ATTENDANCE AT SPORTS EVENTS
ATTENDANCE BY THE GENERAL ADULT POPULATION
Characteristics of persons attending
During the 12 months prior to interview in 2002, 7.0 million or 48.2% of Australians aged 18 years and over attended at least one sports event. More males (4.0 million or 56.0%) attended than females (3.0 million or 40.7%).
The attendance rate at sports events was highest for persons aged 18-24 years and declined across the age groups. Attendance rates varied among the states and territories, ranging from 43.7% in New South Wales to 56.7% in the Northern Territory (in predominantly urban areas only).
The attendance rate at sports events was higher for persons employed full-time (62.2%) than persons employed part-time (51.0%), unemployed persons (42.8%) and persons not in the labour force (27.4%).
5.1 ADULT ATTENDANCE AT SPORTS EVENTS(a), Characteristics of attendants - 2002 |
|  |
| | | NUMBER | ATTENDANCE RATE | |
| | | Males | Females | Persons | Males | Females | Persons | |
| | | '000 | '000 | '000 | % | % | % | |
| |
| Age group (years) | | | | | | | |
| 18-24 | 676.9 | 552.6 | 1 229.4 | 69.8 | 59.1 | 64.5 | |
| 25-34 | 983.7 | 696.3 | 1 680.0 | 67.6 | 47.9 | 57.8 | |
| 35-44 | 903.0 | 694.2 | 1 597.2 | 61.9 | 47.1 | 54.5 | |
| 45-54 | 732.5 | 542.3 | 1 274.8 | 55.4 | 41.0 | 48.2 | |
| 55-64 | 446.3 | 295.8 | 742.1 | 46.9 | 31.7 | 39.4 | |
| 65 and over | 274.2 | 197.7 | 471.9 | 26.9 | 16.3 | 21.2 | |
| State or territory | | | | | | | |
| New South Wales | 1 262.7 | 875.7 | 2 138.3 | 52.1 | 35.4 | 43.7 | |
| Victoria | 1 085.2 | 805.2 | 1 890.3 | 60.1 | 43.3 | 51.6 | |
| Queensland | 700.2 | 565.0 | 1 265.3 | 52.2 | 41.5 | 46.8 | |
| South Australia | 328.9 | 259.2 | 588.1 | 59.0 | 45.0 | 51.9 | |
| Western Australia | 438.3 | 324.5 | 762.7 | 61.6 | 45.5 | 53.5 | |
| Tasmania | 93.5 | 68.8 | 162.3 | 55.7 | 38.8 | 47.0 | |
| Northern Territory(b) | 33.8 | 26.0 | 59.8 | 61.3 | 51.5 | 56.7 | |
| Australian Capital Territory | 73.9 | 54.7 | 128.6 | 64.7 | 46.8 | 55.7 | |
| Region | | | | | | | |
| Capital city(c) | 2 628.4 | 1 900.8 | 4 529.2 | 56.4 | 39.6 | 47.9 | |
| Other | 1 388.1 | 1 078.1 | 2 466.3 | 55.1 | 42.7 | 48.9 | |
| Labour force status | | | | | | | |
| Employed | | | | | | | |
| | Full-time | 2 901.0 | 1 202.8 | 4 103.8 | 65.7 | 55.2 | 62.2 | |
| | Part-time | 440.5 | 935.8 | 1 376.3 | 58.6 | 48.1 | 51.0 | |
| Unemployed | 142.1 | 101.0 | 243.0 | 46.0 | 38.9 | 42.8 | |
| Not in the labour force | 533.0 | 739.4 | 1 272.4 | 31.3 | 25.1 | 27.4 | |
| Total | 4 016.6 | 2 978.9 | 6 995.5 | 56.0 | 40.7 | 48.2 | |
| |
| (a) Relates to persons aged 18 years and over during the 12 months prior to interview. |
| (b) Refers to mainly urban areas only. |
| (c) Excludes Canberra and Darwin. |
| Source: Sports Attendance, Australia, 2002 (cat. no. 4174.0). |
Attendance at selected sports
In 2002 Australian Rules football was the sport most attended by both males (1.5 million or 21.0%) and females (1.0 million or 13.4%) aged 18 years and over. The top ten sports with the highest attendance rates were the same for males and females, albeit in a slightly different order (see table 5.2). Nevertheless, for all sports, the attendance rate for females was consistently lower than that for males.
