"to the fully professional Australian Football League. The competition is currently sponsored by the National Australia Bank. The competition receives an increasing amount of coverage in the media, however still lags behind the TAC Cup in terms of interest in Victoria. Australian rules football in Australia Australian rules football originated in Melbourne in 1858. It has been played continuously in every state and territory of Australia since 1915, and is particularly popular in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory where it is the most watched and most played sport. The national professional competition is the Australian Football"
"which also unofficially holds the title as the ""national sport"". The most popular sport in Australia is cricket, the most popular sport among Australian women is netball, while Australian rules football is the most popular sport in terms of spectatorship and television ratings. Australia has hosted two Summer Olympics: Melbourne 1956 and Sydney 2000. Australia has also hosted five editions of the Commonwealth Games (Sydney 1938, Perth 1962, Brisbane 1982, Melbourne 2006, and Gold Coast 2018). In 2006 Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation and qualified for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups as an Asian entrant. Australia (continent) The"
"Sport in Oceania The most popular sport in Oceania varies from country to country. The most popular sport in Australia is cricket, the most popular sport among Australian women is netball, while Australian rules football is the most popular sport in terms of spectatorship and television ratings. Rugby is the most popular sport among New Zealanders. In Papua New Guinea, the most popular sport is the Rugby league. Australia has hosted two Summer Olympics: Melbourne 1956 and Sydney 2000. Also, Australia has hosted five editions of the Commonwealth Games (Sydney 1938, Perth 1962, Brisbane 1982, Melbourne 2006), and (Gold Coast"
"Motorsport in Australia Motorsport is a popular spectator sport in Australia, although there are relatively few competitors compared to other sports due to the high costs of competing. The oldest motorsport competition in Australia is the Alpine Rally which was first staged in 1921 followed by the Australian Grand Prix, first staged in 1928. The most widely watched motorsport category is Supercars, especially at the Bathurst 1000. Other classes in Australia include Australian GT, Formula 3 and Formula Ford (open wheel racing), Superbikes, as well as various forms (cars and bikes) of speedway racing. Australia hosts a round of many"
"of the country's icons. Nationally, other popular sports include horse racing, basketball, and motor racing. The annual Melbourne Cup horse race and the Sydney to Hobart yacht race attract intense interest. In 2016, the Australian Sports Commission revealed that swimming, cycling and soccer are the three most popular participation sports. Australia is one of five nations to have participated in every Summer Olympics of the modern era, and has hosted the Games twice: 1956 in Melbourne and 2000 in Sydney. Australia has also participated in every Commonwealth Games, hosting the event in 1938, 1962, 1982, 2006 and 2018. Australia made"
"Fiji and Tonga. The most popular sport in Australia is cricket, the most popular sport among Australian women is netball, while Australian rules football is the most popular sport in terms of spectatorship and television ratings. Rugby is the most popular sport among New Zealanders. In Papua New Guinea, the most popular sport is Rugby league. Australian rules football is the national sport in Nauru and is the most popular football code in Australia in terms of attendance. It has a large following in Papua New Guinea, where it is the second most popular sport after Rugby League. It attracts"
"Athletics in Australia Athletics is a popular sport in Australia, with around 34,000 athletes, officials and coaches currently registered with the national association. Though not as high-profile as sports such as Cricket, Australian Rules Football, Rugby league or Rugby Union in Australia, athletics has produced many world sporting legends, including Edwin Flack, Betty Cuthbert, Herb Elliott, and Cathy Freeman. Australia has hosted many important athletics competitions, including the 1956 and 2000 Olympic Games, the 1938, 1962, 1982 and 2006 Commonwealth Games, the 1985 World Cup in Athletics, and the 1996 World Junior Championships. Athletics Australia is the governing body for"
"about sport, and it forms a major part of the country's culture in terms of spectating and participation. Cricket is popular in the summer, and football codes are popular in the winter. It is generally agreed that cricket enjoys the most popularity in all parts of the country. Australian traditions such as grand finals and footy tipping are shared amongst the codes. Australia's successes in events such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Cup competitions in cricket, rugby union, rugby league, field hockey, netball, and major tournaments in tennis, golf, surfing, and other sports are a source of pride"
"Oar Brad Smith Nathan Burns Bailey Wright Samantha Kerr Ellie Carpenter Clare Polkinghorne Katrina Gorry Hayley Raso Steph Catley Lisa De Vanna Caitlin Foord Soccer in Australia Soccer, also known as football, is the most played outdoor team sport in Australia, and ranks in the top ten for television audience. The national governing body of the sport is Football Federation Australia (FFA), which organises the A-League, W-League, and FFA Cup, as well as the men's and women's national teams (known as the Socceroos and the Matildas, respectively). The FFA comprises nine state and territory member federations, which oversee the sport"
