Australian Sports Teams Benchmark Report

Teams SpAusotralirants BenchmarkReport March2023 Introduction Notwofanbasesareexactlythesameandtheyallhavesomethinguniquetoofferoutsideofthestandardviewership,attendanceandfannumberstoriessooftensold.Marketersneedtounderstandthedifferentsellingpointsthatateamhastoofferinordertogrowtheirfanbase. Thereportwillexaminevariousdemographicindicators,aswellasbrandhealthmetricsandattitudestatementstoprovideperformancescorecardsacrosstheclubsineachsportsleaguein2022. ThefollowingAustralianmalesportsleagueteamshavebeenincludedinthisreportforcomparison. A-LeagueMen AustralianFootballLeague(AFL)BigBashLeague(BBL) NationalBasketballLeague(NBL)NationalRugbyLeague(NRL)SuperRugbyAUteams Rank Points TotalScore=SumofPoints Rank Club TotalScore 1st MelbourneDemons 48pts 1st SydneySwans 48pts 3rd GeelongCats 39pts 4th BrisbaneLions 38pts 4th WellingtonPhoenix 38pts 6th MelbourneStorm 37pts 7th MelbourneCityFC 36pts 8th BrisbaneBroncos 32pts 9th RichmondTigers 31pts 10th CollingwoodMagpies 29pts 11th AdelaideUnited 28pts 12th PerthGlory 27pts 13th WesternBulldogs 26pts 14th WesternUnited 24pts 15th MacarthurFC 22pts 15th SouthSydneyRabbitohs 22pts 17th SydneyFC 18pts 18th South-EastMelbournePhoenix 17pts 19th NewZealandWarriors 15pts 19th PenrithPanthers 15pts 19th NorthQueenslandCowboys 15pts 20th SydneyRoosters 13pts 20th AdelaideCrows 13pts 20th Canterbury-BankstownBulldogs 13pts 20th SydneySixers 13pts TotalScoreCalculation 1st 10pts 2nd 9pts 3rd 8pts 4th 7pts 5th 6pts 6th 5pts 7th 4pts 8th 3pts 9th 2pts 10th 1pts 1 WesternBulldogsFootballClub(AFL) 38.9% 2 IllawarraHawks(NBL) 38.4% 3 South-EastMelbournePhoenix(NBL) 35.9% 4 SydneyRoosters(NRL) 35.8% 5 WesternUnited(A-League) 35.4% 6 NewcastleKnights(NRL) 35.1% 7 RichmondFootballClub(AFL) 35.0% 8 Canterbury-BankstownBulldogs(NRL) 34.9% 9 NewZealandBreakers(NBL) 34.8% 10 WellingtonPhoenix(A-League) 34.8% MostYouthfulFanbase(18-34)-Top10 Oneofthebiggestchallengesforsportsclubsisattractingthetimeandattentionfromtheyouth,particularlythoseagedbetween18-24whichYouGovProfilesshowsarenotonlylessinterestedinsportcomparedtotheiroldercounterparts,butalsohavelowerfanaviditywhentheyareinterested. Accordingtothelatestcensus,GenZmakesup18%oftheAustralianpopulation,whileMillennialsaccountfor22%.It’sclearthatreachingtheyoungergenerationsandattractingthisaudienceiscrucialtoanysportsbrandwhowanttoconvertthemintoloyallong-termfans. AcrossallAustralianmen’sclubs,theWesternBulldogswereshowntohavetheyoungestfanbase(38.9%)followedbytheIllawarraHawks(38.4%)andSouth-EastMelbournePhoenix(35.9%). Theseareuniquesellingpointsfortheseclubsandmayfindthemselvesextrasuitableforbrandslookingtotargetandappealtotheyoungerdemographic. A-League AustralianFootballLeague BigBashLeague NationalBasketballLeague NationalRugbyLeague SuperRugbyAUTeams Source:YouGovSport.Profiles.52weeksofdata.Dataset:01/01/2023 Fandefinition:TeamSupport(InsertTeam)|Youthfuldefinition:Agedbetween18-34|Sample:TeamFansn=357-2,007 1 CollingwoodFootballClub(AFL) 48.6% 2 GeelongFootballClub(AFL) 47.1% 3 RichmondFootballClub(AFL) 47.0% 4 FremantleDockersFootballClub(AFL) 46.4% 5 WestCoastEaglesFootballClub(AFL) 46.1% 6 NorthQueenslandCowboys(NRL) 45.1% 7 WesternBulldogsFootballClub(AFL) 45.1% 8 PenrithPanthers(NRL) 43.9% 9 ParramattaEels(NRL) 43.5% 10 BrisbaneBroncos(NRL) 43.3% MostGenderDiverseFanbases-%FemaleFans SportsfanshavetraditionallybeenmaledominatedandaccordingtoYouGovProfileswomenonlymakeup35%ofcoresportsfansdespitethegrowthofwomen’ssportoverrecentyears.Womenaresignificantlymorelikelythanmentofallintothe‘generalfansegment’withonlyalittlebitofinterestinsport(35%vs.21%).Therefore,thechallengeforclubsistofindawayofnotonlyappealingmoretowomenbutalsoshiftingthemintofullyfledgedandmorepassionatefans. Closingthefangendergapisanimportantfactorinsecuringaclub’slong-termsustainability.Toattractbiggeraudiences,connectwithnewfans,growmemberships,andcontinuetoencouragegrassrootsparticipation,sportsmustshifttheirfocusfromtraditionalfanbases. Atpresent,thetop10mostgenderdiversefanbasesareheldbyAFLandNRLteams,withthetop5belongingtoAFLclubsalone.Collingwood(48.6%),Geelong(47.1%)andRichmond(47.0%)havethehighestproportionoffemalefansinAustralia.Collingwoodaretheclosestclubtohavingapurelyequalgenderfanbase. A-League AustralianFootballLeague BigBashLeague NationalBasketballLeague NationalRugbyLeague SuperRugbyAUTeams Source:YouGovSport.Profiles.52weeksofdata.Dataset:01/01/2023 Fandefinition:TeamSupport(InsertTeam)|Sample:ClubTeamFansn=357-2,007 1 SouthSydneyRabbitohs(NRL) 11.8% 2 GreaterWesternSydneyFootballClub(AFL) 11.7% 3 GeelongFootballClub(AFL) 11.4% 4 RichmondFootballClub(AFL) 10.8% 5 WestsTigers(NRL) 10.5% 6 ParramattaEels(NRL) 10.5% 7 WesternUnited(A-League) 10.4% 8 WesternBulldogsFootballClub(AFL) 10.2% 9 NewZealandWarriors(NRL) 9.8% 10 PenrithPanthers(NRL) 9.8% SexualDiversity –Top10 InthecurrentAustraliansportinglandscape,diversityandinclusionhavebecomeanincreasinglyimportantareaforsportstoaddress. Sportingorganis