The second most highly attended sport overall was Horse racing, with 1.1 million males (14.8%), and 802,600 females (11.0%), attending. Motor sports was attended by almost twice as many males (993,300 or 13.8%) as females (480,100 or 6.6%). Rugby League was attended by 951,400 males (13.3%) and 513,200 females (7.0%).
5.2 ADULT ATTENDANCE AT SELECTED SPORTS(a) - 2002 |
| |
| Number | Attendance rate | |
| '000 | % | |
MALES | |
| |
| Australian Rules football | 1 503.9 | 21.0 | |
| Horse racing | 1 062.6 | 14.8 | |
| Motor sports | 993.3 | 13.8 | |
| Rugby League | 951.4 | 13.3 | |
| Cricket (outdoor) | 635.2 | 8.9 | |
| Soccer (outdoor) | 519.3 | 7.2 | |
| Rugby Union | 469.7 | 6.5 | |
| Harness racing | 318.9 | 4.4 | |
| Basketball | 226.0 | 3.1 | |
| Tennis | 192.5 | 2.7 | |
FEMALES | |
| |
| Australian Rules football | 982.0 | 13.4 | |
| Horse racing | 802.6 | 11.0 | |
| Rugby League | 513.2 | 7.0 | |
| Motor sports | 480.1 | 6.6 | |
| Soccer (outdoor) | 282.6 | 3.9 | |
| Cricket (outdoor) | 231.0 | 3.2 | |
| Basketball | 208.4 | 2.8 | |
| Rugby Union | 203.9 | 2.8 | |
| Tennis | 201.0 | 2.7 | |
| Harness racing | 189.4 | 2.6 | |
| |
| (a) Relates to persons aged 18 years and over during the 12 months prior to interview. |
| Source: Sports Attendance, Australia, 2002 (cat. no. 4174.0). |
Trends in sports attendance
Comparable data on sports attendance are available for 1995, 1999 and 2002, for persons aged 18 years and over. The top ten sports for all of these years were as presented in table 5.3, although in a different order each year.
The number of Australians aged 18 years and over attending a sports event (excluding motor sports) increased from 5.6 million in 1995 to 6.5 million in 2002. Over this period, there was a large increase in the number of persons attending Australian Rules football (from 1.7 million to 2.5 million) and Rugby Union (from 329,900 to 673,600). Conversely, there was a decrease in the number of persons attending outdoor cricket matches between 1995 and 2002 (falling from 1.1 million to 866,200).
5.3 ATTENDANCE AT SELECTED SPORTS(a)(b) - 1995, 1999 and 2002 |
| |
| NUMBER | ATTENDANCE RATE | |
| 1995 | 1999 | 2002 | 1995 | 1999 | 2002 | |
| '000 | '000 | '000 | % | % | % | |
| |
| Australian Rules football | 1 746.9 | 2 330.7 | 2 486.0 | 13.1 | 16.5 | 17.1 | |
| Horse racing | 1 632.2 | 1 698.8 | 1 865.2 | 12.3 | 12.8 | 12.9 | |
| Motor sports(c) | 406.3 | 1 416.0 | 1 473.4 | 3.1 | 10.1 | 10.2 | |
| Rugby League | 1 315.7 | 1 371.9 | 1 464.6 | 9.9 | 9.7 | 10.1 | |
| Cricket (outdoor) | 1 063.9 | 870.7 | 866.2 | 8.0 | 6.2 | 6.0 | |
| Soccer (outdoor) | 503.4 | 563.3 | 801.9 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 5.5 | |
| Rugby Union | 329.9 | 417.8 | 673.6 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 4.6 | |
| Harness racing | 553.3 | 508.4 | 508.3 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 3.5 | |
| Basketball | 576.0 | 461.6 | 434.4 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 3.0 | |
| Tennis | 401.8 | 404.3 | 393.5 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.7 | |
| Total sports (excl. motor sports)(d)(e) | 5 599.3 | 5 964.1 | 6 496.2 | 42.1 | 43.1 | 44.8 | |
| |
| (a) Data relates to persons aged 18 years and over during the 12 months prior to interview in the year shown. |
| (b) Data are presented for the ten main sports attended in 2002. |
| (c) The increase in motor sport attendances needs to be interpreted with caution because a specific question on motor sports attendance was asked in 1999 and 2002. |
| (d) Includes attendance at all sports, not just those listed above. |
| (e) A person attending sports events in a given year will only be counted once in the figure for Total sports, regardless of how many different sports they may have attended. |
| Source: Sports Attendance, Australia, 2002 (cat. no. 4174.0). |
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