"(354,800), rugby union (209,300), cricket (190,500), harness racing (190,200), tennis (171,300) and netball (123,000). For women's only sporting events, netball has the highest attendance. In 2013, netball's ANZ Championship had an 18 per cent increase on both 2011 and 2010 seasons with over 134,000 attending the first nine rounds of the season. The lack of media coverage of women's sport in Australia has presented challenges to female participants in several areas, including providing few role models and making it hard to acquire money from sponsors. In 1996, across the mediums of newspaper, radio and television, the worst coverage as a"
"Australia in 1908, it has become the largest television sport and 3rd most attended sport in Australia. Neighbouring Papua New Guinea is one of two countries to have rugby league as its national sport (with Cook Islands). Australia's elite club competition also features a team from Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city. Rugby league is the dominant winter sport in the eastern Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland. The game is also among the predominant sports of Tonga and is played in other Pacific nations such as Samoa and Fiji. In Australia, and indeed the rest of the region,"
"Sunday (with their Continuous Call Team) while Triple M has exclusive rights to games played on Monday nights. Rugby league in Australia Rugby league football in Australia has been one of the country's most popular sports since it started being played there in 1908. It is the dominant winter football code in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. In 2009, it was the most watched sport on Australian television eclipsing the AFL nationally for the first time with an aggregate audience of 128.5 million viewers. The elite club competition is the National Rugby League (NRL), which features ten"
"a peak audience of 2.4 million viewers for the final between the Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder. Cricket in Australia Cricket is one of the most popular sports in Australia at international, domestic and local levels. The peak administrative body for both professional and amateur cricket is Cricket Australia. A record 1,311,184 people played cricket across Australia in 2015–16, an 8.5 per cent increase on 2014–15 – placing cricket at No.1 as the current top participation sport in Australia. Women participation also reached record figures in 2015–16, growing nine percent to 314,936 players. According to Cricket Australia's annual report of"
"Patty Mills. New Zealand has also helped to create some NBA players as well, such as Kirk Penney, Steven Adams, and Sean Marks. Australian rules football is the national sport in Nauru and is the most popular football code in Australia in terms of attendance. It has a large following in Papua New Guinea, where it is the second most popular sport after Rugby League. Sport in Oceania The most popular sport in Oceania varies from country to country. The most popular sport in Australia is cricket, the most popular sport among Australian women is netball, while Australian rules football"
"Rugby league in Australia Rugby league football in Australia has been one of the country's most popular sports since it started being played there in 1908. It is the dominant winter football code in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. In 2009, it was the most watched sport on Australian television eclipsing the AFL nationally for the first time with an aggregate audience of 128.5 million viewers. The elite club competition is the National Rugby League (NRL), which features ten teams from New South Wales, three teams from Queensland, and one team each from Victoria, Australian Capital Territory"
"national sport due to its equal popularity in all parts of the country. Cricket is also a mass participation sport in Australia: a census conducted on behalf of Cricket Australia found that in the 2003–04 season there were 471,329 participants in Australian cricket programmes and competitions, including 47,780 female participants. In 2015–16, a record 1,300,000 Australians played formal, organised cricket during the year, an increase of nine percent over the previous year, making cricket Australia's biggest participant sport. The position of Australian Test cricket captain is regarded as one of the most important roles in Australian sport. It is often"
"revenue and spectatorship, originated in Melbourne in the late 1850s, and predominates in all states except New South Wales and Queensland, where rugby league holds sway, followed by rugby union. Soccer, while ranked fourth in popularity and resources, has the highest overall participation rates. The Australian national cricket team has participated in every edition of the Cricket World Cup. Australia have been very successful in the event, winning the tournament five times, the record number. Australia is a powerhouse in water-based sports, such as swimming and surfing. The surf lifesaving movement originated in Australia, and the volunteer lifesaver is one"
