{"id":258627,"date":"2025-11-03T00:39:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T00:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/258627\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T00:39:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T00:39:07","slug":"afl-v-nrl-the-real-no-1-sport-in-australia-has-finally-been-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/258627\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL v NRL: The real No.1 sport in Australia has finally been revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A recent national survey by Deloitte has finally settled the long-running debate over which sporting code reigns supreme in Australia \u2014 with the AFL emerging comfortably ahead of rugby league in overall fan numbers.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Deloitte Media and Entertainment Insights 2025 report, 42% of Australians identify as AFL fans, cementing its position as the nation\u2019s most-followed sport.<\/p>\n<p>Rugby league trails behind at 30%, ranking third overall \u2014 edged out not only by AFL but also by tennis in national popularity.<\/p>\n<p>The timing of the report is significant, coming as the NRL prepares to enter high-stakes negotiations for its next blockbuster broadcast deal.<\/p>\n<p>MORE:\u00a0<a target=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/au\/rugby-league\/news\/nrl-news-ashes-reece-walsh-homophobic-attacks-english-fans-kangaroos\/403b37d8dfbd35927a6c8517\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Reece Walsh hits back at homophobic attacks from English fans<\/a><\/p>\n<p>With its current $1.7 billion contract with Nine and Foxtel expiring in 2027, NRL chairman Peter V\u2019landys has boldly declared the league\u2019s next package will top the AFL\u2019s $4.5 billion broadcast bonanza signed with Seven and Foxtel in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, V\u2019landys claimed the NRL was \u201cindisputably the number one sport in Australia and the Pacific,\u201d pointing to its strong participation rates and wide-ranging appeal across genders and age groups.<\/p>\n<p>Adding weight to his argument, the NRL\u2019s 2025 grand final drew an impressive 4.5 million viewers \u2014 surpassing the AFL\u2019s 4.1 million audience and giving V\u2019landys fresh bragging rights.<\/p>\n<p>However, Deloitte\u2019s nationwide survey of 2,000 Australians aged 16 to 92 paints a different picture when it comes to overall fan followership.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The rankings show AFL leading with 42%, while rugby league, soccer, cricket, and tennis clustered around 29-32%.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the sporting rivalries, the survey also revealed shifting media habits among Australians.<\/p>\n<p>Social media use dropped sharply over the past year, with average weekly time falling from six hours and 20 minutes to five hours and 20 minutes \u2014 a decline driven largely by younger demographics.<\/p>\n<p>Platforms included in the study were YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, with younger Australians favouring video content and older users engaging with feeds and updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A recent national survey by Deloitte has finally settled the long-running debate over which sporting code reigns supreme&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-258627","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}