne Demons jordiemck (unofficial) 0
AFL Hawthorn Hawks LanceFranklin (unofficial) 0
WNBL Dandenong Jayco Rangers jennaohea (unofficial) 0
AFL Brisbane Lions AFLbrisbanelion 0

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Popularity of Australian sports leagues across various social networks

Posted by Laura on Saturday, 13 March, 2010

I’ve been checking the number of people who list a team as an interest across a number of social networks.  Yesterday, for networks where I had information on 215 teams I have on my list, I added together the number of people who listed a team as an interest in various leagues.  I got the following table.

League Total DW DJ JF IJ Blurty Inksome CrazyLife LiveJournal Blogger Facebook Twitter Gaia Online
AFL 266883 7 3 4 13 7 1 5 613 168 239480 26582 1
AFL Canberra 2 1 1
A-League 73559 90 44 69060 4363 2
ANZ Championship 2200 5 860 1335
Australia Athletics 83 83
Basketball Australia 326 326
Brisbane Netball Association 21 21
Claxton Shield 1615 1580 35
Commonwealth Bank Trophy 3 2 1
First class cricket 34573 1 1 3 29 22400 12140
Gridiron Australia Nationals 66 66
NBL 7899 1 1 1 30 5 4220 3641
Netball Australia 1651 1580 71
Netball New South Wales 22 22
NRL 180242 7 7 2 8 411 78 167585 12138 6
NSW Premier League 316 1 4 311
Plenty Valley Netball Association 20 20
Rugby League/State of Origin 61519 1 1 18 61320 179
Super 14 49838 1 1 1 85 5 37460 12284 1
VFL 208 3 1 204
Victorian Amateur Football Association 1 1
WNBL 38 9 29
Women’s Flat Track Derby Association 760 760

Interesting to see what networks have what populations.  The WNBL is only really an interest on 2 networks while the AFL is present on every network.  These networks all have different population sizes so total numbers is really apple to oranges in some ways.  I then decided to rank the leagues by how popular they were on each network.  The most popular league ranks 1, the next most popular league ranks 2.  If there is a tie, they share the same rank.  The results of that are in the following table:

League Blogger Blurty Crazy
Life
Dreamwidth Dead
Journal
Facebook Gaia Online Inksome Insane
Journal
Journal
Fen
Inksome Live
Journal
Twitter Average
rank
Total people
AFL 1 2 1 1 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.30 266884
NRL 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 4 1.77 180242
First class cricket 3 2 6 1 1 6 3 3.14 34574
A-League 3 3 2 3 5 3.2 73559
Super 14 4 3 3 3 5 3 4 2 3.37 49838
NBL 4 3 3 3 7 5 6 4.42 7899
Rugby League/State of Origin 3 4 2 7 11 5.4 61519
NSW Premier League 3 10 9 7.33 316
AFL Canberra 2 13 7.5 2
Basketball Australia 8 8 326
ANZ Championship 10 9 7 8.66 2200
Commonwealth Bank Trophy 6 12 9 3
VFL 6 11 10 9 208
Netball Australia 8 13 10.5 1651
Women’s Flat Track Derby Association 11 11 760
WNBL 8 16 12 38
Claxton Shield 9 15 12 1615
Australia Athletics 12 12 83
Victorian Amateur Football Association 13 13 1
Gridiron Australia Nationals 14 14 66
Netball New South Wales 17 17 22
Brisbane Netball Association 18 18 21
Plenty Valley Netball Association 19 19 20

This table is a bit more interesting.  Across most networks, the AFL is the most popular league.  The NRL is the second most popular league.  First class cricket, compromising state cricket teams, is the third most popular.  The A-League and Super 14 are close behind.  When you get down near the bottom, patterns become interesting.  The WNBL is not as popular as Women’s Flat Track Derby Association.  This is largely a result of the large number of fans on Facebook.  AFL Canberra is also more popular than the VFL.  This is because of the high rank on JournalFen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_attendance_figures_at_domestic_professional_sports_leagues lists the attendance by league for six Australian sports leagues in 2009.  I cannot find a better list of attendance data for Australian sports league, especially the minor leagues.  That makes the rest of this analysis a bit problematic but moving forward anyway… This data is then put into the following table:

League Average rank Total people Total attendance 2009 Average attendance 2009
AFL 1.30 266884 6370350 36195
NRL 1.77 180242 3084481 16065
Super 14 3.2 49838 2021376 21504
A-League 3.37 73559 1166966 12966
NBL 3.14 7899 644976 3665
First class cricket 4.42 34574 308590 18153

For total number of people attending during the course of a season, it certainly seems to track with the average league rank on the social networks in this sample.  Total people and total attendance seems to track some too.  I ran the correlation to confirm these observations:

Total attendance 2009 Average attendance 2009
Average rank -0.892632665 -0.511836009
Total people 0.949552518 0.769754845

Total attendance does correlate meaningfully.  Average attendance isn’t as meaningful but the correlation is still relatively strong.  There is a relationship there.

I’ve found that similar relationships exist with American baseball teams.  The issue of course is: Cause and effect.  Does high fan attendance lead to more fans listing their teams as an interest on social media? Or does becoming interested in a team on social media sites lead people to attending games?  It feels like the first but I have no evidence either way.

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