MEDIA RELEASE
21 December 2010	Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)	166/2010

Around 2.8 million Australians aged 15 years and over attended an Australian Rules football game during 2009-10, according to the latest sports attendance figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Horse racing (11%), rugby league (9%) and motor sports (8%) also attracted over 1 million attendees. Soccer was the only popular sport to report a significant increase from the last survey in 2005-06 (2% increase).

Attendance rates at horse racing, motor sports, cricket, rugby union and harness racing reduced from 2005-06.

Nearly half (43%) of Australians attended at least one sporting event in 2009-10, similar to that in 2005-06 (44%). Males reported higher attendance rates (50%) than females (37%) across nearly all sporting events.

More males than females attended Australian Rules football (19% and 13%). However, twice as many males attended motor sports (11% and 5%) and cricket (6% and 2%) than females. Females reported higher attendance rates than males at tennis and netball.

The rate of attendance declined with increasing age, and increased with higher income. Australians aged 15-17 years reported the highest attendance rate (58%) with people aged 65 years and over reporting the lowest attendance rate (23%).

Further details and state level statistics are in Spectator Attendance at Sporting Events, Australia (cat. no. 4174.0).

Media Note:

When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.