"governed by ICC East Asia-Pacific. Backyard cricket and Beach cricket, which are simplified variants of cricket played at home or on a sand beach, are also popular recreational sports in Australia. Trobriand cricket and Kilikiti are regional forms of cricket adapted to local cultures in the Trobriand Islands and Samoa respectively. Cricket is culturally a significant sport for summer in Oceania. The Boxing Day Test is very popular in Australia, conducted every year on 26 December at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne. Rugby league is the national sport of Papua New Guinea (the second-most populous country in Oceania after Australia)"
"Rugby union in Australia Rugby Union is a winter sport in Australia with a history dating back to 1864. Although traditionally most popular in Australia's rugby football strongholds of New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT, it is played throughout the nation. The principal competition in Australian rugby is Super Rugby, which is a multi-regional competition across the southern hemisphere. With the competition expanding from 14 teams to 15 for 2011 and to 18 teams in 2016, Australia entered five teams—the Reds of Queensland, the Waratahs of New South Wales, the Brumbies of the Australian Capital Territory, the Force of"
"cycling/BMXing with a participation rate of 8.2%. There are 34,000 athletes, officials and coaches currently registered with the Athletics Australia. A 2007 estimate claimed that Australian football had 615,549 participants, Basketball has become one of the most popular participation sports in Australia. In Victoria, and Melbourne, particularly, it has more participants than any other sport. Australia's warm climate and long coastline of sandy beaches and rolling waves provide ideal conditions for water sports such as swimming. The majority of Australians live in cities or towns on or near the coast, and so beaches are a place that millions of Australians"
"including Australian rules, rugby league, rugby union, soccer, Gaelic and gridiron. Australian football is the most popular sport in Australia, followed by cricket, association football and rugby league. Some form of football was first played in Australia in 1829. By the 1860s, Australian rules and rugby union clubs were established in Melbourne and Sydney. Soccer or ""British Association Football"" as it was referred to would arrive in the colony by 1870, with the first official match played in 1880. Intercolonial football matches were being played by 1879. Women's football matches were being organised by the 1920s. National football governing bodies"
"to develop a game more suited to adults and Australian conditions, the Melbourne Football Club published the first laws of Australian football in May 1859, making it the oldest of the world's major football codes. Australian football has the highest spectator attendance and television viewership of all sports in Australia, while the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's only fully professional competition, is the nation's wealthiest sporting body. The AFL Grand Final, held annually at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, is the highest attended club championship event in the world. The sport is also played at amateur level in many countries"
"major international series, including the Australian Grand Prix, a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, Rally Australia, part of the FIA World Rally Championship, and the MotoGP Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. Other international series, such as the World Superbike Championship, Speedway Grand Prix and Champ Car have held events in Australia. The most popular event is the Australian Grand Prix, currently held at Albert Park in Melbourne. It is attended by more than 300,000 spectators per year & attracts free-to-air metropolitan television ratings, of over 1 million viewers, and is televised internationally as part of the Formula One"
"the country. January February – March February – August March – September April April – August June – July September September – November October October – January October – March October – April November Sport in Australia Sport is an important part of Australian culture dating back to the early colonial period. Cricket, Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union, soccer and horse racing are among the earliest organised sports in Australia . Sport has shaped the Australian national identity through events such as the Ashes, the Melbourne Cup and the America's Cup . There are a number of professional"
"of 17 clubs have participated in the competition from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. The competition was disbanded in 2017 due to Football NSW not receiving ""the required number of applications to deliver a viable competition consistent with the standards set in previous seasons."" Australia had not had a national futsal competition since the National Indoor Soccer League of the early 1990s which had enjoyed large crowds, sponsorship and television coverage. Despite this Australian futsal continued to grow through State based competitions and the National Futsal Championships which were held annually. Australia continued to compete"
"in 2001. The city has hosted FIFA World Cup qualifiers in both 1997 2001 and 2009 Sport in Victoria The state of Victoria, Australia, has a strong sporting culture and includes many popular sports. The most popular sports played in the state are basketball, Australian rules football, cricket, shooting, soccer, and netball. Horse Racing joins that list as the most popular spectator sports. In terms of both attendance and media coverage, Australian rules football is the most popular sport in the state. The participation rate of 4% is the third highest in the country with 223,999 players counted in 2004."
"trampoline, diving, volleyball, hockey and water polo and conducts talent search activities throughout the state. Australian rules football is the most popular spectator sport in South Australia with an attendance level (of at least one match per year) of 31% of the population, compared with a national average of 16%. Two South Australian teams participate in the Australian Football League; the Adelaide Football Club, known as the Crows, and the Port Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Power. Adelaide also has a women's team in the AFL Women's league. South Australia also has a domestic men's and women's competition which is"
"Year every year since 1945. The race finishes at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania in Hobart. Another popular annual race is the Australian Three Peaks Race. Sport in Tasmania Sport in Tasmania is participation in and attendance at organised sports events in the state of Tasmania in Australia. Sport is an important part of Tasmanian culture; though, while spectator sports have grown in recent decades, overall participation in sports has declined and is currently lower than the national average. The most popular spectator sports are Cricket (summer) and Australian rules football (winter). Both sports have very long histories in"
"Macquarie's race meeting at Hyde Park, Sydney, in 1810. First run in 1861, the Melbourne Cup is known as ""the race that stops a nation"" for the enthusiasm with which Australians tune in for the annual race, and is said to encapsulate the country's twin obsessions of sport and gambling. Basketball is popular in Australia in terms of participation, especially among children. The National Basketball League (NBL) began in 1979 and is contested by eight teams—seven from Australia and one from New Zealand. The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the top women's basketball league, having begun in 1981, and"
"to similar areas in Sydney and Brisbane. The elite club competition is the National Rugby League (NRL), which features ten teams from New South Wales, three teams from Queensland, and one team each from Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The season culminates in the NRL Grand Final. The New South Wales Blues and Queensland Maroons compete in the annual State of Origin series. Australia's national team, the Kangaroos, has contested all 15 Rugby League World Cup titles, winning 11 of them. Despite attracting less media attention than Australian rules football and rugby league, soccer is Australia's highest participation"
"Soccer in Australia Soccer, also known as football, is the most played outdoor team sport in Australia, and ranks in the top ten for television audience. The national governing body of the sport is Football Federation Australia (FFA), which organises the A-League, W-League, and FFA Cup, as well as the men's and women's national teams (known as the Socceroos and the Matildas, respectively). The FFA comprises nine state and territory member federations, which oversee the sport within their respective region. Modern soccer was introduced in Australia in the late 19th century by mostly British immigrants. The first club formed in"
"between Australia and Uruguay, qualifying Australia for their first World Cup since 1974. The annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race begins in Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day. Bathurst hosts the annual Bathurst 1000 as part of the Supercars Championship at Mount Panorama Circuit. The popular equine sports of campdrafting and polocrosse were developed in New South Wales and competitions are now held across Australia. Polocrosse is now played in many overseas countries. Major professional teams include: As Australia's most populous state, New South Wales is home to a number of cultural institutions of importance to the nation. In music, New"
"rules football (usually called "" Football, Aussie rules"" or ""AFL"") is a popular spectator sport and a participation sport in all Australian states and territories, though its core support lies in four of the six states; Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. The national competition, the Australian Football League, evolved from a Victorian state competition. The AFL Grand Final is traditionally played each year at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Australian rules football culture has a strong set of rituals and traditions, many of which have crossed sporting boundaries in Australia. .66 Soccer is a high participation football code, with"